Best driving lights for seeing deer on road

I’m driving long distances through the Colorado mountains every weekend and want a good aftermarket auxiliary lights to help spot deer and elk on the side of the road. Need suggestions on a basic setup. Don’t want to buy a light bar for the roof. Any suggestions welcome! Thanks!

 

What's your price range? That will dictate what sort of quality, down road throw, etc, you're looking at.
Also when you say "aftermarket" are you talking headlights or an auxiliary lighting system like pods or a light bar?

 

Maybe some ditch lights from diode dynamics

 

Top of this subforum, the SAE J581 driving light thread has quite a few detailed test comparisons from the author, crashnburn80, and also posters (myself included) who have posted up pics of additional lights "on the road" as it were.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-sae-j581-aux-high-beam-thread.696597/

I had LED cibie super oscars on my old 4runner. Literally the only place I ever felt like they didnt have enough output was driving through big sky, montana at night, but they are excellent lamps, and you can see from the test/comparison crashnburn80 that it has among the widest beam patterns of the lamps he's had to compare.

 

I have the Diode Dynamics SSC2 Sport ditch lights (combo beam) in amber for that exact reason and love them however I do wish I went with the Pros for more output. They seem to be out of stock at the moment. I went with Diode Dynamics because I also use their SS3 LED fogs in amber (because DOT approved) both the ditch and fog lights are amber backlit and I like the matching color temperatures.

 

I'd agree that the LED Super Oscars are a good choice due to their beam width. The issue with spotting critters off to the sides of the road is just how wide of a beam do you want and can you get that with just one pair of lights. Fog beam pattern lights do a great job of illuminating off to the sides of the road, but they don't have much reach - by design. Spot beams have all the reach in the world, but not much spread. Driving pattern lights would probably be the best option for you given the above.

I happen to have some pics - unfortunately not taken at the same place - of a pair of Diode Dynamics SS5 LED pods behind the grill on my 2021 4Runner. Here's a picture of the Driving pattern I started with:



As you can see, very good distance with a decent spread, but I wanted more pure distance, so I swapped in the Spot lenses and got this:



Hope that helps!

 

Easy clean setup would be Squadron Pro with a combo lens in the fog pockets wired through the highbeams.

I use Sport Combos in the fog pockets and Pro Spots on the ditch lights facing forward.
Covers close up and way down the ditch line at highways speeds without looking like a lightbar bro.

 

Here's an easy ask:

What's your lighting setup now? Just stock halogens? If so, there's lots to gain with just some headlight bulb changes.

Do you want better visibility when using low beams or high beams?

Is there oncoming traffic that you need to be worried about?

I have a set of LED retrofit headlights and they are bright and awesome and all that, but I really enjoy driving around with my fog lights on. They are Diode Dynamics SS3 MAX SAE Fogs. They really light up the sides of the road where deer can run out. I know a ton of people will say fog lights are only for bad weather conditions, but for me, I'm pretty sure these will save me.

My Auxiliary lights are as follows:
Baja Designs S8 20" Light Bar in Combo Pattern
Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro's in Driving Pattern
Diode Dynamics SSC1 Pro's in Flood (really angled off the sides of the ditch light brackets for a true ditch light scenario).
Diode Dynamics SS3 Max's in SAE/Flood in factory locations

My fogs come on with the low beams, and then everything (including fogs) turns on with the high beams. Needless to say the rare cases I get to use my high beams it's quite a treat.

I would caution you not to use one of those behind the grill light bar mounts. I've had no luck with them, they shake and vibrate and generally isn't nice at road speeds. Off road they are fine.

Rago Fab makes the nicest low profile ditch light brackets. Super solid.

 

Hey @Bullhollow,
There are a ton of aftermarket options on the market but Baja Designs is a company to consider for a few different reasons. The biggest and most brought up point is our lifetime warranty on all lighting products we sell. All you have to do is keep proof of purchase or register your lights when you purchase them and we have them covered for as long as you own them. Another great benefit is our ip69k waterproof rating. This means you can fully submerge out lights and they will work perfectly after. Not only do we have a lifetime warranty and are fully waterproof we also have a 5000k color rating allowing your eyes to keep sharp while on long car rides at night. For the Tacoma's we have a few different lighting kits to elevate your night driving experience but our most common kit is the OEM fog light replacements. For all Tacoma lighting kits, visit the link below and if you have any questions regarding any of our products don't hesitate to reach out.
Brandonk@bajadesigns.com
https://www.bajadesigns.com/vehicle-hub-lp/toyota-tacoma-16-on-lighting-kits/?page=1&vid=149102
Best,
Brandon