Roof lights

I agree with you. However, who am I to judge why someone wants to get lights?

While most may never use them for off road, or have them only for looks, I can’t say that I haven’t done things that I feel like make the truck look better, Even as I try to prioritize function over form.

Anyway, my main point was that you get what you pay for, especially in lighting, and even folks like the donut media guys don’t need very much expertise to be able to tell the difference once they are using the light.

 

Whether or not it's "too complicated" depends on your skill level and baseline knowledge. It's not particularly complicated if you're familiar with how the components involved work, but it can seem overwhelming at first if you're doing it for the first time; a lot of people seem to also mentally attribute a level of complexity to "wiring" of any kind because of how complex the overall wiring of a modern car/truck is (just replacing the audio system HU can involve splicing in an adapter with dozens of connections since there's no standardization for connectors between those units and the built-in equipment of the vehicle), but just creating a new single circuit for a light (or bank of lights) is far less complex.

I've done my own wiring for a number of lights on multiple vehicles and usually find that one of the most difficult parts is getting the wire for the in-cab switch to control the relay under the hood through the firewall, and second most difficult can be finding the right wire to tap into for the dash lights. In your case, making a harness that would split the power out 8 ways in parallel could get hairy unless you don't mind also mounting something like this under the roof rack:

$30 True Mods Waterproof Ground Power Distribution Terminal Block Battery Bus Bar [Max. 300V AC/48V DC] [IP65] [Positive/Negative] Insulated Busbar Box for 12V Auto Vehicle Marine Car RV Boat UTV ATV

www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Distribution-Terminal-Insulated-Automotive/dp/B08PCGFX3L

If you use 8 of those lights, you'll be looking at about a 25A draw so a typical 40A relay should be fine to handle the load (most switches are rated at 10A, and I wouldn't usually push close to that limit). For the run from the engine bay to the roof, I'd use a 10ga power wire for the "trunk" and 16 or 18 ga split off to each individual light; I'm not familiar with the quad cab geometry, but it's likely there's room to run the 10ga up the outside of the B pillar but inside of the doors (if that makes sense) with the wire coming from the engine bay to there under the cab, which would keep almost all of the wire hidden without needing to drill through the roof. If the Roof Rack is grounded into the body, the lights could be grounded into the rack, otherwise you'll need a ground wiring harness to at least get back down into the B pillar, where the whole set can be grounded into the body (I've sanded a small patch down to bare metal then riveted a ring terminal to the metal and touched up the paint over that in the past) or you could run a 10ga wire to a factory grounding point somewhere around the cab or in the engine bay. Put an in-line 40A fuse between the battery and the relay, and power the in-cab switch from an "add-a-fuse" on a switched circuit from the fuse block (or if you use a dash knockout for the switch, splice into one of the nearby factory switch harnesses assuming you can find the power and dash-light circuit wires there). That will give you a set-up where the lights won't be on without the ignition switch on since the relay will get de-energized even if the switch is closed.

 

Check these out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuqYEp7TVQE & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqtBD-sRItQ

 

I agree completely. You definitely get what you pay for.

The problem I have is with videos like the one from Donut is that they start with the underlying assumption that the only two options are: 1) cheap light or 2) expensive light. No one really stops to ask if you even need them in the first place.

Budget builds shouldn't be about just slapping cheap shocks, cheap winches, and shitty lift kits on your truck because that's what the guys with a $20k mod budget are doing. A "budget" build should start with "OK, I've got $1000 to spend, where should that money go?" Not "well those guys spent $1000 on lights, I guess we can spare $90 for some cheap lights."

I get where they're going with some of it. If you need this widget, do you "need" to buy the top end one, or will a cheaper one work just as well? I just think they should also preface that with "do you even need this widget in the first place?"

 

One thing that having some lights does is it creates the option of going out (or staying out) past dark, and provides some "insurance" in the event that getting stuck in an unexpected spot, or choosing to stay somewhere and enjoy a particular view for longer than had been planned leaves you needing to get home in less light that had been the original plan. A full complement of roof/bumper/ditch/rock/whatever lights might be overkill as "contingency" gear, but some amount is probably better to "have and not need"...

If the real use for a light bar is going to end up being helping to set up if you happen to reach the campsite later than expected, then odds are a $150 Amazon special will get the job done as well as a $5k Ridgid with 14 strobe patterns and an AI targeting system. For campsite setup, you might be as likely to need light on the side as in front of the vehicle, though so mounting an array of work lights on independent switches (or a pair of floods with magnetic bases that can be stuck anywhere on the body and pointed wherever when they're needed) could very well be a better option.

 

I think you hit the nail on the head with the last point - they are looking at "big" (or what they perceive as big) mods that people might do, and doing them.

It's clear they don't really know what they are doing - after all, hi truck "gave up" the factory e-locker, which I'd much prefer over the ARB that they installed back there. And they never regeared or anything while they had the diffs out!

But they aren't experts in the Tacoma space, they are experts in social media. They're entertainers, and I be they have plenty of us watching .

I mean, in general, I agree with everything you've said.

However, forward-facing, roof-mounted lights (be it a series of round lights or a light bar), are not the lights that are meant to "help setup camp." In fact, a headlamp will work a lot better in that situation - because it won't be blinding to stand in front of the truck, wont be bothering your neighbors in the next site over (or your buddy who parked in front of you across camp), etc. For years, people have camped with headlights, tail lights, and flashlights. Those things work and all cost less than the $150 Amazon special light bar (which is more likely to have the 14 strobe patterns than an expensive Ridgid or Diode Dynamics light, which focuses on ... light output and beam pattern - imagine that!)

