Fairing-mounted LED lightbar for full-length roof rack, or not? (1 Viewer)

[Sverige]

I have been planning a full length replacement roof rack (Prinsu/Victory4x4/Dissent/etc style) for a while, in part because I wanted to mount a massive lightbar facing forward for more light on forest roads. Recently, I was told that the lightbars/lightbar cutouts create a lot of extra wind noise AND the light from above the windshield is not ideal because it lights up the snow/rain/dust just in front of your eyes -so it wouldn’t help for the conditions I am wanting it for. So lightbar cutout or no cutout?

For those of you who have or do not have a LED lightbar mounted in your fairing, would appreciate your advice & thoughts.

 

[bloc]

I have also read that if not placed and aimed correctly it will illuminate the hood, compounding the visibility/glare problem.

Can you not achieve enough light with front mounted options?

 

[Angelo1]

Here’s my 4th option to the poll question. Yes, it looks cool but only do it if you can’t add a light to the front grill. I had the full Rigid midnight edition light bar with my Prinsu rack. It looked great but I rarely need the light. Next time I will have a light bar on the front grill. The light bar on roof was terrible in fog(obviously), rain and really humid nights. It reflected off every dang bug and debris floating around. Again, it looked cool but total waste of money.

 

[winkwallace]

i love my high mounted light bar - i have a few miles of very dark road to get back to my house and it lights everything up. mine is just the light bar across the front of the standard roof rack and it is mounted almost flush with the roof. it's fine in light rain, useless in fog as expected. There is a bit more wind noise - noticeable with the sunscreen open on the moonroof, but closing the screen quiets it down to next to nothing.

Seth
'21 LC200

 

[WCDAVE]

I think the light bar in the fairing is more about looks than function. As mentioned, there are better places for additional light than on the roof. I have both fairings for my Dissent rack, and will probably never use the light bar one. I am planning on upgrading my fogs with amber squadron pros which should give me more off-road light than I would ever need. (For my use, this is not a high priority as night trail driving is not something I look to do preferring to set up camp before dark - apologies to Ronnie Dahl). If you are traveling at high speeds off-road at night, then maybe there is a case for the additional light, but at least with LED headlight-equipped Cruisers, it's hard to out run your lights. Having said that, I do have scene lights all around as lighting camp is more important to my use case than throwing lumens 1,000 yards down the trail.

 

[linuxgod]

The light bar is helpful for low speed overland travel at night, in my experience. It will reflect off the hood if it's forward of a full length rack, any many people don't like that. I have seen people mount one at the front of the 3/4 length factory rack which will mostly eliminate the glare, but that won't help with a full length rack. I would not use it for high speed driving - in that case driving lights on the bumper are a better option to throw light way down the road. However being able to shine light downward I find helpful when it's dark as you can better see into ditches etc in front of you. That said driving lights are more useful in more cases and if people need to decide on where to put their $ I'd recommend on the bumper over the roof.

I have my light bar sitting in front of my fairing. There is some wind noise with my setup, but it's not terrible and I'm not sure if it's the light bar or the kayak racks or something else. If I close the interior sunroof cover the noise is pretty much eliminated.

 

[Darije]

I have Osram fx 1000 sm cb. It is real deal Mounted behind the sunroof. There is no light at the hood with this setup. When is rain, snow and fog it is not so much useful. It would be better to be lower, at the bumper... But for forest roads it is perfect

 

[cphibs]

Here’s my 4th option to the poll question. Yes, it looks cool but only do it if you can’t add a light to the front grill. I had the full Rigid midnight edition light bar with my Prinsu rack. It looked great but I rarely need the light. Next time I will have a light bar on the front grill. The light bar on roof was terrible in fog(obviously), rain and really humid nights. It reflected off every dang bug and debris floating around. Again, it looked cool but total waste of money.

Anyone have a grill mounted light bar on 2011 lx stick bumper?

 

[7000ft]

I have the ARB BASERACK Slimline light installed ( but not completely wired yet) on my LC200. I bought the optional amber covers for better disability for rain, snow and trail dust conditions. Per an ARB technical video the lightbar was designed with a bottom deflector that shields the hood from glare. I'll report back here when I finish the wiring.

 

[grinchy]

I have a 40” light bar on the stock tlc rack, mounted on stainless brackets available from a vendor on the forum.
It isn’t a noise contributor. I did buy a single row bar.
I don’t use it very much. When I do use it, there is some reflection off of rain or anything else in the air.
I imagine that is true no matter where you put a megawatt light . . . Maybe it is more for a roof mount, my experience isn’t very much.
It makes night day. I could turn off the other lights and still see amazing.
Here is a pic in a monsoon rain with some exhaust floating about.
My kids love to count the moths we see when the light is on.

 

[grinchy]

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