I currently have some 4 1/2" LED 42W flood lights mounted on my push bar. Thing is I am thinking of upgrading to something different. I really wanted spot lights but these were mis labeled on Amazon.


I am not sure how much larger I can go but would like to keep it around this size. I wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations?


Rigid is out of the question as I do not use these lights much and I cant justify spending that much cash for lights that are hardly ever used.

 

Little update on what I currently have.




Its a 42W flood light rated at 3,360 lumen flux at 4.5" diameter.


I have to measure but right now I am looking at a 6" 70W combo light rated at 5,000 lumen. If this will fit and not look out of place compared to the 4.5" lights I have now I would consider making the switch to theses.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1pc-6-70W-Cr...-/222030936271?


But still I am open to hearing suggestions.

 

What's your intended use? That will determine type to get.

 

https://www.auxbeam.com/
I just put one of the 20" bars on my truck and it seems to be very well made and the prices are way below rigid. Mine has been through snow, ice and rain already and have had no issues.

 

Currently the light circuit is wired into my highbeams with a switch on the ground side inside the cab to deactivate them. They are currently used to supplement my headlights on unlit roads. They will be more in use after I move and I start driving on highways that has no lights on the road. Reason why I was wanting spotlights originally to extend the range but I have flood lights right now. I would consider a flood/spot combo though and I did find a round one that I have to see how well it will fit on my push bar. I just want to be sure before I make my upgrade purchase so I don't make a $80+ purchase and have something that is a disappointment like I have now.

I will check them out thanks for the link.

 

ok. Sounds like you want spots/driving lights only.
Flood lights would be useful off-roading where you're driving slowly and need maximum light up close to avoid obstacles and where you're doing a lot of maneuvering.

On the highway flood lights of course give a lot of light up close, but that is actually more dangerous than having the road darker in the immediate vicinity of your vehicle. The added light up close causes your eyes to adjust to the bright foreground light and so reduces your distance vision.

Sure, it feels safer with lots of light up close on the highway, but in reality it really doesn't have any benefit at highway speeds. By time you see something illuminated by flood lights it's too late to avoid it. Driving lights are what you want for highway use where things will be illuminated in time to avoid them.

Also useful on the road, depending on the weather where you live, would be fog lights, but those would only be used when driving slow with them mounted as low as feasible.

Cheap is always good, being the cheap ******* that I am, but lighting is a safety device and I would get the best you feel you can reasonably afford. Hella (what I have) and Cibie are two really good makes, however they aren't cheap.

If you use conventional lights (not LED) make sure they are wired using a relay controlled by your headlamp dimmer with a master switch if you don't want them on at all.
Floods for off-roading would be just wired with a switch (mounted somewhere you can't accidentally turn on) controlling a relay.

To recap:
1 - Driving lights - on with high beams - can't legally be mounted higher than headlights
2 - Fog lights - on with low beams - mounted as low as possible
3 - Flood lights - off-road use only, mounted as high as possible.

Don't overlook the wiring for your head lights, make sure you're getting 13-14v to the bulbs with the engine running. Or 12.65v with the engine off.

One really good thing about Amazon is the return policy if you get something that turns out to be crummy. You can return them and they pay shipping.

 

I originally wanted spot lights and the ones I bought off Amazon were sold as spot lights but ended up being flood lights.

I already did the headlight relay upgrade on this truck to take the load off the OEM headlight switch.

I also did a Hella composite headlight upgrade I went with the ECE ones over DOT as I didn't want my low beams blinding on coming traffic that pisses me off. I also was sold on the fact it puts the light where its needed on the road and not up in the air. I need to order a replacement set though as theses were hazy out of the box on the inside of the lens but they are out of warranty by time I had a chance to email jegs on it.

I also haven't done it yet but I am planning on a 3G alternator upgrade to improve low rpm amp out put for my add on lights so for now I like to keep the wattage conservative for the time being.

I also had plan on installing a bed bar in the truck to mount more lights on the top but some have mentioned it wouldn't be smart as the light would bounce off the hood and could hinder your view.

