[Derrrrick]

Hey Guys, well since everyone else is doing it I guess I might as well start a thread about my V and the things that I do to it. Right now (12-22-09) I have a stock 2006 Honda CR-V, 2.4L I4 iVTEC, AWD, 5-speed M/T.

The first customization I did to the thing was get some new wiper blades. The old ones were new factory Honda blades but I thought they sucked. So I went to Auto Zone and bought a set of Rain-X Latitude Blades. They were about $40 but they seem worth it so far.

The second thing I did to the car was add a shifter knob that lights up. It is made out of brushed aluminum and looks very cool. I have just removed it though because it was too cold in the mornings and it was a bit loose even when cranked all the way down. I didn't like the way it felt. If anyone wants the shifter knob I will sell it to ya for $10. It cost me $25 on 12-20-09. I only have the adapter that fit in my car, but it should fit any Gen2 CR-V. Let me know if you want it. Pic:

The shifter knob uses a coin battery in the top part, it unscrewes to change the battery.

Other then that the thing is stock. I went out and bought a pair of driving lights. I may try to mount them to the grill in the front. I was thinking about one on either side of the license plate. Would this work OK? Would it cause the engine to over heat? The radiator is right there so I don't know if it would cause any problems. Pic:

The lights would all depend on if my parents are OK with me doing it. My dad said that he doesn't want me making any changes that can't be undone. I know that almost everything can be removed but still I don't know if he will want me putting these on. I haven't opened them yet so if my dad says no I can return them.

I am also planning on either replacing the radio with one that has XM (would cost about $500) or having a portable XM radio hard mounted to the dash. I will probably go that route because it would save me about $300.

Anyway, let me know on the lights. The V runs pretty cool (under half of the gauge) so I don't think that it would affect it much.

 

[Serj22]

You're already planning on Drilling holes in the car for lights? Oh my... didn't I tell you mate, wait till it gets old!

 

[Jwood70]

If you really want some aux lights, I would look for some factory lights. You have the cutouts already in your bumper. Just an idea.

 

[jeprox]

Hey Guys, well since everyone else is doing it I guess I might as well start a thread about my V and the things that I do to it. Right now (12-22-09) I have a stock 2006 Honda CR-V, 2.4L I4 iVTEC, AWD, 5-speed M/T.

The first customization I did to the thing was get some new wiper blades. The old ones were new factory Honda blades but I thought they sucked. So I went to Auto Zone and bought a set of Rain-X Latitude Blades. They were about $40 but they seem worth it so far.

The second thing I did to the car was add a shifter knob that lights up. It is made out of brushed aluminum and looks very cool. I have just removed it though because it was too cold in the mornings and it was a bit loose even when cranked all the way down. I didn't like the way it felt. If anyone wants the shifter knob I will sell it to ya for $10. It cost me $25 on 12-20-09. I only have the adapter that fit in my car, but it should fit any Gen2 CR-V. Let me know if you want it. Pic:

The shifter knob uses a coin battery in the top part, it unscrewes to change the battery.

Other then that the thing is stock. I went out and bought a pair of driving lights. I may try to mount them to the grill in the front. I was thinking about one on either side of the license plate. Would this work OK? Would it cause the engine to over heat? The radiator is right there so I don't know if it would cause any problems. Pic:

The lights would all depend on if my parents are OK with me doing it. My dad said that he doesn't want me making any changes that can't be undone. I know that almost everything can be removed but still I don't know if he will want me putting these on. I haven't opened them yet so if my dad says no I can return them.

I am also planning on either replacing the radio with one that has XM (would cost about $500) or having a portable XM radio hard mounted to the dash. I will probably go that route because it would save me about $300.

