LED Windshield Glare (1 Viewer)

[ElPolloBlanco]

i have some serious windshield/hood glare with my roof rack mounted 40” spot/flood LED. It’s practically unusable. The glare on the white hood is bad, but it seems to catch the glass in a way that makes it glow. I have an old school INTI rack. I was thinking about ditching the spot/flood LED and going with 4 pencil beam HID’s. I’m just worried that I’ll spend a lot of money to be disappointed like I am now. For those with roof mounted lights, how is the bleed over from the pencil beams and should I go with something else?

 

[lovetoski]

I don't have any personal experience, sorry. But have heard from others on mud that it happens. Maybe search can help? Have you tried moving the rack forward or back to see if it helps? Also, could you mount a lip on the lower side of the light bar to limit light going onto the windshield? Would be easy to mockup with cardboard to try different sizes.

 

[ElPolloBlanco]

I don't have any personal experience, sorry. But have heard from others on mud that it happens. Maybe search can help? Have you tried moving the rack forward or back to see if it helps? Also, could you mount a lip on the lower side of the light bar to limit light going onto the windshield? Would be easy to mockup with cardboard to try different sizes.

I always search before posting. The INTI rack isn’t able to be moved much on the roof. Maybe an inch or two. I’ve looked into the shield thing, but there isn’t much room for one. If you’ve ever seen the rack it has the “cage” in front of the rack that protects lights, I’ve caught a fair share of birds in it so it’s worth having. Darkening the hood isn’t an option, though I have thought about a big louver panel and painting it flat black. I’m sure that the reason it so bad is the flood function of the lights, but good lights are pricey and I’d rather not guinea pig it, again.

 

[bulletsmith]

Cover your hood with a flat black or Grey vinyl, I did this on my 4Runner and makes a world of difference. R/ Mike

 

[ElPolloBlanco]

Cover your hood with a flat black or Grey vinyl, I did this on my 4Runner and makes a world of difference. R/ Mike

I can’t. It’s lined.

 

[george_tlc]

Maybe I'm old school, but never understood the fascination of mounting lights on the roof rack facing forward other than for some 'expedition' look value.

Obnoxious lighting location for most use. Bad if it is raining since you are lighting up the rain falling in front of your eyes. Bad in fog. Bad in dusty conditions.

I've always mounted my aux front facing lights on the roobar, never an issue. I'm not a lover of light bars in general but again that's because I prefer the look/function of a more compact light source.

I do have a rear facing LED light that is on the roofrack, there it makes sense to try and 'flood' the rear area to see what you're (not) backing into.

cheers,
george.

 

[HelloKitty65]

Maybe I'm old school, but never understood the fascination of mounting lights on the roof rack facing forward other than for some 'expedition' look value.

Obnoxious lighting location for most use. Bad if it is raining since you are lighting up the rain falling in front of your eyes. Bad in fog. Bad in dusty conditions.

I've always mounted my aux front facing lights on the roobar, never an issue. I'm not a lover of light bars in general but again that's because I prefer the look/function of a more compact light source.

I do have a rear facing LED light that is on the roofrack, there it makes sense to try and 'flood' the rear area to see what you're (not) backing into.

cheers,
george.

They are pretty nice in rolling hills in Northern Nevada. Higher the better.

 

[RyanR]

i have some serious windshield/hood glare with my roof rack mounted 40” spot/flood LED. It’s practically unusable. The glare on the white hood is bad, but it seems to catch the glass in a way that makes it glow. I have an old school INTI rack. I was thinking about ditching the spot/flood LED and going with 4 pencil beam HID’s. I’m just worried that I’ll spend a lot of money to be disappointed like I am now. For those with roof mounted lights, how is the bleed over from the pencil beams and should I go with something else?

One solution is to create a lower cut off for the beam. I have my light bar mounted low and behind the fairing. From straight (with the lights off) on it looks like I’m cutting off some of the beam but I’ve played with it a lot and the only thing I am losing is the glare on my hood, no usable forward projected light is lost.

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

I mounted a set of Cibié Super Oscars on the roof rack of my FJ40 years ago, and removed them the next week for this very reason. I have seen shovel-blade-shaped guards that block the lower part of the beam. They'd be easy to fabricate if you really want your lamps up there.

 

[Jarred]

I mounted a set of Cibié Super Oscars on the roof rack of my FJ40 years ago, and removed them the next week for this very reason. I have seen shovel-blade-shaped guards that block the lower part of the beam. They'd be easy to fabricate if you really want your lamps up there.

My buddy and I been debating on putting an LED light bar at the roof as well on new FJ40 project. We'll be working on it right after we finished installing the new brake kit and American force wheels on the current Ram project. I'll research about that kind of glare guard.

 

[Mark W]

Kinda off point for the original question, but... My lighting upgrades always start between bumper and hoodline level. Once that is addressed however roof mounted lights do have some very real purposes and advantages in some situations.
The first that comes to mind is water crossings at night. When you dunk your headlights and bumper/grill mounted lights beneath the water, the world gets real dark until they come back up. Crossings a river in the dark sucks!. Roof mounted lights are invaluable for this. This is a real, not uncommon and important issue for me.
Another use of roof mounted lights in my world... The bushy brush in the area that I moose and caribou hunt tends to top out at about 3-4 feet high. Getting some extra light up above that level is a big plus when I am are headed in or out of camp in the dark. With a camp that is 60 miles from the road, it matters

I do hate the glare that comes with roof lights. I am amazed at all the guys who somehow think that it is okay. Most of the guys with lights glaring on their hood probably would see better and be safer if they just turned them off. Either figure out a glare shield. mount the lights lower/further back, or take them off.

Mark...

 

[divemedic]

Push the light back and compliment the cutoff with a proper bumper light.