ARB Bull Bar Lights Question

[Romer]

I did a search and see a lot of you are using Fog lights, some driving and a few dual (Fog/Driving). Looking at some PIAA 510 or 520s and they come in either Fog or Driving. Obvoulsy, the expensive dual lights are the best of both worlds. Just wondering for the advantages or Driving vs Fog and why you chose what you did.

Fog - Wider beam more area up front.

Driving - narrower beam and can see farther away.

It would seem to me the Fogs are the better choice for off road/on road applications. Just wanted to see before I plunked down my money

 

[Romer]

I see 2 driving and 1 Fog. I'd like to know why you prefer one over the other.

 

[SizzleChest]

driving lights. how often do you actually see fog and they never live up to their hype anyways. I had a pair of the 520 driving lights and there was nothing wrong with them, but i've stepped up to the lightforce 170s now. i've also got another pair for sale in the FS section if you are interested.

 

[mot]

Ken,

I'm sure everybody's opinion differs, but I like using fogs when driving in town to add additional lighting up front, as well as off to the sides. It doesn't hurt that they help when the weather is less than ideal (not that significant in rain, IMO).

With driving you are lighting up further down the road where you would want to have as early a warning as possible driving fast, of wildlife, stranded vehicle, etc...

You can get an H4 fog/driving or driving/spot and cram a low-profile fogs in the bumper opening IF you must have fogs.

I have a set of new in the box IPF Super Rally 930 fog/driving (I believe that's the lens cut) for cheap in Utah if you are interested.

Anyway, good luck!

Mot


EDIT: Ken, Please check a For Sale thread I will try to start with fogs and driving lights in the upcoming days (OEM and others).

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

Ken If you dont mind spending a lttle more check out the Warn dual beam. I dont know anything about fog but the low beam is street legal and add a lot of light for normal night driving.The high beam has some punch to it also. Best of both world in one package and they fit in the factory ARB mounts complete with wiring harness.

 

[gbell210]

On my old 88 4Runner I had both driving and fog. The driving was a Hella 500, the fogs were some Baja brand with large rectangular yellow lenses (similar to Hella 550's), but I had put 100W bulbs in them. Placement of the lights are key though I think.
On the ARB, there are the upper mounts for antennas and i guess lights, but I don't have anything mounted in them. The bumper height ones, I have the Hella Driving lights mounted there. I would love to mount my fog lights on the bumper too, but they should be mounted below the main bumper line. To keep the glare down and get under the fog as much as possible. I haven't found a good way to mount them without drilling holes in the ARB or having them hang too low.

Fog Lights don't just work for fog either. In the 4runner I was driving in a pretty bad snow storm on I-90 from Billings to Bozeman, MT for college. With blowing snow straight at me, my regular lights put up too much glare on the highway and blinded me some. So i turned off the regular lights and just drove with the fogs, at 35mph for about 100miles. Long trip, but there were several cars behing me that could have passed, but didn't. The road was also covered so you couldn't really tell where the lanes were either.

As for the 2 in 1 lights, I don't think you can optimize both driving and fog with a setup like that. It is more of just a convience, that both lights are in one unit. But thats just my opinion.
-Gary

 

[nyk438]

I'm running, 6'' KC Slimlites right now and they work well on the trail and I use them at night when I'm driving down narrow twisty roads at night. They are 130 watts so I don't think they're legal on the street. I don't run any fog lights but I haven't really been in trucks where they work very well. I have a friend who runs the Warn dual lights on his heep and he likes them a lot. But they run like 400 bucks don't they?

 

[reffug]

I've got the big 8" PIAA's on my ARB and love em. Have recently thought about looking for HIR bulbs for them however as since upgrading the headlights and light harness the PIAA's actually seem tame. They are dual however and I love the flexibility of them but then again I do plan on getting some IPF's either for the bull bar mounted low or for the roof rack.(really both) You just can't have to much light in my opinion sides it comes in handy when some asshat with a BMW or Merc. decides my HIR's are to much and tries to hit me with there xenon stuff. Boy do they get a suprise.

 

[Romer]

I don't run any fog lights but I haven't really been in trucks where they work very well.