Anyway, let me know on the lights. The V runs pretty cool (under half of the gauge) so I don't think that it would affect it much.

lemme try to give you some advice, here goes:
1. imo, you would be better off in saving up and get a bull bar and then install the driving/fog lights on the bull bar instead of drilling holes on your bumper. you kill 2 birds with one stone as they say - you get a nice bull bar AND lights. the bull bar will give your crv that tough looking off-road machine - if this is what you would like. if not, look in ebay for OEM style fog/driving lights for your model. best to have the OEM look and not drill holes on your bumper. just my opinion.
2. it's natural you wanna mod your 1st car right away, but... plan your mods carefully. it's very easy to go crazy and start spending money on useless mods and later on you regret it.
3. this is the important one, if you are working now - fine. if you're not, start working and save your money/use your own money for the mods... but dont spend it all for mods. . i believe your parents wouldn't mind so much if you use your own cash to mod the car.

adding the lights as you mentioned won't affect the temperature of your car.

goodluck and have fun.

 

[Derrrrick]

lemme try to give you some advice, here goes:
1. imo, you would be better off in saving up and get a bull bar and then install the driving/fog lights on the bull bar instead of drilling holes on your bumper. you kill 2 birds with one stone as they say - you get a nice bull bar AND lights. the bull bar will give your crv that tough looking off-road machine - if this is what you would like. if not, look in ebay for OEM style fog/driving lights for your model. best to have the OEM look and not drill holes on your bumper. just my opinion.
2. it's natural you wanna mod your 1st car right away, but... plan your mods carefully. it's very easy to go crazy and start spending money on useless mods and later on you regret it.
3. this is the important one, if you are working now - fine. if you're not, start working and save your money/use your own money for the mods... but dont spend it all for mods. . i believe your parents wouldn't mind so much if you use your own cash to mod the car.

adding the lights as you mentioned won't affect the temperature of your car.

goodluck and have fun.

My dad doesn't want me getting a bull bar, at least not at this time. He doesn't want to spending that kind of money and he thinks it would look weird. As far as mods I do want to go crazy LOL but my dad isn't gonna let that happen. Third, I do have a job and I would be paying for all of the mods. My dad knows this, but he wants me to keep my car stock because of its resell value.

I just talked to him and he was OK with the lights. He said we could look at the front and decide on a good place to mount them. I was thinking of using some big zip ties to hold the lights on instead of drilling holes. I don't want to drill any holes in my bumper or dash for that matter.

 

[Derrrrick]

Lights

OK, I talked to my dad and he said he was OK with mounting the lights. Now we just have to find a place to mount them. Here is a pic of everything included:

Now, I was planning on mounting them here:

but on the instructions to the lights it says that they become very hot during use (duh) and not to mount them to something plastic.... which is what that grill area is made out of. My dad doesn't want me drilling many holes or mounting a brush bar so any ideas of where to mount the lights where heat wouldn't affect them?

Oh and by the way the lights are very cheap Blazer Desert Fox CW8002K that were only $25 at Advanced Auto Parts. I don't know how bright they are gonna be or how long they are gonna last but they should at least be brighter then the stock lights.

 

[jeprox]

My dad doesn't want me getting a bull bar, at least not at this time. He doesn't want to spending that kind of money and he thinks it would look weird. As far as mods I do want to go crazy LOL but my dad isn't gonna let that happen. Third, I do have a job and I would be paying for all of the mods. My dad knows this, but he wants me to keep my car stock because of its resell value.

I just talked to him and he was OK with the lights. He said we could look at the front and decide on a good place to mount them. I was thinking of using some big zip ties to hold the lights on instead of drilling holes. I don't want to drill any holes in my bumper or dash for that matter.

mods will not drop your resale value later - well, it depends on what mods u have. some mods will actually increase your resale value and this is why you have to plan carefully.

DO NOT use zip ties to hold/mount your lights. if you are going to do it, do it the right way or dont do it at all. mounting aftermarket fog/driving lights almost always will involve drilling holes on the bumper and/or frame somewhere.

 

[jeprox]

OK, I talked to my dad and he said he was OK with mounting the lights. Now we just have to find a place to mount them. Here is a pic of everything included:

Now, I was planning on mounting them here:

but on the instructions to the lights it says that they become very hot during use (duh) and not to mount them to something plastic.... which is what that grill area is made out of. My dad doesn't want me drilling many holes or mounting a brush bar so any ideas of where to mount the lights where heat wouldn't affect them?

