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NSV Hood Bulge Light Bar - Install Postmortem

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Sas, Jul 25, 2018.

  1. Jul 25, 2018 at 7:00 AM
    #1
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    Lost track after #1.
    I'm sure you're all familiar with this product by now, but if not here it is:
    https://headlightrevolution.com/201...t-rider-nsv-led-light-bar-kit-multi-function/



    The install of this thing was a bit of a PITA at times, but wasn't all that complicated. Here are some of the issues I ran into while I was installing and some pics.

    1) Headlight Revolution has a PDF on their site that is more up-to-date than their 3-part installation videos. Until they redo their videos you'll want to refer to that for the latest install info. The most important part for me was the wiring change of the #3 and #8 pins for the "2nd gen" light bar. Normally you're supposed to skip the #8 pin, but in the 2nd gens you skip #3 and put in #8. The wires are numbered and mine didn't have a #3 so I assumed mine was a 2nd gen (whatever that means). There are some additional wiring steps you have to do if you have factory DRL's and/or 2018 headlights that I didn't have to do (at least not yet, anyhow), so I can't comment on those.

    2) When removing the air dam from the hood bulge yours might not come right off like theirs did in the video. There are some very fragile plastic pieces that sort of lock the two pieces into one another. I was able to pry a couple of them, but broke two. That being said, it didn't appear to matter if any were broken because the NSV bar didn't seem to need them.

    3) The kick panel (step cover) and cowl cover seems to come out easier if left connected together as one piece.

    4) You only need to cut off part of the nipple on the grommet from the hood side to expose the hole. Don't worry about getting in there and trying to cut out a larger hole unless you don't have this grommet nipple for some reason.

    Grommet

    Nipple before the cut. You can see it protruding at the bottom of the grommet.

    Nipple after the cut.

    How much of the nipple was cut off. I ended out taking an Xacto knife and sawing at it a bit. It's a little annoying, but as long as your knife is sharp it'll go quickly. Be super careful and don't cut towards the main wiring harness. I pinned the nipple down between the knife and grommet to get it cut. Once it was about 3/4 of the way done I just pulled on it and ripped the rest off.

    5) Fishing the 6-pin wiring harness thru was one of the most frustrating things in this install. I ended out taping the pins to get them thru. I separated them into two groups of three. One group was facing down and ran alongside the flex tubing, and the other group I left facing forward to act as a guide to get thru the nipple. I sprayed some silicone lubricant into both sides of the nipple. It went thru relatively easily once I did that, but you'll still need to do some pushing to get it thru far enough to be able to pull it from the hood side.

    6) Fishing the 12-pin harness was the 2nd most frustrating thing. There's a little piece of metal in the hood that the harness kept getting caught on. I had to constantly wiggle/jiggle/rotate the harness and keep the hood at a relatively flat angle to get it thru. It kept binding when the hood was fully open. Luckily my arms are long enough that I could see down the hood while I was fishing it thru to see what was happening. A second set of eyes will be useful here if you're not able to do this. If your arms are skinny enough you can probably reach into the hood once it gets to a certain point and grab it. Mine are not so I had to use a set of 45° offset long needle nose pliers.

    The metal hood support piece that makes this part annoying. It's the little, fuzzy thin piece in the depths of the hood.

    Close-up of it

    Once it's thru

    Before putting the hood bulge back on you'll want to run the wiring harness back behind the 2nd set of hood supports to give the bar some more room. Make sure you also connect it thru the 2nd opening (I think it was the 2nd one, might have been the 3rd). You'll see what I mean once you get in there and do it.

    7) Pay particular attention to the PDF for the pinning and wiring. It varies depending on model options and year.

    8) A pick seems to work best to get the quick-connects/t-taps/etc open.

    9) Refer to the PDF if you don't have the plug behind the trailer brake that's mentioned in the video.

    10) The switch panel seemed to come out easiest when I stuck my thumbs into both of the cigarette lighter outlets and pulled from the bottom. This piece is in there really well though and it'll feel like you're going to break it at times. Just go slow and steady.

    11) The cigarette lighter comes out pretty easily if you push the tabs in from the inside of the cigarette lighter using a pick tool or really small screwdriver, instead of from the outside like he does in the video. Push pretty hard with your thumb on the back of the cigarette lighter while doing it (not the connectors, but the back plate) and it'll come out. I was able to get the cap off by squeezing the tabs with my fingers and pulling it out.

