Good Driving Lights?
- Thread starter jeverich
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On the subject of Deer Whistles, I do feel that they work.
When I lived up in Kentucky there were a great many deer in the area. Someone once told me that Todd county was the most deer populated county in the state. I don't know how accurate that statement was, but I know that I used to have to dodge them almost weekly in the fall.
Was given a set of deer whistles to try out, so I figured "can't hurt". After running the whistles for a few months, I realized that I hadn't had to dodge any deer.
Most of my encounters were on rual highways so the volume of air passing through the whistles was always quite high.
It does matter where you mount the whistles. (saw one dope who mounted them w/ the back of the whistle against the headlamp) There has to be free flowing air past the point of mounting. Mine were mounted in the cut-out holes in the bumper of my 85' mini 4x4. On the Cruiser I think we mounted on the under side of the front bumper. Not a good place if you get off pavement, but at that time
drove the Cruiser, and it never left the hard top.
HTH / YMMV
When I lived up in Kentucky there were a great many deer in the area. Someone once told me that Todd county was the most deer populated county in the state. I don't know how accurate that statement was, but I know that I used to have to dodge them almost weekly in the fall.
Was given a set of deer whistles to try out, so I figured "can't hurt". After running the whistles for a few months, I realized that I hadn't had to dodge any deer.
Most of my encounters were on rual highways so the volume of air passing through the whistles was always quite high.
It does matter where you mount the whistles. (saw one dope who mounted them w/ the back of the whistle against the headlamp) There has to be free flowing air past the point of mounting. Mine were mounted in the cut-out holes in the bumper of my 85' mini 4x4. On the Cruiser I think we mounted on the under side of the front bumper. Not a good place if you get off pavement, but at that time
drove the Cruiser, and it never left the hard top. HTH / YMMV
ntsqd
technerd
Whoa! Somebody as opinionated as I!!!!
Having worked as chase crew at 4 annual night desert races as well as many desert races that ended after dark I can say that HID's are so obviously better at producing light that there is no room for debate. There is an obvious difference btwn the KC HID's and the superior Hella HID's. I suspect that this is mostly due to the larger size of the Hella lens & reflector. To my knowledge I have not seen any of the Lightforce HID's, yet.
What is more important than the amount of light generated is where the lens and reflector put that light and this isn't a function of the light source but of the lens and reflector design. Without their add-on 'filters' I don't see the Lightforce design as being very good at putting all of the light made where it is actually usable. Not saying that they're not good lights, just that to get the most out of them anywhere but in the wide open desert that you will also need one of their added-on 'filters'. KC Daylighter's could also benefit from such a filter.
What is best for a hilly, wooded area isn't going to be close in the western deserts and visa versa. Choose a beam shape that works in your area (i.e. a long distance beam shape will be totally useless in the tight woods of the Eastern U.S. as would a flood pattern in the Deserts unless committed to very slow speeds) and buy a brand known for their Lights (not their winches, or their Ginsu Knives, or their cheap impact wrenches, or....... ) and I doubt that you can go very wrong. About the only exception that I know of this are the now discontinued ~8" diameter ProComp halogen lights. For their price they were remarkably good, especially once upgraded to 100 watt bulbs. If you can find a pair for a reasonable price (They were $50 each new for the SS versions) I'd jump on them.
best money spent is on upgrading your headlights.....new harness, hi quality lens and bulbs
next a set of good, fog lights or driving lights(not spot or pencil beam) I like yellow/amber lens/bulbs for the fog or driving lights as they stand out and helps avoid some idiot from hitting you, also yellow works best in fog
I use to have a bunch of lights(on all the cruisers).....now just good headlights and most have a set of good fogs
next a set of good, fog lights or driving lights(not spot or pencil beam) I like yellow/amber lens/bulbs for the fog or driving lights as they stand out and helps avoid some idiot from hitting you, also yellow works best in fog
I use to have a bunch of lights(on all the cruisers).....now just good headlights and most have a set of good fogs
never seen a car hit a deer that had a set installed.........take it for what its worth 
I didn't see this mentioned aywhere but if i missed it...So sorry ! If you are worried about deer, I would suggest you FIRST get an ARB (TJM, etc..) bull bar to mount those lights on. I drive frequently in the TX hill country and driving at night, with all the deer can be a very hair raising event. As far as safety is concerned, all the lights are going to do is show you what your getting ready to plow into !! You would be amazed at the damage a deer can do to a vehicle...If you hit a deer at highway speed with a good substantial bull bar, your going to sustain damage to your rig, but not nearly as much as you would if you were without one !! My $.02
x2
Take a look at posts 26 & 27 here:https://forum.ih8mud.com/60-series-...s-fire-headlight-harness-upgrade-my-62-a.html
- Thread starter
- #31
Bull Bar/Drunks
Planning on welding up a front bumper as soon as I finish my rear. I just 'borrowed' some 4 x 4 steel tube from work, it'll be a winter project.
I think that I'll start with the Hella sealed beam retrofit/H4s setup, updated harness. I've got a Painless circuit panel that's waiting to be installed, which would support a pair of aux lights nicely.
I'm a commercial fisherman, the deadliest job in the country - both the captain and myself agree that our demise will be either a deer or a drunk driver during the drive down to the boat in the wee hours.
It's both amazing and sad to see some of the absolute retards that are on the road at that hour. I've gone past people walking down the main highway, cars on the wrong side of the road, as well as the occasional police standard issue 'straight line' drunk test.
Not that I ever advocated drunk driving, I never really realized how stupid people can be.
