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Offroad lights

cegusman

cegusman

3/4 ton status
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What are some good non over priced offroad lights everyone is running?
Whats the difference between the Fog light, Driving light, Spot light, and Flood Light?
 
I had a set of the K.C. Daylighters that I payed about $100 for a couple years back. Dont get the chrome ones, they rust. I think they offer stainless. They were 6 inch round. Really lit up the night. I think they offer 100 watt and 150 watt lights. I dont hav a ton of $$ to throw at my truck so for the next pair I may just get 100 watt Summit round off-road lights. I think they are $60-$70 for 2 and wiring. The fog lights usually just provide a wide low beam that doesnt project very far. Wont do much good on the trail unless you just want to know whats 10 feet in front of ya. Driving are more like your headlights, just project a little brighter and farther. Spot lights are a narrower beam that projects farther, and flood are a wider beam.
 
I've got a set of 100 watt halogen KC Daylighters on the front of my '90 Sub. They turn night into day... The serious Daylighters are the 150 watt sealed beam units that use the same lamp design as aircraft landing lights. I have a couple of those that will be going on the K5. They'll burn your retinas. ;)

For on-road use I have a set of Hella 500 55 watt halogen driving lights on the '94 Sub, that are wired to come on with the high beams. They are MUCH brighter than the factory headlights, and have a nice, defined pattern. On the '90 I have a set of Hella FF50 55 watt halogen driving lights, also wired to come on with the high beams. They're very small and use free form reflector technology to define the pattern. They also throw a very bright, defined pattern.

What you're mostly paying for in the more expensive lights are a better reflector and lens design. I have a cheap set of 55 watt "driving lights" that don't even throw as much light as my headlights. Meanwhile, the 55 watt Hella lights are just amazing. Hella spends more money manufacturing a quality product than the "El Cheapo" companies do. The results are quite noticeable...
 
My uncle has a set of Lightforce offroad lights mounted on the bumper of his daily driver. He really likes them. He says they're great for lighting up dark backcountry roads. You can also change the beam patten and light color just by changing the lens cover.
Flood lights are good for mounting on the rear so you can see what you're backing into :wink1:
 
I've got both a set of 6" KC long ranges (read: pencil beam) and a set of the 8" driving pro comps. The Pro-Comps are good all around and compliment my factory lights nicely. I have the KC's aimed so their beams cross and shine into the ditches down the road....extremely handy for not leveling deer when blasting along at night. I'm probably gonna run a set of cheap tractor lights on my orange one since there's a good chance of damage no matter how well the lights are made.
 
I had 4 KC Daylighters on my old '79. They're not called daylighters for a gimick either :eek1:

The ones I had were either 150W/365,000candle pwer or 165/350,000 candle power ( cant remember but it was a combo like that). 4 of them would light up the road for a mile.

I've still got them and am going to be putting them on my '81 when I get time.... like that'll happen :haha:

$120/pair from summit is what I paid...but that was 4 years ago.
 
Some good info here, I'm planning on some on the '72 soon.

I am going to keep my old-ass amber lights though. It is so nice when you're going up a relatively mild forest trail to turn everything off but those low amber lights and not scare every elk in four states or wake up every camper in the forest.


Does anyone know if they make some newer, nicer amber driving lights too, might be good to replace those while I'm at it.
 
gjk5 said:
Some good info here, I'm planning on some on the '72 soon.

I am going to keep my old-ass amber lights though. It is so nice when you're going up a relatively mild forest trail to turn everything off but those low amber lights and not scare every elk in four states or wake up every camper in the forest.


Does anyone know if they make some newer, nicer amber driving lights too, might be good to replace those while I'm at it.
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KC makes a good number of their rectangular lights with amber lenses. Otherwise cheapy e-bay models come with them a lot.
 
MTMike said:
I had 4 KC Daylighters on my old '79. They're not called daylighters for a gimick either :eek1:

The ones I had were either 150W/365,000candle pwer or 165/350,000 candle power ( cant remember but it was a combo like that). 4 of them would light up the road for a mile.
Click to expand...
They're 150 watt sealed beams, with 365,000 candlepower each. :eek1: They're the same ones I'm planning to put on my '75. :cool1: They're like miniature, portable suns. :wink1:
 
HarryH3 said:
They're 150 watt sealed beams, with 365,000 candlepower each. :eek1: They're the same ones I'm planning to put on my '75. :cool1: They're like miniature, portable suns. :wink1:
Click to expand...

OK, I knew it was something like that. And the "suns" comment is no understatement either.

I've got 4 (the ones I took off my '79 when I sold it) are still down in my basement. I'm going to put 2 on the '81 and 2 on the tow rig.

Mike
 
I run the $16 cheapies from walmart on my 4X and towrig. Works good and if one breaks or whatever your not out much.
 
i got 8 6 inchers off ebay for around 140. i got 5 on the roof and 3 on the bumper, and they light up everything. i also took my alternator to an alternator shop where the respun it to crank 160 amps.
 
Ask Around What An H4 Bulb Is, An H4 Offroad Light System.
 
Compared to what is available now, Daylighters are not the hot ticket any more. Their beam is too narrow to be very good for low speed use and they don't put out enough light for high speed use.
Until you've ridden in, or driven a truck with serious off road lighting they seem fine. After that, well, I took mine off.

The larger the lens & reflector diameter the better. For a cheap light I'd look at the Pro Comps or something like that. Maybe find an old set of Cepek's off a Monster wanna-be on ebaid. Then up rate the bulb to at least a 100 watts. Most of those lights use the H3 type of bulb, which is what the non sealed beam Daylighters use. PIAA and others sell high wattage H3 bulbs.

Otherwise have a look at the above mentioned LightForce's and the Hella 4000's (HID or not).
 
ntsqd said:
Compared to what is available now, Daylighters are not the hot ticket any more. Their beam is too narrow to be very good for low speed use and they don't put out enough light for high speed use.
Until you've ridden in, or driven a truck with serious off road lighting they seem fine. After that, well, I took mine off.

The larger the lens & reflector diameter the better. For a cheap light I'd look at the Pro Comps or something like that. Maybe find an old set of Cepek's off a Monster wanna-be on ebaid. Then up rate the bulb to at least a 100 watts. Most of those lights use the H3 type of bulb, which is what the non sealed beam Daylighters use. PIAA and others sell high wattage H3 bulbs.

Otherwise have a look at the above mentioned LightForce's and the Hella 4000's (HID or not).
Click to expand...

I agree, there are better lights out there, but one advantage of the KC's is their price. Hella's with any sort of technology in them are major $$$ as are PIAA's and Lightforces. For serious speed (highway cruising, desert running) I think there are much better options, but for the average trail wheeler I think they're a nice compromise between quality and cost.
 
Well personally I dont plan to run Baja anytime soon in the K20. With the lifted leaf springs I cant get that much speed off road without bouncing all over the place and jarring every bolt loose. For late nut drives down a trail for the $$$ I think the KC's, Pro Comp style light are the way to go. If I had boo-koo bucks and/or building a high speed rig then I would look into some $300 pair of off-road lights.

And a big :waytogo: daleearnhardt01 for the Robby Gordon helmet throwing Avatar!!! :saweet:
 
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