This reminds me that I had some fog lights on a GMC I use to own and they were pretty much worthless. Except probably for the big snow situation mentioned above where you turn the headlights off.

 

[MoJ]

What's the consensus on diminished airflow to the radiator by mounting large lights in front of the grill? Nothing to worry about?

 

[Ocelot]

I would go for driving lights just because in my situation I would use them more. Fog lights should only really be used in fog/snow/etc... they actually deteriorate your vision if used on a nice night.

The fog lamps' job is to show you the edges of the road, the lane markings, and the immediate foreground. When used in combination with the headlamps, good fog lamps weight the overall beam pattern towards the foreground so that even though there may be a relatively high level of upward stray light from the headlamps causing glareback from the fog or falling rain or snow, there will be more foreground light than usual without a corresponding increase in upward stray light, giving back some of the vision you lose to precipitation.

When used without headlamps in conditions of extremely poor visibility due to snow, fog or heavy rain, good fog lamps light the foreground and the road edges only, so you can see your way safely at reduced speeds.

In clear conditions, more foreground light is not a good thing, it's a bad thing. Some foreground light is necessary so you can use your peripheral vision to see where you are relative to the road edges, the lane markings and that pothole 10 feet in front of your left wheels. But foreground light is far less safety-critical than light cast well down the road into the distance, because at any significant speed (much above 30 mph), what's in the foreground is too close for you to do much about. If you increase the foreground light, your pupils react to the bright, wide pool of light by constricting, which in turn substantially reduces your distance vision—especially since there's no increase in down-the-road distance light to go along with the increased foreground light. It's insidious, because high levels of foreground light give the illusion, the subjective impression, of comfort and security and "good lighting".

visit http://www.danielsternlighting.com for more information on lights.

I would only end up using fog lights a couple times a year whereas I use my driving lights all the time (almost always have em on with my highbeams). I would agree that dual beam lights do both fog and driving, but do niether of them very well...

So I would say it depends on where you live and what conditions you are dealing with most often.

 

[macneill]

I vote for driving. I got the IPF 900s on the front and they're great.

I have PIAA 510s on the rear and they're pretty puny for any applications on the front, I think.

 

[Romer]

Thanks, that and other research I have done has made me decide to go with the driving lights

 

[nyk438]

What type are you going for? I'm liking the Warn dual beams, might sell my KC's when I get an ARB

 

[nyk438]

What's the consensus on diminished airflow to the radiator by mounting large lights in front of the grill? Nothing to worry about?

I haven't encountered any. I've seen cruisers with 8 inch lights in front the radiator and haven't heard any problems.

 

[Romer]

What type are you going for? I'm liking the Warn dual beams, might sell my KC's when I get an ARB

I was looking at the PIAA 520's

 

[Bill R]

What's the consensus on diminished airflow to the radiator by mounting large lights in front of the grill? Nothing to worry about?

No airflow problem I like these for around town driving.People get out of your way and are very friendly-always waving.But seriously, I really like these and contrary to the rule -fogs,glare,Etc.... Froma a Colorado snowstorm to Gulf coast fog,I really can see beter with these.
Bill
https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21123&stc=1

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

What's the consensus on diminished airflow to the radiator by mounting large lights in front of the grill? Nothing to worry about?

A lot depends on where you are in the country. I do find that once temps exceed 110degrees it does make a slight difference on the hwy without out lights up front. That said most of you never see temp that high and thats a good thing.

 

[reffug]

I've got the same type of set up as what is being pictured above and never had any heating issues whatsoever. And I also have a winch up there filling that hole so less air than the above pictured scenario.

 

[dclee]

On a separate but related note, what do you guys think about mounting fogs to the fairlead mounting wings on the ARB winch bar? I am thinking about going to synthetic rope for my winch, and replacing the roller with a Hawse fairlead. That would leave the wings unused, and either I could cut them off or mount fogs in them. Here in the Central Valley of California there is quite a bit of need for good fogs many days out of the year.

Of course, the holes for the fairlead roller bolts might be just a tad too big to mount lights... Maybe I could use really big washers...