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MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket

DrPerez007

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Okay, so Mopar didn’t really probably intend for this result, but its Replacement Fog and Driving Light Mounting Brackets (now 82215427AB) are actually more multi-purpose than first meets the eye. When I initially saw these (actually, their predecessor with more metal) at the 2017 LA Auto Show, I thought they were a bit big and gaudy. Not anymore.

Finding suitable windshield light mounts is no longer a challenge on the JL. However, the problem with a number of these mounts is that because of the Wrangler cowl design and bolt mount location, many of the lights end up more towards the center of the hood in the driver’s line of vision than the JK, for example (and, hence, likely more light reflection off the hood). Another issue is that for those of us that need a two-way radio antenna mount, they are harder to come by for the JL. And, thirdly, the JL has no side turn-signal indicator. And that is where the 82215427AB mount came into play.

Mopar apparently designed this mount to hold just a single light, but with that much real estate available, I realized it could be utilized to handle multiple tasks. There are eight holes on each bracket: four holes used for bolting to the Jeep itself and four additional holes, though the ad pictures generally show just one of those four latter holes utilized. So out came the drill. Two 3/8” holes were added: one on top and forward where my driving light would mount, and one on the side for the wires to run for the low profile amber light I would mount to operate my European-style side turn signal. After drilling was complete, a Q-tip and some matte-black Rust-Oleum to coat and protect the drilled holes finished off that part of the task.

In my pics, you can see my Amazon amber light mounted using the two existing holes Mopar drilled on the side, but I needed a wire exit dead center behind that light and so I drilled a 3/8” hole for an inset to allow the light to fit flush. Then some black bolts and sized lock washers and nuts and the side light was mounted. Then one wire to ground and the other (“power”) wire to the turn signal wire harness. On both sides, I just tapped into the green/white stripe wire in the harness up under the fender liner (“Thanks” Forum members for that tip). Flip the turn signal on, and bingo, you now have a side turn indicator to alert any vehicle in your blind spot or any pedestrian that might move into the danger zone. It seems to cover more territory than even Mopar’s (European-style) mirror mount turn signal (& a heck of a lot cheaper).

Using the back factory hole on top of each mount (the factory holes are somewhere between 9/32” and 3/8”), I attached a PCTEL NMO BMA “thick surface 3/8 inch hole brass mount” for surfaces up to 1/8” with 17’ of coax (run thru the firewall). For those who care, on the passenger side I mounted a Laird 800 MHz No Ground Plane antenna (just say, work related); on the drivers side I mounted a Diamond Dual-Band (VHF/UHF) NR73BNMO No Ground Plane antenna (Ham & GMRS radio). I also have grounding straps coming to attach from the antenna mounts to the body (they’ll be mounted and hidden under the bracket as soon as they arrive). This mount will work for a variety of CB radio antenna mounts, as well.

The top, front “drilled” 3/8” hole is used for my Lightforce 140 driving/spot light. Dropped right in and the light itself sits further out to the edge of the hood away from the driver’s line of sight (w/considerably less reflection off the hood). Then in the middle, factory hole, I added a black 9/32” rubber grommet to protect my soldered and heat-shrunk wrapped light wires as they run thru it and into the engine compartment to a (future) controller that will be switched in the interior (if you have the JL Aux switches, you can utilize those instead).

That’s it! There are no hyper-flash or other CAN-BUS issues because I only added a light and the system doesn’t know the difference. If you are thinking about using this bracket (& drilling), my only comment is to measure those two holes you want to drill very carefully (& measure twice) and make sure you know exactly where your top light mount is going to go before you even pick up the drill. Also, use Dielectric Grease on your electrical connections.

It’s a bit more than I would normally do, but in the end I think it turned out okay and solved multiple issues for my MOAB.

Steve

Pics
  1. Mopar’s Brackets 82215427AB (pair)
  2. Mopar’s use of bracket
  3. Steve’s use of bracket
  4. Bracket showing drill locations
  5. Turn signal mount (note the extra hole drilled on top)
  6. Mount with everything mounted
  7. Turn signal wire exit
  8. Mount passenger side
  9. Mount driver side
  10. On the vehicle
  11. Light off
  12. Light on
  13. Light off
  14. Light on
  15. Light caught in blink mode (brighter than pic portrays)

Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket F642E1AC-F53A-4EDF-A179-033B402A8740


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 0A06B116-AFC2-4C7D-9B97-ACDF51084541


