Any one with a military vehicle has at one time or another had a close call
with another civvy vehicle on the road. I know I have. Especially if you
have driven yours at night. Those of us on this MV list will remember the
bally hoo that followed the report of the camo MV vs. civvy vehicle lawsuit
thread that ran for a while too.
Anyway, as the owner of a MK 2/3 Ferret I was considering this issue
closely, and have now come up with my way of discreetly mounting a good
sized and well visible rotating / flashing amber warning light.
My concerns were mainly based on the fact that at night the Ferret lights
aren't that visible and I was deathly afraid of some yahoo planting me in
the rear so too speak. The other concern, which if you know me well you will
have heard before, no new holes on my vehicle. So with that in mind I put my
thinking cap on as I beavered away at work and readily came up with a
solution.
On the left side of the hull on the upper part just below the turret ring I
have a Number 31 Mk 2 antennae mount, this is the Clansman style that has
an opening of aprox 5/16" and a butterfly nut to clamp onto the base once
inserted into the mount. Also at that corner of the vehicle just inside the
rear of the crew compartment is the aux power supply point. This location is
also high enough that I will not see it in my rear view mirror all the time.
I made up an aluminum ( aluminium ) base plate 6" square with a 5/16" round
bar stock rod welded to the centre at 90 degrees. I made a hole thru the
plate so that I could weld top and bottom for greater strength. I chose
aluminum for the sake that its light and will not corrode. I rounded the
corners off on the plate and spray painted it matt green. The light I have
is from the Caterpillar dealership and is their part number 130-7580 and is
infact a Britax part. It comes with three bolts projecting downward from the
base and these bolt onto the plate very simply. It also comes with a coiled
cord that is of a reasonable length. The important issue is that for my mind
it is one of the best looking flashing lights around, good brightness and
speed of rotation PLUS it will work on both 12 and 24 volts, which if you
have multiple MV's of varying voltages is a benefit.
The Caterpillar light comes with a rubber collar that you swap on or off the
drive wheel for the beacon according to the voltage. The H1 halogen bulb on
the other hand will have to be changed from the supplied 12 volts to a 24
volt one if you want it too last. 12v bulbs last about one half of one
second on 24v, but boy do they burn bright! Your local good quality auto
parts supplier should have them in stock, in Canada the Osram H1 in 24v
costs me about 12 dollars.
As I have fitted my Ferret with a short pigtail cord from the aux power
socket with a Grote polarised two prong female plug. I have replaced the
male socket from the Caterpillar light with a Grote connector to match my
set up, infact all my aux power items now use it so I don't have to buy
those expensive little Lucas two prong plugs.
Now, to mount the light I remove the antennae and drop the base plate into
the mount and clamp onto the rod, you will find that 5/16" is a micro hair
too small and one wrap of the rod with plastic tape makes it a snug fit. I
pass the cord thru the corner hatch and connect the light. I am fitting a
torpedo style on off switch to the light cord just before the plug so that I
can turn it off when not in motion as the vehicle electric's stay live after
the ignition key is turned off.
So there you go, for me as a welder this was a simple job, for the rest of
you mere mortals........ well buy a welder a pint and he'll probably run a
bead around you plate for you, or use mild steel and learn to braze.
The Caterpillar light is not cheap if you have to pay full retail so look
out, but it is a great looking light. If you have a threaded type amu then
finding a fastener of the same thread and welding that to you base plate
will serve the same purpose. Good luck.
rgds
Robin Craig, now clearly visible................
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