Ditch Light Glare? (1 Viewer)

[FernwoodPatriot]

We have large furry critters that ignore the rules of the road here in the mountains.
I'm contemplating the installation of ditch lights to help see critters on the sides of the road.
My concern is that the glare off the hood would shine back into the cab.
At 60mph on a winding mountain road, seeing critters and reacting is a nightly occurrence.
Can those who have ditch lights, shed some light on my concerns.

Anyone using these angled pods?

Stage Series 3" SAE/DOT White Pro Angled LED Pod (pair)

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www.diodedynamics.com

 

[Jstawgn]

The link you post is for fog light not ditch light. Using fog light on the side are not really optimal for ditch light. A driving / combo patten would be better.

I would recommend ronnin ditch light bracket.

Lexus GX460 Ditch Light Brackets

2010 - Current Lexus GX460 Ditch Light Brackets - Designed specifically to be used with Baja Designs S1 or S2, for the most streamlined / minimalistic look. -Provides the full functionality of a true ditch light and eliminates the wind noise and hood glare, opposed to a traditional hood mounted...

roninmetal.com

 

[FernwoodPatriot]

The link you post is for fog light not ditch light. Using fog light on the side are not really optimal for ditch light. A driving / combo patten would be better.

I would recommend ronnin ditch light bracket.

Lexus GX460 Ditch Light Brackets

2010 - Current Lexus GX460 Ditch Light Brackets - Designed specifically to be used with Baja Designs S1 or S2, for the most streamlined / minimalistic look. -Provides the full functionality of a true ditch light and eliminates the wind noise and hood glare, opposed to a traditional hood mounted...

roninmetal.com

They have choice of driving or fog pattern.

 

[Rednexus]

Zero glare from my ditch lights, but I have them angled out around 20-30 degrees, so they really don't put a lot of light on the hood itself.

Just FYI, using them on public roads is usually not legal as you'll be shining right into the window of passing traffic. On my 470 I recently wired mine up so they can only activate when the high beams are on. This required splicing a relay into the high beam light harness - which isn't a huge deal if you're electrically-inclined.

Otherwise, it can be difficult (when encountering an oncoming car) to turn off your high beams and then reach down and turn off the ditch lights. I'm looking forward to being able to use mine for critter-watching now without worrying about manually turning them off.

 

[jdam]

They have choice of driving or fog pattern.

Those are designed for fitment as an OEMish foglight - hence the angled case. You can get regular pods in driving if you want to use them as a ditch light, and just use the bracketry to aim them.

Stage Series 3" SAE/DOT White Pro LED Pod (pair)

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www.diodedynamics.com

 

[FernwoodPatriot]

Zero glare from my ditch lights, but I have them angled out around 20-30 degrees, so they really don't put a lot of light on the hood itself.

Just FYI, using them on public roads is usually not legal as you'll be shining right into the window of passing traffic. On my 470 I recently wired mine up so they can only activate when the high beams are on. This required splicing a relay into the high beam light harness - which isn't a huge deal if you're electrically-inclined.

Otherwise, it can be difficult (when encountering an oncoming car) to turn off your high beams and then reach down and turn off the ditch lights. I'm looking forward to being able to use mine for critter-watching now without worrying about manually turning them off.

I like the idea of wiring to the high beam for ease of use. I will still add a dedicated switch for times when I'm driving around the civilized world.

Glare was my main concern, that is why I was considering the lights with the angled hood on them.

 

[Rednexus]

You don't really need the hooded light, you can just turn the lights themselves on the brackets. Mine are shown below.

For the wiring, you can't run them directly off the high-beam circuit as they'd draw too much current. You need to have relay(s) that provides power to the lights based on either you pushing a switch (a non high-beam triggered setup, using a single relay) or pushing a switch that is only activated when the high beams are on (a triggered setup using two relays). The latter is my setup; my switch does nothing when the high beams are not activated. When the high beams are activated I can turn the lights on of off, if the ditch lights are on, turning the high beams off will automatically turn the lights off.

 

[FernwoodPatriot]

You don't really need the hooded light, you can just turn the lights themselves on the brackets. Mine are shown below.
View attachment 3613706
For the wiring, you can't run them directly off the high-beam circuit as they'd draw too much current. You need to have relay(s) that provides power to the lights based on either you pushing a switch (a non high-beam triggered setup, using a single relay) or pushing a switch that is only activated when the high beams are on (a triggered setup using two relays). The latter is my setup; my switch does nothing when the high beams are not activated. When the high beams are activated I can turn the lights on of off, if the ditch lights are on, turning the high beams off will automatically turn the lights off.

Don't think that angle on the lights will do much to help at 60mph. I need to see the eyeballs a bit sooner, further up the road.

I have seen a few photos of ditch lights, from the outside view, and the hood was lit up like a mirror.

I understand the need of the relay. I work with them daily.

 

[Rednexus]

Don't think that angle on the lights will do much to help at 60mph. I need to see the eyeballs a bit sooner, further up the road.

I have seen a few photos of ditch lights, from the outside view, and the hood was lit up like a mirror.

I understand the need of the relay. I work with them daily.

When using mine angled, they help a lot on rural roads at 60-70 mph, by illuminating the ditch/roadside area that is otherwise pretty dark and usually harbors critters.

If you were mount the lights forward-facing on the ditch light bracket (instead of angling them) you will probably get some hood glare and they probably won't do as good of a job of illuminating the ditch/roadside area. You can also tweak the angle to fill in light gaps as needed.

If you are looking for forward-facing light instead of lighting the ditches, you'd need a 2nd pair of lights or a LED light bar on the bumper or elsewhere to supplement your high beams and avoid hood glare.

 

[r2m]

A couple of things to consider to reduce glare:

1. The wider the light beam, the more likely you'll get glare.
2. The more forward facing, again, more likely you'll get glare.

It'll be kind of a balance of turning the lights to the side enough so the edge of the light beam runs along the edge of your fenders.
After mounting them, if there's still any glare, you can get some matte black or even matte color match to your car, and lay some on the hood and top of front fenders.