Installing ¾” Leveling Kit, Hella 500FFs and Custom Reverse Lights
01-22-2009, 10:02 PM
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Installing ¾” Leveling Kit, Hella 500FFs and Custom Reverse Lights
Let me start by saying that the installation of the lights and lift would not have been possible without my brother (The Mechanic) 
, my best friend Matt (the Fabricator) 
and not pictured, my friend Jeff, (The Electrician). In addition, I (and we) referred to multiple posts here on the forum throughout the process – so thank you to all of you as well. We’ll start out with the installation of the ¾” leveling kit. As it has been covered many times and many different ways here on the forum we’ll be swift about this one:
1. Start by removing the front tire and choking the rear wheels.
2. Next jack up the front of the Jeep using some blocking to get enough height to later lower the spring completely out.
3. Next we removed the lower shock bolt and lower sway bar end link. Both of these require 18mm sockets and wrenches, thanks to The Mechanic we had Snap-On air tools.
4. After the sway bar and shock are loose, slowly lower the axle until the spring is loose, you should be able to remove it.
5. Once it is out, use a pry bar and CAREFULLY remove the factory isolator.
6. Take your ¾” spacer and paint it with anti-seize – why you ask? Because polyurethane has a bad habit of squeaking, the anti-seize will prevent this.
7. Slip the isolator over the mount and then push the factory isolator back into place.
8. Replace the factory Spring by jacking the axle back up until there is enough pressure to hold it in. This may require a little twisting and turning as well as a little tweaking with the jack. Be careful and take your time.
9. Slowly jack the Jeep back up and replace the shock bolt. (*Note – I found it easier to leave the sway bar disconnected and replace both sway bar end link bolts when both sides were complete.)
10. Repeat on the other side.
11. When both sides are done, replace both sway bar bolts and check that everything is torque properly – including the lug nuts!
Let’s move on to the windshield lights. We will be mounting Hella 500FF lights on Rugged Ridge Windshield Light Brackets. (*NOTE – I posted elsewhere on the forum but will mention it here again: I have now installed 3 sets of Hella’s and all 3 had bad wiring/instructions. Check that the ground wire and lead are correct. In my case, the instructions indicated that the black wire form the housing was the hot lead and the blue was the ground…That was backwards, while easily fixed it could have proven frustrating.) Now that we are clear on what we are working with, here we go:
1. Here is the kit. It is complete with lights, wiring, relays, covers and a switch – but I used a separate switch to match the others…
2. First we remove the windshield wiper arms and cowl screws.
3. Then you have to remove the pins holding the vent in place at the center of the cowl. Use a panel tool – put place something down to prevent scratching. We used some nonskid toolbox liner we had around. The cowl should then lift out.
4. Next we placed the lights onto the mounts.
5. Pick a spot to mount the relays. We followed the lead of others here on the forum, and mounted them directly above the battery.
6. Use a sharp drill bit and pre-drill for the relays. We used stainless steel self tapping screws.
7. Now that the relays are mounted you can start running wires. We made connections at the lights and used shrink wrap to cover the connections. We ran the wires under the cowl making sure to stay clear of the wiper motor.
https://www.jk-forum.com/picture.php...pictureid=5584
8. Wires for the switches were routed through the firewall and behind the dash to the switch location.
9. Here is a quick breakdown of some of the wiring that will apply to this entire post: The relays were all grounded in the engine compartment.
The power for the relays came from the accessory post on the battery. The 12v power for the switches came from the M8 and M9 spots in the fuse box. These are 12v sources for factory heated seats – that I don’t have.
10.
Running the wires is the hardest part and you’ll have to go slow and make sure you’re running all where you want it. Once they’re all run you can wire the switches. One wire will come from the 12v source (fuse box), one wire will come from the relay (yellow here) and one will go to a ground. Where I chose to mount the switch there is a ground location on the footwell that has other factory grounds attached – just use a ring post connector and you're good to go.
I’m sure that there are more steps I am missing but hopefully this gives you a pretty good idea of what is entailed. Later on there will be pictures of the finished product, but for now we will move onto the bumper lights. I again am mounting Hella 500FF lights. I drilled through the plastic cover and into the steel underneath – this is where The Fabricator first stepped up. There is a gap between the plastic cover and the steel that would have been depressed, thus deforming the cover when the lights were installed. We needed to include a spacer. As luck would have it, The Fabricator carries carbon fiber tubing in his car…we created our spacers using this. After drilling the pilot holes, we used a hole saw the size of the tubing to clear the plastic and make way for spacer. As for the wiring, we did a lot of the wiring for the bumper lights when we wired the windshield lights, so I’ll cover a few high points:
1. We drilled holes through the plastic cover only in order to connect to the two lights. The Fabricator was able to snake the wires between the plastic and the steel thus keeping the wires covered. The loom then goes from the housing to the cover.
2. The switch is wired the same as for the windshield lights.
3. The lights are grounded directly to the mounting brackets, as this created the strongest ground with 0 wire pulling required.
