The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

You'll never get full output from behind the grill. The grill can kill up to 65% of a lights output

 

That is exactly what I have, bamf rack, DDSc3 4k pro with clear driving

i received great help in this thread, starts at post 419

 

A couple of minutes with a hacksaw

 

I had a 30" Stage bar (driving pattern) behind the grill in my Tacoma and loved it. When I bought the 4Runner, I went with SS5 Pro's behind the grill. Yes, the Stage bar was great, but the SS5's (spot patten) are well past awesome! The bend in the road (beyond the hump) in the pic below is about a half mile away.

 

Good to know. Didn't realize there was that much clearance in there...

That's a good perspective - the effect of dirt is typically going to be less than the effect of the grill in reducing output.

Awesome, thanks for referencing that post. I read most everything on here but didn't track who said what. I think I want to do exactly what you did, including the Anytime switch. I'm just not sure about cutting the grill. Do you have any before/after pictures of that? Did it make much of a difference?

See it's comments like this that make us all broke!

 

This is why you must kill the grill.

 

Cutting took 15-20 minutes with a hacksaw and then cleaned up with a file. Two of the emitters on each light were partially blocked by the grill. Worst case scenario, if you later want to sell your truck without the lights a replacement grill insert is cheap. Here is a pic before cutting the grill.

 

4Runners have a way less restrictive grill when it comes to lighting. The results I shared earlier were despite shining through this:

 

Ohh good to know about the insert. I should have been more clear about before/after pictures... I meant of the output from the driver seat. How noticeable was the difference in the amount of light after you cut your grill?

 

I don't have any pictures of output with the same camera settings, but I do know it was noticable. I drove home late last night, a couple of hours on 2 lane deer infested highway. The aux high beams make it as though I'm driving at twilight.

For what it is worth, you can see the a bit of the difference with the trees across the t intersection at the end of the road more visible after cutting. These pictures are taken about 8 months apart.

Before



After

 

Someone earlier ( I can not find it now to give them credit ) used spacers to cantilever a bamf grille mount. This way no moving the
horns. So I took his list and did my own. I did use 1/4 I.D. spacers since they more closely match the metric bolt. I actuall mounted
the bamf mount without taking off the grille. I was worried about the mount being cantilevered out and putting more stain on the core
support etc. So I took same scape angle iron and some 3/8 dia road and made a forward support rod to avoid flexing. It is easy since
there is a bolt and nut at the bottom support that works perfectly. Some black spray paint and a 1/4 and 5/16 hole and you are done.
I mount DD SS5 spot and added a Nylok nut just to make sure. Here are some pictures. Hotshot offroad helped a bunch with the yellow
light converted to white spot.

 

That was me who came up with the spacer solution.
Glad I was able to help out.

Your central support bracket is a good idea, I might make one for my BAMF mount as well.


In case anyone else wants to do this here is a link to my original post.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ements-light-bar.222333/page-37#post-28231172

 

sorry for the delay here are the connecters they use, but you can cut and replace with what you need. lots of
length to get the wire to where ever you need.

 

I realize I'm real late, but I have the 18" bar and it ices up regardless of if it's off or on. For my next vehicle I'm thinking about a pair of spread beam halogen daylighters.

 

Halogen Daylighters certainly wouldn't have any issue melting ice. Another more modern product to consider would be the Diode Dynamics SS5s in Pro level, or the Morimoto Big Banger HXB, though the HXB has very limited optics options. The SS5s you can get in 4000k SAE-style driving, which is pretty ideal for a driving light. I say SAE style because it is an SAE driving light pattern, but the output intensity is too high to be SAE compliant as street legal.

 

SSC2 Pro - SAE Driving or Combo? Does anyone have comparison photos or experience between the 2 lens options?

I have a pair of SSC2 Pro's with SAE fog lenses that I am looking at repurposing as auxiliary high beams for my motorcycle. I'm between the SAE Driving and the Combo. I am leaning towards the Combo lens since it has more light spread than the Driving pattern. My though is that the Combo would be better for critter spotting on the open road, better light transition when leaning into a turn and is already a massive improvement over the current high beam already. The SAE Driving does have almost double the output (590 lux @ 10m) compared to the Combo (270lux @ 10m) according to DD's website. While absolute range is nice to have, would it be better for my intended purpose? If it's a dark empty unknown highway, I won't be going any faster than 70mph anyways. I try not to do extended rides at night just for safety reasons, but sometimes I can't help it so it's better to be prepared.

 

I'm not terribly concerned with what's strictly street legal, more with what will be effective.

Would you think that the KC Pro6 lights would melt snow with the amber covers? It seems like a double edged sword, I'd want enough loss to melt snow, but not so much the lights aren't effective.

Comparing the Halogen Daylighters and SS5 Pros, both in driving pattern, the Pros seem to be three times the cost for 77% more candela.

For any of these three lights, the Daylighters, Pro6s, and the SS5s, I assume the driving pattern (or spread, in the case of the Daylighters) would be a better supplement to high beams than the spot pattern?

 

@Too Stroked, do you wish you had those Cibies mounted higher or more accessible for cleaning? It seems likely I'll be buying a 4runner and will be mounting ~6" driving lights. I like the mount that this guy made, but behind the grille or in the ditch light position seem interesting.

 

Im running the hella 700ff with 100 watt bulbs as my aux high beams. They work great for how cheap they are. I prefer all halogen for the matching color temp since they blend together perfectly.

 

Pro6 with amber covers will not even be warm, they will not melt snow. The Gravity optics are far too efficient.

Halogens will almost always win the performance/cost ratio. They are far simpler. Hella also has some popular offerings worth considering that are a bit more compact vs the massive Daylighters.

For an aux high beam you want driving or spread in the case of KCs older lights. Spot is going to illuminate a very small area at great distance. If you already have driving lights, spot can be added to extend your projected lighting distance further for high speed in a small area directly ahead of you, but they really shouldn't be used on their own as the illuminated area is quite small.