Added Convoy Lights to the Deuce

[dittle]

Last weekend I went down to my deuce and put on a set of convoy lights. I got a set of the military issue spin lights and the rest of my work was all fab work. Poles were made of 2" x 60" tubing with an 8" disc welded to the top, with this setup being non-adjustable unlike the "stock" setup. I drilled out the center of the disc and ran my wiring down through the center of the pipes to help protect it from the elements. Poles were mounted to the back of the cab via 2" exhaust clamps through the normal mounting holes. Ground wires were put to the cab body via self-tapping screws. Power was tapped via a military "Y" adapter from the back of the battery gauge. Power went from the "Y" to a 20A inline fused link, then through a toggle switch mounted on the bottom of the dash (near front-end engagement lever), out the back of the cab where the wires come from the slave to the batteries and then up to the lights. Had to haul a tractor home from the neighbors so I figured it would be a good test for the lights...they worked perfectly. While I was at it I also wired in an interior light from a M48 tank to this circuit as well. That way if I'm running at night and I want the interior light I have to have my convoy lights as well. Didn't get any pictures of the wiring or interior light but I can get them next month if wanted. Plan on taking the deuce out when I down for X-mas.

 

[DieselBob]

Nice work. I need to get one of those armored interior lights for my deuce. I don't run much at night but there has been a time or two I could have used one.

 

[Akicita]

Sounds like a solid job that'll keep those lights rolling for years to come.
Based on the pictures, I guess your lights are a bit low for when you have bows and tarp installed. Of course, that doesn't matter if you always run topless. I bought my truck without bows and tarp but got them earlier this year.
Enjoy!

 

[dittle]

If I'm doing any serious highway driving I take my tarp off. No reason to beat it to death driving down the highway if I don't need to. If the lights are covered by it oh well. I set the height as close as I could to the top of the exhaust stack so that if I have to haul it on a semi again I'm still legal on height without changing anything.

 

[eagle4g63]

Looks good, thanks for the write up of what you used. I just ordered two lights for my truck and will have to make the poles myself....so this will help, I can go and buy the stuff now and start making them.

 

[plym49]

Looks perfect. I also like the old school wide whitewalls.

 

[CobraCDR]

Looks good!

 

[Pearadeuce]

Looks like you use your 706 as a pusher to go up hill??? I see it hooked up with your tow bar LOL

 

[JAYHAWK 1962]

Looks great. Would like to see more close up shots.

 

[dittle]

Looks like you use your 706 as a pusher to go up hill??? I see it hooked up with your tow bar LOL

The 706 is DOA at the moment. It has major issues and with the cost involved to get it running again we have decided to sell it as it wouldn't get used often enough to keep a lot of the same issues from coming back. I did have to haul it up some pretty big hills on the way to my mom's house. 3rd gear high range and the deuce was bellowing pretty good (keep in mind I did bypass the FDC and didn't turn the fuel down). Tried to keep it in the 20 - 25mph range as I didn't need it going any faster, probably the fastest that tractor has ever went actually.

White walls are gravel dust, nothing more. Hard to keep the girl cleaned when you have to take gravel roads in and out of where she is stored. Just makes me have to wash it before parades.

 

[dittle]

Looks great. Would like to see more close up shots.

I'll get some more pictures next month when I down playing with it in the snow.

 

[bones1]

Good job. I have been thinking about getting some of these lights as well.

 

[dittle]

Well instead of pictures I just shot a video of the install. Hope this works for you guys who wanted more information.

 

[eagle4g63]

Nice video. I made mine the same way, however, my lights were larger around than that(mine are 11") and they spin slower than yours. I bought mine from Saturn surplus, where did you get yours?

 

[dittle]

Trash can new in the box.......

 

[eagle4g63]

Also I noticed that with the way you(and me) connected the tube to the back of the cab, you could loosen the "U" bolts and raise the polls. I looked and you should be able to raise them just above a rear cover. As long as you left some slack in your wiring(which I did just for that reason).

 

[dittle]

I had thought about that option but I'm not going to leave the cover on all the time just so it doesn't get beat up unless I actually need to cover something. I didn't leave spare wire as I didn't want it to be able to get caught somewhere and rip out.

 

[dittle]

Finally got a chance to get a video of the lights at night. Also showed the interior armor light that I put in the cab though its hard to tell what it is. Had to take the road across the creek bottom between 2 fields of corn, was pretty cool to do that drive with the lights turned on.

 

[DieselBob]

I had mine running one evening and a couple neighbors thought the utility company was working on something.