44k lumens light bar+ hood wrap questions (1 Viewer)

[Outsane]

If you still do a light bar up top.

You can try staying away from flood patterns, as they will widen the beam down depending on how good the designers are. I would expect a cheap light bar to put light everywhere, and a well designed one should focus the the light forward.

You can also add a flat strip of metal to block the light from hitting your hood.

No help to you but my light bar is mounted behind the sunroof, so no hood reflection.

 

[gummycarbs]

LED headlights, adjusted correctly.......

Assuming we're talking about a US-market 80, LED bulbs are a terrible idea.

ECE headlights have a sharp cutoff with an uptick to the right to illuminate road signs. SAE headlights allow for much more light to spill above the cutoff.

Off the top of my head, halogen headlamps put out around 1500 lumens, while aftermarket LED bulbs are usually in the 3000 lumen range.

Combine double the lumens with the upward light spillage of an SAE housing and you are throwing a lot of light into the eyes of oncoming drivers. I've seen a significant increase around here in older vehicles with SAE housings running bright LED bulbs, and it's binding.

I ran LEDs in my Depos (ECE cutoff) for a couple of years and they were vastly better than stock and quite a bit better than Depos with halogens.

I finally bit the bullet and retrofitted HID projectors into the Depos for two reasons: 1) the LED beam pattern wasn't as smooth as HID projectors, creating hotspots which are fatiguing when driving at night, and 2) projectors give a *vastly* wider beam pattern with very even light intensity everywhere.

Projectors are far better at concentrating light in the distance with a smooth transition to the foreground. The result is much more even lighting across your field of view. Compare that to halogens and LEDs, where light is more concentrated directly in front of you, making it even harder to spot the deer on the side of the road in the distance.

 

[LINUS]

+1 to @gummycarbs comments.

I’ve rode shotgun in a Lucas LED‘d USDM 80 & it was wild -
(same guy who did the roof bar / satin wrap on hood that wet was water-gloss black TBH)

I was far more into the Lucas bulbs than the “bloom“ as I’ve run Euro pattern headlights in a ton of VW’s & BMW’s over the decades, either factory or Hella aftermarket.

For whatever reason, I have a excellent cutoff / no ‘bloom’ in USDM Tundra HL vs the vertical fluted glass lense on a factory 80 headlight (pretty sure it’s those vert flutes) - but I’m near positive the Tundra is some form of projector as it has motorized low-beams at least in the tow package SR5 like mine (Rock Warriors are just SR5’s w/ crap).

Anyhow - If I was still in stock USDM housings I’d do the Osram Silverstars or JD HIR’s & not piss off oncoming drivers (or LEO’s !) with LED bulbs.

 

[rc51kid]

never implied that. I WILL say I have enough respect for forward driving and oncoming vehicles to know when to have lit and not. There is a time and place for everything and I am certainly mature enough to know when to have them lit and when not.

I live in rural WY/MT. Probably similar to where you are in some ways. Wire them into the high beams with a relay kit from Slee. You can "activate" them with a dash switch but they still only come on with the high beams. I use mine plenty in wide open rural areas where you can see oncoming traffic a mile away. The second i see any indication of oncoming headlights i just dim my high beams turning off all the aux lights. I know they are really bright so I watch very carefully for on cumming lights. If i am in an area where i have any doubt about seeing oncoming traffic clearly i wont use them. But there are a lot of areas that you can safely (not legally i know) use them when they are so quick to dim.

I have some front bumper light similar to your work truck and a LED light bar mounted up top. Both are wired independently from each other. The bare is mounted about as perfectly as you can mount one. It is several inches back from the edge of the roof. Also mounted very low, almost touching the roof. This cuts the edge of the light pattern. Also my hood is dark green with no clear coat left, call it "patina blacked out" LOL.

The roof light still bothers me for road driving use. My TJM bumper is flat black but stickes up over the top of the hood like may bumpers. The light hits the back of the bumper and still bothers me. Also I feel like it really illuminates and dust or moisture in the air right in front of my field of vision. Dont even think about using it in snow or fog obviously. It is still great off road or on trails. But for on road use i would stick with bumper mount lights.

Also I have a different opinion about color temp than most people. A lot of people like very white or "pure white" light. I used some Baja Design Squadrons on my motorcycle. I can tell you that they are a little warmer color than most LED lights and have a really nice fall off of the illuminated area. It make is so much easier on my eyes than the "pure white" on a lot of other LED products.

I have considered mounting 4 Squadrons Sports in the bumper, that would give 12,000 lumens of nice QUALITY light. Or go with the Squadron Pro for almost 20,000 lumens. I think the quality of the light and the reflector design is more important than the lumen number.

 

[sxp]

Also I have a different opinion about color temp than most people. A lot of people like very white or "pure white" light. I used some Baja Design Squadrons on my motorcycle. I can tell you that they are a little warmer color than most LED lights and have a really nice fall off of the illuminated area. It make is so much easier on my eyes than the "pure white" on a lot of other LED products.

I too find that pure white is very difficult on the eyes. I prefer amber for all of my aftermarket lighting as it greatly reduces my eye strain.

 

[burnttoastburgos]

I live in rural WY/MT. Probably similar to where you are in some ways. Wire them into the high beams with a relay kit from Slee. You can "activate" them with a dash switch but they still only come on with the high beams. I use mine plenty in wide open rural areas where you can see oncoming traffic a mile away. The second i see any indication of oncoming headlights i just dim my high beams turning off all the aux lights. I know they are really bright so I watch very carefully for on cumming lights. If i am in an area where i have any doubt about seeing oncoming traffic clearly i wont use them. But there are a lot of areas that you can safely (not legally i know) use them when they are so quick to dim.

I have some front bumper light similar to your work truck and a LED light bar mounted up top. Both are wired independently from each other. The bare is mounted about as perfectly as you can mount one. It is several inches back from the edge of the roof. Also mounted very low, almost touching the roof. This cuts the edge of the light pattern. Also my hood is dark green with no clear coat left, call it "patina blacked out" LOL.

The roof light still bothers me for road driving use. My TJM bumper is flat black but stickes up over the top of the hood like may bumpers. The light hits the back of the bumper and still bothers me. Also I feel like it really illuminates and dust or moisture in the air right in front of my field of vision. Dont even think about using it in snow or fog obviously. It is still great off road or on trails. But for on road use i would stick with bumper mount lights.

Also I have a different opinion about color temp than most people. A lot of people like very white or "pure white" light. I used some Baja Design Squadrons on my motorcycle. I can tell you that they are a little warmer color than most LED lights and have a really nice fall off of the illuminated area. It make is so much easier on my eyes than the "pure white" on a lot of other LED products.

I have considered mounting 4 Squadrons Sports in the bumper, that would give 12,000 lumens of nice QUALITY light. Or go with the Squadron Pro for almost 20,000 lumens. I think the quality of the light and the reflector design is more important than the lumen number.

good input there........and yes, I run the BD Squadron's on both my KTM's......insane lighting!!