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Old 08-31-2015, 06:34 PM   #1
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Lightbulb Anyone modified the flashing safety lights into something cool?

The school district I bought from removed the switch for the flashing safety lights at the top of the bus and painted over them with black so as of now they are useless.

I am interested in turning the lights in the front of the bus into an extra set of off-road lights (e.g. something like this).

Does anyone have any experience with modifying these in any way? Is it safe to remove the alternator-thing that makes them flash instead of staying on permanently? Anyone done anything cool at all with them?

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Old 08-31-2015, 07:33 PM   #2
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Having off-road lights isn't illegal but in some states they must be covered while on the road like California.
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Old 08-31-2015, 07:52 PM   #3
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I am thinking of doing the same thing, maybe some LED's round 6'' offroad.
two in the front and two in the back. The back I will put on dimmers. think it will work in theory. It would be nice to have the front ones on some backroads.
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Old 09-01-2015, 12:27 AM   #4
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Your better off sealing them up. They allow moisture to get into the forehead of the bus when driving in rain.

6 inch light bars are a better bet if you want light. They surface mount, so there is no water infiltration.

Nat
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Old 09-01-2015, 06:20 AM   #5
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Your better off sealing them up. They allow moisture to get into the forehead of the bus when driving in rain.

6 inch light bars are a better bet if you want light. They surface mount, so there is no water infiltration.

Nat
And they can be stealthily mounted in the radiator grill in the front (less police attention).
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Old 09-01-2015, 09:14 AM   #6
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you also dont want lights above if you have a windshield...even with shields the glare is horrible

Most states have light laws governing they must be covered if above xyz (it used to be 54 inches to the center in VA)
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Old 09-01-2015, 06:55 PM   #7
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Yeah, here in WA they must be covered. I think I am going to follow some other threads' advice and use some old sheet metal to cover them up. If anything, I'll do a light bar. like nat__ster recommended. Thanks!

The stock lights on my bus are just so bad lol. They barely provide illumination. I was hoping to have a little extra for darker roads when I am alone.
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Old 09-01-2015, 08:03 PM   #8
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Thought about putting in head lights as well. Was going to graft in a couple of 5" round head lights from a two lamp system so I had the adjustment screws for aiming....could use high or low beam bulb.....but as mentioned, keeping the rain out will be tricky....it already has rain/water damage from leaking.

May just fill....
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Old 09-01-2015, 08:06 PM   #9
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We had the paint shop leave the holes on the top of our bus and I'm going to be mounting offroad lights in them: http://www.naturalstatenomads.com/wp.../09/ourbus.jpg

I'm hoping it looks pretty sweet when it's all said and done.
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Old 09-01-2015, 08:34 PM   #10
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Quote:
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Thought about putting in head lights as well. Was going to graft in a couple of 5" round head lights from a two lamp system so I had the adjustment screws for aiming....could use high or low beam bulb.....but as mentioned, keeping the rain out will be tricky....it already has rain/water damage from leaking.

May just fill....
Get hold of Daniel - Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

He'll give you some effective ideas for headlamps.
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Old 09-02-2015, 03:10 PM   #11
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Get hold of Daniel - Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

He'll give you some effective ideas for headlamps.

Well that's bizarre, my old man was top salesman for CIBIE in British Columbia in the 70's, he/we got transferred out to Ontario in '75 to bigger territory. A few years later they screw him so he quit. A very good product.
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Old 09-04-2015, 06:44 PM   #12
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I have 2 of the lights on the front and back of my bus with clear lenses, the ones on the front do put a lot of glare on the hood, if you do it you will want to put some type of bracket under the lights so they dont shine on the hood.
Even if you dont use the built in lights you can still use the wires and switch to power other types of lights or bars, just dont put too much power down the wires, the original bulbs probably took 60 to 80 watts.
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Old 02-12-2016, 11:32 AM   #13
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how do you make them stay on instead of flash in the flash pattern? will just a new switch take care of it or do i have to change something?
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Old 02-12-2016, 01:17 PM   #14
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how do you make them stay on instead of flash in the flash pattern? will just a new switch take care of it or do i have to change something?
Rewire them into the brake and turn signals
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Old 02-12-2016, 03:23 PM   #15
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Per the State Patrol here in Wisconsin, the upper flashing lights have to be removed, not just covered or disconnected. I asked if I could re-wire them to be "extra" driving and turn lights, and the inspector was quite excited about this idea, since "more lights are safer". I just wired them into the relevant circuits: red for driving, amber for turn. Of course, this thread reminded me that I didn't re-connect the red and amber upper lights in the front of the bus...guess I'll do that as soon as the temps are above single digits again and I feel like working outside ;)

As for getting rid of the "flash pattern", I removed the whole eight-function flasher device and wired the lights directly to their respective terminals in the buss panel.
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Old 02-12-2016, 03:43 PM   #16
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FYI: many places restrict red lamps facing forward. I presume it's because of the potential for them to be confused with tail lights of a vehicle going the other way, or with lights of an emergency vehicle.
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Old 02-12-2016, 04:12 PM   #17
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And from what I understand, many areas prohibit the height of "driving" lights way below where these would be for "on highway" use and require that they be covered when on the road.
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Old 02-12-2016, 05:02 PM   #18
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I have seen several different ways in which the overhead crossover lights were repurposed.

The best I have seen was swapping out the stock lights with some very bright LED's to use as yard lights when parked.

I know of no jurisdiction where any sort of driving light would be legal mounted that high off of the ground. I would also be concerned about the glare it would cause for oncoming traffic.

If you do mount some sort of high intensity light they would have to have some sort of cover to prevent some cop who doesn't have anything better to do from giving you a ticket.

Many CA spe'c buses have "eyebrows" over their crossover lights that fold down when the school bus is on a non-school run. Those sort of "eyebrows" would work very well to cover non-standard running lights.
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Old 02-12-2016, 05:12 PM   #19
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If you decide to use any lights besides LED's you are going to have to use a switch and a relay in order to power up those lights.

Normal switches are usually not capable of handling the amount of current large incandescent bulbs use.

When you disconnect the wires from the 8-way flasher make sure you mark which ones are the front red/amber and which ones are the rear red/amber lights. With 8 different lights you could wire them up in various different ways to accomplish different tasks. Just make sure that if you make some of the lights some sort of flasher that works like a turn signal that they can't alternate flash. Same way with high mounted brake lights. Alternating flashers would get back to school bus equipment that RV's are not allowed to have.
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Old 02-12-2016, 05:12 PM   #20
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Montana DEFINITELY has some auxiliary light height specs. That high, and I'd be guaranteed a lighter wallet by some nice fellow with pretty lights on top of HIS vehicle.

I might consider turning them into turn signals front and rear and EXTREMELY high mounted brake lights on the rear. On the front? Perhaps BOTH lights on either side into turn signals?
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