Lights and lighing?

[zuren]

(that should be "lighting" in the title)...

I'm curious to see pictures of people's rigs and what kind of exterior lighting everyone is running? I'm looking at fog lights, driving lights, aux. backup lights, etc. and would like to get some ideas of what's available and mounting ideas. Pros/cons of different types and brands would be great too!

Fog lights will probably be my first purchase and I'm looking at one of the PIAA kits. I don't have a bumper with cutouts, nor do I have a bull bar/brush guard so anything for me will be surface or rooftop bar mount for me.

Thanks!

 

[teenwolf]

Also interested to see peoples setups. I have had some Hella setups on my cars in the past. They are durable and easy to wire up. Heard good things about Light force as well.

 

[OBORG]

Lights

I am running light force lights HID they are the best I love them have had them all . I'm run 140 hid lights

Also interested to see peoples setups. I have had some Hella setups on my cars in the past. They are durable and easy to wire up. Heard good things about Light force as well.

 

[Token]

Without a doubt, these are bar none the best bang for the buck you can use for backup lights / rock lights / side lights / work lights / aux lights...

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Hella-H15986001-Rubber-Halogen-inch/dp/B000H0RBWS/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=IOXMDYKQ8ZK27&colid=1JFA3RKGCZ8EF"]Amazon.com: Hella H15986001 Rubber Halogen 4¾ inch Work Lamp: Automotive: Reviews, Prices & more[/ame]

I've been thinking about buying about 50 of these things and selling them out the back of my truck.. Even at twice the price they are a hell of a deal..

 

[zuren]

Without a doubt, these are bar none the best bang for the buck you can use for backup lights / rock lights / side lights / work lights / aux lights...

Amazon.com: Hella H15986001 Rubber Halogen 4¾ inch Work Lamp: Automotive: Reviews, Prices & more

I've been thinking about buying about 50 of these things and selling them out the back of my truck.. Even at twice the price they are a hell of a deal..

Nice! $8 is a nice find!

I have also heard that Lightforce lights are pretty nice but you definitely pay for them......$250 for model 140 with harness is the cheapest I've found. The one benefit they have over most others is that the beam is adjustable (like a Maglite) so they could function as driving or fog lights. They are also nearly indestructable.

 

[zuren]

No one else can comment on the lights they are running? Lightforce get great reviews but they start to get spendy at $250/set (w/ wiring harness, fog filter). I see lots of PIAA out there but they don't get gleaming reviews.

 

[Sheep Shagger]

No one else can comment on the lights they are running? Lightforce get great reviews but they start to get spendy at $250/set (w/ wiring harness, fog filter). I see lots of PIAA out there but they don't get gleaming reviews.

I'm running $100 KC daylighters spot beam and Soltek 1" LED's euro beam as fog/driving lights. I picked them as even though they are not street legal they are not so obviously bright that you'll attract unwanted attention if using them on the road. And, obviously they out power the stock lights, then again so would a candle.
Sorry, no pic with the Soltek driving lights mounted

They are not nearly as good as the light-force but I wouldn't run light-force on the road anyway. These work for what I wanted, but not the brightest option if you want to light up the night off-road.

 

[zuren]

I'm running $100 KC daylighters spot beam and Soltek 1" LED's euro beam as fog/driving lights. I picked them as even though they are not street legal they are not so obviously bright that you'll attract unwanted attention if using them on the road. And, obviously they out power the stock lights, then again so would a candle.
Sorry, no pic with the Soltek driving lights mounted

They are not nearly as good as the light-force but I wouldn't run light-force on the road anyway. These work for what I wanted, but not the brightest option if you want to light up the night off-road.

I'm not sure if anything is available for Ford vans but I just replaced the sealed beam headlights in my Express van with Hella H4 Conversion lights. The difference is staggering! They are technically E-code and not DOT approved but the install is simple and at inspection time, I can swap standard headlights back in 10 mins. if I'm worried or there is an issue.