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket E60BC7BF-8167-47DF-A570-9F695FBF08E5


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 4717E2C5-F3CD-42B8-83DE-82349CE19D6F


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 5E692B64-F452-4473-B0DB-9606DACF3030


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1D3B7374-E8ED-4A49-A442-285F0A22BCBF


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket A6231CBC-AA53-4ECD-9A35-DB8734D54133


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 266C0F66-6BB4-4422-811C-0A8EEC27F3F6


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket D9EC293A-3153-4770-BBE2-FAC5B7AEA790


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 35BC3804-AE34-4B0B-8A76-453EBE711C9B


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 860D2217-1D27-4A26-B477-9898AEC287E3


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 158B5288-EFCD-41CD-83EF-2D9DA04E395F


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 0A6AB403-8473-4B3E-87B2-8012CF37A6E0


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 469127A8-5CCD-4B87-AEC7-D8EEF2286322
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Rock Hopper

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Nice work Steve! I think I might just have to steal that design errrrrrrr, I mean "copy" that design... :bandit:
 

Tim Huff

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I really like your antenna mounts and lights. I would like to know how you got your antennas into inside. Looking at my 2door JL I only see a plug where the clutch should be. If you have pictures of the power and coax please share.
 
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DrPerez007

DrPerez007

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I really like your antenna mounts and lights. I would like to know how you got your antennas into inside. Looking at my 2door JL I only see a plug where the clutch should be. If you have pictures of the power and coax please share.
Tim,

On the JLU (4 dr) automatics (at least on my MOAB), there is a black plastic cover on the firewall to the right of the master brake cylinder that just pops off (if you were in the vehicle, crawling under the steering wheel and looking at the firewall, this hole would appear near the top of the dash and to the far left). The cover is about the size of a silver dollar; I used a pliers and pulled it off and then drilled out the middle of it, ran cables thru it, snapped it back on, and then put a bunch of silicone around it to prevent leaks. [I’m not done with it yet, so it’s still a bit of a mess.]

Under the hood there is a power distribution/switch box I mounted for six functions (like driving lights and such) with a small cable that runs thru the firewall to a switch panel mounted in the cabin. In addition, I ran a 12 gauge, stranded (30 amp) fused power cable from the battery thru the firewall hole to under my front passenger seat, where I mounted a plywood board to fit behind the floor air vent and in between the back seat mounts. It’s the width of the seat and about 12” deep. To that, I bolted my Powerwerx two-way radio (it has a remote head), my ChargeGuard, and a small power distribution box. I get my ground from under one of the seat mount bolts.

My passenger side antenna cable runs across the front of the engine bay (under the hood) and meets up with the driver side antenna cable. They run together also thru the firewall hole. One goes back to the Powerwerx, the other elsewhere. Pretty straightforward.

I understand that not every Wrangler has the same firewall access, so if that plastic plug isn’t there, you will just have to hunt down another opening (and maybe share with something else run thru the respective grommet). I included a relatively poor pic of that hole and the wires running there. I plan to run a couple of other things thru there so the wires and the hole have not been ”cleaned up” yet.

In addition, I just ordered two antenna mounts for the spare tire carrier as I plan to add a CB radio antenna and another dual-band antenna. Those cables will be run thru the tailgate and into the cabin.

Hope that helps.

Steve

Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 888E0FF5-D01A-4BDA-B595-F8569020EC4C
 

Tim Huff

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Thank you Steve! I think this is the plug by the master cylinder. I will see if I can pull it off.

Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951
Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951
 

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Abramovich

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Daffydnbugs

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Okay, so Mopar didn’t really probably intend for this result, but its Replacement Fog and Driving Light Mounting Brackets (now 82215427AB) are actually more multi-purpose than first meets the eye. When I initially saw these (actually, their predecessor with more metal) at the 2017 LA Auto Show, I thought they were a bit big and gaudy. Not anymore.

Finding suitable windshield light mounts is no longer a challenge on the JL. However, the problem with a number of these mounts is that because of the Wrangler cowl design and bolt mount location, many of the lights end up more towards the center of the hood in the driver’s line of vision than the JK, for example (and, hence, likely more light reflection off the hood). Another issue is that for those of us that need a two-way radio antenna mount, they are harder to come by for the JL. And, thirdly, the JL has no side turn-signal indicator. And that is where the 82215427AB mount came into play.

