What lights do you mount where and why?

The Big Ole' "What LED, Where? and Why?" Thread​

I haven't seen a lot of this discussion, and while I'm hardly qualified to inform anyone on this topic, I'm vastly curious about it and hope that I can ask the questions that will inform others in their purchasing decisions. I've noticed that I do an awful lot of arriving to campsites at night, and I've realized that off road lighting is an inevitable upgrade I'll have to make when traversing trails I'm unfamiliar with. I can assume the same for most others who add aftermarket lights to their vehicles. Despite that, and despite the information manufacturers provide to help inform their customers about the functionality of lights, I've noticed a lack of information and discussion about what types of lights you should mount on your truck, and where. Especially when taking into account the varying conditions users will encounter across the vast United States.

The Tacoma, like most midsize and larger trucks and SUV's, has a number of options and mounting locations for adding aftermarket Off Road lighting to our trucks, especially in the front for forward-facing light. I'm still fairly new to off roading, so I was curious about what beam patterns are most effective in which location.

Helpful Links:
The LED Rock Light Showdown - @crashnburn80
The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review - crashnburn80
How To Pick The Right LED Lights For Your 4x4 - 4 Wheel Parts
Where Is The Best Place To Mount LED Lights? - 4 Wheel Parts

The Roof Mounted Lightbar/Lights


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I've noticed that this is easily one of the most popular mounting locations for aftermarket off road lighting, but is it the best? For one, I feel like a Spot beam pattern light would be the most effective here, given it's high mounting position and the desire to keep excess light off the hood of the truck. However, I feel like these lights are primarily served best for trucks travelling at a decent rate of speed down a dirt road. Are they wholly necessary? I've heard that mounting a light bar here typically results in increased wind harmonics, so I figure (At least for me) this would be one of the last places I'd add a light bar, but I'm still curious about what works best up high.

Baja Designs says:

A-Pillar/Ditch Lights


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These lights I feel are pretty self explanatory in terms of mission. Pods meant to cast light to the side of the truck. I have certainly seen the need for them, and they'll most likely be my first off road lighting upgrade due to the relative low cost, and the function they serve. However, what is the ideal beam pattern for A-Pilla/Ditch Lights? Flood? Combo/Driving? Also, is it better to have clear light or Amber/Selective Yellow?

Baja Designs says:

Behind-the-Grille and Grille-Mounted



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While the lower intake is probably the most popular spot to throw a light bar for a Tacoma, companies like @SDHQ OFFROAD offer lighting brackets that can add even more lumens behind the primary grille. What works best here? I figure a mix of Yellow/Amber and Clear would do well if you have multiple bars at that point, but what should be added first?

Baja Designs says:

Bumper Intake and Bumper Mounted

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Similar to the Grille Location, these lights are typically mounted either in front of the grille, or below. Some aftermarket bumpers include slots where Lightbars can neatly tuck, and the lower intake is an incredibly popular spot for most 2nd and 3rd Gen Tacomas (that I've noticed). Does the exterior mounting positions and/or lower mounting positions of these lights make a difference compared to those that are either behind the grille or mounted near the top?

Baja Designs says:

Fog Lights


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The temptation for me is to upgrade these with Amber or Selective Yellow, but what about clears? Also, in those instances where the Fog pocket has been used to add a non-SAE rated off road light, what was the result? What kind of Off-road lens type works best in a small format down low? I'm guessing combo?

Baja Designs says:

Upgrading the Head Lights


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Specifically Retro-fitting OEM headlights or purchasing quality aftermarket units. This seems like the best ROI of all lighting upgrades, but can they undo the need for adding Off Road lighting? How do you supplement and/or complement them?

Selective Yellow and Amber Lights
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I mentioned these in a few of the above topics, but where do you mount your yellow/amber lights and why? I know their purpose (visibility in dust/fog/snow/rain/etc), but where are they mounted to get the most effect?

Baja Designs says:

tl;dr Share your own experiences with off road lighting, what worked, what didn't, what you would do differently or what you would suggest to others. What you're planning to do or to change, etc. But most importantly, let us know why?

I'm also hoping that @Baja Designs @CaliRaisedLed @Diode Dynamics @Taylor@KC HiLiTES @memario1214 , @crashnburn80 and others might be able to offer their insight on where consumers would get the best effect of their lighting additions to help ensure we put the right product in the right place based on an individuals needs.

Additional Topics can include:

• Rock Lights
• Rear/Reverse Lights
• Perimeter Lights

I'll do my best to update the OP to link to useful posts and information in the hopes this can be a resource other Tacoma owners (As well as vehicles of other brands!) can use to help inform them before investing. I just want to ensure lights are added for more reasons than because they look cool and the neighbors down the street have them. I'd like to invest in lights and get the most amount of return for that investment by ensuring I'm not wasting my time (and money) or blinding myself or both.

 

Sub'd.

