Really struggling with light options!

Trying to decide on lights! I live in the soggy pacific north west! And spend a significant amount of time (and gas) on old logging roads. I end up coming back in the dark and can't really see that great. Need to be able to see pot holes and through switch backs and such. I have heard a debate on cheap nock offs vs kc's Piaa etc what do you guys think and what do you use? I was thinking about getting some cheap 100w long range maybe 30 bucks or so. Thanks guys! -bullfrog

 

Im from North Bend too haha right on

 

You seen that ugly ass tacoma with the white fenders and green bead locks? I think he's running a LT setup?

 

i don’t have much first hand experience wit aftermarket lighting.

But what experience i do have(and from friends) is you get what you pay for. i have seen the cheap o’rilly’s and wal mart lights leak and not stay water tight long. and not be all that bright.

if i was you i would wait a few more weeks or month and save a little more money and buy better brighter lights.

 

led light bar

 

yeah thats a buddys truck, its got camburgs LT kit with deaver SUA its pretty legit, idk why he painted his beadlocks tho

 

Led lightbar or lightforce..........my genesis throw wellllll past my high beams and can cook a wall from 4 feet away.

I've heard over and over how bright hellas are.....then I ask how far they throw and I get replies like "as far as my highbeams".....I've always wondered what the point was then.

Just my 2 pennies

 

Well, first off kiddo, you gonna probably need a better budget than 30 bucks, even the full kits that you buy, the switches are usually kinda crappy anyways so people tend to install their own. Then you have to figure out a way to mount those lights, in your case I would imagine mounting them directly to the bumper would be the easiest and cheapest. Here's a quick rundown to what to look for, you can go ahead and search the names and models from there. What I'm telling you is the brands and makes that people here use and like plus my opinions:

55w or below (any make) halogen: Garbage, too dim weak ass lights.

55w HID's da bomb, either retrofit some halogens yourself (hella 500 or 700's) or buy them outright (LightForce, Kragen brand seems pretty popular, Hella 4000's). Some of these lights are SERIOUSLY expensive but if I had to choose I would probably lean towards the LightForce Genisis 140's, the LightForce 170's or a pair of LightForce 240's, they cost some $$$ but probably among the best out there.

LED bars: Very popular Rigid and Blitzpro are probably the top two. Again not cheap but does pretty good for some. IMO I'm a bigger fan of spot driving lights, I think they throw farther.

Another way to go is to buy a lightbar that bolts in front of the bumper, buy 4 Hella 500's or 4 hella 700's and swap out the bulbs for KC 130w halogens. WAY brighter than the lame 55w's that I used to have. That's the setup I run now and I love it. Cheaper than buying HID's or LED's. Often these lights can be had here in the Buy/Sell/Trade section.

Welp, there's some ideas, do a lot of research, MUCH info can be found here about lights. I would say the bare minimum for something that will last would be two Hella 500's with two KC 130w bulbs installed, mounted directly to the bumper. Brand new for everything would probably set you back about $150-$180. Good basic lights, won't rust and are pretty good against the elements. That's the absolute bare minimum, if you could do maybe 2 700's and 2 500's that would be even better. But if you have huge bucks then 2 LightForce 240 HID's would cook deer before you hit them.
Good luck kid, feel free to keep asking questions, we'll try to answer them as best we can.

 

After sleeping on it, I realized you may not be able to fit 240's on that bumper, they're huge and deep. If you're gonna use the bumper then probably refitted Hellas or Lightforce Genisis or 170's would all fit with out too much of a problem.