Thread: Disco rear work light.

Found this from another forum and think it is a great idea.


Discovery owners who park their trucks in garages that have low ceilings or doors don't usually have roof racks installed. They have a problem when it comes to extra lights. Up till now there hasn't been any reasonable way to mount any kind of work light at the rear of the truck. Recently I had a brainstorm while installing an Out-Back CB antenna mount on the rear door of my Disco. I made some sketches and fabricated an Out-Back work light mounting bracket that is a perfect solution to the problem. The bracket was simple to make after I worked out the three bends needed to fit over the lip of the door. Here's the drawing and measurements - they are general and you might adjust them to suit yourself. It's fabricated from a piece of 1/8"CRS 2" wide and about 3 ¼" long. Drill the screw holes to suit as you see in the photograph but place the light mounting stud hole about ½" from the front edge of the platform. This will give you enough clearance to swivel the light around 180 degrees and point it towards the interior of the truck. Also, before you drill your hole assemble the light with its mounting hardware so you can dry fit it and be sure to put the hole in the best position. The prototype in the photograph has its hole a little too centered to allow a full 360 degree range.

As you can see from the photograph below the bracket fits over the lip of the door just like the top clip of the Out-Back antenna mount. Instead of one screw there are two as these are the only attachment points for the light. Attaching it was a matter of pilot drilling two holes for the stainless steel sheet metal screws and screwing it in place next to the power line egress point in the frame of the door. (An alternative suggested was to use a riv-nut - good luck!) A piece of foam gasket material was used to snug the door and mount together and protect the door from unnecessary contact and wear. Because the lamp base & bolt is isolated from ground by the two nylon washers you must secure the ground wire to the screw as shown. Inside the lamp I attached push-on spade connectors to the wires for easy tool free lamp replacement. Don't forget to allow yourself enough ground wire slack.

To install the power wire I fished a long piece of stiff wire through the hole in the top of the door down through the hinge side frame into the door cavity. I then taped the 14 AGW on the end with duck tape and pulled a 20 foot length through the door to the bottom where I fed it into the truck along the same route I just used installing the coax. Finally, the power wire is protected with a small rubber grommet which also serves to seal out water. The wire is long enough to go to the engine compartment where the light is powered directly off the battery through a fuse and switched relay mounted on the engine firewall. The light switch is dash mounted in one of the blank positions near the radio

I happen to like the TASCO light unit pictured here. It's inexpensive and can be bought where auto parts and farm equipment is sold. I've also seen variations at truck stops for under $25.00. It is a rugged 35 watt farm tractor work light in a shock-proof rubber housing that has the additional advantage of not marring the paint if it comes in contact with the door. They last for years on farm equipment and 18 wheelers. If the bulb ever needs replacing it can be removed and reinstalled by hand. I replaced the really bad Chinese made nuts and bolts that came with the light unit mounting bracket with SAE carriage bolts and modified the mounting by including nylon washers between the bracket and lamp base.

You can see how the washer and nut arrangement provide smooth secure motion when I need to adjust the direction of the lamp. The second washer is out of sight between the platform and the lamp mount. Nylock nuts are the best I've found for shake resistant security.

ok i know this is a very old topic but was after some opinions
looking at the way this mount is done to fit over the top of the
discovery door i am wondering what ppl's opinions are on useing this
type of setup for a reversing camera setup would it make the camera
sit to high removing visability or would this be a good idea am thinking it
would be a good setup and allow good height away from water and mud
(unless things went real bad ) but lets not think about that other
question i have is can this mount be brought by itself or would making one be a better way ??? look forward to any replys thanks guys



worraps