The off-road industry may be a multi-million-dollar market, but it’s still a pretty tight-knit community made up of enthusiasts who went into business in an industry they love. That’s why it should come as no surprise that some of the coolest rigs out there are owned by people who produce, distribute or manufacture off-road products, because deep down, they’re enthusiasts just like the rest of us.

We came across a cool project truck recently when KC HiLiTES enlisted SoCal SuperTrucks to help take its 2014 Ford F-150 Ratpor to the next level. KC was looking to install a plethora of its newest LEDs on the Raptor as well as a Baja Coyote Off-Road bumper. And when we say a plethora of lights, we mean it – KC HiLiTES has enough light power to single handedly host a nighttime pre-season football game in the desert.

The first step of the project would be replacing the Raptor bumper with a new one from Baja Coyote, which is constructed of 1 3/4-inch steeling tubing with a 2-inch main tube. This new bumper will provide more ground clearance up front while also providing a more aggressive approach angle, along with added protection via its integrated skid plate. Most importantly to KC, it offers plenty of locations to mount auxiliary lights. Since the truck is already fitted with 37-inch Toyo A/T II tires and an Icon Ford Raptor Stage 3 Suspension System lift, the new bumper will complement the type of off-roading for which the truck is built. Baja Coyote says its bumper is the first cut-frame front bumper available for the Raptor, meaning it will require some cajones to commit to the new bumper since it requires some frame trimming. Once completed, however, the Baja Coyote front bumper’s custom mounts will fit over the original stock bumper location and utilize preexisting stock holes.

The flat-top surface of the top of the Baja Coyote bumper is ideal for mounting auxiliary lighting, and it can be drilled to accommodate 10 LED surface mounts or fit a single 40-inch light bar, though KC will be mixing it up and installing multiple LEDs so the angle can be adjusted with the curvature of the bumper for ideal light output. The bumper also comes standard with a C-Series 20-inch Amber LED light bar mount behind the skid plate, and you know KC isn’t going to skip adding one of its LED bars there.

The original plan was for KC HiLiTES to use a single Flex LED on each end of the bumper and then sandwich between them a number of Flex Dual LEDs, but after checking the spacing, the plan was adapted to just use eight Flex Dual lights and no singles. The 20-watt Flex Dual LED Light System is available in spread or spot patterns and they reside in an IP68 rated die-cast aluminum housing. The spread beam is a 20-watt light rated at 1950 Lumens, 350 LUX at 10 meters, and 35,000 Candela. The spot beam is a 20-watt light rated at 1950 Lumens, 500 LUX at 10 meters and 50,000 Candela. The LEDs provide a 5,700K color temperature, are said to have a 50,000-hour LED lifespan, they operate on 9 to 18 volts, and they are protected against EMI interference. Each pack includes a wiring harness with waterproof connectors. One of the biggest selling points for the KC HiLiTES Flex system is its adaptability, as the lights are designed to be linked or stacked depending upon the application.

As we mentioned previously, there are a great number of lights being installed on this Raptor, so we’re only touching on part of the installation here. We’ll follow up with another story detailing the other lighting upgrades, so check back with Off-Road.com on the completion of the KC HiLiTES Raptor.

SOURCES
KC HiLiTES
http://www.kchilites.com/

SoCal SuperTrucks
http://www.socalsupertrucks.com/