The SAE J581 Aux High Beam Thread

Big country Customs, Abbotsford, BC, I also have their front bumper and skid plates.

 

I'm getting some ideas for your old truck, @crashnburn80 :

A pair of SSC2 Pro in selective yellow with clear driving pattern lenses. Flush mount into the grill as shown below. (This would avoid building a custom bracket to hold the non-flush version as well as having to have a meticulous cut in the grille to not look bad).

If I actually go through with it, I would probably buy a knock off TRD Pro grill to cut up and leave the OEM one alone.

They would match my SS3 selective yellow with clear lenses and headlights pretty dang well. Also, up here at headlight level, they should be placed well as opposed to running the hidden light bar in the lower grille.

 

Not that the 100w Osrams need a high beam boost, but could be nice to run with the low beam as supplemental highs rather than using the high beam. I'm fairly certain that plane on the grill is not vertical though vs being sloped back slightly, so if using a flush mount you'd have to shim out the top somehow so they are not pointing up at the trees, which could hamper the clean look and make proper aiming very difficult.

I'd maybe try cutting the supports as pictured and mounting the lights in those locations. Mounting would certainly be a bit tricky, likely using a BAMF behind the grill mount with some flat metal stock extensions to get them up into the hole rather than sitting behind it. Just a thought.

 

Yeah, I left the shim part out but you're right that it probably won't look very clean, which would be the first thing on the truck making it start to look DIY and unpolished…
That's an idea to supplement the low beams because sometimes the high beams make the retroreflective road signage on the side of the road too bright.

I briefly thought about that but didn't want to cut up the OEM grille and then forgot about that when switching to the other idea with flush mount. That actually would work out fine and be less visually obtrusive than mounting the flush ones into the center "beam" of the TRD Pro grille. I'll do some more research on the BAMF light mount - I haven't looked at it in many years.

I also thought about mounting the SSC2 Driving lights at the bottom of the A-pillar where most people put their ditch/flood lights, but I think it would light up and reflect off the hood and annoy me.

 

If you got the SSC1 Max Fogs, then swapped the optic for the driving, you'd have a tighter beam pattern with less potential for spill on the hood. Not a setup DD sells off the shelf, so there are no specs to judge what that would look like. In the fog optic, the SSC1 is supposed to be on par with the SS3 Sport.

Another option is to go full behind the grill DD light bar. Don't need to cut the supports. Granted, the bar is an older design and optic than the SSC2 Pros, and it is a darker optic on a 6000k source, so it doesn't have the same efficiency advantages. I know there is posts somewhere I can dig up where we installed one on a friends 2015 Tacoma. Here is one post and another... and here it is. Not in in-depth review post though.

 

I have 4k SSC3 with clear drying lens mounted to a BAMF behind the grill mount. I cut the grill easily with a hacksaw blades and a Dremel. Took about 20 minutes. The lights are headlight level and wired up as aux high beams

 

Not an SAE driving light, but ARBs new pattern selectable "driving" lights look interesting.
https://arbusa.com/driving-lights/arb-intensity-lights/intensity-iq/

 

But they look weird and are fairly expensive

 

not to be a total ass, but what of theirs' isn't

 

Heavily reminds me of LazerLamps out of the UK. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the actual manufacturer.
https://www.lazerlamps.com/sentinel-elite-black.html

 

anyone know a good 30" light bar with amber or selective yellow on the outside and SAE driving beam in the middle and the ability to switch them independently?

I found this Baja design one, but not sure if the center white light is SAE - i assume if it was it would jump off the page. (I emailed BD to confirm - waiting to hear)

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/onx6-straight-dual-control-led-light-bar/

any insights are appreciated, thanks!

 

I do not. Yellow is only SAE compliant for J583 fog pattern, not J581 driving. It would seem unlikely that manufacturers going through the trouble for an SAE compliant bar would add a non-SAE compliant component, making it more challenging to sell as SAE. Bajas open bucket reflectors are definitely not SAE, even in white. I’d say the best bet is to use linkable lights, like that from Diode Dynamics or KC Pro6. You can then link the pods to build a bar, and for some use yellow driving lights in the case of DD, or use the amber covers in the case of KC. Morimoto and Baja also both offer linkable lights, but not an actual SAE style driving pattern if that is what you are looking for.

