Ditch lights, good or bad? What brackets to use? (1 Viewer)

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I have some bumper mounted HIDs that are good for longer distance lighting. Also have a 40" mid priced light bar. The light bar works fine off road at lower speed but I am not crazy about the reflection off my bumper where it sticks up over the hood. Also it lights gets up all he dust in air right in front you. So I just dont use it much. I am thinking of getting rid of it and getting ditch lights instead. What are your thoughts on ditch lights in general? Good, bad or just a style type thing? Also what are the recomended brackets for a 80 series?
 
I like having semi-ditch lights on the bumper. They help see around corners on curvy roads in low visibility conditions. They help negotiating obstacles in the rocks too.

Lighting the front corners is particularly good offroad. After talking to @jcardona1 about his rock light placement, I augmented that particular area with rock lights, which has really been helpful.

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I have a similar set up on my bumper, flush mount lights pointed slightly out and down. Really helps with visibility. Leaves a small unlit area in the center of the car which I fill with a 10" light bar on the bumper. It's more than enough light for low speed stuff and just using the lower lights helps in the fog. Does not seem to blind other drivers either as I forget to turn them off sometimes and no one flashes me.

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I did the same thing in my bumper's wings. Angled down and to the outside.
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I have some BD Squads flushed into my ARB that angle out enough to light up very wide while driving. Also do not blind oncoming drivers due to angle. Then added some S1 pods directly into the mirror bottom. These I found are great at low speed for hunting camp spots and give the ability to see/spot rocks etc at the front wheel.
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My daughter likes the lights, says it reminds her of a spider.
 
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I have some BD Squads flushed into my ARB that angle out enough to light up very wide while driving. Also do not blind oncoming drivers due to angle. Then added some S1 pods directly into the mirror bottom. These I found are great at low speed for hunting camp spots and give the ability to see/spot rocks etc at the front wheel.
View attachment 2770910

How did you run the wires for the mirror pods? Did you follow the power wires for the mirrors across the door hinge?
Do you have a separate switch for them or do they fire up with the bumper wing lights?
 
How did you run the wires for the mirror pods? Did you follow the power wires for the mirrors across the door hinge?
Do you have a separate switch for them or do they fire up with the bumper wing lights?
I ran mine up through the door harness boot.. (Pro tip. only disconnect one side of the boot from the door harness, Take the tape off the ends of the harness. Use hand lotion to lube up the wires and you should be able to push them through the harness with ease. If cold, heat the tube for additional flexibility). I then ran it through the drip hole in the bottom of the mirror. Plenty of room. I still have not tried them yet, still a lot more work before she is ready to pull out of the garage. Also used heat shrink around the exposed cable for more abrasion protection.

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😂
 
I have some BD Squads flushed into my ARB that angle out enough to light up very wide while driving. Also do not blind oncoming drivers due to angle. Then added some S1 pods directly into the mirror bottom. These I found are great at low speed for hunting camp spots and give the ability to see/spot rocks etc at the front wheel.
View attachment 2770910

Great spot

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I've never seen the need for them.....
 
@NLXTACY has some cool mounts on the back of his sideview mirrors. From someone here I think. Multi-banana install from what I recall, but very nice in the end. Dunno that I would want ditch lights on the bumper, which is there to get bashed.
 
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Kinda reminds me of the LED bar fad. Back in the day it was KC lights on the roll bar fad 🙄.
I do a lot of driving at night, driving to and from hunting and fishing spots, in places with very tight turns. The lights I had in my bumper pointing to the sides helped but still had a significant dead spot that would give me problems from time to time. The lights, when properly aimed, help tremendously in this regard. I just don't want light on the hood. More light is a good thing...
 
I use a set of baja design S2 pros on Massive Metal hood brackets - they're slick and do not vibrate and give great coverage ...

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I made some brackets for mine out of 1/8 6061 t-6 aluminum plate. Just made some templates using cardboard and hot glue. They sandwich between the mirror and door and wires go through the door wiring boot.
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I made some brackets for mine out of 1/8 6061 t-6 aluminum plate. Just made some templates using cardboard and hot glue. They sandwich between the mirror and door and wires go through the door wiring boot.View attachment 2810929
Are those 40’s. I see no dents. Nice work on the light brackets but I’d have ripped those off rather quickly.
 

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