Oh deer!

I have a 2010 Prerunner, and live in serious deer country. What kind of lighting upgrade would be best for projecting more light to the sides of the road? The stock lights seem adequate as far as distance, but most deer "attacks" seem to come at you from the side.

 

While deer can be unpredictable, i've found that a little common sense can go a long way. Slow the hell down during the times deer run and pat attention. Don't be multi-tasking. I think its more than 'bad luck' when the same people seem to have repeated 'accidents'.

I live in an area with a heavy population of deer, drive alot at night and early morning and think i hit one in my life, and that was barely due to having been paying attention and having been alert enough to have slowed down to the point of almost missing him.

 

And sometimes nothing helps....

 

sucks. at least it was a buck n not a swamp donkey

 

IMO more lights is not the answer.

I hit a deer a few years ago with my Jeep Grand Cherokee and no amount of extra lighting would have made a difference. That Doe was at a full run and I hit her broadside acroos my front bumper before I could get my foot on the brake.......

 

Armor.

 

X2!!! Get off the brake before impact if possible. It will let the truck rise up from the front end drop during a panic brake. Hit the deer with the bumper, not the grill and head lamps. Armor will make all the difference. None of the wings around the headlamps either, they seem to do more fender damage than good.

 

Kinda off topic but some insurance companies have additional coverage for areas with lots of deer..might benefit you

Or you could buy a nice saturn. I had one of those little cars and smoked a deer at about 40 mph and it bounced right off and didn't leave a single mark

 

Kragen HIDs, 2 to 4 of them on the front bumper. The HIDs reflect deer eyes from WAY away. The eyes start glowing way before they even get in range of the lights. I drive at night in deer country a lot, and having several seconds of notice that there are critters in the ditch allows more time to slow down. Not 100% obviously, but it helps a TON.

 

i have 2 converted hella 500ff's on a light bar pointed to the sides of the road. i agree they wont stop you from hitting a deer, but i think the extra 100 bucks is worth the good edge that it gives you against spotting them. i was really impressed on how effective it actually is at spotting them. there is a lot of deer you dont usually see.

 

I have two small lights (just big enough to accomodate an H3 bulb really)mounted under the frame and pointing at the tires/sides of the truck which light up the sides very well; very handy for wheeling. I'm replacing the 55w bulbs with 100w right now to "shed a little more light on the subject". I could get some pics so you can see how I did it if you want.