The last install was for some custom reverse lights. Like many of you here, I have found the JK reverse lights to be lacking. After reading other posts about mounting the KC 517 back up lights into the rear bumper I decided this was the best solution…Small problem: The US Postal Service never delivered my lights. I had to drive to Raleigh to see The Mechanic for the installation of all my goodies and had no lights….No worries, improvisation and some talented friends made it work. We got some Baja lights from Autozone and a 5 prong relay for the wires. After looking at it for a while, and having 1 or 10 cold adult beverages, The Fabricator had it covered:
1. First, we removed the lights from the housings to make them thin enough to fit neatly in the bumper. Then used the lights to create templates and traced them onto the bumper.
2. Using a cutoff wheel, Dremmel and a blade, The Fabricator cut the holes.
3. While he was doing that, The Electrician and I ran the wires from the power at the battery and switch back to the tail light.
4. Behind the taillight the wires and 5 prong relay were all connected. KC’s 517 kit has a great schematic of the wiring – the lights come on when the JK is placed into reverse and also have an independent switch. This is accomplished with the 5 prong relay. It works just like the relay for the driving lights, but the extra prong allows for an extra trigger; in this case the relay is tripped when the JK is placed in reverse or when the switch is turned on.
(*NOTE – on the 07 Unlimited the reverse light wire is the white wire with the gray stripe.)
5. After some tinkering the lights mount neatly into the bumper. The wires are run through the bumper and out of a hole we drilled on the driver’s side for easy connection to the relay.
6. The Fabricator used the grill covers for the lights and marked holes in the bumper. Then, using a nutsert tool inserted some threaded rivets to connect the covers
7. Wires were run, connections made, and everything was buttoned up.
After 14 hours in the shop, we were done.
Hopefully this will prove helpful to you all – I’m sure I’ve missed things, so please ask questions or PM me - I have lots more pictures as well. Thanks for all the inspiration that you provide and instruction that I have gleaned from this site.
1. Start by removing the front tire and choking the rear wheels.
2. Next jack up the front of the Jeep using some blocking to get enough height to later lower the spring completely out.
3. Next we removed the lower shock bolt and lower sway bar end link. Both of these require 18mm sockets and wrenches, thanks to The Mechanic we had Snap-On air tools.
4. After the sway bar and shock are loose, slowly lower the axle until the spring is loose, you should be able to remove it.
5. Once it is out, use a pry bar and CAREFULLY remove the factory isolator.
6. Take your ¾” spacer and paint it with anti-seize – why you ask? Because polyurethane has a bad habit of squeaking, the anti-seize will prevent this.
7. Slip the isolator over the mount and then push the factory isolator back into place.
8. Replace the factory Spring by jacking the axle back up until there is enough pressure to hold it in. This may require a little twisting and turning as well as a little tweaking with the jack. Be careful and take your time.
9. Slowly jack the Jeep back up and replace the shock bolt. (*Note – I found it easier to leave the sway bar disconnected and replace both sway bar end link bolts when both sides were complete.)
10. Repeat on the other side.
11. When both sides are done, replace both sway bar bolts and check that everything is torque properly – including the lug nuts!
Let’s move on to the windshield lights. We will be mounting Hella 500FF lights on Rugged Ridge Windshield Light Brackets. (*NOTE – I posted elsewhere on the forum but will mention it here again: I have now installed 3 sets of Hella’s and all 3 had bad wiring/instructions. Check that the ground wire and lead are correct. In my case, the instructions indicated that the black wire form the housing was the hot lead and the blue was the ground…That was backwards, while easily fixed it could have proven frustrating.) Now that we are clear on what we are working with, here we go:
1. Here is the kit. It is complete with lights, wiring, relays, covers and a switch – but I used a separate switch to match the others…
2. First we remove the windshield wiper arms and cowl screws.
3. Then you have to remove the pins holding the vent in place at the center of the cowl. Use a panel tool – put place something down to prevent scratching. We used some nonskid toolbox liner we had around. The cowl should then lift out.
4. Next we placed the lights onto the mounts.
5. Pick a spot to mount the relays. We followed the lead of others here on the forum, and mounted them directly above the battery.
6. Use a sharp drill bit and pre-drill for the relays. We used stainless steel self tapping screws.
7. Now that the relays are mounted you can start running wires. We made connections at the lights and used shrink wrap to cover the connections. We ran the wires under the cowl making sure to stay clear of the wiper motor.
8. Wires for the switches were routed through the firewall and behind the dash to the switch location.
The power for the relays came from the accessory post on the battery. The 12v power for the switches came from the M8 and M9 spots in the fuse box. These are 12v sources for factory heated seats – that I don’t have.
Running the wires is the hardest part and you’ll have to go slow and make sure you’re running all where you want it. Once they’re all run you can wire the switches. One wire will come from the 12v source (fuse box), one wire will come from the relay (yellow here) and one will go to a ground. Where I chose to mount the switch there is a ground location on the footwell that has other factory grounds attached – just use a ring post connector and you're good to go.