Mopar apparently designed this mount to hold just a single light, but with that much real estate available, I realized it could be utilized to handle multiple tasks. There are eight holes on each bracket: four holes used for bolting to the Jeep itself and four additional holes, though the ad pictures generally show just one of those four latter holes utilized. So out came the drill. Two 3/8” holes were added: one on top and forward where my driving light would mount, and one on the side for the wires to run for the low profile amber light I would mount to operate my European-style side turn signal. After drilling was complete, a Q-tip and some matte-black Rust-Oleum to coat and protect the drilled holes finished off that part of the task.

In my pics, you can see my Amazon amber light mounted using the two existing holes Mopar drilled on the side, but I needed a wire exit dead center behind that light and so I drilled a 3/8” hole for an inset to allow the light to fit flush. Then some black bolts and sized lock washers and nuts and the side light was mounted. Then one wire to ground and the other (“power”) wire to the turn signal wire harness. On both sides, I just tapped into the green/white stripe wire in the harness up under the fender liner (“Thanks” Forum members for that tip). Flip the turn signal on, and bingo, you now have a side turn indicator to alert any vehicle in your blind spot or any pedestrian that might move into the danger zone. It seems to cover more territory than even Mopar’s (European-style) mirror mount turn signal (& a heck of a lot cheaper).

Using the back factory hole on top of each mount (the factory holes are somewhere between 9/32” and 3/8”), I attached a PCTEL NMO BMA “thick surface 3/8 inch hole brass mount” for surfaces up to 1/8” with 17’ of coax (run thru the firewall). For those who care, on the passenger side I mounted a Laird 800 MHz No Ground Plane antenna (just say, work related); on the drivers side I mounted a Diamond Dual-Band (VHF/UHF) NR73BNMO No Ground Plane antenna (Ham & GMRS radio). I also have grounding straps coming to attach from the antenna mounts to the body (they’ll be mounted and hidden under the bracket as soon as they arrive). This mount will work for a variety of CB radio antenna mounts, as well.

The top, front “drilled” 3/8” hole is used for my Lightforce 140 driving/spot light. Dropped right in and the light itself sits further out to the edge of the hood away from the driver’s line of sight (w/considerably less reflection off the hood). Then in the middle, factory hole, I added a black 9/32” rubber grommet to protect my soldered and heat-shrunk wrapped light wires as they run thru it and into the engine compartment to a (future) controller that will be switched in the interior (if you have the JL Aux switches, you can utilize those instead).

That’s it! There are no hyper-flash or other CAN-BUS issues because I only added a light and the system doesn’t know the difference. If you are thinking about using this bracket (& drilling), my only comment is to measure those two holes you want to drill very carefully (& measure twice) and make sure you know exactly where your top light mount is going to go before you even pick up the drill. Also, use Dielectric Grease on your electrical connections.

It’s a bit more than I would normally do, but in the end I think it turned out okay and solved multiple issues for my MOAB.

Steve

Pics
  1. Mopar’s Brackets 82215427AB (pair)
  2. Mopar’s use of bracket
  3. Steve’s use of bracket
  4. Bracket showing drill locations
  5. Turn signal mount (note the extra hole drilled on top)
  6. Mount with everything mounted
  7. Turn signal wire exit
  8. Mount passenger side
  9. Mount driver side
  10. On the vehicle
  11. Light off
  12. Light on
  13. Light off
  14. Light on
  15. Light caught in blink mode (brighter than pic portrays)

Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951


Jeep Wrangler JL MOPAR Light/Antenna/Turn Signal Mounting Bracket 1601842959951
Would you happen to have a link to the Amazon light you used? Love what you did!
 
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DrPerez007

DrPerez007

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Would you happen to have a link to the Amazon light you used? Love what you did!
For some reason, link won’t carry over. Here they are. Bought four for $20.
Teguangmei 4Pcs Ultra Thin 6LED Emergency Strobe Lights Universal Surface Mount 12-24V Emergency Warning Hazard Beacon Flash Caution Light Bar for Car ATVs Truck (Amber)
 

Abramovich

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DrPerez007

DrPerez007

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Steve,
Is that antenna location working well for your GMRS?

Seemed to work fine on the cowl for the few times I used it on both Public-Safety and GMRS frequencies, however, I decided to move it. Take a look at this link I posted today showing the antenna move to the rear. Seems to work a little better there and obviously less RF making its way into the driver's compartment. Put a monitor antenna on the cowl mount instead. Still use the front passenger side cowl mount for 800 MHz (public-safety).

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/gmrs-antenna-mounting.7307/post-1319455
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