Oh and by the way the lights are very cheap Blazer Desert Fox CW8002K that were only $25 at Advanced Auto Parts. I don't know how bright they are gonna be or how long they are gonna last but they should at least be brighter then the stock lights.

the mounting spot you showed should be just fine. you just have to mount them properly using the provided brackets and you may have to fabricate some other brackets for the light brackets to hold onto.

those lights look like "off-road" lights and i dont see any relay on your picture. you should check the wattage of the bulbs and make sure u have a relay. if the bulb is over 55W, usually you cannot use them legally on roads.
so check your local laws about what's allowed and what's not allowed. the relay - it's best to have relay or there's a big chance u will run into blown fuses or something else later on.

 

[MarkyMark]

If your dad's biggest concern is resale value, then I would return those lights and get the factory Honda fog lights.

I understand how excited you are. I had a $1200 audio system in my first car. The car itself was $400.

 

[Derrrrick]

Alright, well as I am sitting here tonight looking at the lights I bought and looking at the car I have decided that I am gonna return the lights and get something different. They just aren't gonna mount very well and they are big and bulky. I don't know what I am going to get, but I will get something that is a bit more expensive. I am worried about putting $25 lights on my car. I am afraid they are gonna melt, or short out, or catch on fire, or something. LOL.

Well, I will keep everyone posted on what I do.

 

[jimmohoney]

nice b day gift man. She look sexxy.

 

[Serj22]

Square lights on a round car,get the factory fogs. Easily done and adds value to the car, almost anything you install from a common auto-store is generic and decreases the value. If you're trying to go as crazy as my car, understand that mine is 8 years old, and has 140,000 miles on it, and is only worth about $10,000 sitting stock. WHile I have put A LOT of money into it, I'm talking about $3,000 in stereo equipment, and $1,000 on modifications and performance settings, and $2,000 on paint, the car is not now worth $16,000, you can pretty much take whatever you put into that and subtract it from the original price, so I'm looking at $5,000 to sell it to a normal person, but someone who enjoys the mods and wants this particular car, would give me the $16,000 but you gotta find someone who wants THAT EXACT CAR in THAT EXACT CONDITION, which is likely to be 1 person other than you in the entire world. It starts with those lights that you have there, then you decide they look like crap, so you get new lights, then those need a bar to protect them because you notice they get chips in them while driving, $200,
Now you want a roof rack with more lights on it, $300, but now the grill doesn't look that good with the lights, then the color white doesn't suit you anymore, or you kept drilling holes and slipping with the drill, and now you need a new paint job. $1,000. Etc... etc... etc... Oh then there's the "you didn't wire the lights correctly, and shorted a lot of other stuff"...

The reason we say to leave it stock is because we ALL had high school cars. You wanna see my High-School car when I bought it brand new in 2001?

Here she is:

It would have looked just fine and only 2 years old at the time...
Why is there bull horns? I THOUGHT THEY WOULD LOOK COOL AT THE TIME! They didn't did they? Guess how I mounted them? I drilled a hole in the hood of the car, brilliant right? The hole orignally was used to mount a removable strap for driving lights much like the ones you got, then I had to make the hole bigger for the horns.

Well, I grew out of them, cause they kept getting stolen, cut the bolt hole out, and welded in a new piece of metal and flushed it, and repainted the hood in the paint shop I was working at.... BUT IT DIDN'T STOP THERE! Couple hundred more trips to Best Buy, Autozone, and the paint shop, and I wound up with this:

I had a pontiac as my first car, and I don't really count it, because it was 14 years old at the time, and only ran about 2 weeks a year, inbetween fixing it.

I spent $10,000 OF MY OWN MONEY on that Jimmy, and after all that, the differential broke, the transmission was destroyed, and the Engine was ceased, I sold it to a junk yard for $260, and sold the rear window for $200, so I made out about $500 for a $10,000 car I only had for about a year, maybe more.

