Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

He won't ship it and I'm on the right coast thanks though, one day I'll find one I just need to go ahead an make the rack or buy one so that way it's not 2k out the door all at once.

 

CVT Mt. Bachelor shipped Friday. The woman is pumped to go camping for the first time, and is happier with the idea of not sleeping on the ground.

 

Now this my kind a thread.
Semper fi Devi dog!
Yes I am an old marine but a newbie to Tacoma's and expedition vehicles
Just bought a 2014 TRD Off road DCSB. Ordered BAMF sliders, ARB bull bar, CBI Trailryder rear bumper w/ tire swing out Jerry can, camp table, telescoping rigid light, OME HD suspension
, Outback Solutions storage drawers, fridge etc..I could go on but typing on a droid is a pita.
Thanks for the thread. Will be reading intensely while I build the dream machine.

 

Yeah, it was pretty wild... Turned out that the owner bought an FJ for his son, came with the tent as part of some incentive from the dealer. Son didn't like the FJ, but they kept the tent.. Must be nice.

 

Ha if my parents bought me an fj. No complaints coming from me shit. Spoiled children

 

Just because we're talking roof top tents.. Airing it out, trying to get rid of some of the frozen condensation.. Definitely wish it would be this warm for my return trip to Washington..

 

Its so pretty. Oh so pretty..

 

Looking for some opinions on lighting for my front bumper, I've been lurking alot in this thread so i have already have heard some good opinions on halogen vs. HID vs. LED. I am leaning towards going with some big halogen lamps. I have a cheapo 36" double row LED china bar that i am getting rid of. I love the fill and look of LED but i wasn't to impressed with the output and i had some serious moisture problems with it. I am thinking about going with LF, but haven't made up my mind. So my question to you guys is, what would your ideal light setup be for a $300-$500 budget. The lights will be going on my CBI bumper with a hoop. I can also fit some 3"x3" pods inside a cutout in the bumper (i have a pair but they are going in the rear bumper) i would love to do a combo of halogen and LED or HID but what i am really looking for is the best bang for my buck and stupid bright lights that will get me a good combo of fill/distance what would you guys go with? I already have some PIAA 510s in the fog cutouts, driving pattern with yellow bulbs.

 

Unfortunately, one of the bad things is that people encounter the Cheapo China Bars and are immediately turned off by the whole concept of the LED bars. Now, I have just put all mine on. and will say that I am very happy, so far, with mine. Given that mine are the Rigids, but still I am happy with the light.

I mentioned before, I will be putting some MORE lights on the truck. HID in the front and additional LED Filler lights on the sides.

My feeling on this so far is that having BOTH technologies, LED and HID, working together would be the optimal setup.

As for recommendations on the HID's/ Halogens, my research isn't that far along yet.

Have been eyeing the Light Force 140's, 170's, and 240's for various configurations in HID.

 

Ya i regret buying my light bar just because i thought it was a great deal. Decided to give the cheaper LEDs another chance and picked up a pair of OKLED pods on the last mini group buy chris did. I haven't put them to use yet, everyone on this forum who has bought his lights seem to be happy with them. I would love to go with rigid but they are just to expensive for me.

 

Seems like this comes up pretty regularly..

Search "LED Lightbar" in this thread for some pretty good discussion about the pros and cons.

I'm on the same page as Monte; LEDs just haven't caught up to HIDs for distance/illumination/price. Sure, you can post up all kinds of lumen/throw charts.. but, they just haven't caught up to HIDs.

As I've said before, I just can't quite wrap my head around spending thousands of dollars to illuminate your rig; when they'll be seeing occasional use at best. But hey, it's your money.

I have a set of the 55W 7" HIDs that have served me just fine for 2 Alaska Highway drives (saw about 6 hrs. use/day), and a set of BlitzPro 3LRs that are awesome for fogs. Even the Rigids have been having problems with moisture - I know a local fabrication shop that has stopped using them due that issue.

Another thing to consider is the time it takes for HIDs to warm up. Constant on/off will kill your bulbs/ballasts.

For the occasional "open stretch of road, better shut them off before I blind that car", I think Lightforce 240s are hard to beat.

 

Everything sure has its pros and cons

 

Got some of these for xmas from my broski. Now where/how to mount them?

 

Anyone know a cheap place I can order a trasharoo from??

 

Wider than the tailgate? You could probably fab up a mount that would make them sit on the inside of the tailgate..

 

LEDs suck for driving main beam lights. I don't care if they are ridgids or china crap. The optics aren't there. Ridgids top led bar does 1 lux at 1200-1300m or something. Lf240s HIDs...1600m 1 lux.

Nothing will replace big lamps...not yet.


That said. For a nice driving light. Get a 100w halogen lf170 or lf240. Why? Halogens turn on instantly. Not warm up time like HIDs.

I have all three types on my rig and love them all. But each has it's own purpose and need. My main driving light are halogens.

LEDs are flood and fill lights

And my HIDs are super long range lights for when I need lots of light.

 

Thats why I refer to my LEDs as area lighting and filler. Ruffles one of the vendors feathers

 

Yep. I posted in the TW live thread for it to be edited or deleted. Even pmd him. Only tapatalk works for me now in this thread. Dam, people need to learn how to use the Internet's without breaking it for everyone! :gun: