driving light options

[ben85]

i thinking about getting some extra lighting for the nav.
mainly for vic high country tracks and windy roads.

not looking to spend big bucks, i was thinking of mounting 4 rectangular halogen lights up on my arb style roof basket.

i have since noticed some threads on ebay hid's that seem good for the price.
i'm not sure how they would go up top on the basket. they might sit too far forward and shine through the windscreen onto the dash.
they would go alright on the bullbar though.

how do hid's go with halogens?

what setups are people running and how do you find them.

 

[qqc d22]

Ive got a lightforce 240xgt with hologen bulb and 2x lightforce 170 hids on my bullbar and i cant even notice the 240 over the 170hids. It does make a very small difference but not mentionable.
The 240 has a dodgy plug on it and often stops working and i dont even notice. Some times it strobes because of said dodgy plug and i cant even see it strobing unless i look over the bonnet at the top of the light itself.
Basically got hids just overpower halogeb lights totally in my experience.
Different probably if you shine them out the side more to light the sides of the road i guess

 

[ben85]

would be slightly angling the outer roof lights outwards for extra spread of light.

maybe some hid's on the bullbar to light up straight ahead. not sure if spot or spread beams would be better.

maybe spread beam hid's on the bullbar would be enough. without the roof lights.
or maybe i just go with the rooflights for now. then look at hid's for the bar if i want more light.

 

[bods]

I know you said you don't want to spend a lot, but for what you want to use them for I'd seriously look at led light bars. They don't have the distance hid or halogens have, but they have insane spread for the amount of power they use, so they are great for low speed bush tracks.

In saying that, if you are going to get 4 spotties it may work out about the same cost as a light bar. Especially if you have to get halogen ones and stick hid kits in them.

The only problem with "spread" lights with hide in them is they still don't really spread much. I have a combo spread and spot set on mine with hide in them and the beam pattern on a wall looks about the same on both lights

 

[FatBoy89]

I would definately look into led light bars. Halogens will quickly draw way to much power from your battery and way too much wiring.

 

[b2tf]

I havent added any extra lighting to mine yet but I do sell them at work. It will largely depend on your budget as to what you end up with I think, not trying to be rude but it generally is the deciding factor for a lot of people.

That said, it is possible to get a pair of good quality HID lights for under $500 now. They do have the advantage of drawing a lot less power, generally about the same level of wiring etc and the spread of light will probably have more to do with what style of light and filters etc you get.

The HID's I am thinking of also have internal ballast so if roof mounting is an option it might be the way to go. From memory Rhino Rack also do some mounting brackets that will work with other brands of roof basket.

The last lot we installed on a roof mount were onto a Land Rover Defender that had a Rhino basket, the guy went full HID (Lightforce from memory) and was very happy with the result.

 

[shan_b]

I just got back from a weekend in the vic high country, we arrived late at night.
On the open roads before the dirt roads i thought to myself "Geez I would love some big HID's" and then as soon as I turned onto the tight slow dirt roads with steep crests and gradients I thought "Geez I would love an LED light bar".... then my heart and wallet sank as I realised I now want both!

 

[calcal]

LED light bar 150%!!!!!!
Best investment I've made

 

[equipt]

I run a combination of all 3. I have HID upgraded headlights, halogen IPF spotlights and round LED floodlights. I find it covers just about all of my lighting needs. I have thought about upgrading the spotlights to HID, but I like having the instant full light that you get from the halogens.
If you do get some cheap HID off ebay I would look at either mounting them up high or re sealing them, often they are not IP67 rated for waterproof. It will also depend on the driving you do. If you don't do any water crossings or bog holes deep enough then don't worry too much.

 

[d22dave]

Pat how do you find the led lights for the tight slow stuff? I have been thinking about putting some on the front

 

[equipt]

Pat how do you find the led lights for the tight slow stuff? I have been thinking about putting some on the front

I found them excellent, I have them mounted in the lower wings of the bar pointing out towards the sides a bit and they are great. If I use them in town I can light up the fronts of the houses driving down a normal street. LOL

http://www.ledlightco.com.au/27-watt-flood-beam-round-led-work-light/

They are the ones I got about 12 months ago. I paid about $100 for a pair but they have dropped allot since then.

The guy who runs the website has a shop down in Geelong, he was great to deal with both for internet orders and at his store.

 

[d22dave]

I found them excellent, I have them mounted in the lower wings of the bar pointing out towards the sides a bit and they are great. If I use them in town I can light up the fronts of the houses driving down a normal street. LOL

http://www.ledlightco.com.au/27-watt-flood-beam-round-led-work-light/

They are the ones I got about 12 months ago. I paid about $100 for a pair but they have dropped allot since then.

The guy who runs the website has a shop down in Geelong, he was great to deal with both for internet orders and at his store.

Thanks for that, I,ve had thoughts of putting something like in the wings of my Nissan.

 

[ben85]

equipt, can you upload a pic of your setup?
how much light do those worklights throw out?

the lightbars seem the goods.

i might end up with a combination of hid, led lightbar and led work lights im thinking.
don't want it to look to over the top though.

 

[equipt]

equipt, can you upload a pic of your setup?
how much light do those worklights throw out?

the lightbars seem the goods.

i might end up with a combination of hid, led lightbar and led work lights im thinking.
don't want it to look to over the top though.

I will pop out tonight and get some pics and chuck them up later on tonight. I probably have a bit more space for lights as I have an Xrox bar that has a few extra spots but you will see once I chuck up some pics.

 

[calcal]

My 50" does all of the above!! Got my 240s for distance.

 

[equipt]

OK, so I just went down the road and took a few pics.
This is just the LED Flood lights

This is just HID Low Beam (Looks a bit green coz they where still warming up)

This is HID Low Beam and LED lights

I have a few more pics but I wont overload the thread at this stage, but if you want to see some more let me know.

 

[equipt]

Just found these ones that illustrate them a little better.

Only HID Low Beam

HID Low Beam and LED Floods

 

[ben85]

that looks pretty good. just the sort of thing i'm after.

might go some hid's, 24" led light bar on the roof rack with a couple of led work lights either side. that should be heaps of light.

do i go for spot, flood or one of each in the hid's?

 

[equipt]

that looks pretty good. just the sort of thing i'm after.

might go some hid's, 24" led light bar on the roof rack with a couple of led work lights either side. that should be heaps of light.

do i go for spot, flood or one of each in the hid's?

If you are going to run a LED light bar that will cover you for plenty of light directly in front of the car so I would go Spot with the HID's to get some good distance light.
If you decide to go for flood with the HID's look for ones that have the flood reflector not just a flood lens or lens cover as they don't work real well.

 

[sparra04]

I run 220 roolights with 70 watt hid conversion
I have one diffuser cover on d/side and clear spot on other
Turns night into day
I am getting a 10 inch led bar mounted between spotties for up close spread