 

Way back in the day, when I was a young and angry buck, I had a push bar with a pair of old school KC parabolic halogen spots right at grill level. Those were fantastic on the trails, but in retrospect 90% of their use was to signal my displeasure in traffic. In hindsight I would have been much better off without them altogether.

Now that I'm older and a bit more mature, I wouldn't mind a small set of ambers mounted next to the fogs, to get me in and out of camp. But I still have no desire to get another pair of kangaroo spotters.

 

Back in the day I used to have gigantic 100w halogen aircraft landing lights on the bushguard; two 6" and two 4"

They ran hot, pull the revs down, ruined covers, and even a battery when they held the relay on and ran overnight.
They were also spotty - with hot spots and funny shaped focus down the road..

With the 2nd Gen I got 'Proper' 50w Hella 500F;

They had good even throw, and covered a lot of ground in front of the truck - But still pulled idle down and were not really that bright.

Added ditchlight Squadron Sports and was blown away by the brightness and ease of LED.. upgraded with Pro for the 3rd gen;

Have the Sport combo lenses in yellow down in the fog pocket, easy to use, quick to switch on and off with the highbeams.
Pros are in the ditch position but aimed straight ahead, they have spot lenses and yellow covers when in use. These little lights put out much more than bigger halogens and run cooler with much less draw.

Added an S2 into the rear for backing up, and an interior light for loading and unloading..




Next up would be close scene lighting for going slow.. possibly a few S2 up on the Prinsu..

 

As a fan of lighting and a real need to illuminate the Baja desert and beaches, at night. I have made a few adjustments over the years.


The images above are from 2012 and I have a custom made light bar (made at Stewart's RaceWorks) with two Hella 4000 halogen 100 watt pencil beams and two Kragen HID 'Euro' beams.

I next converted the Hellas to HID. The results were not as good as I hoped. I had to swap out the HID unit more than once to get the correct color temperature (I was seeking no more than 5,000° for pure white but not blue light). There was also the flickering issue. The Kragen HIDs were great but the plastic housing eventually failed on Baja's rough roads!




The lighting distance was great!

The final solution came when a traveling friend showed me all metal, CREE LED lamps and he sold them to me! Two are pencil beams and two are driving beams.





They are extremely bright, use less power, and with metal housing are Baja proven!

 

Hey Martin!

You bring up some great points, mounting location is very important along with a few other characteristics when choosing the correct lighting solution for each vehicle. We can review each location and determine what's the best setup. You're going to notice pretty quick our biggest enemy is hood glare. It can be extremely annoying and even blind the driver.

The Roof Mounted Light bar/Lights

Roof line lighting solutions are still quite popular. I think it was a big trend that hit the off-road community a few years ago but I think people are starting to notice it's not the best location because of the glare. That's not to say you can't successfully run this setup. There's a few members that have used several tactics to remove or minimize the glare. For example, moving the light back on a roof rack or using a deflector on the bottom of the light. Although this decreases the glare, you do lose a little bit of light. Depending on the mount you use or roof rack, you might experience some noise but there are ways to combat it. As far as a lens pattern, I always recommend a spot lens (9 degree beam) on a roof line application. This will allow the beam to travel across the hood whereas a flood lens might bounce off it. This is from my observation but everyone has their own preferences and how much glare they can tolerate. I'm a fan of NO glare. A positive aspect is a roof mounted light bar can extend your upward beam. You'll find guys here that run lights on their front bumper and roof line to maximize their coverage.

A-Pillar/Ditch Lights

There's two different ways you can setup an A-pillar light, as a ditch light or a spot light.

Ditch light: Pointed typically about 45 degrees from the A-pillar. This is used as a cornering light to spread out your beam. I would say a wide cornering lens is the more popular option. Some will do driving/combo to get more distance. It just depends on what kind of scenery you'll be seeing, open deserts or tight forest trails, and make the assessment from there.
Spot light: Pointed straight. This is usually focused for long distance and a spot lens is used. You'll experience slight glare from the hood in this setup. For some, manageable and others unbearable.

*Amber is used for poor conditions such as dust, snow, rain, or fog. It will cut through rather than reflect like a white light does. Think of it as if you were driving through a thick patch of fog. By turning on your vehicle's brights, it doesn't necessarily allow you to see farther. Instead, it makes everything up close brighter and you'll have to go back to your low beams.

Behind-the-Grill and Bumper Lights

Behind-the-grill kits provide a great opportunity for people that want to add auxiliary lighting but maintaining that clean OEM look. It's also a deterrent for potential thieves. The only downfall is the small light blockage you'll experience from the grille. From seeing it first hand, it's not horrible and I think the pros outweigh the cons in this application.

In my opinion, the best location for auxiliary lighting is on the front bumper. You don't experience glare because the light is in front of the vehicle and you have easy access to adjustment. I do recommend using security hardware with any mounting solution that's open for anyone to tamper with it. Lens pattern would be determined from what the customer plans to do with the vehicle, but usually a driving/combo lens is the go to.

