[a pair of 3 foot color-changing whips]

Hey everyone,

I decided to try my hand in making my own whips and figured I'd share my experience with you in case you're interested in making a set as well. 

To do this, I ordered almost everything from Amazon with Prime shipping and ended up with right at $100 in them excluding the tools I already own (heat gun, wire cutters/strippers, ring terminals, heat shrink butt-connectors, and some wire loom I had from a previous project).  So what I ended up with is a pair of 3 foot color-changing whips that are controlled by a single receiver so the whips are always in sync.  The only issue I had was with the strip of LED lights; a small section of about 3 LEDs weren't working so I had to cut the strip and re-solder the wiring back onto it so I didn't have missing lights.  You shouldn't have to solder anything since the strip comes with wiring on both ends and you just cut the strip on the indicators and you'll have a connector pre-wired for you on each end.

I've included a brief video to give you an overview of everything watch it in HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bD0yXmz3GY



I think they turned out well and they're not difficult at all to make so here's the shopping list of items with a link to each one of them:

- 3 foot CB antenna (this can be changed according to what size and color you'd like):  Amazon.com : TRAM 3-W-HC Fiberglass CB Antenna (White, 3 feet) : Two Way Radio Antennas : Car Electronics

- 16.4 foot strip of SUPERNIGHT 5050 Waterproof LED lights (includes receiver and RF controller, but I ordered another receiver that's smaller and more "inline" with the wiring):  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2F3KDQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

- LEDMO Mini IR Remote Controller ("Inline Controller" and includes spare remote):  Amazon.com: LEDMO Mini IR Remote Controller 44 Keys, DC12V, MAX 6A, for RGB LED Light Strip, RGB LED Tape: Home Improvement

- 2-Pack of 4-pin Splitter Cables (this is what puts both whips into a single controller for color-syncing):  TronicsPros 2 Packs 4 Pin Splitter Cable for One to Two LED RGB Color Changing Strips with 6 Male 4 Pin Plugs (1 to 2 Splitter Cable/ 2 Pack) - - Amazon.com

- 4-Pack of 4-pin 2 meter Extension Cables (you'll need one of these so you can span the gap in between your whips):  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DPC3XHC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00

- 10-Pack of 2.1x5.5mm DC Power Pigtails MALE (to power your whip controller and this will need to be spliced into some 16-gauge wire):  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XTY8WUY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00

- Clear Heat Shrink Tubing (I recommend getting a slightly larger diameter than what I got.  It was a bit of a pain to get the LED-wrapped whips to slide through the heat-shrink because the LED strips have a gel coating that grabs the heat shrink):  Clear White Polyolefin Heat Shrinkable Tube 5.5M 18Ft: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

- LED Whip Lighted Switch with Relay (optional, but recommended):  Amazon.com: mictuning led Light Bar Wiring Harness 40Amp Relay ON-OFF Laser Lighted whip Rocker Switch Blue(2 Lead 12ft): Automotive

- Light Bar Tube Clamps for 1.75" Tubing (I had to drill out the holes to accommodate for the antenna stud size):  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01327Y03U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

- CB Antenna Stud (You screw the whip into these and these actually mount to the light bar mounts):  $5 apiece at my local Pilot truck stop.

- 16-Gauge Wire from Home Depot (one roll of black and one of red to make the wiring harness):  $5 apiece
Red - Cerrowire 24 ft. 16-Gauge Primary Wire - Red-207-1203R24 - The Home Depot
Black - Cerrowire 24 ft. 16 AWG Primary Wire - Black-207-1201R24 - The Home Depot

- You'll also need an assortment of ring terminals, butt-connectors (or whatever you want to use to connect wires), and some wire loom (plastic ribbed sleeve for wiring).

And here are several pictures of my materials and you can see where the LEDs weren't working:





























This is an example of where you cut the LED strips


Where I had to re-solder for the burnt out LEDs










I ran my homemade wiring harness through the roll cage so it's hidden












The red heat shrink is where I covered up my solder work


Let me know if you have any questions.

[2015 Z Force 800 53/Trail EPS]

Nice work!

Thank you sir!  I'll have to credit my old man as well.  I guess I finally picked up on a few basic concepts after having him help me on electrical stuff 5,000,000 times over.

Nice  looks like another project for me

Let me know if you have any questions.

Nice work.  I built mine pretty much the same way but I used a 4 foot antenna and just used the red lights.  Much cheaper than store bought whips and looks great.

Well done, just cool!!

Great work!! LED freak here so if it lights up I'm loving it.
I even have LED faucets and shower head lol.
I want to add some underbody lighting to mine.

Very Cool

Thanks guys.  I would like to have the animations that the Tribal Whips Aurora Whips are capable of, but they're a little rich for my blood.  It would've set me back about $250 for a 3 foot pair of those by the time I would've bought a switch/relay as well.  If these hold up for the long haul I'll chalk them up as a success.

Tried the DYI whip today.  The whip is a 6 ft and was given to me.  I built the mount from an old foot peg clamp I had left over for changes I made on my bike.  Always good to keep somethings you never know.  The lights I got for $34.  Might try to make another not sure yet.

Hey Jason that fancy little accessories block on your rzr. I wonder where does the power come from for the 3rd post that is ignition on only? I'm thinking of putting one of those in my Moto.

[only.]

@bigjimstewart the accessory block comes factory and is pre-wired to the 12V accessory terminal only.  So straight from the factory they have a single ring terminal connector running to the key-on accessory post so that you don't have to tap the factory wiring harness.

The other two positive and negative posts don't come from the factory with power/ground coming from the battery so I had to buy a separate wiring harness to get power to the accessory block.  Polaris makes one that is very nice and comes pre-loomed with christmas tree plugs that'll secure it to pre-drilled frame locations (these photos are from electech on rzrforums - he's in a 4-seater, but the concept is the same).  I looked into making one myself to save a few bucks, but after looking into cost for materials I only would've saved about $10 so it was worth the $50 to me.

If you do want to buy this one it's part number 2879862 and I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work on other machines minus the frame locations.  Also note that some of the pictures Polaris has of it show it to look like winch wires (red/black/blue/yellow) but it comes as a positive and negative loomed harness:

Tried the DYI whip today.  The whip is a 6 ft and was given to me.  I built the mount from an old foot peg clamp I had left over for changes I made on my bike.  Always good to keep somethings you never know.  The lights I got for $34.  Might try to make another not sure yet.

Looks good you're definitely not going to have trouble seeing a 6 footer on the trails lol.  If you buy more lights Amazon has them for about $15 for these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2F3KDQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

There are other various lengths and color options as well.

Tried the DYI whip today.  The whip is a 6 ft and was given to me.  I built the mount from an old foot peg clamp I had left over for changes I made on my bike.  Always good to keep somethings you never know.  The lights I got for $34.  Might try to make another not sure yet.

Looks good you're definitely not going to have trouble seeing a 6 footer on the trails lol.  If you buy more lights Amazon has them for about $15 for these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2F3KDQ?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

There are other various lengths and color options as well.

There are a few pics.  You are right about being seen lol.  A 6 ft whip plus being mounted just above the bed makes it really stand up there a long ways.  Won't be able to hide with that lol