Vision X "Tantrum" LED rock light/strobe kit

[slosurfer]

I bought a set of these Vision X "Tantrum" LED rock light/strobe kit (http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=600), and got them partially installed today. They are pretty cool and the kids get a kick out of the strobe features. I found them on sale at amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ES867C) for $76. I got a $25 amazon giftcard for xmas, so I'm only $51 into these. :) I have to say though, that other than this sale, the link to the Sierra Expeditions is about the lowest I found. I was actually going to order from them or Poly Performance (since they're local and I could pick them up), and then I stumbled on the amazon one.

I got them partially installed today. I basically used some metal flashing I had around to make some brackets to attach them to the frame and body. The flashing is strong enough to hold the lights, but easy to bend to aim the lights. I'll get picks of the mounts/locations tomorrow. I still need to tidy up my wireing tomorrow as well.

Here are a few crappy pics that don't do them justice (I need to borrow April's camera so I can get a good shot that shows how far it reaches out around the 4runner)

First shot is just an automatic setting w/ no flash and really just picked up on the "spots" and not the ambient light all around.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8269.jpg

These two shots show a little better the ambient light.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8273.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8272.jpg

I'll get better shots and better angles tomorrow night.

The strobe feature is pretty cool and the kids really liked it. It will be fun to play around with out at the dunes and when camping. I don't have any video of it, but here are a couple youtube vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrfLELnEDaA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CH6civLDZY0&feature=related

[troyboy162]

very nice! the price isnt terrible either considering how well they seem to work

[slosurfer]

Thanks Troy. They do work really well for the price. If they were a little more of a "flood" pattern, they would be even better. They do throw out a lot of light though that isn't showing up in the pics.

For this electrical newb, it was well worth the price. The only "wireing" I may have to do, is hardwire the power, it is all plugnplay. It actually has a 12v cig plug on it now, but I think I will haredwire it soon.

[corax]

nice :thumbup:

Does the kit actually work with a remote like in the first video?

[slosurfer]

Yeah, it has the master control inside the vehicle and a keyfob remote that supposedly works up to 1,000ft away. The remote will do all the same functions of the master control as well.

[slosurfer]

Okay, some install pics.

Master control mounted with supplied 3M tape
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8307.jpg

It has 8 LED's that let you know what the lights are doing, also, the master control has the built in mic sensor so it can strobe to the music if you feel like it
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8308.jpg

The distribution box
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8318.jpg

Mounted to the fuse box with velcro so that I could still read the fuse diagram :)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8317.jpg

[slosurfer]

Excuse the mud, if you've ever been to Los Osos, you know they have a confusing array of pointless deadends and streets that turn to dirt for a block or so for no apparent reason. My friend lives just a few streets over and down a block, but if I have to drive in a big circle to get to his house due to deadends. Unless I take the one dirt road that goes through, but due to the recent rains it turns into a giant mudhole. Needless to say, I got tired of going around and the water had finally receided some. :laugh:

I just used some metal "flashing" I had laying around and made some quick brackets for the lights. I mean quick as in I did this in a couple hours (including running the wire to the engine compartment). I used existing bolts to mount the brackets. I cut slits in the brackets rather than drilled holes, this allowed me to just loosen the bolt, slide it on, adjust it, and then tighten it down good. These things are not very heavy, so I think they will be fine, but I'll keep an eye on them. I used the supplied 3M discs to attach the lights to the brackets. I can also bend this metal by hand which will really help dialing in the aiming of the lights.

Front (mounted to one of the bumper bolts) aimed forward some and out so it shines directly in front of the wheel
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8310.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8311.jpg

2nd one mounted behind the front wheel, just below the driver's door. I used one of the mounting bolts for where the OEM running board attached.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8312.jpg

3rd is mounted in front of the rear tire and uses one of the mounting bolts for the OEM running board (I'm glad I kept the bolts in there when I removed the running boards :) )

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8313.jpg

Drivers side rear is mounted using one of the bolts on the spare tire lowering mechanism

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8314.jpg

Passenger rear is mounted on the frame using a hole already there and a bolt I had (just happened the only one I had that fit right was a grade 8 bolt, :lol: )

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8315.jpg

I'll try to get some better light output shots later.

[slosurfer]

Lets see if these show up any better. :laugh:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8322.jpg

Front:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8320.jpg

Rear:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8321.jpg

Side (lighting up April's Tacoma a little bit)
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e113/slosurfer27/4runner/Rock%20lights/IMG_8323.jpg

Edit: Meh, pics not that great. Looks like I need to do a night dune run. :D

[slosurfer]

:laugh: I haven't even tried the music feature yet on it. I'll have to try it one of these nights. I'm sure the kids will get a kick out of it. To be honest, I haven't tried it yet, because I feel too silly standing in my driveway by myself to try that feature out. :lol:



..and I can't remember if you've done the alternator upgrade yet, or is that a TOF topic I'd have to transfer in here? (Hint hint)


Huh??? :headscratch: Not sure what TOF thread you're referring to... (sorry, I've got a head cold and not too quick this morning, so I'm not sure what the "hint" is :hillbill: )

But, no, I have not upgraded my alternator yet. ONe of the guys who makes a bracket for the 22RE to fit a big gm alternator, did have me over and we removed mine and took measurements for him to make a bracket for the 3.0's. Last I talked to him, I think he decided against doing it because it was pretty easy to do on the 3.0's so he didn't think they would sell as easily as the 22RE ones.

