school me on offroad lights...

[jekbrown]

ok, with the truggy I am ditching all the stock front end stuff and going offroad-only... so why keep the stock lights?

This thing doesn't need to be street legal... and I ain't paying for HID-type lights. That said, what are some bright ass driving-style/beam offroad lights?

Is it as simple as finding some big 130w rated ones (highest I have seen?) online that are like 8" 'round and wiring them up? or are some really better than others? I'll prolly have some blingin' LEDs for brake/turn lights and rock lights to light up stuff up close and underneath... what I am looking for is good/big/bright head lights without braking the bank...

j

 

[MNorby]

I like the cheap walmart $16 lights cause I can break them an not out much and they are pretty bright. I also took some of the old walmart housings and put 6" high/low beam sealed beam lights in for the buggy so the look of KC style with regular stock headlights

 

[Chevy305]

KC Daylighters are pretty damn bright! I have a used set of 6" ones I am putting on top of the roll bar soon after I wire up the switch and relay.

 

[Hossbaby50]

The only thing you are going to do with 130w lights as headlights is tax the charging system hard & blind the guy on the trail in front of you. I personally use the $12 Napa rubber armor GE implement lights for rock lights and they work great. For headlights I would look at something more stock wattage with 2 stages high & low, or a good set of 55w offroad lights as mains and a set of the cheap Napa lights for a secondary light that is aimed more angled so you lightup infront and off to the sides some. Then 2 Napa lights for reverse lights/rear illumination.

With more lights you give yourself alot more options between being seen from space and slowspeed lowlight crawling.

Harley

 

[pvfjr]

I bought a set of the imitation KC style ones at the last puyallup swap meet for $25. They were 55w, but the guy had 100w bulbs for them right there, $3 a pair, so I went for it. Pretty bright, and if they weren't enough, you could just get more of them. A set of four aimed right could give you a pretty broad light pattern too. Would be good for corners.

 

[mikey_d05]

Unless you're blasting down the trails you don't need anything stupid bright. In fact, I want to find something with less than 30 watts.

 

[MNorby]

thats why I redid the buggy lights to just normal high/low beam headlights for normal use. The pics of the other trucks have stock headlights and the KCs are for long range stuff. I live in the country and do alot of rural driving at night so I can flip them on and cruise and see for a half mile to a mile. I wouldn't suggest them as the only/ primary lighting system though

 

[mikey_d05]

Yeah, I had a pair of KC's and a pair of 8" pro-comps on my '93. Stupid bright. Frankly, unless you're planning on doing over 50 at night, I wouldn't bother looking for blow your eyes out candlepower.

 

[MNorby]

one thing i do like for offroad lights is reverse lights. I had some on the cab truck and have someon the tow rig. Not jsut the regular factory reverse. I took some cheap walmart clear fogs and mounted on the rear. The lights with the short and wide light pattern and aim them for like 15 feet back or so. Then rock lights would be the next set.

 

[85mudblazin]

A buddy of mine got some from walmart that are SWEET. They are very bright and VERY small. They measure about 1.5"x1.5" square. Only bad thing is they get very hot but they are so small there pretty hard to touch.

I am planning on getting some for mine at some point.

For rocklights I run some backup lights from academy. They were like $10 a pair and measure about 1.5"x4" rect. They put out a very wide light which is perfect for a rock light.

 

[Storm Trooper]

I like my off-road lights and use them. No, I can't have them on when someone is up front but I try not to let that happen.
When stuck on a trail late at night, it's nice to light up the canyon.
Hell, at Blazer bash, the guys across the canyon were having trouble so I just lite it up. Mine are some older Dick Cepeck and they each have a switch so I don't need to run them all at once. I don't remember the wattage but I think they are about 60W each. Having multiple lights allows you to spread the pattern. Just make sure their tough as mine have broken off many a tree Branch . Never broke a light luckly.

As for reg. running lights, I'd try to keep something stock because their cheap to replace.

 

[jms]

....so I don't need to run them all at once...

Exactly when did that ever apply?

On the Golden Spike run at Blazer Bash, it was like 'Hey look, it's the moon coming up over the canyon ridge behind us... oh wait, it's Dave!"

J - IMO the high wattage light won't help very much unless you're into high-speed Baja stuff , but more lights will yield better light distribution. Choice of beam patterns would be dependent on what speed you're typically running on the trail. I'm not sure what color would be best for rock lights - I'm using an old set of fog lights with a yellow lens for undercarriage lights, and I'm not sure that helps in the contrast department. Same for my auxiliary lights Claudia got me last year - they happen to have a blue-green tint. I have them angled outward to light up the side of the trail and to complement the factory lights, and I'm not so sure about that color helping the contrast either. So my next set will be plain old white, stylishly so from Walmart.

 

[ntsqd]

For the high speed stuff I was suprised at how good the light distirbution of the 8" Pro-Comps are. You aren't going to go racing with them, but for chasing & bashing around at speed they're a decent low budget choice.
AFAIC Daylighters and their clones are simply too small of a reflector. Their prime has long been gone.

For transit lighting I'd consider some of the 7" round headlight buckets filled with a set of these newer prismatic reflector/unfluted lense H4 headlights. I'd use the Hella brand 55/100 H4 bulbs.

For crawling the Rubber bodied implement lights are the way to go.

 

[Brodie]

I happened upon a set of Aircraft Landing lights, and that's what I use. 1000 Wats!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I can only run one at a time without draining my battery though)

 

[MNorby]

a frined has some lightforce ones on his duramax. They through out the light well but I like my 4 on the dodge, 2 pointed down the road then one in each borrow ditch so can see the deer about to run in the road. Works realy well that way

 

[guz71]

I have 4 long range daylighters sitting on top of my tahoe and i like em a lot. When theres people around, you have to be courteous and kill them, but if your up in front or by yourself its so much nicer at night. Ive gottten a lot of hey can you shine the lights over here too, so i use them alot. I like having up on top too for when i go to the deer lease and i have to push the gates open .

 

[Drey]

I have two of those lights like you have Matt, love em for hauling down gravel roads at night. I plant on putting some on my blazer, just havent decided whether to mount them on the roof or the front bumper.

 

[jekbrown]

sounds like low-watt lights are the answer. I never haul ass when driving offroad, and doubt I will. lol! crawlin is what its all about for me. Walmart has some cheapies eh? gonna have to check those out.

j

 

[ntsqd]

Sounds to me like you really need to check out the PAR-36 work lights sold by Napa & farm supply places. They are 35 watts each, and come in either a flood light or work light lense. At one time my local Napa was selling the rubber housing'd versions for $9.99 each, and they had a stack of them. Was probably a blow-out, but.....

 

[xpndbl3]

went to napa the other day and they had NO lights whatsoever beyond regular light bulbs for vehicles. It's a newer store, a year or so old if that might mean something. I just picked up a pair of 6" hella lights that are 100watt for $45 at advance auto parts and got some rectangular 55 watt ones for the back of the truck for reversing. Plus I'm going to do the all 4 headlights on when brights are on mod to help out my vision as well.