I’m sure that there are more steps I am missing but hopefully this gives you a pretty good idea of what is entailed. Later on there will be pictures of the finished product, but for now we will move onto the bumper lights. I again am mounting Hella 500FF lights. I drilled through the plastic cover and into the steel underneath – this is where The Fabricator first stepped up. There is a gap between the plastic cover and the steel that would have been depressed, thus deforming the cover when the lights were installed. We needed to include a spacer. As luck would have it, The Fabricator carries carbon fiber tubing in his car…we created our spacers using this. After drilling the pilot holes, we used a hole saw the size of the tubing to clear the plastic and make way for spacer. As for the wiring, we did a lot of the wiring for the bumper lights when we wired the windshield lights, so I’ll cover a few high points:
1. We drilled holes through the plastic cover only in order to connect to the two lights. The Fabricator was able to snake the wires between the plastic and the steel thus keeping the wires covered. The loom then goes from the housing to the cover.
2. The switch is wired the same as for the windshield lights.
3. The lights are grounded directly to the mounting brackets, as this created the strongest ground with 0 wire pulling required.
The last install was for some custom reverse lights. Like many of you here, I have found the JK reverse lights to be lacking. After reading other posts about mounting the KC 517 back up lights into the rear bumper I decided this was the best solution…Small problem: The US Postal Service never delivered my lights. I had to drive to Raleigh to see The Mechanic for the installation of all my goodies and had no lights….No worries, improvisation and some talented friends made it work. We got some Baja lights from Autozone and a 5 prong relay for the wires. After looking at it for a while, and having 1 or 10 cold adult beverages, The Fabricator had it covered:
1. First, we removed the lights from the housings to make them thin enough to fit neatly in the bumper. Then used the lights to create templates and traced them onto the bumper.
2. Using a cutoff wheel, Dremmel and a blade, The Fabricator cut the holes.
3. While he was doing that, The Electrician and I ran the wires from the power at the battery and switch back to the tail light.
4. Behind the taillight the wires and 5 prong relay were all connected. KC’s 517 kit has a great schematic of the wiring – the lights come on when the JK is placed into reverse and also have an independent switch. This is accomplished with the 5 prong relay. It works just like the relay for the driving lights, but the extra prong allows for an extra trigger; in this case the relay is tripped when the JK is placed in reverse or when the switch is turned on.
(*NOTE – on the 07 Unlimited the reverse light wire is the white wire with the gray stripe.)
5. After some tinkering the lights mount neatly into the bumper. The wires are run through the bumper and out of a hole we drilled on the driver’s side for easy connection to the relay.
6. The Fabricator used the grill covers for the lights and marked holes in the bumper. Then, using a nutsert tool inserted some threaded rivets to connect the covers
7. Wires were run, connections made, and everything was buttoned up.
After 14 hours in the shop, we were done.
Hopefully this will prove helpful to you all – I’m sure I’ve missed things, so please ask questions or PM me - I have lots more pictures as well. Thanks for all the inspiration that you provide and instruction that I have gleaned from this site.
Last edited by TurkeyFreer; 01-23-2009 at 05:58 AM.
01-23-2009, 05:02 AM
#3
JK Newbie
SWEET... you got larger pictures to post up? especially of the rear lights.. they are like mine but BIGGER... here are mine:
I also got the Hella 500's on the windsheild..
I also got the Hella 500's on the windsheild..
01-23-2009, 05:10 AM
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EDIT - Victory is mine! I made the pictures bigger!Last edited by TurkeyFreer; 01-23-2009 at 06:04 AM.
01-25-2009, 08:05 AM
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Sorry - I don't really get any before and after with the leveling kit, it was really cold and we were just trying to get everything done. I can tell you that it works out perfectly according to the tape measure.
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01-29-2009, 08:26 AM
#8
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Yeah - that's why I mounted them out farther so they didn't block the front flashers....
01-29-2009, 09:23 PM
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Great report, nice idea's, looks good, love the B/U lights.
Been thinking about a 150 db backup beeper, you know something really freaking loud! and using a couple 100 watt back up lights all hooked up to a switch. When someone comes upwith their brights on and doesn't want to play nice I just throw the switch. I figure the extra loud B/U beeper should be able to be heard on the freeway and let the other guy worry about whether I was really in reverse ....... or not.
Now don't try this at home kiddies, it is just a pipe dream, peyote style.
Been thinking about a 150 db backup beeper, you know something really freaking loud! and using a couple 100 watt back up lights all hooked up to a switch. When someone comes upwith their brights on and doesn't want to play nice I just throw the switch. I figure the extra loud B/U beeper should be able to be heard on the freeway and let the other guy worry about whether I was really in reverse ....... or not.
Now don't try this at home kiddies, it is just a pipe dream, peyote style.
