Off road light info

They actually do quite a good job... very impressed. I aimed them last night and tried them with and without the grillecraft in front of them. Seriously, I didn't notice any big loss in light output with the Grillecraft. STOKED!

The housings actually work quite well. I get two long pencil-type beams and some short range flood lighting. For those of you using long-range beams, do you keep them both centered, or point them out to the sides slightly?

 

my 4 lights are long range. center two are straight ahead side by side and shine farther than my highs, my outside pair are angled a bit and shine the sides of the road to spot critters. that was very handy when I lived in idaho and went night hunting a lot for varmnits.

 

Which would be brighter?

KC Slimlite 130watt or Rigid Industries Dually Hybrid Spot?

Which would be better and why? I want the cleanest light (no coloration).

Also, where would a 55 +/- watt light fit into this?

 

KC would throw a further distance, but would use about 9x the power. Literally. The new dually is 20 watts - 1.45 amps... 130w KC - 10.83 amps...

Those two lights really can't even be compared to each other, and all lights are going to have some kind of coloration... Between those two, the kc's will be more on the yellow side, and the rigids more on the white/blue tint.

There's a ton of info on lights here, "which one is better" is a matter of desired use and opinion. It would definetely be a waste of money to try to put a 55w HID conversion into either of the lights you mentioned, if that's what you're asking...

If you're asking where a 55w light would compare, that would depend on what kind of light it is.

 

As Overland Journal stated in their light test: If you drive like Robby Gordon, get the pencil beams. If you want to see a wider area, the the spread pattern LEDs. I myself am going to install a set of LEDs in place of my Lightforce 140s on my bumper I think. Maybe a LED bar higher up.

Needless to say, I don't drive like Robby.

I do like the variety of lenses the Lightforces offer but I pretty much just keep the dispersion lenses on all the time. They are great lights but I want something more efficient.

 

that would be comparing apples to oranges.

even though the duallys say "spot" they will still throw a wider beam.

the KC's will be a long range beam. These can also be upgraded to HID down the road if you want to blast aircraft out of the sky...haha


55watt offroad lights will look like a flashlight next to these two lights. Unless you got some Hella 500's and converted them to HID. Then you will be able to signal Capt. Kirk on the Enterprise.
(the KC's and the hella's when both converted to HID will yeild pretty much the same result)

 

This explanation of beam pattern is horribly misleading. One company's spot can be wider than another company's flood. Driving beams can look like headlight's with a cutoff suitable for road driving, more of a wide spotlight, or a diamond shaped beam. A better thing to know and understand is spot, driving, and flood descriptions only mean the beam is wider or narrower than the other identical light a company offers. It cannot be compared across brands, led vs hid, or even compared against other products sold by the same company. Another important thing to note is that all companies inflate the usable range or distance of their lights, often by 3x or even more. Seeing them in person, beam shot comparisons, or similar is the only way to judge them.

 

How is it misleading? Sure each light type, hid, led, ect will all be a bit different but for the most part its all the same.

Spot = a concentrated beam for long range

flood = a wide beam that coveres the area up close to you

Combo = well the name says it all.

also on the first post it says "A general idea"...not exact but just a reference to get an idea of what they can choose from.

 

Because there are flood and driving patterns in some lights that are narrow. There are driving and spots that are wide. That driving beam pic could be a spot, flood, or driving beam depending on the product. It could have a pattern like a headlight, spotlight, or something totally different. There is no "general idea" in light patterns or descriptions. To say there is is more confusing than saying they vary wildly and you need to see them for yourself before purchase. A simple 12 degree wide beam could be a spot, driving, or flood... there is NO standard. Knowing that going in would have saved a lot of aggravation. A Rigid spot is neither narrow nor does it throw far. A Hella wide driving beam can look like a Rigid spot. On another Hella lamp it can be a wide diamond. Spot does not equal distance or a narrow beam. A fog could have a sharp cut off or just be a flood. A Rigid LED could claim 300-700m range but only be good for 100.

 

I wish the off-road light community could just post up specs and beam shots like the flashlight and projector retrofit community... would make things SO much easier. I was shocked to see Dually spot and flood compared to Specter driving for example. The Specter driving was so much better than a combo beam. Only looking at the lights would let you see that. Same with some Hella driving beams which were narrower than I expected. The list goes on and on... I have seen a round spot for a pencil beam... saw the flood and expected a wider circle... nope it was an even "rectangle" of light. The "driving" Kragens can't be used for driving they are a diamond and glare badly.

 

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I was reading reviews between the D2 and the Specter today and they were saying the same thing. If you have space for it then get the specter. (ATV forum)

 

I guess I should have added the reason I need the lights!

1. I drive like an old woman off road, no fast driving for me.
2. I'm out looking for snakes on the road and want something that will light things up better than my stocker headlights and fog lights with the most natural coloring in the lights.
3. I don't want to have to add three batteries and an extra alternator to my truck either!

Hopefully that will help!

 

Your best bet would be a pair of smaller flood HIDs. I am getting a pair of these:
http://blitzpro.com/12v-led-lights/hawk-6d-led-light-rail.html

They aren't Rigids but aren't near the $$ either. There have been some great reviews too.

Order a copy of the Winter Overland Journal. They did a HID test in there. No sugar-coating in there. They don' test the low-dough stuff much and they didn't in this case but they are very thorough.