    12) The tabs that need to be transferred to the new panel seem to come out best if you put a pick on either side and pry out. They're hooked in with clips in the middle of it so you need to get both sides free to get it out. The white ones are easy enough to only need one pick to get them out.

    13) The rest of the wiring is pretty straightforward. Follow the factory wiring routes, test pedal, parking brake, steering wheel movement, etc, to make sure nothing is in the way. Zip tie things down once a light test has been done. Put everything back together and you're done.

    I'm putting in some additional interior lighting so I haven't put everything back together yet. When I'm done I'll get some interior pics. It took me about four hours to get it done, but I spent a lot of time monkeying around with fishing the harnesses thru. You'll save yourself a lot of time by taping the 6-pin harness and lubing the nipple (giggity).

    UPDATED WITH NSV PANEL INSTALL PICS

    14) The wiring for the NSV panel is plug and play. The hardest part is just getting the harness into the center console area. There's a little opening that where they will fit. It's a little tight, so be careful with the connectors.


    15) Once everything is connected and tested, pop the panel into place and you're good to go. The LED light strip is not part of the light bar package. That's another project. :)


    The full album has the light bar in action:
    https://www.tundras.com/media/albums/nsv-hood-bulge-light-bar.3326/
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
  2. Jul 25, 2018 at 8:30 AM
    #2
    Danimal86

    Danimal86 Looks clean even when its dirty!

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    Anyone other than me look at this picture and think "what the hell happened to your brake/power steering fluid reservoir? It looks like there's a split in the top half and you are shoving a rod under the split. Then i see its the blade of the xacto knife. DOH!
    Maybe i need new monitors.....or sleep....
     
    Baja Mike and Sas[QUOTED][OP] like this.
  3. Jul 25, 2018 at 8:34 AM
    #3
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    :rofl:I didn't notice that before, now I totally see it.
     
  4. Jul 27, 2018 at 10:30 PM
    #4
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    Updated with NSV panel install info and pics.
     
  5. Jul 27, 2018 at 11:10 PM
    #5
    TXRailRoadBandit73

    TXRailRoadBandit73 YOTAS,RAILROADER,RÖKnRÖLLN',BEER,MAX/GEMMA

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    Great job! Looks good! Great write up!
     
    Sas[OP] likes this.
  6. Jul 27, 2018 at 11:47 PM
    #6
    trdprobped17

    trdprobped17 New Member

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    Do you have to cut any wires?
     
  7. Jul 28, 2018 at 12:08 AM
    #7
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    For the most part it's plug and play, but you may need to tap into a wire or two under the hood depending on which Tundra model and year you have. It's outlined in the video series that Headlight Revolution did as well as in their installation PDF. It's not a big deal, but if you're not comfortable doing that kind of stuff or pinning electrical connections then I'd highly recommend having a pro do it.
     
    trdprobped17[QUOTED] likes this.
  8. Jul 28, 2018 at 12:13 AM
    #8
    trdprobped17

    trdprobped17 New Member

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    Cool. I'm not good with electrical work and am not a fan of cutting up my vehicle's wiring. So, I'll check out the video and PDF instructions. Thanks.
     
  9. Jul 30, 2018 at 6:41 AM
    #9
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    What'd you decide?
     
  10. Jul 30, 2018 at 7:25 AM
    #10
    trdprobped17

    trdprobped17 New Member

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    I’m definitely going to give it a try myself. The videos are very straight forward.
     
    Sas[QUOTED][OP] likes this.
  11. Jul 30, 2018 at 9:28 AM
    #11
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    Bro I just installed one on BigRed last weekend took about 3.5 hours job was cake the light is fantastic perfect fit an very well worth the $ that being said good job
     
    Sas[OP] likes this.
  12. Jul 30, 2018 at 9:30 AM
    #12
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    And headlight revolution has some cool lights for our tundra I also did full red led inside I like the led strip over panel how?
     
  13. Jul 30, 2018 at 9:35 AM
    #13
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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  14. Jul 30, 2018 at 10:33 AM
    #14
    mtTundra

    mtTundra New Member

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    Longer list than the wife needs to know about....
    Good write up. The difference between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 light bars is the strobe function. Gen 1 had Strobe, Gen 2 has an "off" switch in its place.
     
