Pencil vs. Driving Lights
- Thread starter Brentbba
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Brent,
I know next to nothing about lights except how to turn them on and off. However, I came into a pair of Warn SDB-160 driving lights. They are dual beam; pencil and driving lights. 100w H4 bulbs, made in Japan and appear to be very high quality lamps.
My point is that it doesn't have to be an either/or decision.
-B-
I know next to nothing about lights except how to turn them on and off. However, I came into a pair of Warn SDB-160 driving lights. They are dual beam; pencil and driving lights. 100w H4 bulbs, made in Japan and appear to be very high quality lamps.
My point is that it doesn't have to be an either/or decision.
-B-
A dual function light like that will be a compromise for both uses.
There really is no need for a pencil beam on a Cruiser. All of the light is focused to the greates degree possible with whatever current technology will allow. About 3-5* IIRC. Great for reaching WAY down a hogh speed straigth away. But it does nothing worth mentioning for the shoulders of the road or anything not directly in front of you.
A driving light usually has a focused spread of about 10-15*. This will not push the light as far ahead, but will also provide lighting off to the sides of the direct line ahead of you.
There is no sane reason to be driving a Cruiser at a high enough rate of speed that you will be overdriving a decent set of driving lights. Youy're not driving a Ferrari here.
A set of good driving lighs will provide good illumination down the road, and the shoulders as well. Side scatter will provide better illumination all the way to 180*s than you factory lights too.
A roof top mount is generally not the way to go. Often results in a lot of glare on the hood and even the windshield. Through the sunroof too sometimes if you are not careful in your mounting location.
Terrible addition to the not so great aerodynamics .
Prone to getting damaged in brush as well.
On the pro side, if you do a lot of water crossings at night, a set of lights up high can be real nice. When the front of the rig drops below the water, it gets dark. Real dark. When you are halfway across a wide crossing and the hood goes under/and it gets dark, it can be veru difficult to gauge your progress/motion unless you are in still water. The moving water all around you can be very disorienting.
For road use, a mounting point that puts the lights just below the level of the hood hood is about the best.
The only reason to mount four driving lights rather than 2 would be if you were going to point the outer ones off center a bit for a wider illumination pattern.
IF you can avoid the glare issue, a pait of driving lights and a piar of decent 100 watt floods would work much better.
Mark...
There really is no need for a pencil beam on a Cruiser. All of the light is focused to the greates degree possible with whatever current technology will allow. About 3-5* IIRC. Great for reaching WAY down a hogh speed straigth away. But it does nothing worth mentioning for the shoulders of the road or anything not directly in front of you.
A driving light usually has a focused spread of about 10-15*. This will not push the light as far ahead, but will also provide lighting off to the sides of the direct line ahead of you.
There is no sane reason to be driving a Cruiser at a high enough rate of speed that you will be overdriving a decent set of driving lights. Youy're not driving a Ferrari here.
A set of good driving lighs will provide good illumination down the road, and the shoulders as well. Side scatter will provide better illumination all the way to 180*s than you factory lights too.
A roof top mount is generally not the way to go. Often results in a lot of glare on the hood and even the windshield. Through the sunroof too sometimes if you are not careful in your mounting location.
Terrible addition to the not so great aerodynamics .
Prone to getting damaged in brush as well.
On the pro side, if you do a lot of water crossings at night, a set of lights up high can be real nice. When the front of the rig drops below the water, it gets dark. Real dark. When you are halfway across a wide crossing and the hood goes under/and it gets dark, it can be veru difficult to gauge your progress/motion unless you are in still water. The moving water all around you can be very disorienting.
For road use, a mounting point that puts the lights just below the level of the hood hood is about the best.
The only reason to mount four driving lights rather than 2 would be if you were going to point the outer ones off center a bit for a wider illumination pattern.
IF you can avoid the glare issue, a pait of driving lights and a piar of decent 100 watt floods would work much better.
Mark...
Get the Light Forces...and you can adjust 1 for narrow and 1 for flood...or anywhere in between. They are GREAT!!!
- Thread starter
- #5
I'll be mounting on an INTI rack. There are four mounting points and a mesh guard in front of the mounting points. Not real worried about brush damage or aerodynamics. The rack itself takes care of that! I am somewhat concerned about the glare issue, which is why I asked about pencil vs driving to begin with. Don't know much about roof mounted lights, but am learning.
Lightforce 170's do not fit well on this rack. Ask Norcalsam on that one.
Lightforce 170's do not fit well on this rack. Ask Norcalsam on that one.
You will get more glare from roof mounted lights...no doubt on that one. Too bad the 170's won't fit as they would offer the best adjustability and overall compromise for reducing glare.
Brent, Brent, Brent.