Fog Lights

Some will compromise this location to add auxiliary off-road lighting because they don't use fog lights on a daily basis. If you do use your fog lights daily, I would recommend an SAE compliant light which we offer. It meets SAE guidelines and it doesn't blind on-coming traffic when properly aimed. A traditional fog light setup uses an amber lens* (see above for explanation) but again, it just depends on what you'll be seeing on an ordinary day. A white light is better in clear conditions for terrain recognition and lessens driver fatigue.

Selective Yellow and Amber Lights

Amber lights are best mounted down low by the front bumper. This color temperature cuts through poor conditions so you'll want a higher perspective in the driver's seat.

I know this is a lot of information but please let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to answer or clarify.

 

Nice explanation. On my previous truck I had what I believe was a flood pattern mounted in the front bumper, and the bounce from the road surface was actually too much in a lot of cases. I also had a 50” light bar mounted above the windshield, but between the whistle and the hood glare, I eventually removed it.

On my base 2011, I just installed SAE amber fog lights this weekend, and it looks like I need to make sure they have the maximum tilt down. I also want to add a bumper mounted light, but was leaning to more of a spot pattern to reduce surface glare. When I did the electrical upgrade, I planned on some sort of high mount light set, probably mounted to the shell I am planning on getting, and again, choosing a spot pattern to minimize glare from the hood. Most of my use is actually dusty/sandy conditions, so I would expect the lower fog lights to see the most duty.

 

Alright, I gave the OP a polish, added some links as well as quotes from @Baja Designs

I'll update it further soon and will add more to it if anyone has questions or suggestions that they'd like to see included, especially from other after market lights novices who might know they need to get more light, but don't know what direction to go in to meet their needs.

 

@Baja Designs (though anyone else is also welcome to respond)

I had some follow up questions:

- What lighting upgrade would you normally suggest is the most effective *first* lighting upgrade. What works best in the most situations and provides the best improvement with just it's addition. To put it another way, if you were only going to add additional lights in one location, what location would it be? If multiple answers based on conditions/usage, could you specify? (Ex: Someone who deals with a lot of snow might have different needs than someone who just does general night driving down dirt roads, etc).

Also, more specific to your brand in particular:
- I've noticed that you offer numerous similar form factor lights. While the performance differences are notable and obvious, was there specific situations that lead to the development of near-overlapping products? Are (or were) the lights designed with different applications in mind? Examples: ONX6 vs S8, Squadron vs XL vs LP4 etc.

 

If I were starting a fresh build, the first place I would put off-road auxiliary lighting would be in the front of the vehicle (behind the grill or mounted in the front bumper). This location would be the most effective with no risk of glare on the hood. Depending on the vehicle and it's purpose, a driving/combo lens usually gets the best of both worlds in one light setup (spot and flood).

We have numerous LED lighting options available but it revolves around several factors such as budget, vehicle speed, terrain, size constraints, features, power constraints, etc... Once we review all of those things, that will determine what's the best option. I could name many specific situations where it led to the development of a new product as we evolved our brand. For example, the S8 was developed to fit in small areas such as a behind the grille kit or a low profile roof rack. The Onx6 series was developed for maximum lighting performance which results in it's bigger size to fit it's optics. The LP series was evolved because we saw that there was a need for a smooth blend of light that would fulfill near, mid, and long field vision using a 200 degree optic. The S1 is a "pocket" size light that works great for low profile lighting applications such as a roof rack setup for camp lighting. We're constantly looking at different opportunities to improve our products as the technology in LEDs advance. We always like seeing the entire vehicle build and consulting with the customer before making a recommendation.

 

It's cute when your aux lights aren't bigger than your headlights. Here's what I ran in Alaska:




But I feel BD's got it right. Start with the bumper, then add others depending on your needs.

Personally I'm going to put a 1 or 2 layer flood pattern on the bottom part of my grill. Then once I get a roof rack, haven't decided between a bunch of KC's (back to the future) or a tight beam spot led bar, I hate glare also.
Personally don't like ditch lights being visible. Can probably solve that with roof mounted.
Hey Meso, need you to design a mount for the front of our mirrors lol.

 

@Alnmike There's a thread here about adding S2's to the mirrors that is pretty clean.

There's a local guy here in AZ that also added an S1 in the front bumper to the side of the fog lights. Interesting solutions that keep the trucks lines clean.

 

Thanks. Found it. Too involved for me lol. I'll prolly do the easy roof rack ditch lights haha.

 

Man am I bummed this thread never took off.

The plan was always to hear from other lighting experts/manufacturers and include all of their thoughts in the OP.

 

Good idea, nice to read the info but would definitely have loved to hear more as well.

Agreed that it would be nice to hear from others but still nice to see what you were able to provide!

 

Interested in discussion...

Ed

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Tag them!

 

Solid discussion so far. Happy to add more insight if you guys have specific questions.

We also produced a helpful video series in the year that has passed since this thread was created. It answers some of the common hurdles encountered while building a lighting setup.

Make sure to check out the overall and general zone breakdowns linked here.
Placement, Power, Pattern - How to build a Proper Lighting Package