After that, I did not mod any more cars because it was such a waste, I had an Audi A6, a Porsche 1911, and a Chevy Silverado, and they were all kept stock, then I got the Cr-v, and now that i have a real paycheck (not minimum wage) and time, I mod it correctly, sometimes cheap to make projects, but I have the time and cash to work with it. My car started like this:

And I POSITIVELY added modifications that made it look better, not worse. No alternate useless lights, nothing like that, appropriate and good stereo and sound system, real seats (not painted black, that didn't work) and a REAL paint job, not done by myself, even though I could have done it, I just don't have a shop large enough anymore. I also bought it specifically to play with. I have two other cars to drive if it breaks.

The point of this enyclopedia article post is to tell you it's hard to stop, so we're all trying to keep you from starting, to save you the horrible time we went through trying to sell our cars after high school after we "improved" them. You've been handed a $20,000 car, we want to see you sell it in 5 years for at least $10,000. k?

 

[Derrrrick]

Square lights on a round car,get the factory fogs. Easily done and adds value to the car, almost anything you install from a common auto-store is generic and decreases the value. If you're trying to go as crazy as my car, understand that mine is 8 years old, and has 140,000 miles on it, and is only worth about $10,000 sitting stock. WHile I have put A LOT of money into it, I'm talking about $3,000 in stereo equipment, and $1,000 on modifications and performance settings, and $2,000 on paint, the car is not now worth $16,000, you can pretty much take whatever you put into that and subtract it from the original price, so I'm looking at $5,000 to sell it to a normal person, but someone who enjoys the mods and wants this particular car, would give me the $16,000 but you gotta find someone who wants THAT EXACT CAR in THAT EXACT CONDITION, which is likely to be 1 person other than you in the entire world. It starts with those lights that you have there, then you decide they look like crap, so you get new lights, then those need a bar to protect them because you notice they get chips in them while driving, $200,
Now you want a roof rack with more lights on it, $300, but now the grill doesn't look that good with the lights, then the color white doesn't suit you anymore, or you kept drilling holes and slipping with the drill, and now you need a new paint job. $1,000. Etc... etc... etc... Oh then there's the "you didn't wire the lights correctly, and shorted a lot of other stuff"...

The reason we say to leave it stock is because we ALL had high school cars. You wanna see my High-School car when I bought it brand new in 2001?

Here she is:

It would have looked just fine and only 2 years old at the time...
Why is there bull horns? I THOUGHT THEY WOULD LOOK COOL AT THE TIME! They didn't did they? Guess how I mounted them? I drilled a hole in the hood of the car, brilliant right? The hole orignally was used to mount a removable strap for driving lights much like the ones you got, then I had to make the hole bigger for the horns.

Well, I grew out of them, cause they kept getting stolen, cut the bolt hole out, and welded in a new piece of metal and flushed it, and repainted the hood in the paint shop I was working at.... BUT IT DIDN'T STOP THERE! Couple hundred more trips to Best Buy, Autozone, and the paint shop, and I wound up with this:

I had a pontiac as my first car, and I don't really count it, because it was 14 years old at the time, and only ran about 2 weeks a year, inbetween fixing it.

I spent $10,000 OF MY OWN MONEY on that Jimmy, and after all that, the differential broke, the transmission was destroyed, and the Engine was ceased, I sold it to a junk yard for $260, and sold the rear window for $200, so I made out about $500 for a $10,000 car I only had for about a year, maybe more.

After that, I did not mod any more cars because it was such a waste, I had an Audi A6, a Porsche 1911, and a Chevy Silverado, and they were all kept stock, then I got the Cr-v, and now that i have a real paycheck (not minimum wage) and time, I mod it correctly, sometimes cheap to make projects, but I have the time and cash to work with it. My car started like this:

And I POSITIVELY added modifications that made it look better, not worse. No alternate useless lights, nothing like that, appropriate and good stereo and sound system, real seats (not painted black, that didn't work) and a REAL paint job, not done by myself, even though I could have done it, I just don't have a shop large enough anymore. I also bought it specifically to play with. I have two other cars to drive if it breaks.

