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I know there are several threads, so I thought I'd add mine. Perhaps it helps someone with ideas.
Convoy light: Xenon strobe off an old city truck (gifted horse, mouth, don't look etc.) that runs on 12 to 28V. Free.
Mast: 2 metal fence posts from Lowe's that slide inside each other. About 15 bucks.
Pins for telescopic mast: some 1/4 inch pins with safety clasp. 5 bucks.
Mounting hardware: 2 1/4 inch exhaust clamps and a few extra washers
Base for light: 8 inch diameter round metal disc cut tediously with a small angle grinder. It is quite round.
Wiring harness: original curly convoy light harness (pole portion only) from an auction site for 10 bucks.
Switch: military ignition switch - could not install because the connectors required are the wrong size from what I had. I used a heavy duty 35A civilian toggle switch for now.
Measure the desired length of pipe and cut the fence posts to length. Hold the inner pipe in the outer pipe with a clamp to prevent spinning before you drill the holes for the locking pins. Also, mark the centre line for the holes on the outer pipe before you drill. I hadn' t and they are not exactly lined up. Can't really tell, but....they ought to line up.
I drilled a centre hole into the base plate and welded that plate to the inner pipe (badly but it holds well).
Painted everything and mounted it to the rear of the cab; the pipe snugs into that nifty channel at the back of the cab and the exhaust clamps use the existing holes in the cab wall.
Wiring: I used a proper military Y tap to tap into the No. 16 wire feeding power to the high/lo beam foot switch. This is easy to access and guarantees that the convoy light will only work with the lights on. You do not have to disassemble anything. The connector you want is on the inside (facing the engine) of the metal box in the fender well. The box is open on the side that faces the engine. Locate and pull the connector closest to the fire wall (the right-most connector as you are looking into the wheel well).
There is a handy rubber grommet in the fire wall a little ways up from there, so running the wire into the cab to your desired switch location is easy. The wire from the switch to the convoy light runs back, parallel to the wire from the hi lo beam switch, and continues into the square channel on top of the frame the cab sits on. comes out in the back, runs on top of the tool box and is connected to the harness at the bottom of the mast with proper military connectors.
Ground is connected to the back of the cab where I have handy bolts and nuts from the brake fluid reservoir install.
I used wire loom to protect the wires from chafing.
Tip: If you do not have proper millitary connectors and tools and/or do not plan on doing alot of wiring, get a bunch of wires from a harness (e.g. a spider harness from the instrument panel). That gives you a bunch of male and female connectors you can cut off with a pigtail of the desired length and just solder and heat shrink to any other wire. Presto - military connectors installed.
Convoy light: Xenon strobe off an old city truck (gifted horse, mouth, don't look etc.) that runs on 12 to 28V. Free.
Mast: 2 metal fence posts from Lowe's that slide inside each other. About 15 bucks.
Pins for telescopic mast: some 1/4 inch pins with safety clasp. 5 bucks.
Mounting hardware: 2 1/4 inch exhaust clamps and a few extra washers
Base for light: 8 inch diameter round metal disc cut tediously with a small angle grinder. It is quite round.
Wiring harness: original curly convoy light harness (pole portion only) from an auction site for 10 bucks.
Switch: military ignition switch - could not install because the connectors required are the wrong size from what I had. I used a heavy duty 35A civilian toggle switch for now.
Measure the desired length of pipe and cut the fence posts to length. Hold the inner pipe in the outer pipe with a clamp to prevent spinning before you drill the holes for the locking pins. Also, mark the centre line for the holes on the outer pipe before you drill. I hadn' t and they are not exactly lined up. Can't really tell, but....they ought to line up.
I drilled a centre hole into the base plate and welded that plate to the inner pipe (badly
but it holds well).Painted everything and mounted it to the rear of the cab; the pipe snugs into that nifty channel at the back of the cab and the exhaust clamps use the existing holes in the cab wall.
Wiring: I used a proper military Y tap to tap into the No. 16 wire feeding power to the high/lo beam foot switch. This is easy to access and guarantees that the convoy light will only work with the lights on. You do not have to disassemble anything. The connector you want is on the inside (facing the engine) of the metal box in the fender well. The box is open on the side that faces the engine. Locate and pull the connector closest to the fire wall (the right-most connector as you are looking into the wheel well).
There is a handy rubber grommet in the fire wall a little ways up from there, so running the wire into the cab to your desired switch location is easy. The wire from the switch to the convoy light runs back, parallel to the wire from the hi lo beam switch, and continues into the square channel on top of the frame the cab sits on. comes out in the back, runs on top of the tool box and is connected to the harness at the bottom of the mast with proper military connectors.
Ground is connected to the back of the cab where I have handy bolts and nuts from the brake fluid reservoir install.
I used wire loom to protect the wires from chafing.
Tip: If you do not have proper millitary connectors and tools and/or do not plan on doing alot of wiring, get a bunch of wires from a harness (e.g. a spider harness from the instrument panel). That gives you a bunch of male and female connectors you can cut off with a pigtail of the desired length and just solder and heat shrink to any other wire. Presto - military connectors installed.
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