Thread: Cheap and Easy was to mount a light to your headliner....

After rigging out several cars for a local agency (an agency that could not afford to purchase vehicle specific mounts, AND requested no permanant holes / signs that equipment had been mounted in their Lease vehicles) I came up with a cheap and easy was to mount lightweight LED's to the front and rear headliners.....

You simply cut a length of wire coat-hanger (yes....coat-hanger) and bend one end in a "U" shape, which is captured by the side mounting screw on the side of the light head. Then you poke the wire through the hedliner, then bend it over 90 degrees on the inside of the headliner. Do that on the other side of the light...and like magic, your light is held in place, tight against the headliner. When you remove the light....the hole where the wire pierced the headliner is so small that you'll never see it. I've done this on the front and rear headliners.

crappy cell phone pics..

I want to see step by step pics of this process. Others might be interested as well. Great idea.

Originally Posted by Lightbarnut

I want to see step by step pics of this process. Others might be interested as well. Great idea.

+1 this is a good idea. I may try this if I can get a bit more info on how to

Chris

What keeps this from going airborne in an accident or rollover?

Originally Posted by MESDA6

What keeps this from going airborne in an accident or rollover?

My guess is the headliner.

Question - if your using coat hanger, why pierce the headliner. Seems like you could mount it to the light the same way, but make the loop long enough that you could angle it forward towards the windshield and then back between the roof and headliner several inches. I bet it would stay put just fine.

Originally Posted by WS224

My guess is the headliner.

Question - if your using coat hanger, why pierce the headliner. Seems like you could mount it to the light the same way, but make the loop long enough that you could angle it forward towards the windshield and then back between the roof and headliner several inches. I bet it would stay put just fine.

Or, over to the sun visor mounts???

Can you even buy wire hangers anymore?

Originally Posted by turnz

Can you even buy wire hangers anymore?

yes. i buy them buy the hundreds. and they are cheaper then the plastic ones now.

maybe adding a pic to this post of what the coathanger looks like once bent for installation. and i think i would paint the wire myself with satin black paint, to blend in even more with the light.

How firmly is the light actually held in place? I'd be afraid that during a pursuit, or even the way some people respond to some high priority calls, it may come down and smack you in the face...

Can you post some directions/pictures of the process? I've been looking for an alternative to my hard mount, I can't get it high and tight enough and its starting to aggravate me a bit

Sorry I havent gotten back sooner...I didnt know my thingy had posted! I'll take some more detailed pics of the process, and add them to this thread asap.

FWIW....as long as you make your bends tight...the wire holds the light up against the headliner tighter than hell!


stay tuned for more pics....

+1 on painting ten coat hanger black. You could probably even just brush it with touch up paint. Wouldn't stand out nearly as much.

Auto fix on the iPad got me.......paint the coat hanger, not paint ten coat hanger.

Originally Posted by WS224

Auto fix on the iPad got me.......paint the coat hanger, not paint ten coat hanger.

It might be more effective use of time to paint ten coat hangers at once. lol


I am thinking that black epoxy Appliance paint would be good here. It comes in a pen and a white out type bottle with brush.

Originally Posted by turnz

Can you even buy wire hangers anymore?

I imagine your local drycleaner uses nothing but wire hangers.

Now that is awesome! After recently struggling with mounting something around my rear-view mirror, I think you've found the perfect solution!! Thanks

i mounted my micro man lights in my car with wire "pipe hanger"

notice thats pipe hanger and not pipe cleaners...


works like a charm.

Originally Posted by Jarred J.

i mounted my micro man lights in my car with wire "pipe hanger"

notice thats pipe hanger and not pipe cleaners...


works like a charm.

Pics please

O-kay,... but I would have took the custom route with customized brackets that doesn't require any cuts, holes, etc. and holds it like a rock & snug on the windshield to eliminate flash-backs. As for "painting" the wire, least effective method would be a Sharpie, most effective are industrial paint markers that marks ANYTHING except liquids.

lacopenproline.jpg

Originally Posted by ark_firefighter

Pics please

theyve been posted for months.

look for my thread "microman lights through 20% tint"

Originally Posted by WS224

+1 on painting ten coat hanger black. You could probably even just brush it with touch up paint. Wouldn't stand out nearly as much.

They also have that plastidip ... that plastic dip stuff you can coat anything in..... could probably even give it more strength!! What do you think?? Comes in different colors.

Originally Posted by Jarred J.

theyve been posted for months.

look for my thread "microman lights through 20% tint"

I think he meant of the mounting brackets

What a great idea! I was looking for a way to mount a talon to my headliner and this solved the problem. I started out with it in the front, but I couldn't get it in the center so I moved it to the back and that looks pretty good (I might keep it there.) It took me about 20 minutes to cut and bend the wire the way I wanted it but it mounted up super quick in both spots, and was nice and tight against the headliner. Here are a few pictures I took.

Front:



Back:

Originally Posted by WS224

My guess is the headliner.

Question - if your using coat hanger, why pierce the headliner. Seems like you could mount it to the light the same way, but make the loop long enough that you could angle it forward towards the windshield and then back between the roof and headliner several inches. I bet it would stay put just fine.

The problem that I see with this idea is that the full weight of the light will be cantilevered from the bend points, with the weight and the support trying to go different directions.

The way presented by the OP suspends the weight directly below the support points, and the screws keep the hooks from easily unbending.

Originally Posted by tom

What a great idea! I was looking for a way to mount a talon to my headliner and this solved the problem. I started out with it in the front, but I couldn't get it in the center so I moved it to the back and that looks pretty good (I might keep it there.) It took me about 20 minutes to cut and bend the wire the way I wanted it but it mounted up super quick in both spots, and was nice and tight against the headliner. Here are a few pictures I took.

Front:



Back:

Looks pretty good!!

Originally Posted by tom

was nice and tight against the headliner. Here are a few pictures I took.

What does it look like from outside?

Originally Posted by SireLite

What does it look like from outside?

I took one of both the front and back. Like I said, I didn't like it in the front so I moved it to the rear. In the rear the lights are hard to see because I have window tint, but I like that.. more stealthy.

Front:


Back:

Originally Posted by ark_firefighter

Pics please

ok i took some pics for another thread im about to do so heres the before...








after....








they havent moved the headliner grabs the pipe hanger. I left it long to help stabilize the weight. just used a couple of nuts and bolts to attach it to the light head and then wedged it up there.

I have found the easiest way to mount a light to the headliner (whelen dual talon) is to have the headliner mount for it....take that put it in a vise grip, take out your 1 inch hole saw and drill a hole in the center of the side that goes on the roof. next you mount it onto you dual talon, go into your car (my crown vic), take out your special star shaped screw driver and remove the little clip for the sun visor. next you'll take the clip and put it in the mount for the light and screw it back into the hole. this makes for a very tight , very clean, no damage to the headliner and it is tucked snug with the windscreen so you have no flashback and it is out of sight line in the little tinted area. and there you have it the best way to mount a dual talon to the headliner of a crown vic and it should work with any other model car