Prius gen 3 has two front towing mounts. It seems to me they would be a very sturdy place to mount big light bar. Anyone foresee problems with this, or seen this done before? (I know I would need fashion up some drop-down bracket for the license plate, which is right in the middle.) I am thinking to either of these: 1. iJDMTOY No Drill Front Bumper Tow Hook License Plate Mounting Bracket Adapter Kit Compatible with 13-17 Scion FRS, 13-21 Subaru BRZ & 15-21 WRX, 10-15 Toyota Prius & 17-21 86 : Amazon.com.au: Automotive (however there are a few reviews of it coming loose, which obviously would be no good. Hopefully the 2nd mounting point will help reduce wiggling, and I could use Lock-tite glue on the threads) 2.The Tow Hook Camera Mount for 2010-2015 Toyota Prius (this is probably a better quality mount. I see a bigger fixing at the end, and it's made for a precious go-pro. cost a bit more though.
Priusoffroad offers something but a bit pricier than the options you posted Light Bar Mount: 2010-2015 Prius
Grab two tow hooks from cars at a scrapyard, cut the hook part and make the end flat, drill the flat ends on both former tow hooks and tap it for whatever thread size bolts you'll be using. Buy a fairly thick flat steel wide enough so that you can make it contour the bumper and still be able bolt the lightbar to it. Put a bolt in the end of the hooks and use that to screw them on the car. Make or buy 90° brackets (keep in mind that flimsy 90° brackets without reinforcements can shake and break over time if there's weight on it), bolt them to the threaded tow hooks, bolt the flat steel on it, install the light and wire it up. Depending on the lenght of the light bar, you could even skip the flat steel part and bolt it directly to the 90° brackets if the light backets are lining up with the tow hooks or if you use a different kind of brackets that allows for adjustments. I don't know the actual distance between the tow hooks, so finding a light with the exact lenght might not be possible. But that's how I'd do it. You'd basically need a vice, a drill, a set of taps, a grinder and a flat sanding disc (wearing protective glass otherwise OSHA will show up and curse at you), solvent to clean the parts, primer and paint.
In most US states there are regulations about not putting giant sharp spears on, and sometimes they don't want anything hook-shaped or with certain size holes in it, but there's a lot of latitude. And almost exactly the same lack of enforcement there is for the lights themselves- in many states, you have to have an opaque physical cover installed over the lamps when the car is driven on a public street. But I don't think that's earned anyone a ticket since the 1970s. The fancy retail light bar seems well made, but I have to question.... grade 10.9 bolts to mount it? That strikes me as idiotic. If when somebody crunches the front end, you'd have a hard time removing those very hard bolts from the bumper to remove the bumper cover for work on the rest of the car. If they used class 4.6 it'd just be a bit of drill work.
I don't know how many sensors are on a Gen 3, but you wouldn't want to block any of those, either. (The constant beeping would drive you nuts!!)
hmm ... all good points, thank you. I would love to do the project, but Australian laws do make a point of excluding extensions out front, for pedestrian safety. Which would technically exude number-plate mounting systems, however, these are very commonly used so I guess the police don't enforce that law. I think I'll use my light bar with a number-plate mount, and also have two spotlights either side of it, or perhaps hanging underneath. I've been told that it's a good idea to reinforce the area on the inside with some aluminium, to reduce bouncing, so I'll do that.
