Light bar vs spot lights.

[225]

I want to add some sort of driving lights. Not to use all the time, just on mountain roads at night. Chris @UJOR can tell you, it gets dark out there.

Looking for bumper mounted, and not spend $1k on a bar. And nothing real big, kind of in the middle. Maybe something I can French in the front bumper? Or sit on the bumper like KC lights?

Thanks!

 

[Raul]

Light bar. You can get a very decent one for less than $100. I have a little one, no brand, and I love it. The spotlights I have are Hella and they are useless (even when they point in the right direction)

 

[Bbasso]

I have hella 700ff (love 'em) and seldom use them because my headlights are trucklite 5X7 LED.
My point, start with your primary source of light and upgrade instead of $100 worth glare and blinding others.

 

[Backcountry Pursuit]

+1 on upgrading the main lights first. My brother has Vantage in his and they are freaking incredible with a perfect cut off line so as not to offend oncoming drivers. Of course he also has a 40k lumen light bar on top of those. I'd be happy with just the vantage.

 

[ujoint]

For our area I run stock headlights and some Rigid combo LED round lights with amber filters on V7. I wouldn't use a spot or pencil beam around here, rare to be on a road long enough to need the distance lighting. On V4 I have a 30" combo Rigid light bar, also with an amber cover and its really lights up the road.

I agree that the stock headlight should be good to start but I don't like them too bright because of the lift height, they blind people too much. I have the Rigid LEDs in V8 and I feel guilty every time I drive it at night (not very often) because they're so bright.

You get what you pay for, go with a decent brand like Rigid or Baja Designs, etc.

 

[ohpyramids]

I bough a $150 32" led light bar from amazon. It was great until I installed the winch and it totally blocked access. Also aesthetically, I'm more into the round lights, so I just purchased a set of these. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GZST4PM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yWzyzb3V78S8B

The youtube reviews seemed solid for a $60 waterproof led light. Attached a photo of my current setup with paper templates for 7" and 9" round lights. Decided on the 7".

+1000 stop and upgrade your stock lamps first. I like the hella e-lens mod that villageidiot and I did (check my build thread).

 

[brianjwilson]

Rigid sells DOT fog lights too, which have a pretty sharp cutoff, wide pattern. Just another option to mount low and fill in the close field without blinding people. Otherwise I'm also for upgrading head lights with something that has a good cutoff and aiming them properly, so you're not running off road lights on the road. You could also run rigid or similar "driving" pattern lights and switch them through your high beams. Not legal, but at least you're more likely to turn them off with oncoming traffic.

 

[broncobowsher]

Look at what the Baja racers are running now. They need good light for going fast in the dark. The LED light bars have all but replaced the traditional spot light. Old Halogen spots are long dead, there are still some killer HIDs making some big light, but the LED light bars are the ticket these days. The HIDs are a bit fragile while the LEDs are generally bomb proof, if you get a good one.

Of course there are different grades. Rigid Industries is the standard today, much like KC Daylighters were in the 70s and 80s. There are lower (and time pennies on the dollar cheaper) knock offs on the market. Some are good, some are junk, read the reviews and roll the dice.

As far as HIDs go, LightForce has been the big dog for years. I have not followed HIDs in some time now.

 

[t-rex grrr]

Get a light bar.

They're easier to adjust and they don't bounce compared to spot lights.

 

[KONNMAN]

View attachment 4

 

[EU87]

On my tacoma i have a pair of Baja Design Wide/Cornering Squadron Pro lights.. insanely bright, super wide, and good reach. brighter than my 55w 5k hid projectors in my headlights.

 

[WVI]

Do these light bars throw a wide pattern or is it narrow???

 

[Stryder106]

Which light bar? Most of the cheaper Amazon stuff is combo beam - meaning the outer portion of each side is flood pattern for width while the middle is spot for distance. Baja racers typically use two light bars - one on the roof that is SPOT only and very narrow (orderable this way from BD) and if they have one on the bumper it will be flood for up close stuff.
//
Be wary of the cheaper Amazon stuff - I've had two and they both sucked up moisture in the air (I live in SoCal so that is quite a feat). I finally invested in good lights and opted for the ARB Intensity LED lights - one spot and one flood mounted on my bumper. Then put two smaller spot only LED bars in my roof rack facing forward if I need more than my headlights but not as much as the ARBs. I also swapped out my factory fog lights and installed a couple the amazon cubed LED lights and connected them to the factory wiring - much brighter than my stock ones. Now I'm looking to get some HID headlights to swap out my factory ones for just normal street driving.

 

[Eberin]

I would agree! I had 3 hellas up front, and once i installed trucklites in the jeep, immedialty sold the hellas, useless with trucklite high beams, now i am installing some LED cubes up top for distance.

 

[Stryder106]

Yeah - my lights from Amazon were very inexpensive - the top one committed suicide by sucking up any and all moisture it could from the atmosphere. The bottom one was killed by a flying rock from a big rig - but up to that point it had impressed me as it was a much better quality light than the roof bar I had.