I may do it one of these days, but honestly with all the lights I have, I'm still below the draw you would have with just 2 100watt aux. lights (I'm at 178 watts with these and my 3 LF's). I'm not too worried at this point. I'm hoping to upgrade my LF 240 to HID soon and that will help even more.

[Scuba]

hmm, Looks like they work pretty well..

Me thinks: the strobe feature will have to be shown off at pismo OhNine :D



:bling:

[Good Times]

Chris,

I don't think those velcro stickies are gonna hold up to the abuse on any washboard trails ;)

Looks good man! I've yet to do this mod. Sadly I have the LED's sitting in a bag and it's been a few yrs now. I really should do this mod too :)

[slosurfer]

Haha, yeah we'll see how they hold up. I was going to cut strips but had used the last of that to mount my elocker control box. This was what I had in the house. :) The good thing is that the junction box doesn't weigh anything, so that will help. If it does wiggle loose, I can add a screw into the fuse box cover. I almost did that anyways, but I want to see how well these do, mainly so that I don't compromise the fuse box.

Get working on yours. :flipoff: It will be helpful for next year's dune night run (I can't wait for that one, it should be fun) :thumbup:

[slosurfer]

Chris,

I don't think those velcro stickies are gonna hold up to the abuse on any washboard trails ;)


:flipoff: Lance, you'll be happy to know that everything stayed right where it was supposed to after a couple days of bombing around the desert.

Only problem I have, actually happened before I got there. I went to turn them on using the remote and the remote isn't working anymore. :( The indicator light on the remote lights up when you push the buttons but no response. Otherwise the kit is awesome. The SD crew got to take a look at them, I even had the disco lights going when we drove over to the main camp for the raffle. :D

These are great for when you have to work under your rig at night. Due to my leaking passenger side oil seal on my front diff, I had to pull the skidplate, so I could double check my oil level. I didn't want to do it on Sat. morning before the run, so I did it Fri. night. It was super easy with all that light under there. :thumbup:

[slosurfer]

Good news! I emailed VisionX and got a reply back very quickly. Turns out it was just the remote needing to be reprogrammed with the master control. It may not have been correctly synched before it left the factory. He sent me simple instructions on how to do it, and the cool thing, is that it can be used to program multiple sets to work off the same remote. So if you need two kits, you can have one remote. :thumbup:

Lance, thanks for making it so I could open the instructions. :D

[corax]

how simple? Would it be possible to program your remote to someone else's kit without them knowing? kinda reminds me of high school, when I'd take a universal remote to class so I could mess with Teach . . . .

[slosurfer]

Depending on how they have the control box mounted, it's pretty simple. YOu have to take the four screws off the back of the control box, so I had to ruin my 3M tape to get to mine.

It would be pretty funny, if there was a big group together that had these and you programmed them all to work off your remote. :laugh:

[slosurfer]

Just an FYI, I asked about adding additional pods to the kit as they sell individual pods. They informed me that the individual pods just come with a two wire (red and black), and they can be spliced into the wires on the kit. They suggest only adding two pods per channel on the D block as any more might pull more amperage than the master control could handle. This is great as I want to just add a few more lights, but didn't want to put them on a different switch. :thumbup:

[RunnerUp]

i just ordered my set off amazon.com for 76$... pretty good price considering my friend spent that much on his 55 watt rock lights and days wiring everything up correctly...

[slosurfer]

Sweet! :thumbup: Can't wait to see them mounted.

[RunnerUp]

thanks man! and thanks for the heads up on the good price over at amazon! now i just have to figure out how im going to mount them, your idea seemed to work pretty well, perhaps ill copy your design!

im super pumped, ive always wanted rock lights!! and i always wanted them to be LED's! and 8 of them, already wired, super easy to install all for 76 bucks... what more could you want?

[slosurfer]

Here's a vid of them in my driveway. :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6oqGKHCa7E

[RunnerUp]

i know what more you could want... to have the control box not catch fire after you spend 6 hours running cables through the frame...

and then for them to say, pack it all up, and ship it back.. it will only take 14 days to get back to you.

[slosurfer]

i know what more you could want... to have the control box not catch fire after you spend 6 hours running cables through the frame...

and then for them to say, pack it all up, and ship it back.. it will only take 14 days to get back to you.


:yikes: What happened? What did they think happened to it? Any pics?

Did you hook it all up and test it prior to running the wires? That sucks!

[RunnerUp]

i got the drivers side all wired up, everything was fine. i then got the passenger side wired up and the box started smoking, and then quit working. no pics cause it doesnt look like anything happened.

they think there is a short somewhere. i had not tested it prior to running the wires (stupid on my part... i know) anyways, im more pissed baout the hole i had to drill in my firewall to get that huge plug through to the engine bay. oh well... now i can start my accessory rewire project that should take a few days once i have all the parts together.

[slosurfer]

Oh man, that sucks! Yeah that big plug was a biatch, but I was able to get it through with the main wire harness coming in on the driverside. I had to carefully slice open the rubber grommet a little for it to go through, but finally got it after many tries with a coat hanger and some gorilla tape.

I hope they take good care of you. Bummer you had to package it up and send it back. I'm sure they want it so they can see where the problem was, but I'd be tempted to see if they could just send a new mastercontrol and distribution block. Was it the distribution box or mastercontrol that losts its precious smoke?

I've got that same accessory rewire project coming up soon. :(