Building a Rollbar / Light bar

[Oogie]

Hello all!

Me and my buddy have been planning on building a rollbar / lightbar for my ranger.
This would be mainly for looks and not for protection in case of a rollover. The truck sees a bit of offroad driving but nothing too extreme, mostly driving through forest roads.
My main concern is fixing the bar onto the bed, preferably without having to make holes in it ..
I thought of using the stake holes on both sides of the bed, anchoring the rollbar to the bed without making it permanent.
Anyone who has built one before, please feel free to share tips / pictures, would be much apreciated, I can use all the help i can get.

Added: Here is a rough plan/idea of what I'm going for.

 

[Grunizzle]

I had a pro tech light bar that mounted like that, but not in the stake holes, just bolted to the bed rails. Honestly I don't think that will offer any protection in a roll over with out somehow mounting to the frame.

 

[02RangerXLT]

I had a pro tech light bar that mounted like that, but not in the stake holes, just bolted to the bed rails. Honestly I don't think that will offer any protection in a roll over with out somehow mounting to the frame.

If you read the post he said that it wouldn't be for protection in the event of a rollover.

 

[straycat]

Just for looks, yes!! I do like that!!!!! That will look sharp, Bo!!

 

[Grunizzle]

If you read the post he said that it wouldn't be for protection in the event of a rollover.

Then it should be called a light bar, and I apologize for skimming

 

[02RangerXLT]

As far as the drilling holes goes... I'm not sure how those stake pocket CB antenna mounts work, but MAYBE you could figure out something like that to anchor it to the stake pockets. You may experience some bounce though going down trails without bolting it in by drilling into the bed.

 

[feellnfroggy]

It looks good but you have the lights on the front of the bar making the bar extend above the top of the cab. if you ever chose to get rid of the lights you would still have the bar draggin in the wind, I would suggest, lowering the bar to cab height and mounting the lights to the top of the bar. Jsut my .02 cents

 

[ForOffRoadDriving]

i like his design with the lights in front, i have mine on top like youre describing and when i flip them on light pours through the back window and lights up the cab. my solution was going to be to buy one of those vent shades for the rear window, but they look so gay! plus with the guard built around them you could hit up a drive through car wash without much fear of your lights being ripped off.

if i had different lights with a narrower beam pattern they might not be so intrusive, but im not going to buy new lights any time soon.

 

[Oogie]

i like his design with the lights in front, i have mine on top like youre describing and when i flip them on light pours through the back window and lights up the cab. my solution was going to be to buy one of those vent shades for the rear window, but they look so gay! plus with the guard built around them you could hit up a drive through car wash without much fear of your lights being ripped off.

if i had different lights with a narrower beam pattern they might not be so intrusive, but im not going to buy new lights any time soon.

I love the truck! Where is the rollbar bolted in? looks very sturdy.
I might have to borrow some ideas from your truck

 

[99_3.0]

I just got done making one for my 03. I used all 4 stake pocket holes to mount it. What I did was bought 4 of those stake pocket mount cargo hooks. Then I took out the i-bolts and put in a regular bolt. I ran the bolt through the plate mount on the bar and into the rubber mount. I can rock the light bar as hard as I can and it doesn't move at all...

 

[99_3.0]

Im having issues with pictures today, I'd put some up but ya.

 

[02RangerXLT]

So that's what you decided to do instead of that light bar you ordered? Looks good!

 

[99_3.0]

 

[Captain Ledd]

I think it'll look sweet.

Oh and BTW, that's a hell of a CAD model of a Ranger you have there, care to share the whole thing?

 

[khast2010]

the light bar is cool, but im pretty sold on the cad model as well haha