2019 Defender XT Cab Led light bar front and back

Andystoy19 · Nov 27, 2019

To remove the liner remove the two torx bolts in the back corners of the cab, one on each side and the two at mid point along with the two screws that hold up the dome light, gently ease the back of the liner down, it pulls out of the black PVC front piece (rests on the black piece) and remove the two wires to the dome light once the liner is down far enough to see the connections. You can also remove the eight torx bolts in the black front piece and take that down first if you are going to install extra wiring etc.

The black front piece has two switch pull outs that you can remove and install your front and rear light bar switches in the blank holes, make sure you buy the right size rocker switches that fit these cut outs. Looking up you will see the existing wiring harness that brings in the power from the under dash accessory panel dash up inside the drivers side front post and across the front of the cab to the roof accessory panel located in the center. From this panel you have wiring and a switch to control the wiper and window wash pump. Another wire loom runs down the center of the cab, past the dome light and splits into a T one side going to each door with a plug that can disconnects the power window in each door. The fuse for this whole system is located under the front hood and looks like a plug, top left it is a 40 Amp fuse.

I mounted my rear LED Evergear 7" Dual row light bar 4 spot and 8 flood LED (Cree) 2000 lumens no wattage rating. I suspect that the LED are 1.5 Osram 12x1.5=18 watts amp draw 1.5 Amp fused with a 3 Amp fuse. I drilled holes for the 2 mounting bolts and the wire feed through the PVC cab at the rear; mounting the light below the roof line. The inside bolts are double washered 1/4" and 5/8" flat washers to increase the area contacting the plastic to avoid cracking of the roof? The 14 guage wires run in a loom taped to the previous loomed wiring harness to the front of the cab where they attach to the accessory panel and the rocker switch. Make sure you allow about a foot of wire from the accessory panel to the rocker switch so you can install the wiring to the switch. The switches fit from the bottom of the panel so you need to be able to see over top of the suspended panel for installation. The rear LED illuminates the box, area on the sides and quite a ways back.

The front light bar is an Evergear 22" Dual row bar with 24 spot and 16 flood Cree 3 LED rated at 3 w and 120 watts for the bar fused on a 10 Amp fuse. 7200 effective lumens and 426 m of beam distance. The front bar is mounted between the hinges and above the window wiper but just below the roof line. I drilled two holes through the plastic roof and right through the metal front panel for the cab. I built 2 spacers out of washers and hard rubber about 5/8" tall and pushed the spacer under the plastic roof and between the metal cab roof. These are built to prevent the plastic roof from flexing and cracking in the cold and provide a solid steel mounting point for the brackets of the light. I did not drill a hole for the wiring because there is a rubber seal that runs across the front of the cab. Gently lift the seal with a screw driver, slide the wires outside and drop the seal. Connect and tape the connection outside and pull back the connection under the plastic roof to keep it out of the weather. Loom the 14 guage wires and bring across the front of the cab to the accessory panel and the rocker switches. I installed a 10 Amp fuse between the accessory panel and the rocker switch. Assemble the wiring to the switches before you put the switches in the panel for ease of measurement etc and testing the circuit, mark your terminals and the wires for reinstallation once you install the rocker switches in the overhead panel.

Reinstall the front panel first and reinstall the roof liner by connecting the dome wires first, slip the front of the liner in the space above the front roof panel and gently work the liner into position securing the back corner bolts first, followed by the mid point and dome lights. Looks factory and clean all that you have to do is align and set your lights. Caution: My lights added 13 Amps to the load on the 40 Amp fuse, the front wiper uses about 5 A not sure how much each power window uses as well as the washer pump. All of these items are powered by the 40 Amp fuse so if you plan on adding a bunch more accessories like a 50" light bar, stereo etc. you may overload this circuit. Hint: Fuse each accessory separately so that if one of them goes bad it blows a small fuse not the 40 Amp fuse. FYI

Lake · Nov 27, 2019

Andy, I'm new to this forum and your post brought me here. I need help with the wiring to the accessory panel as you described. Is this the bus bar and do you have any pics of how you wired it? Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

LL

Andystoy19 · Nov 27, 2019

Hi: Sorry no pics the accessory panel is covered by a cover that you pull off towards yourself. If you have a voltmeter it will help you with the wiring. There are 3 bolts looking at you the closest to the windshield was the ground terminal and the other two are keyed red or positive. When you buy your switches check and see if the package contains a wiring diagram, if not in general terms there are 3 lugs in a row (on the left and one or two on the right) top was negative, center was power and bottom went to the light, it became common to the center one with the switch on. On the Canam switch the top two had to be tied together for the switch light to come on and the on light came on when the switch powered the led(the bottom two were tied together). The center power comes from one of the red wires on the accessory panel, the ground from the 1st wire on the panel (look at the color of the wires on the accessory) to help you determine the polarity. Crimp round ends of the correct size to fit the bolt on the accessory panel and slip on terminals that fit the switch. My second switch was different so that is why I didn't include a picure as it would be confusing. Once tested and everything works push the protective cover back over the accessory panel to prevent accidental contact by other wires and secure the black front piece with 8 torx bolts. FYI good luck with your project.

Lake · Dec 1, 2019

Andystoy19 said:
Hi: Sorry no pics the accessory panel is covered by a cover that you pull off towards yourself. If you have a voltmeter it will help you with the wiring. There are 3 bolts looking at you the closest to the windshield was the ground terminal and the other two are keyed red or positive. When you buy your switches check and see if the package contains a wiring diagram, if not in general terms there are 3 lugs in a row (on the left and one or two on the right) top was negative, center was power and bottom went to the light, it became common to the center one with the switch on. On the Canam switch the top two had to be tied together for the switch light to come on and the on light came on when the switch powered the led(the bottom two were tied together). The center power comes from one of the red wires on the accessory panel, the ground from the 1st wire on the panel (look at the color of the wires on the accessory) to help you determine the polarity. Crimp round ends of the correct size to fit the bolt on the accessory panel and slip on terminals that fit the switch. My second switch was different so that is why I didn't include a picure as it would be confusing. Once tested and everything works push the protective cover back over the accessory panel to prevent accidental contact by other wires and secure the black front piece with 8 torx bolts. FYI good luck with your project.

This was very helpful. Thank you.

Andystoy19 · Dec 4, 2019

Here is a pic of the two switches in the overhead panel. They illuminate just like all the other switches on the dash when you turn the key to accessory or on.