adding light bar and lights

should i add them to the truck? i make several trips to the mountains and it gets tough to see sometimes esp when it snows. so wondering if its worth it to add some extra lights on the front of the truck and wondering how much extra light it brings with it.

thanks!

 

I'll try and get you a night picture of my light bar thus evening, it makes a very large difference if you do it right.
I say go for it!

 

thanks man. and you think it would go good with an avid light bar?

 

I put a CARR light bar with summit racing lights on.

 

if you're goal is to see better while it's snowing, i would use a light bar that sits lower on the vehicle (front bumper area) and use lights that have a fog light pattern. i have 4 lights on my roof, all are geared for distance rather than wide spread light, thay are fantastic most of thi time, but when it rains heavy or snows, they wash everything out and make it harder to see farther. so in those cases, the fog lights come on and the "fog pattern" lights behind my satoshi as well.

 

yeah i was gonna put four on a light bar on the grill.

and thanks

 

check out the nfab light bars, and the procomp 130's for the lights

 

With Kragen HIDs...





One Baja trip and the Kragens (plastic housing) cracked from vibration... epic fail!

With Hella 4000 Halogen Metal Lamps (pencil beams, 100 watt)



Regular High Beams...



Hella 4000 Pencil beams...



Regular High Beams...



Hella 4000s...

 

hey thanks david K. yours really helped out alot. was looking for something along those lines to see the difference appricate it.

 

You may be looking for something a little more professional than this, but being a college student with time and ingenuity over the summer I made my own. Piece of conduit from Lowes' and some thick treated board painted black with some lights that I picked up from the local parts store. Spent a total of $30 and am very pleased, lights are very bright. Just if you wanted to experiment on your own.

 

Yeah I in college too and that's not a bad idea to tinker with

 

You're welcome!

Keep in mind some basics... HIDs are awesome use less than half the power of Halogens and will create daylight in front of your truck... 4,000ºK to 5,000ºK color range. Lower will be yellowish and higher will be blue to violet and give you LESS light!
However, they are expensive... except for the Chinese made units Kragen and some others are selling. The problem is the ABS plastic housing can break with any long off road drives. The good ones come from companies like Hella, Baja Designs (Solotek), KC, Light Force, Vision X, etc... but will be $300-$500 each.

The new technology is LED lighting... very small, very low power drain, very expensive... Baja Designs has some.

Halogens have replaced sealed beams as the standard light... they give more light, are whiter and brighter than sealed beams, and the cost is reasonable. 100 to 135 watts are availabe for off road use. Prices range from $35 to $135 each. Halogens are closer to 3,000ºK on the color chart, meaning they are slightly yellowish... but whiter than sealed beams!

BEAM PATTERNS:

FOG: Short, and very wide... used for cornering as well as under fog.... Mount as low as possible on vehicle.

DRIVING (EURO): Oval and about the same as your standard high beam pattern on the road. Best choice for most conditions. Mount close to headlight height on vehicle.

PENCIL (SPOT): Long and narrow beam pattern... no wider than the road in front of you. Best for high speed driving and to see distant objects the soonest. Mount as high as possible on vehicle.

Best set-up would be to have all three types. I have pencils because I use my stock headlights at the same time, and want distance to be increased.

I do plan to have my light bar modified with two more tabs so I can add my (repaired) driving beam HIDs to the pair of Hella pencils.

 

If you run Pro-Comp lights you can keep the cost down some. First thing you want to do is paint them though. The factory finish sucks. Fades very quickly. Other than that, the performance I've had is fine compared to the KC's.

 

There are several options you can go with. Mine's a smitty-built w/Hella 500s, same design as an N-fab bar.

 

What kind of lights are the Pro Comps you have, HID, Halogen, Pencil, Driving?

 

what i was thinking about was having 4 PIAA's 520 driving series on the grill with an avid off road light bar.
we got a mountain house and esp at night and during the winter its rough to see the trails up to it. have you heard any about the PIAA being good quality? was looking and for four of them it'd be something like $465
the reviews on the site looked like everyone really liked them. just wondering what you think of the set up and the lights

 

I've got the PIAAs you speak of and they're great! There's a group buy going on with them now also. I believe it's a 25% off deal and 11.99 shipping flat rate. I only went with 2 520s with the amber driving beam. So far, the quality is great and they light up everything! They have a lifetime warranty also, excluding collisions. The warranty follows the owner also, so you can take them off and put them on your next vehicle and they're still covered. Unless you're really off road, I would imagine 4 is overkill and would be expensive. They're 85 watts a piece so your electrical system is something else to keep an eye on (not sure how much other stuff you run consistantly).

 

Currently I have 2 Pro-Comp 8" 130 watt with a combo flood/spot lens and 2 KC 6" 100 watt spots. All Halogen

 

thanks for the input. yeah i was wondering about the electrical side of things for it haha. and the only other thing that'll be running is a police radar. but i could prolly set up the double battery thing if i do indeed decide on getting four.

 

x2 minus the KCs