The point of this enyclopedia article post is to tell you it's hard to stop, so we're all trying to keep you from starting, to save you the horrible time we went through trying to sell our cars after high school after we "improved" them. You've been handed a $20,000 car, we want to see you sell it in 5 years for at least $10,000. k?

I understand. I realize I may be going overboard with these lights... I have decided to return them.

But... the stock lights aren't bright enough. I could pay $200 for a HID conversion OR I could add the stock fog lights. But, with the stock fog lights they only light up sideways, not very far in front of the car. I want something that will illuminate for a long distance in front of the car. So what are my options then? The fog lights will also only work if my brights are off and they cost $500 for just the lights. That doesn't include wires, switches, bolts, etc. which is why I don't want to add the OEM fog lights. I really appreciate that you are trying to make the car worth more in the end... so, without spending $500 on OEM fog lights, what other lights could I add that would be functional AND increase the value of the car? I think it would look pretty cool with some lights mounted in the grill like I posted in the above picture... do you? Any ideas on other lighting I could do? I asked a local car customization shop today about lights and the guy said that a light bar for the front would be between $250 and $350. That is a lot of money for a piece of bent pipe. LOL.

 

[Jwood70]

While I agree with Dave, that doing useless mods are well, useless, I disagree that you should keep YOUR vehicle stock. If YOU want to mod your vehicle, then do it.

But plan them out, don't install lights just because you think they look cool if you aren't going to use them.

I may seem like the pot calling the kettle black, but I have no plans to sell my CR-V. Even if I did sell it, I wont lose any value due to mods just because it is right at 10 years old with 213,000 miles.

With you having a newer CR-V, you really should do clean, simple mods that are subtle and add to the V.

Again, this is my opinion and you can do whatever you want to your V. Besides, it sounds like your Dad is looking out for you.

 

[Derrrrick]

While I agree with Dave, that doing useless mods are well, useless, I disagree that you should keep YOUR vehicle stock. If YOU want to mod your vehicle, then do it.

But plan them out, don't install lights just because you think they look cool if you aren't going to use them.

I may seem like the pot calling the kettle black, but I have no plans to sell my CR-V. Even if I did sell it, I wont lose any value due to mods just because it is right at 10 years old with 213,000 miles.

With you having a newer CR-V, you really should do clean, simple mods that are subtle and add to the V.

Again, this is my opinion and you can do whatever you want to your V. Besides, it sounds like your Dad is looking out for you.

Well I do and don't want to mod my V. I want to add mods that will increase the value and make it more functional. I want to stay away from cheap, crappy, mods that lessen the value and make it look stupid. So... like I posted above what would be a good option for lights? I want something that will blend in, not look stupid, AND be functional. I am not satisfied with the performance of the stock headlamps at all. They are not bright enough. I live out in the country and I use the brights all the time. Even with the brights on it still isn't bright enough. The other night I was taking my sister to her friends house. Her friend lives 20 miles away from here and the only way to get there are a bunch of poorly maintained gravel roads. I took it slow and steady to keep from loosing control and ending up in a ditch, but one thing that kept bothering me was that the high beams weren't lighting up the distance very far. I wanted to be able to see a long way in front of me. I am horrible at judging distances so I don't know exactly how far the stock headlights go for or how far I wanted to see but I do know that the stock ones weren't enough.

 

[Serj22]

What you should do if you really can't see, is get some HID kits and have it done by a shop. Only problem with this is you're looking at spending at LEAST $600. Stay away from stuff you don't know how to do especially, you'll have better luck admitting you don't know how to do something, rather than thinking you know how to do it.... and... messing it up.

You can also buy another set of headlights for about $200 and work off those all sorts of bulb changes and what not to interchange them and see what works for you.