So I am looking at options and I didn't think about looking at driving lights. I found some on the link provided above listed for a jeep.

https://www.auxbeam.com/driving-ligh...light/70018671

or this one

https://www.auxbeam.com/driving-ligh...light/77708237

the pricing on the second one isn't too bad, Just not too sure if it would fit between my push bars. I have to get dimensions and compare. Right now I have 4 1/2" flood lights and they seem to be the right size. I also looked at some square and rectangular ones, I don't know if its just me or not but they just don't seem like they would look right on my truck to me compared to the more "vintage" round style.

If I did end up going with the first one for the Jeep, I saw it said there is a illuminated yellow X which I could do one of two things, I could wire it in to my park lights so they light up with park lights, or wire it in to key hot to run all the time. Or I could just leave them where they never come on.

The second one I listed above it looks kind of funky to me lens wise compared to conventional Spot and Flood lights ive seen but I haven't looked at driving lights.

I will how ever start doing some searches for driving lights to see what I come up with.



I just wish they would use a standardized measurement of brightness. Ive seen these listed by lumens, watts, and candela. Might need to do some research on this to see if there is anyway to atleast compare lumens to candela so I can make a fair comparision on brightness.

Thanks for the reply though. The mount that I have the lights on is built into the lower tube which puts the lights below my headlights at the height of my front turnsignals so I should really be looking at driving lights.

 

Ok seeking opinions, what is a better set up?

Rearward reflector firing LED

or

Forward firing LED without reflector?

What I have found so far I am not sure if I want to go with them as the KC one I am looking at that uses reflectors is just too tall to mount properly. PIAA would work but I just cant find much information on the PIAA and how good it is. Besides that I cant really find any name brand reflector style LED lights only forward firing.

 

Nothing wrong with doing the upgrade if you need it for something, but it's not needed for driving lights unless you do a lot of coasting down mountains. At the speeds where you need driving lights you're not going to have low RPM. Even less if you go with LED which it sounds like is your desire.

They make, or you can make your own, shields that mount under the lights to deflect the glare from the hood. Curved shields that mount under the lights and stick out 6" or so. Also I painted the hood of my Land Rover matt black which reduces the glare a lot too. But mine are mounted right above the windshield on the front of a full length roof rack.

If you're talking driving lights then they should always be wired so they can only come on with the high beams.
I think that may be an FMVSS regulation, but even if it isn't it's common sense.
And fogs only with low beam (though I've lived in places where sometimes it was so foggy low beam caused too much glare and I wired my fogs controlled with just a dash switch).

You'll find some good information here, though I don't know if he has a conversion chart. I'm pretty sure the better light companies use the same measurements. Daniel Stern Lighting

This may help with conversions, but I didn't look closely.
http://www.onlineconversion.com/light.htm

 

Thanks for the reply.

Ive been looking and couldnt find much i like at 7" or less in heigth to fit between my bars.

So ive been looking at 32" combo 5d light bars with the adjustible mounts on bottom. Having a hard time finding this how ever in 180 to 240w. That would put me at almost 13 amps to almost 17 amps which wouldnt over tax my 30 amp headlight relay circuit.

Just not too sure how this would stand up against a road light.

I read some reviews on piaa lights and ive seen it stated they are nice lights but the 550 lacks in brightness. Cant justify the $400+ price tag when i can get a light bar for less.

 

Just use your headlight circuit to control another relay that only feeds the aux lights.

 

I thought of that. I actually found a lot more 180w options under 28 and 30 inch bars vs the 32 inch. Thing is if i can get some with adjustible mounts on the bottom i can slide them out to 26 1/4 inch and mount to my push bar light mount. High dollar moungs such as the cheapie rigid lights for $300ish have the mounts on the side so it forces me to go chinese for a price tag of $60 up to $105.

 

Well I finally made a decision. After going back and forth I finally said screw it and I purchased these from Amazon along with two deutsch connectors so I can cut my harness that I am using for my LED lights which is 12ga and switch from bullet to the proper connector for these lights.

6" Apollo Pro Pair Pack System

I ended up with the 151 6" driving lights with 100w halogen bulb. I did the math on it and the amperage draw of 200w of lights is with in acceptable for me and it will not over load the circuit the 30amp fuse I currently have to power the headlights that will power this is still 10 amps higher than the draw calculated through math. I might go ahead and bump the fuse up to 40 amp just to be safe, the supply wire is 12ga itself so 40 amps shouldn't hurt it.