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  15. Jul 30, 2018 at 10:34 AM
    #15
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    Hey Sam did you know if you switch pin from 8 to three you will then have the strobe effect back but you lose the ability to turn dr ln an off
     
  16. Jul 30, 2018 at 10:34 AM
    #16
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    Ment SAS
     
  17. Jul 30, 2018 at 10:36 AM
    #17
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    Yes you are correct but you switch as I said you can gain it back your switch for dry now becomes strobe
     
  18. Jul 30, 2018 at 10:38 AM
    #18
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    DRL my paws are to big to text haha
     
  19. Jul 30, 2018 at 11:35 AM
    #19
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    Lost track after #1.
    You'd need to contact Headlight Revolution for that one.
     
  20. Jul 30, 2018 at 3:48 PM
    #20
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    Ya I spoke with the r&d guy whom makes the light bar
     
  21. Jul 30, 2018 at 3:58 PM
    #21
    mtTundra

    mtTundra New Member

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    Longer list than the wife needs to know about....
    I wonder if there's a way to utilize the 8th pin position to wire in an off switch in addition to the strobe.
     
  22. Jul 31, 2018 at 7:28 AM
    #22
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    That I don't know though I think you'd have to run new wires an some way wire it to plug with out effecting other functions I'm sure it could be done
     
  23. Oct 29, 2018 at 8:35 AM
    #23
    Scud

    Scud New Member

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    Working on it :-)
    So I installed the Gen 1 light early in the year. I recently had the light replaced but have the original wiring. I still have the strobe feature but no longer have DRL on the light bar. Is there any way to get the DRL working without losing strobe?

    Thanks, Mike
     
  24. Oct 29, 2018 at 11:00 AM
    #24
    Bigdog

    Bigdog New Member

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    The guy I talked to was Jensen from NSV the people who make light I called headlight revolution an they hooked me up try that
     
  25. Oct 29, 2018 at 3:14 PM
    #25
    Scud

    Scud New Member

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    Working on it :-)
    I want to try moving pin 3 to the pin 8 position. How do I de-pin this connector?

    Thanks, Mike
     
  26. Jul 27, 2019 at 10:46 AM
    #26
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    Lost track after #1.
    I guess I missed this post, sorry. I'm sure you figured it out by now. But FFR, there's a cap over the inside of the connector that you have to pull off, then you can use a depinning tool (or something similar) to push down a small tab on the bottom that releases the wire. I'll see if I have some pics floating around and update this post if I do.

    Here's the white cap that needs to come off first:
    2018-08-08 09.48.30.jpg


    Here's a pic of the wire depinned. You can see the little tab at the bottom that you need to depress to release the wire.
    20180831_184331.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2019
  27. Jul 30, 2019 at 9:50 AM
    #27
    Gotyour6

    Gotyour6 New Member

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    I installed mine in about 2.5 hours.

    The hardest part for me was threading the wires though to the console buttons.

    Not sure why I couldn't find a path and you would think that was the easiest ting to do but for some reason I couldn't find the damn hole.

    Once I cut my hand, went in and patched myself up I was good to go .

    Just one of those moments.
    Pinning, patch wires etc went smooth
     
  28. Aug 11, 2019 at 1:41 PM
    #28
    4077th

    4077th New Member

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    Hello,

    Not getting any responses from headlight revolution on this.

    I would like to install my gen2 bar that has been sitting
    around for some time now.

    2018 Tundra, with factory LED headlamps, BTW.

    I would like to manually trigger the bar to come on or off via the NSV switch panel without having to trigger the bar via the headlamps or highbeams as they have it wired.

    Do I just give a constant or switched 12v to the wire they have us tapping into the headlamp harness with?

    I messaged inferno_pro_satx (as he had said he knows the correct configuration) at the end of July, but he hasn't been on here in quite sometime.

    Thanks for any insight on this.
     
  29. Aug 11, 2019 at 1:50 PM
    #29
    Sas

    Sas [OP] Humor is everywhere

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    Lost track after #1.
    @4077th I doubt @Headlight Revolution is going to help you on this. At best they may tell you which pin numbers on the plug power the light so you can re-route them on your own. Have you contacted NSV directly about it? I used to have the name and number of the guy who makes the lights, but can't find it in my phone now.
     
  30. Aug 11, 2019 at 1:55 PM
    #30
    4077th

    4077th New Member

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    No haven't tried to contact NSV yet, I think I saw his name was Jesen. I will try and track down some info.

    Thanks!
     

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