ORACLE Lighting Sidetrack and RGB+W Rock Lights Install
Why start a Jeep club if you can’t use it to allow members to get together and help each other install parts and upgrades? I had no idea how important my Jeep club would become to me when we founded it six years ago. Three guys who met online, got together, and took a scenic ride to a local brewery and decided then that what they had could be special. From that meeting and a few beverages later, a large Jeep club in Pennsylvania was formed. Settling on the name Jeep Enthusiasts of Eastern PA, the club has an online membership of over ten thousand members. The people I am closest to and do the most with my Jeep belong to that group of generous people.
When I reached out to a group of the members to install some LED Rock Lights and Jeep Sidetrack Lights by Oracle Lighting, they all jumped at the chance to hang out and do Jeep stuff. I needed to borrow a garage because it’s cold here in the Lehigh Valley at this time of the year and dark at 5pm. Three others and I gathered at Kolby’s house for an evening of laughter, pizza, and beer. Oh, and lights to be installed.
I brought the ORACLE Lighting Sidetrack LED Fender Lighting System for JK and two Four-piece ORACLE Lighting ColorSHIFT RGB+W Wheel Well Rock Light kits that needed to be installed. After the normal hugs and catching up, the team broke into the pizzas and cracked open some 60 Minute IPA’s from Dog Fish Head Brewery, while I unloaded the lights.
Brandon had installed the Oracle Lighting Sidetrack on his Jeep the week before. They looked great on his Hella Yella JL and since he already had completed the install, he was assigned to lead that installation on mine. Mike and Kolby oversaw removing my older set of rock lights and installing the new ones under the vehicle and routing the cables along the frame up to the engine bay. Jason and I were going to manage the cables under the hood and install the Bluetooth controllers for the rock lights. We are both meticulous about the wiring and did the previous rock lights install on my Jeep together in his garage with Kolby.
Here's a little information on the products from my perspective.
The Sidetrack is an LED lighting system that attaches on the fender of each side just at the rear curve of each fender flare. The Jeep Wrangler JK version gives the stylish visage of the Jeep Wrangler JL side vent near the fender flare. While this is a bonus to the functionality of the lights, the vent look really isn’t functional on either Jeep model but gives it a sleek modern appearance and fills in the space fully on the JL. The LED lights of the Sidetrack will serve two purposes: high-output white LEDs as a convenient “puddle light” and an amber turn indicator for the side of the vehicle.
The Wheel Well RGB+W Rock Lights are a huge upgrade to the standard LED rock lights in the industry. These oversized pods each have 22 LED lights and covers an impressive 230˚ . These rock lights feature thousands of colors to select from and a true 6000K white that is bright and shows as actual white. The rock lights are connected to the Bluetooth controller box with waterproof Plug & Play connectors for an easier installation. The controller connects via Bluetooth using the Oracle ColorSHIFT Pro app. It does have a separate on/off switch installed to run into the cab to control the lights. The rock lights can also be controlled completely with the included RF remote control.
The installation of each item was very straightforward. There are videos on oraclelights.com for each to follow along.
Brandon made quick work of the driver’s side of the Sidetrack as the instructions were clear on that side. I helped him get the wiring through the grommet in the engine bay as that was a little different than his JL. The passenger is the same as the driver with one exception, the wiring colors on the turn signal are different. I’m not sure why Jeep would make that production choice but, it is different. This only slowed us down by a couple of minutes. We needed to test the wires to tap the correct ones, which were white and green. This had five guys standing around the front corner of my Jeep looking at the tester seemingly needing each of us to confirm. It was a humorous distraction for us.
A few words about the installation of the Jeep Sidetrack light. My experience, with Very High Bond (VHB) adhesive that is used to securely attach the light housing to the vehicle, is that you need to prepare the surface properly before adhesion. This will help the attachment to last for years to come. Clean the area thoroughly. Use soap and water or wash the entire vehicle, but I wouldn’t recommend using a spray cleaner or “detailer” as this will hinder the adhesion. Use an alcohol wipe or isopropyl alcohol to do the final cleaning of the area. If it is cold, you may need to warm the surface and the tape carefully with a heat gun or a hair dryer.
Measure the area before attaching, multiple times and mark as necessary to make sure the housing fits exactly where you want it. It’s ok to be a little OCD here. Once the position is established, with the housing held onto the jeep, peel the backing from the VHB and allow it to attach. Firmly and evenly press and hold the housing in place for 15-30 seconds. This will allow the VHB to fully compress and adhere.
Kolby and Mike installed the eight RGB+W Rock Light pods and ran the cables neatly and cable-managed into the engine bay. I had the two Four-piece rock light kits as the Eight-piece was not available at the time. This made installation simpler and did not necessitate the extensions. I recommend getting two to four extensions if you plan to install these on vehicles with longer wheelbases, such as, 4 door Jeeps and Broncos or almost any RAM, Ford, Toyota, or other truck. You’ll thank me later.
Since we had two controllers, I decided to install each Bluetooth controller on opposite sides of the engine bay, so all the cables from the rear of the Jeep would reach. I have a six-switch panel installed in my Jeep with a connection box with relays in the engine bay. I chose to run the controllers to connect there to control the on/off function of the lights. This means I did not need the switch attached to the controller and just tied them up and tucked neatly out of the way.
Once the installation and wires were neatly cleaned up. It was time to show off the work. Every LED light came on and worked exactly as it should. It was time to shut off the lights and see the results. I will do a full product review soon for each and really get into the details, but the overall effect was, “WOW”. The results could be seen immediately, and everyone was impressed. They were impressed with the brightness and functionality of each of these LED lighting products and the satisfaction of a job well-done.
It's fun working on a project with your friends. The workload is shared and there is a certain comradery with such a shared experience. Thanks guys!
Jeepin’ Terry is the Events & Offroad Guru for Oracle Lighting. In his spare time, he is the host of the Jeep Life Podcast and co-founder of the Jeep Enthusiasts of Eastern Pennsylvania, one of the largest Jeep clubs in the state. His obsession with Jeeps started in the 80s with his boss’s big bad blue CJ5. Growing up in the mountains of Tennessee, Terry spent plenty of time on the trails and in the outdoors. His 2017 Wrangler, named Kylo, has been to California and back and everywhere in between, finding trails and adventures everywhere… and constantly asks for more.