Thread: El Cheapo rear extending light

I have idly planned an extending rear light for some time and finally got around to it.
Stores
You need
one steel 2 piece tent pole

1 metre of steel tube OD 19.1MM to replace the inner piece of the pole as it is thicker . I bought at Metal by the Metre Bolts by the Bucket for $5

An LED worklight. I bought 2x18W for $25 on Ebay, as I wanted the option of having only one on, but rethought that as I went along.

One coiled Cigarette lighter extension from Jaycar at $10

3xjubilee clips( from my stock)

4x crimps and heat shrink tube.
One small bit of 20x20 angle steel if required .

Optional , Plug or switch .


I shortened the inner tube by about 20CM and bolted it to the spare wheel carrier on the RH side ( with 2x6MM bolts) as this does not interfere with the rear wiper as per photo. It can rest right up against the bolts holding the spare bracket on so will be strong enough if accidentally hit while mounting the spare.
I then slipped the outer tube over the inner and cut it to desired length. I then used the left over as a tube for the wire to go through and attached it to the outer tube bit with the adjuster with three jubilee clips.

The hardest part was working out how to attach the lights to the top. At first I welded a nut inside a bit of inner tube. The supplied nut was stainless and too small so I found a bigger O/D one. However I then changed plan to have a tee piece so I welded a piece of 20x20 angle to a small left over bit of inner tube and slipped it into the outer tube and held it with a couple of rivets. Being a crap welder I blew through the inner tube as it is still pretty thin, however it is strong enough.

The lights will go much higher than in the photo as it is limited by the garage door. It is up to you how high you want the light but the higher the better IMHO.

I power mine by just having a Merit plug on the end of the coiled cord, as I have Merit sockets at each end of the bumper. You could take power from the trailer plug constant power behind the RH taillight if you do not have any plugs at the back. I thought about having a switch to have one light on or both but inline waterproof switches are big clunky things , and i would prefer Not to have a switch outside the back of the car because of dust etc.

I thought for a while about how to store the coiled wire , as I placed normal wire down the tube and joined it to the coiled wire, as I was unhappy about the tension on the joins otherwise so thereis a fair bit of coiled wire flopping around. Then I thought to just stuff it on top of the spare wheel under the cover. I painted it with a spray can of bumper grey that I bought in error.
Done. All up cost about $40.
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Regards Philip A

It extends about another 30cm or so from the photo with it extended.
BTW, I used the thicker gauge inner as I was afraid that the thin tent post inner would collapse under the bolts when tightened, and it maybe would kink if you were a bit brutal putting the tyre back on. The bolts are done up quite tight with no collapsing so that part works well.

Made one almost identical to this about 18 mths ago. Works a treat and yeah, cost under $30