Keep on truckin,
Jake
Planning on welding up a front bumper as soon as I finish my rear. I just 'borrowed' some 4 x 4 steel tube from work, it'll be a winter project.
I think that I'll start with the Hella sealed beam retrofit/H4s setup, updated harness. I've got a Painless circuit panel that's waiting to be installed, which would support a pair of aux lights nicely.
I'm a commercial fisherman, the deadliest job in the country - both the captain and myself agree that our demise will be either a deer or a drunk driver during the drive down to the boat in the wee hours.
It's both amazing and sad to see some of the absolute retards that are on the road at that hour. I've gone past people walking down the main highway, cars on the wrong side of the road, as well as the occasional police standard issue 'straight line' drunk test.
Not that I ever advocated drunk driving, I never really realized how stupid people can be.
Keep on truckin,
Jake
I agree with most of your statements, except the above part.
Not sure if you directed the comment at me or "agbuckle", but just to clarify, in case I didn't in my original post, the "WARN" lights that we talked about (along with most, if not all, of their vehicle aux. lights) are actually re-badged versions of Koito's aux. lights.
I believe they are the largest OEM headlight/fog light suppliers in Japan. Chances are, if you look at your LC's original headlights and they would say "Koito" on them.
They've been the official lighting sponsor/company for Toyota Auto Body's Paris-Dakar Rally vehicle(s) for many years as well.
ANYWAY, I have the LF 240's on my rig and also have used Hella's Rallye 4000 HID (driving) before. I'm with you that I too prefer the Hella's overall performance better (Maybe not a fair comparison though since the 240's do not use HID's), but the light pattern of the Hella's were easier on my eyes, IIRC.
ANYWAY, carry on...
P E A C E !
Mot
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ntsqd
technerd
No Mot, not directed at you at all. IME mfg's who make other stuff do a poor job of making or out-sourcing lights. The early Warn lighting product was terrible. I've no idea if this has improved with time or not, but it sounds like it should have. Normally I'd be wary of the ProComp's as well. The only reason that I mentioned them is because I needed extra lighting before a sudden Baja 1000 trip and a set of those were given to me. They were surprisingly good considering what they are.
FWIW I'm not impressed with Hella's large rectangular H4 headlights in both my '84 22R and '86 22RET. I suspect that the shape constraint forced a best compromise that doesn't match a round light's performance. The cheap H4 conversion lens/reflectors (left-overs from that Baja trip) in my 60 out-perform them significantly.
The now repeated several times advice of doing an H4 conversion using relays is truly the place to start. I would look at Bosch (best IMO), Hella, Cibie', Marchal, or possibly Koito (If made, based on Mot's comments) lens/reflectors. All are good, though I must also say that the $20 each set of Polish made lens/reflectors in my 'glass buggy that came from JCW in 1981 are right there with the name brands. The problem is that you've no guaranty that if you order those today that you'll get the same thing.
FWIW I'm not impressed with Hella's large rectangular H4 headlights in both my '84 22R and '86 22RET. I suspect that the shape constraint forced a best compromise that doesn't match a round light's performance. The cheap H4 conversion lens/reflectors (left-overs from that Baja trip) in my 60 out-perform them significantly.
The now repeated several times advice of doing an H4 conversion using relays is truly the place to start. I would look at Bosch (best IMO), Hella, Cibie', Marchal, or possibly Koito (If made, based on Mot's comments) lens/reflectors. All are good, though I must also say that the $20 each set of Polish made lens/reflectors in my 'glass buggy that came from JCW in 1981 are right there with the name brands. The problem is that you've no guaranty that if you order those today that you'll get the same thing.
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sandcruiser
....back in the saddle again....
I've had lightforce mid-size (forget the numbers) and also light force smallest (5" or so) lights on the 60, they both work well with the larger ones working much better.
I also upgraded to Cibie lenses w/ Osram 70/65 (I think) watt bulbs. That made a huge difference.
In your shoes, I would upgrade the harness first as that is cheap and easy and you don't lose it if you upgrade further. Then I would throw on some driving lights (I'd probably go with Lightforce again, but I'm sure that there are other good lights too), then I'd upgrade the headlamps with higher wattage/better reflectors.
Note: had great service and LOTS of information from Daniel Stern... good place to buy stuff.
I also upgraded to Cibie lenses w/ Osram 70/65 (I think) watt bulbs. That made a huge difference.
In your shoes, I would upgrade the harness first as that is cheap and easy and you don't lose it if you upgrade further. Then I would throw on some driving lights (I'd probably go with Lightforce again, but I'm sure that there are other good lights too), then I'd upgrade the headlamps with higher wattage/better reflectors.
Note: had great service and LOTS of information from Daniel Stern... good place to buy stuff.
this is my favorite pair of E code lights, OEM Koito H4's think they came from France off a 60 series(as they came with yellow euro type(not normal h4's) Stern was the only place for extra bulbs, have both white and yellow and different wattage
also run IPF H-4 in most my round eye Cruisers, prefer them over Hella, but might have gone Cibie
also run IPF H-4 in most my round eye Cruisers, prefer them over Hella, but might have gone Cibie
Koito's aux. lighting page:
¬Ž…»ìŠ
The particular lights discussed earlier can be seen here:
http://www.sp.koito.co.jp/ctlg/p33.pdf
Dakar Rally model
hillbilly
http://www.sp.koito.co.jp/ctlg/p32.pdf
¬Ž…»ìŠ
The particular lights discussed earlier can be seen here:
http://www.sp.koito.co.jp/ctlg/p33.pdf
Dakar Rally model
hillbillyhttp://www.sp.koito.co.jp/ctlg/p32.pdf
