Will Running Auxiliary Lights and a Light Bar in Front of your Grill cause Cooling Issues?

Ive always been curious as to if running auxiliary lights and a light bar in front of your grill will cause cooling issues due to less air flow?? im exspecially curious because im in the market for a westin off road light bar and a pair of 6 inch driving lights for my 2012 v6 tacoma. Im also curious if the extra weight in the front from the light bar and lights would make the stock front suspension sag alittle and/or cause premature front tire wear because of that?? ill attach some images of what im buying, and some are editied because the bar im getting holds 3 lights but i only want to use two. any input is very much appreciated, thanks

 

For the setup you're describing, I wouldn't expect any of those issues. The bar/lights are reasonably light, and airflow shouldn't be blocked a noticeable amount (if any) just from two 6" round lights.

 

alright cool, thank you. and you really think everything will remain the same drive-ability wise with this setup as it is now with nothing in the front? on a side note, ive seen some really insane behind the grille light bar setups and idk how those trucks do not run hot lol?

 

I see no reason that anything would drastically change as a result of adding the lights. You're not blocking that much of the grille, plus some air will still flow around the lights (think how airflow looks behind something in a wind tunnel). 6" lights aren't THAT big. Not to mention you still have part of the radiator exposed behind the bumper grille.

A huge percentage of auxiliary lighting is done this way (on all vehicles, not just ours) so it's one of those cases where if something bad happened because of it, would that many people keep doing it for decades? Granted people can be stupid, but you see where I'm going here.

Disclaimer: I do not personally have this setup. I have a behind-the-bumper LED bar.

 

very true man, that actually makes alot of sense! thank you, i do appreciate the input

 

No problem man.

For what it's worth, I almost went with a setup similar to this (I was about to get the N-Fab bar and mount up a few pods or something that way). I just happened to like the look (and anti-theft properties) of the bar behind the bumper. I'm not too familiar with the Westin version, but with the N-Fab/Smittybilt, the bar itself sat almost right on top of the bumper grille.

 

ah ok cool. yeah im familiar with the nfab bar, i was looking into it at first be then realized that i completely blocks my front license plate (stupid NJ lol) and i really dont want holes in my bumper, and im not trying to change my entire front bumper for two holes, then i looked and looked, found nothing until i came across the westin and it completely misses the front plate so at that point i was kinda been sold on it xD

 

No problem. I have 2 20" light bars behind my grill (lots of pics in build thread - see link in sig) and don't have any troubles running around mountain passes in warm weather (or any other time of course). I have a lot of extra weight in accessories and gear as well.

When i first installed mine I thought I might take them out for the summer to help with cooling (it doesn't really get dark here this time of year) and just leave them in for the endlessly dark winters, but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

thats extremely interesting and good to know, thank you

 

I have a 20" light bar mounted in the grill 2 Rigid lights and my winch control box and have yet to have any over heating issues. Im in CO where if can get F YOU hot with no issue even drove from CO to Death Valley and all around there with no issues
the worse that can happen is you have to get a bigger fan if you want and who can complain about another mod

 

N-Fab lightbar on my Sport. Note the 6" lights, Hella and K.C. do NOT come close to covering he radiator opening.

 

I had two Hella Rally 4000s on the front of my old Tacoma's ARB bumper with no issues. The current Tacoma had two Hella Rally 4000 compacts on the ARB with no issues then I switched to a 20" LED bar, also with no issues even in the SC summer heat. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Alright cool, thanks guys like I was sayin earlier tho, the westin bar that I need to run does in fact sit higher than the nfab one to clear my front license plate, so im thinking I should get the 4 inch lights instead of the 6 inch ones. Thoughts??

 

However much light you think you need. Personally, I'd go with the 6".

 

I still may go with 6, but this upgrade is more of an atheistic type of upgrade if anything. Because the LED lights in the first two pictures I posted are 4.75 inches in diameter and are almost covering part of the plastic on the grill, id like not to cover that just because I still wanna see that, and I would prefer to have halogen bulbs as well, so im thinking the 4 inch westins are a decent route to go, a happy medium

 

Check out some of the other brands too. I've heard Westin lights aren't super great given their price point, though they sometimes offer discounts when you buy one of their bars.

PIAA, Hella, and KC are pretty much safe bets for halogens if you choose to look elsewhere.

 

Very true, but you said the magic words lol, price point lol. Ive looked into hella and they are amazing lights, but very pricey lol. Same goes with PIAA. KC is about the only other brand id personally consider because they are more affordable, and look good lol

 

Yeah, they ain't cheap. Not sure what your budget is, but if I remember right Hella has some decent options for tight budgets. You'll have to do some googling though as I don't know what any of those really go for these days.

 

My '95 Tacoma had the full sized Hella 4000s but I went for the compacts on my '05 as I thought they looked better; they didn't appear to obstruct the grill as much either, not that I had any issues with running hot. The compacts seem to put out almost as much usable light as the larger ones (both sets of lights had 100watt bulbs in them). You should be fine with whatever you choose, just make sure you wire them correctly.

 

Not that you need to be told again, but I have four hella 700's sitting right in front of my grill and have never had an overheating problem.