I recommend if you don't like the idea of mounting lights on the front, mount them on a roof rack! It's simple, a roof rack adds value to the car, doesn't look bad, and you can mount some lights up there to see. Only problem with ANY of these aftermarket lights is it's usually unlawful to use them unless you're off the public road. Depends on the laws in your state. And remember you can always ask your local Dave about laws. The thing with the roof rack, is you can mount whatever you want to it and drill as many holes as you want in it, and it can be removed... and that's that. Very cost efficient.

The reason I say his car is worth so much Jwood, and why I don't think it's mod time just yet, is because I'm pretty sure he mentioned somewhere that it's still at 30,000 miles, and I'm pretty sure that means it's still under some kind of warranty.

 

[Derrrrick]

What you should do if you really can't see, is get some HID kits and have it done by a shop. Only problem with this is you're looking at spending at LEAST $600. Stay away from stuff you don't know how to do especially, you'll have better luck admitting you don't know how to do something, rather than thinking you know how to do it.... and... messing it up.

You can also buy another set of headlights for about $200 and work off those all sorts of bulb changes and what not to interchange them and see what works for you.

I recommend if you don't like the idea of mounting lights on the front, mount them on a roof rack! It's simple, a roof rack adds value to the car, doesn't look bad, and you can mount some lights up there to see. Only problem with ANY of these aftermarket lights is it's usually unlawful to use them unless you're off the public road. Depends on the laws in your state. And remember you can always ask your local Dave about laws. The thing with the roof rack, is you can mount whatever you want to it and drill as many holes as you want in it, and it can be removed... and that's that. Very cost efficient.

The reason I say his car is worth so much Jwood, and why I don't think it's mod time just yet, is because I'm pretty sure he mentioned somewhere that it's still at 30,000 miles, and I'm pretty sure that means it's still under some kind of warranty.

Roof rack huh? I might have to try that. LOL. Would it interfere with the sunroof? I talked to a local shop and they said that they could install a HID kit for about $200. Worth it? Also, if I did do a roof rack and mounted some lights to the top it may be illegal but I live in the country. I only see a cop on my road about once a month. I could/would always just turn them off when I see a car approaching.

Yes, the car has under 30,000 miles. 24,900. It should also have 2 years left on the extended warranty that my grandpa bought. I have put 500 miles on the car in the last 3 days! Driving my sisters around. Now that I have my license my parents are making me drive them around rather then them having to. I am alright with this because my dad said that he would pay for the gas when I am driving them around.

 

[Fallout]

If your dad's biggest concern is resale value, then I would return those lights and get the factory Honda fog lights.

I understand how excited you are. I had a $1200 audio system in my first car. The car itself was $400.

I fully agree with this. If you get foglights at all get OEM Honda lights and have them professionally installed or atleast by someone experienced. Not 100% sure but i'm thinking this gen V is just like some other Acura/Honda where the dealer will cut the cover parts out of the bumper to fit the lights so it takes some confidence and cutting tools. It would be expensive to buy them new and have them installed at the dealer but you might be able to find them in a junkyard who knows.

If you just want brighter headlights get some HIDs but I would do some research on your own or post up here what the kit is that they are trying to sell you installed for 200 cause that is pretty cheap.

 

[MarkyMark]

There's a post in the Image and Video section titled "2002 with Aux. lights" or something like that. Car is the same as yours with the same lights you bought mounted to the roof rack. Check it out.

From your situation, it sounds like you need driving lights, not fog lights. I would get a set of round driving lights the same size as the factory ones and mount them in the factory locations, so everything looks stock.

 

[Derrrrick]

There's a post in the Image and Video section titled "2002 with Aux. lights" or something like that. Car is the same as yours with the same lights you bought mounted to the roof rack. Check it out.

From your situation, it sounds like you need driving lights, not fog lights. I would get a set of round driving lights the same size as the factory ones and mount them in the factory locations, so everything looks stock.

Ok, do you or anyone else have any idea what size the factory fog light locations are?