No worries Man! Get a rattle can of flat black paint, start spraying the bonnet, take a red shop rag with some acetone and clean up any over-spray, then call it good.
-B-
- Thread starter
- #8
Brent, Brent, Brent.
No worries Man! Get a rattle can of flat black paint, start spraying the bonnet, take a red shop rag with some acetone and clean up any over-spray, then call it good.
-B-
You are a funny man B!
Ditch the rattle can idea - heck, I've got a half gallon of Durabak left from the flares and roof. Perhaps I should just go to town on the hood! NOT! ;p
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I have 4 55Watt lights from Auto zone that put out MORE than enough light to see when driving at night.
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- Jan 8, 2003
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I do not agree about the pencil beam. Out here we have long straight stretches of Interstate, with a frontage road alongside. The pencil beam lets me light up my two lanes without blinding the oncoming traffic on the Interstate. My driving beams and my headlight high beams have too much spread to keep it out of their eyes. Low beams don't let me see things like potholes and debris in the road a long way off.
I'm not talking about driving my cruiser at warp speed, I just like being able to see what's out there beyond my braking distance.
A pencil beam is not a replacement for good high beams and driving beams, but it is a great addition for specific applications.
You might want to have someone else drive your rig while you approach it at night with the pencil beams on. I'm willing to bet that they are not as inoffensive to approaching traffic as you presume.
Mark...
Mark...
I tend to agree with Oswald. Pencil beams are a great addition/complement for normal driving on highways/freeways. Mainly because the U.S. spec headlights are far too "vague" compared to the European spec lights for same vehicle (a few expections exist but unfortunately the LC100 is not really one of them, albeit light years better than Ford/Chevy). My 300 ZX TT (gone) had great high beams, but expected on a car that topped over 150 mph...
And here is my maybe even more controversial comment/suggestion:
Back in the motherland (Sweden) we did learn to drive on high beam until oncoming traffic either;
a) goes down to low beam, then you follow with your low beam, or
b) they flash highbeam to indicate that they are "blinded", you follow immedeately with low beam
I wish this practice was adopted here as well.
These rules replaced the former recommendations that stated you were to go down on low beams at a set "distance" (300/400 yards?). Did not really make sense. Why go to low beam if no one is blinded?
There are tons of situations out there when I feel more safe/secure (=see better) when BOTH cars are driving with high beams. I just hate (well, that is a strong word...) it when everyone goes down on low beam early and we all are driving "into a dark hole". And, maybe even worse is when oncoming traffic is on low beam all the time. Means I never get a chance to see what they see.
On my old Audi I had a pair of big Bosch Profi (large square lights) that will go back on the LC as soon as I have had a bracket manufactured for them. Prepping for winter in the PNW early this year...
Maybe some of this (experience) comes from driving a big rig up in Northen Sweden. All long haulers have a "bank" (4 to 6) of high powered driving lights mounted on top of the cabin. Allows you to see an oncoming trucks "miles away" and gives the driver a fair chance to spot that moose at a somewhat safe distance.
Please don't flame me for this. I try to be VERY respectful both in my driving, and in how I handle high beams.
And here is my maybe even more controversial comment/suggestion:
Back in the motherland (Sweden) we did learn to drive on high beam until oncoming traffic either;
a) goes down to low beam, then you follow with your low beam, or
b) they flash highbeam to indicate that they are "blinded", you follow immedeately with low beam
I wish this practice was adopted here as well.
These rules replaced the former recommendations that stated you were to go down on low beams at a set "distance" (300/400 yards?). Did not really make sense. Why go to low beam if no one is blinded?
There are tons of situations out there when I feel more safe/secure (=see better) when BOTH cars are driving with high beams. I just hate (well, that is a strong word...) it when everyone goes down on low beam early and we all are driving "into a dark hole". And, maybe even worse is when oncoming traffic is on low beam all the time. Means I never get a chance to see what they see.
On my old Audi I had a pair of big Bosch Profi (large square lights) that will go back on the LC as soon as I have had a bracket manufactured for them. Prepping for winter in the PNW early this year...
Maybe some of this (experience) comes from driving a big rig up in Northen Sweden. All long haulers have a "bank" (4 to 6) of high powered driving lights mounted on top of the cabin. Allows you to see an oncoming trucks "miles away" and gives the driver a fair chance to spot that moose at a somewhat safe distance.
Please don't flame me for this. I try to be VERY respectful both in my driving, and in how I handle high beams.
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- Thread starter
- #13
I agree with you regarding your usage of high beams. I learned high beam courtesy driving two lane highways A LOT in Illinois as a teenager to and from tennis tournaments throughout the state. High beams until you saw an oncoming vehicle, then down to low.