Anyway, like I said earlier, (and you quoted) - who am I to judge why someone wants to get lights? People should get them for whatever reason they want. All I've tried to share is that lights are a place where it seems like you can save a bunch of money and get something that is "just as powerful," but the reality is, the cost isn't in the light output, it's in the development of the optics.

 

I've pulled into a couple sites where the angle of the parking relative to the spot (or a small berm or bump between the two locations) for the tent doesn't lend itself to using headlights, especially doing dispersed camping.

I get that roof lights won't help any if you can't face the truck toward the site (which is why I'm putting some "porch" LED pods for a camper/RV on the sides of my roof rack just in case so I'll have some working light on the sides). I did make a pair of "utility" lights with some magnets and a pair of cheapo 5" round LED floods but never really figured out how/where I wanted to situate the wires that I'd have been plugging them into so I haven't put them to use yet, even though they really are a great solution to flexible contingency lighting.

My own rig only has four 3 inch pods on the roof rack, two of which are actually aimed to do the job of ditch lights. I'm considering a 40" single row bar on the trail rig I'm building now because it's simpler than trying to route to multiple pods and because the Prinsu racks are designed to incorporate one pretty seamlessly (vs the pods that I had to use plastic shims to get the angle right).

 

At the risk of thread-jacking here, one quick tangent question.

What makes the e-locker superior to a an air locker? I know from experience that the e-locks can be a little fussy about engaging and need a few tries with a bit of inching back and forth in between, but from the description of the mechanism of the air-locker, it sounds like once it's pressurized it should drop into engagement every time if you just creep ahead for a foot or so.

Curious becuase I'm thinking about adding a rear locker to my 4WD T4R and figure that there's got to be a OEM e-lock option as well as the ARB; it's a V8 and I don't plan to tow much with it so I seem to have enough torque to not need to re-gear with the skinny-ish (285s) 34s I'm running.

 

Simplicity and reliability. Air lockers require air pumps, pressurized air lines and the air actuated locker, lots more to fail and a lot more complicated. There is a reason why OEMs use E-lockers.

 

Or just some headlamps and a lantern...

But yeah, I get your point. Do I not go night wheeling because I don't have lights, or do I not have lights because I don't go night wheeling?

I've been caught out later than expected before, and I survived with my headlights. It's not like I was on the Rubicon, but it that type of scenario a set of ditch lights, or just one of those really bright flashlights taped to your roof works, too, lol. I've seen that done.

 

This.

If you pull in to a camp spot late at night, there really is nothing more annoying than just sitting there with your lights on and your engine running while you set up camp.

That's honestly just wholly inconsiderate to those around you. As I said in the above post; that's what headlamps are for.

 

Yes and no.

While I really like my E-locker, it's for from the "best" out there. It's "good enough" to include as Toyota OEM equipment. They are reliable and strong, but I could do with a little better engagement. Mine has always been finicky, sometimes needing to zig zag to engage it.

You don't have that with ARBs, or the Harrop if you want to stick with an e-locker.

I drove my buddy's jeep with dual ARBs and that thing didn't care what you were doing, they instantly engaged or disengaged every time. People moan about the air system on ARBs, but if it were really an inferior system, they would still be selling them after 200 years (seems like, lol).

air lines or wires, they still have to be routed properly, and the same result if they break. Do air leaks happen? Sure, but so do seized electric actuators.

 

If it's just a couple of pods (with LEDs even a single-row bar shouldn't be a problem for 15-20 minutes), there's not really a need to keep the engine running to protect the battery from the lights. If you're old-school and running a full rack of halogen KCs on the other hand...

The lanterns that I have are fine for a quick meal on a table or reading in the tent, but they don't throw nearly enough to help find grommets in the black footprint of my tent in the dark.

 

My plan for the build has always been to have a pretty full-service OBA system for airing tires back up anyway. Since I have the spare moved up onto a carrier, I'm looking at putting a 4-5gallon pancake up where the tire used to be (maybe covered with some level of plate so it doesn't catch a boulder coming down a ledge). With that system already there, the "complicated" part of the air locker(s) isn't really a factor overall; sounds like I should look at air lockers, then for more reliable engagement.

 

Again, that's what headlamps are for. If I can ride my mountain bike at night with one, you can find some grommets. There's just no need to light up the whole area.

I just get annoyed when some dude shows up to a spot late at night, and now it's day time inside my tent. Like WTF. Years ago, a guy pulls in to the spot next to us late at night (this was a developed campground) and he sits there idling his diesel for 30 minutes while he gets his toy hauler leveled and popped out and wifey is wrangling the kids.

Clearly I don't hold a grudge against that guy... Damn that was probably 30 years ago, lol. I need therapy.

Even when out in the middle of nowhere and no one is near by, I don't see a need for much more than a headlamp for setting up camp. But I'm also generally aware of light pollution and all that (bit of a telescope nerd), so I tend to use the minimum light necessary.

 

I wouldn't call the engagement more reliable than a good electronic unit. The comparison made was against a 1st Gen OEM e-locker vs quality aftermarket. The e-locker in my 2nd Gen engages more quickly and reliably than the factory air lockers did in my 04 Rubicon. Certainly if you already have the air system in place it reduces some of the need to run more gear to support the lockers, though that doesn't eliminate the possibility of air leaks or make the system more reliable. Take a look at what is available for your truck and decide accordingly, ARB is a well respected brand with a long history. I've got an ARB twin as well and looking to add a front locker in addition to my factory rear, but for me I'll opt for an e-locker, mainly due to simplicity.

 

You’re the man