Spotlights
- Thread starter fg4oz
- Start date
SkiFreak
Crazy Person
Unlike even a few years ago, there are so may lighting options these days that it is hard to recommend any one product.
Chinese lights will normally be cheaper, but may not be as robust. Name brand lights are mostly good, but come at a price.
All I can add is something a friend told me a long time ago when I asked what type of lights he would be fitting to his camper. His response was that he would not be fitting any, as he had a camper and had no need to drive at night.
Chinese lights will normally be cheaper, but may not be as robust. Name brand lights are mostly good, but come at a price.
All I can add is something a friend told me a long time ago when I asked what type of lights he would be fitting to his camper. His response was that he would not be fitting any, as he had a camper and had no need to drive at night.
Unlike even a few years ago, there are so may lighting options these days that it is hard to recommend any one product.
Chinese lights will normally be cheaper, but may not be as robust. Name brand lights are mostly good, but come at a price.
All I can add is something a friend told me a long time ago when I asked what type of lights he would be fitting to his camper. His response was that he would not be fitting any, as he had a camper and had no need to drive at night.
Very true. Thanks.
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blackduck
Explorer
Ben. LED seems to be the way to go nowadays
me i like a nice big set of 240 liteforce.
sure it throws out some light, but they also look great and lets face it aesthetics if half of the equation
ive also got a small set of LED work lights i use as day running lights (amazing how many idiot car drivers dont see you???)
and im thinking about a light bar across the top of the bull bar - why cause i can
sure i dont drive at night as much as i use to
but when you hit the high beam daylight is good :victory:
me i like a nice big set of 240 liteforce.
sure it throws out some light, but they also look great and lets face it aesthetics if half of the equation
ive also got a small set of LED work lights i use as day running lights (amazing how many idiot car drivers dont see you???)
and im thinking about a light bar across the top of the bull bar - why cause i can
sure i dont drive at night as much as i use to
but when you hit the high beam daylight is good :victory:
SkiFreak
Crazy Person
SkiFreak
Crazy Person
It may sound like common sense, but in my experience common sense is not always that common...
If you are going to convert your truck into the light source of a small sun when the high beam is turned on, you seriously need to consider how good your low beam is.
After driving on high beam for a while, the last thing you want when you dip the headlights is to be returned to relative darkness, as that can be quite dangerous.
I will also add that "long range" driving lights are not necessarily the best option, given the top end speed of these trucks is only around 100 kph. In my opinion a good set of wide spread driving lights, or LED light bars, give an excellent light coverage in front and to the sides of the truck. Being able to see something like a kangaroo off to the side of the truck is far more useful than being able to spot one a kilometre in front of you.
Given your current setup I guess that you already understand the benefit of lights that do not point directly to the front, but be careful, as I believe there are regulations about this that probably make what you have now illegal.
If you are going to convert your truck into the light source of a small sun when the high beam is turned on, you seriously need to consider how good your low beam is.
After driving on high beam for a while, the last thing you want when you dip the headlights is to be returned to relative darkness, as that can be quite dangerous.
I will also add that "long range" driving lights are not necessarily the best option, given the top end speed of these trucks is only around 100 kph. In my opinion a good set of wide spread driving lights, or LED light bars, give an excellent light coverage in front and to the sides of the truck. Being able to see something like a kangaroo off to the side of the truck is far more useful than being able to spot one a kilometre in front of you.
Given your current setup I guess that you already understand the benefit of lights that do not point directly to the front, but be careful, as I believe there are regulations about this that probably make what you have now illegal.
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blackduck
Explorer
Owen its got nothing to do with long range driving
its the pleasure of seeing smoke billowing from the back of the head of the clown that just pulled in front of you and jumped on his brakes
the green diffusers actually dull down the intensity of the light to a nice glow that goes for miles
blackduck
Explorer
im thinking gun metal grey
once i re model and move the body structure forward
white is the new beige - yuk
While I understand the thinking behind it, to me not having good lights because you have a camper and don't plan to drive nights is kinda like not carrying spare wheels because you don't plan on having a flat.. ok so that's a bit of a stretch, but you get my point. In Aus where everything is always at least 1000km away what happens if you commit to reaching a camp for whatever reason, but underestimate the travel time, and it gets dark..
though our trucks don't go fast, they also don't stop well. Prior to finishing my front bar setup I had a 42" light bar, which while great for windy dirt roads and slow offroading, I found would not put light far enough down the road to make night hwy driving comfortable. even doing 100 I was essentially out-driving my lights.