What light bar is that? I'm going back and forth between something like that or get a hole saw out and see if the stock bumper can be customized with lighting cut-outs. I have not seen a bolt-on light bar for a Chevy Express other that the Aluminess bumpers.

 

[zuren]

You also have a good point about having better lights but not something that blinds every human and animal 3 miles in front of you!

 

[Sheep Shagger]

You also have a good point about having better lights but not something that blinds every human and animal 3 miles in front of you!

The relay that powers them is also wired up through a switch and the high beam. So you need both the switch turned on and hi-beam for them to work. Makes it nice on the road as you only have to flick back to normal/driving beam and they go out. So no messing with 2 switches when you see an on-coming car.
The lightbar is Baja Eliminator from Off Road Warehouse.
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/products/sfID1/61

 

[zuren]

The relay that powers them is also wired up through a switch and the high beam. So you need both the switch turned on and hi-beam for them to work. Makes it nice on the road as you only have to flick back to normal/driving beam and they go out. So no messing with 2 switches when you see an on-coming car.
The lightbar is Baja Eliminator from Off Road Warehouse.
http://www.offroadwarehouse.com/products/sfID1/61

I don't see anything listed for the E-series van so did you take a blind leap of faith that the bar would work on your van or did you have to modify it? The price is attractive! The main thing I notice is that my bumper doesn't have a cut-out in the middle like the Ford vans or the Ford/Chevy trucks. It's hard to see how yours mounts other than the bolts on the top.

Decent shot of the Express bumper:

 

[Sheep Shagger]

I don't see anything listed for the E-series van so did you take a blind leap of faith that the bar would work on your van or did you have to modify it? The price is attractive! The main thing I notice is that my bumper doesn't have a cut-out in the middle like the Ford vans or the Ford/Chevy trucks. It's hard to see how yours mounts other than the bolts on the top.

Decent shot of the Express bumper:

I just looked at my other pic's I can't see a shot of the mounting. But just about where the top hoop meets the horizontal bar, there are two large threaded spacers welded on, like below, but bigger

So it has 4 mounting points, the two you can't see and the two at the top. Obviously drill 4 holes in the bumper and bolt through.

They used to have one listed for different year E350, I shot them a few emails said my 06 looks the same externally as the ones they list, apparently it's identical to the (upto 04 F truck). So we gave it a shot. It would pretty mutch fit any bumper on the front mountings, but the top may be an issue, as the E350 is slanted and your chevy is flat.

Does the chevy truck have a similar bumper to yours?

Here are some other pic's.
http://sheepshagger.smugmug.com/Cars/Van/11069833_KxCkr#774954373_fDwMu

 

[zuren]

Does the chevy truck have a similar bumper to yours?

This is a 2003 Silverado:

The profile looks very similar to my 2005 van and they list a product for the 2003 Silverado. Maybe I should drop them a note. Would you be able to put a second set of lights on that bar if you wanted, either by using a clamp or drilling through the horizontal bar?

 

[Sheep Shagger]

This is a 2003 Silverado:

The profile looks very similar to my 2005 van and they list a product for the 2003 Silverado. Maybe I should drop them a note. Would you be able to put a second set of lights on that bar if you wanted, either by using a clamp or drilling through the horizontal bar?

I would drop them a note, it looks like it'll fit, it's a very similar profile. Main thing would be if there is anything behind the bumper where you need to drill the holes.
On adding more lights, that's how my driving lights are mounted. Drill and Tap a hole in the horizontal bar. It's strong enough. I didn't want to weld a bracket as then I'll need to re-powder coat it. But a clamp would also work.

 

[Mikel_24]

I wish I could install a pair of LightForce lights but besides being truly pricey (expensive depens on how much you are willing to spend) here in the other side of the pond we have laws concerning how much light you can have on your vehicle. I can't install any of them legally.

I do have installed a pair of Hella Commet 500 as fog lights and a pair of IPF 968 driving lights. They don't give me the long defined pencil beam i was looking for so I am thinking about swapping them for different ones. They do help the stock driving lights but I don't get as much extra light as I wanted.

Mikel