One of the first mods I did was to install some new LED off-road lights. For the Rebel, I really didn't want anything in the lower bumper area as I might consider a hidden winch system sometime down the road and so wanted to leave that area alone. I also wanted to have a slightly different look this time around rather than the typical LED light bars that I had used on prior builds and now seen on most trucks.
The Rebel front bumper is unique as there is a raised area (bulge) right under the front grille and I thought that would be an ideal spot for some round lights. So I chose to install a couple sets of the Rigid 360-Series LEDs; I measured the space between the bumper and bottom of the RAM logo and determined that the 4-inch round lights would look better fitted under the logo rather than having larger (+6-inch) lights blocking the logo.
I purchased 1-pair of the 360 Series
Spot LEDs for long distance illumination and 1-pair of the 360 Series
Driving LEDs for near distance illumination; I arranged the setup so that the driving lights are situated on both sides of the spot lights. The nice things about the 360 Series is you can replace the lens if needed and/or paint-to-match the lens surround for a custom look! I chose to leave mine black as it ties in nicely with my truck's paint color scheme.
The nerve-wracking part was precisely measuring and then drilling the (4) mounting holes in my brand new bumper. I located the center line of the bumper and measured the exact location of each drill hole spaced underneath the RAM logo while also taking into account the front bumper curve (I wanted the face of each light to follow the bumper lines). I then created a template on my computer so that I can play with the spacing of all the lights and determined that 2.25-inches of clearance between each of the 4-inch LED lights was the most aesthetically pleasing while still allowing access for adjustments.
The underside of the bumper is pretty clear and easy to get your hands/ratchets under there to mount the lights. Drilling through the steel bumper is easy as long as you use good drill bits and a variable speed drill for slow speed. However, there is a slight bend of the bumper sheet metal where it folds down under the grille so you have to make sure that you leave enough room for the mounting bolts and hardware. At same time, you don't want to have the lights extend too far out from the face of the front bumper. I measured 1-1/4 inch away from the back side of the bumper along the top of bumper as shown above and to ensure clearance within the bumper per below.
Edit: Forgot to mention that also coated the drilled holes with black touch-up paint to prevent rust.
After rechecking everything at least a dozen times...lol...I went for it and very pleased with how I got everything pretty much centered with the Ram logo at exactly 2.25-inches apart and exactly leveled.
For wiring, the Rigids come with their own wiring harnesses and 3-position LED switches (the 360-series have backlighting illumination like the Radiance series light bars). Unfortunately, they don't come with the Deutsch connectors so you have to add connectors if desired. For now, I simply used heat-shrink wire connectors and arranged the harnesses and zipped-tied everything to the body (hiding as much as possible) for a very clean install.
The switches were more problematic as they are 3-position (on-off-on) with six connectors and therefore quite a bit deeper than the standard 2-position (on-off) round switches with three connectors. I wanted to install one switch for each pair of lights so that I could have the backlighting as "running lights" and the off-road lighting only switched on when needed. I also wanted to install the two switches in the flat face of the center console right under the 12-inch screen (right next to the USB ports) but could not determine if there was enough clear space behind the console face that extends under the center stack of the dash (definitely did not want to drill out two 3/4-inch holes only to find out the switches don't fit).
So I removed all of the dash panels surrounding the steering wheel as it looked like there were a couple places up high within easy view and reach to place some switches. Unfortunately, despite the dash panel exterior appearances, there is no room behind the panels for deep switches as anything not taken up by the dash fame or control modules is taken up with additional plastic moldings on the panel themselves (and I didn't want to carve those up either). I did find enough space for (1) switch at the very bottom panel alongside the center console (see below); I did have to fab a small spacer since the switch connection tabs would not completely clear behind the panel but the pressure tabs keeps it secure for now. Since both pairs of lights have their own relays with no 12V power going to the switch, I wired both pairs of lights into the one switch but sacrificed having the backlighting until I can install two separate switches (once I figure out the center console).
But everything works and I love the finished result.