 

thank you = as always, very informative and appreciated. Was looking for aux high beams where the stealth light bar can go behind grill at the bottom.

https://www.diodedynamics.com/2016-2023-toyota-tacoma-stealth-light-bar-kit.html

Rigid makes one that is just the white light which i am curious about (which could be a way to go too since i have DD SS3 max yellow fogs already)

https://www.rigidlightshop.com/p-27...ng-lights-sr-series-pro-rigid-industries.aspx

would really appreciate your thoughts on Rigid in terms of quality, company, this product, etc.

I was also thinking about making a bracket to mount some DD SS2s to go where the stealth light bar otherwise goes

thank you

 

How important is actual compliance? Do you need to pass inspection? I ask because aux high beam is a pattern that should never be used with forward traffic, so other drivers should not be affected with proper use, unlike headlights or fogs that are left on with oncoming traffic. However, for street use, an SAE J581 style pattern is still important and beneficial, as it focuses the light on distance light to extend your visibility distance without flooding the near field in foreground light, which is limiting to your night distance vision and not something you want when driving on the street at night.

Comparing a few options: Baja's open bucket reflector design is designed to give you that near field foreground light and the distance light, the foreground light is great for off road trails where you may want to see very close to the vehicle and can just leave it on for extended periods, but not something you'd want on the street. The Diode Dynamics 30" bar uses an SAE J581 aux high beam pattern, so it will focus on distance light while minimizing foreground light spill but the output intensity is actually too high for SAE compliance, as there is an output intensity limit for SAE J581. Their smaller 12" bar is SAE compliant. The Rigid 30" bar is actually SAE J581 compliant. SAE compliance is based on per lamp, so a 30" light bar is rated as one lamp even though it may occupy the space of 2 traditional lamps. Since the output compliance is by lamp, that means that having 2 lamps can have double the output and still be compliant vs a single lamp. So Rigid added a break in the center of the bar and claimed it as 2 individual lamps that are joined for compliance. Clever.

Also note, be sure to look at Rigid products on the actual Rigid site for the most info. Rigidlightshop is not Rigid Industries.
https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-...auxilary-high-beam-driving-lights-930413.html

If you look at the specs:

Rigid SAE 30" bar, output intensity is 745 lux@10m.
https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-...auxilary-high-beam-driving-lights-930413.html


Diode Dynamics 12" SAE bar, output intensity is 1,110 lux@10m (Run 2 for proper SAE J581 compliance)
https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-12-sae-dot-white-light-bar-one.html


Diode Dynamics 30" driving bar, output intensity is 2,750 lux@10m. SAE driving pattern, but not SAE compliant due to excess intensity
https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-30-white-light-bar.html


If you want an SAE driving pattern, but strict compliance isn't needed, the DD 30" bar is the the most compelling, the output intensity is about 3.7x that of the Rigid bar. I haven't compared patterns, but the DD TIR optics are extremely efficient compared to the Rigid optics. You could also consider a DD 18" bar as well and look to mount it in the upper grill location with a behind the grill BAMF mount, which is more ideal than the lower valence in terms of position for a distance light, but depends on the void area in your grill.

Lots of food for thought.

 

@crashnburn80 - wow - as usual! thank you very, very much. Great stuff to think about and really appreciate the time you take to reply.

 

I always thought this implementation was cool- SS3s on an extruded slot bar (8020 style). Not quite as easy as the linkable SS5s, but a little more compact. You could wire a set of compliant driving pods symmetrically, then do what you want with the rest.


You could also get two dual mounts, and on each one you could mount a compliant driving light and a yellow light. Then wire them up accordingly.

 

awesome ideas, appreciate the input. Gonna think on stuff. thank you.

 

This was my plan if I ever do a light bar up top. SS5s are a bit too big. You can’t use the driving lights up top on road though can you?

 

Nope. Wink, wink. I never use my SS5's on public roads. Wink, wink.

 

I was talking about the SS3s up top. I thought you couldn’t use driving lights mounted above your headlights?