Now run triple rally 4000 all in pencil beam, just straight halogens and I like them. For instance our last north trip involved a lot of night driving due to work schedules, one time coming out of Exmouth I rounded a corner to find the road full of dark brown cattle 2-300m out. Easily avoided, but would have been a lot hairier with the old setup.
I do need the light bar back for offroading as the rallyes only start to spread past about 30m though.
Oh and as stu said, shining them into clowns rearviews when they cut you off is priceless.
Just my 2c..
though our trucks don't go fast, they also don't stop well. Prior to finishing my front bar setup I had a 42" light bar, which while great for windy dirt roads and slow offroading, I found would not put light far enough down the road to make night hwy driving comfortable. even doing 100 I was essentially out-driving my lights.
Now run triple rally 4000 all in pencil beam, just straight halogens and I like them. For instance our last north trip involved a lot of night driving due to work schedules, one time coming out of Exmouth I rounded a corner to find the road full of dark brown cattle 2-300m out. Easily avoided, but would have been a lot hairier with the old setup.
I do need the light bar back for offroading as the rallyes only start to spread past about 30m though.
Oh and as stu said, shining them into clowns rearviews when they cut you off is priceless.
Just my 2c..
SkiFreak
Crazy Person
You just have to get a bit older mate and retire... then you won't be concerned about work schedules and driving at night.
I have to say, I have a set of Narva Extreme combination lights on the front of my truck, which work quite nicely. As you said... you never know.
dan85
Observer
Ive tried the cheap chinese leds and they were nice and bright to start but they lost intensity over a 6 month period, the casing corroded and the lens yellowed. I then went and bought a set of halogen lightforce blitz 240's that were $250 on special for the pair and then bought a 20inch rigid industries single row combo light bar that cost around $450-500. I used this on my patrol and jimny before that and had that setup for 5years or so and it stayed bright had a great mix of spread and distance didnt cost the earth and was nice and robust. you dont need to spend a fortune but id suggest spending more than the bare minimum and getting something thats a reasonable quality. that 20inch light bar is still going strong on a mates car now.
For what it's worth around the camp fire just out of Orbost at a free camp (complete with new long drops ) the trucks coming through all were running LEDs several company's are are doing H4s H1s and all the rest as LED replacements the blurb does point out that they are for off road use and not ADR approved but I could not resist trying a set in the Hella rally 3003'sbut a lass the heat sink sits out to far and the same on the IPF's on the shop ute so it's back to the drawing board/ money box
4x4coaster
Adventurer
Like Owen said, I don't plan on doing much night driving, but in a recent trip where we headed off after work on a Friday evening saw us doing just that and the last 10 or so k's was in tight forest tracks in the dark.
I have a set of the cheap Chinese LED driving lights, paid about 230 for a pair of 9".
These are currently selling for about 160.
Now there were some quality issues, I had to repair one of the mounting threads and replace the main mounting bolts because they were too short and didn't engage the full depth of the tapped hole.
When I was happy with the alignment, I put thread locker on all the bolts to keep them from coming loose over corrugations.
These things turn night into day!
Like Owen also said, when you turn them off the standard low beam is quite pathetic and you have to adjust quickly.
I figure for the number of times I will use them I am way in front of forking out for the name brand versions.
They also come in a 7" version from 4wd supa centre - they have outlets in several states and online.
I have a set of the cheap Chinese LED driving lights, paid about 230 for a pair of 9".
These are currently selling for about 160.
Now there were some quality issues, I had to repair one of the mounting threads and replace the main mounting bolts because they were too short and didn't engage the full depth of the tapped hole.
When I was happy with the alignment, I put thread locker on all the bolts to keep them from coming loose over corrugations.
These things turn night into day!
Like Owen also said, when you turn them off the standard low beam is quite pathetic and you have to adjust quickly.
I figure for the number of times I will use them I am way in front of forking out for the name brand versions.
They also come in a 7" version from 4wd supa centre - they have outlets in several states and online.