Light bar mounting in lower bumper opening

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mike singleton

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Hey y’all! Curious to know if anyone has mounted an LED light bar in an NBS Denali bumper lower opening? I’ve been thinking about this a while and never pulled the trigger. But wanted to see what it might entail. I currently have a denali down under full chrome grille mounted in the opening, with tow hooks removed on my 2006 XL Denali, and I was thinking to maybe mount a small light bar behind it for some extra lighting. Mainly be used during dark drives up and down the mountain roads at night since we dont have highway lights and it’s essentially traveling through a national forest. Lol My main reservation about doing this would be blocking the airflow that goes through the lower opening. Would having a small light bar there have any negative effects there that anyone could foresee causing any problems? If that’s the case I’ll decide on another mount spot. But that just seems easy. Lol.

Also I have no knowledge of how to run the wiring up in to the cab for the switch so if someone could advise on that, that would be awesome. I also haven’t even looked at light bars yet so if anyone has any good recommendations for brand and size I’m open to it.
 

mike singleton

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After doing a lot of research and working with a auto specialty shop, I settle on The Heise HE-DRL22 (22" 40 LED - DRL Series dual row). Its rugged HD bar and it's very bright. (installed by specialty shop professionally). The primary goal on the 2011 Chev Sub LTZ was to see better at night and "Be Seen" during real bad weather. The Heise LightBar isn't cheap but it's well worth it. The grille on the LTZ really doesn't impede the light very much. On my 2019 Yukon Denali, I wanted to install a lightbar at the bottom like you had mentioned, but because of the location of the adaptive cruise control, I could not even install tow hooks on the Yukon, so I didn't think anymore about a lightbar on the 2019 Yukon.
 

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adventurenali92

adventurenali92

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After doing a lot of research and working with a auto specialty shop, I settle on The Heise HE-DRL22 (22" 40 LED - DRL Series dual row). Its rugged HD bar and it's very bright. (installed by specialty shop professionally). The primary goal on the 2011 Chev Sub LTZ was to see better at night and "Be Seen" during real bad weather. The Heise LightBar isn't cheap but it's well worth it. The grille on the LTZ really doesn't impede the light very much. On my 2019 Yukon Denali, I wanted to install a lightbar at the bottom like you had mentioned, but because of the location of the adaptive cruise control, I could not even install tow hooks on the Yukon, so I didn't think anymore about a lightbar on the 2019 Yukon.
That looks great! I originally was thinking to do a bar where you have it mounted on the Tahoe but because I installed a bigger trans cooler there I don’t think there’s enough room plus I wanna keep that airflow there. Which is what lead me to think about the lower opening. Thankfully because my Denali is a 2006 I don’t have any adaptive cruise so there are not any modules or anything mounted in my lower bumper opening. I’ll check out that light bar you recommended.
 

LurkingLuke

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I'm all for the idea........as long as you can actually aim the light so it doesn't blind every other driver on the road. I can't stand all the dingbats that do that around here, and then have it on at all times just so people can see how cool their lumens are. LOL

But, on a serious note, I think it could be quite useful for different driving situations.
My Diode Dynamics Street Level 3 (or close name) is street legal, BUT the technology throws light much further than my high beams did/do. Excellent safety mod (I'm thinking looking out for deer, not whatever dangers might befall you in downtown Grand Island, Nebraska).

I am very self-conscious about the pure white light, however. It's so obviously "not OEM" really sticks out, day and night. At night I sometimes hover my hand near the headlight flasher/turn signal stalk just so I can show drivers nearing me from the opposite direction "These ARE my low beams!" if they take offense and blast me with their own high beams.

At $400 for just parts, the kit was near my limits price-wise, but I don't skimp on safety: the risks of impaired visibility are far greater than the rewards of saving a few bucks.
 

LurkingLuke

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Here's the kit. I doubt anyone regrets having installed it. click around on photos and videos to see the various levels of brightness.

 
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adventurenali92

adventurenali92

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Here's the kit. I doubt anyone regrets having installed it. click around on photos and videos to see the various levels of brightness.

Unfortunately these are for GMT900 Yukons and not for my generation. They look cool though. But my thoughts are for a light bar so that I only have to drill a couple holes in the bumper to mount, versus mounting several things and lots of drilling to mount.
 

S33k3r

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Unfortunately these are for GMT900 Yukons and not for my generation. They look cool though. But my thoughts are for a light bar so that I only have to drill a couple holes in the bumper to mount, versus mounting several things and lots of drilling to mount.
Get a bull bar and mount the lights on it. If you are concerned about deer, well that's even more reason to get a bull bar.
 
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adventurenali92

adventurenali92

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Get a bull bar and mount the lights on it. If you are concerned about deer, well that's even more reason to get a bull bar.
Thankfully deer aren’t so much of a concern here in big bear. We certainly see them on occasion but every time I’ve come across one going up or down the mountain it’s been well ahead of me and I’ve had plenty of time to avoid it. So a bull bar for me would be a bit unnecessary.
 

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