I have seen questions on adding lights to our trucks and since I just got a pair, I decided to post some info on what I got and the results.

To start, I have 5 kids and have to do emergency roadside when they break and still "fooloishly" help people broke down, especially motorcycles, so I wanted something in a flood, not a spot so these are not as intense as a spot but the do flare out good. I also did not want to spend a fortune on Rigid for as little as I use them, cheap but usable was the key.

These will mount under the grill in the opening with the tow hooks, one 7" on each side so I can have enough open space in the middle for a front camera that will be added later.

The lights are from NiLight on Amazon for $15 each on Prime:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Reviews were good except for the moisture issue that seems to plague all cheap lights so I will tear them apart and silicone everything before I install them. Other than that, people seem to have good results with them. At $15, I can replace one occasionally if necessary. These do NOT come with a wire harness but that was ok as I will wire them to the upfitter switches.

I found a bracket on Amazon also for a 20" bar for $35 but I am not getting it, it just gave me the idea on how to make a mounting bracket that I will start later. Bracket is a Rough Country - 70524:

https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Country...per+bracket+20



Mine will be a very modified version of that if it works like I see it in my head!!

So, the lights look like:





First impression is they are heavy and seem fairly well made, I hooked one to the test bench and ran it for an hour with no issue and it really was bright, camera does not do it justice but I shined it thru the garage and accross the street and it will give all the light I need.




Next test was light output. So, I took a light meter to the truck on low beam and 9" from the drivers side light, moved around to the brightest spot:
Avg 35,000 LUX and 3000K Lumens (intensity (daylight bulbs are 6000K))

Next I did the same on the factory driving light:
Avg 45,000 LUX and 3000K

Last was the LED light, just one hooked on the test bench:
Avg 78,000 LUX and 6000K

So, per the meter, they deliver more than twice the light of the headlights and double the intensity. Good start if they hold up.

This is all I have so far, this will be slow to install as I have multiple projects in the works, but as I work out the bracket and mount the, I will add updates.

Thanx

 

Looks like they draw a lot of juice, for LED's.

 

I didn't put the ammeter on them yet but can, I have a 12v truck battery out of a 1500 Tahoe on my test bench hooked up to a trickle charger. This is my setup:









The jumper leads shown here are what I powered them with:





The leads never got warm, the meter on the face of the toolbox is my test battery, it started at 13.58v, with in about 10 minutes it was down to about 12.7v as it took off the surface charge. I left one hooked up for just over 1.5 hours and the battery never dropped below 12.58v and that small trickle charger in the picture is not strong enough to carry a heavy draw, so I would say the draw is not very high. They are rated at 36w so with an average of 13.5v that would be a 2.7A draw, but most tests on the Chinese lights show they are considerably less than rated, at 25w it would be 1.9A and at 20w it would be 1.5A. I have read a lot of reviews and one said he runs these on a 5amp fuse, so I am assuming the output of these is more in the 20w to 25w range, but as I said, I can put the meter on them later and check.

 

I put that same light on my mower about a month ago. Works great. Cheap bright lighting for those days when there isn't enough daylight.

I also have a 20" bar that I have been running on my truck for a few years now. I bought it off Amazon and sealed it up with silicone and it has been fine. For the 40 or 50 bucks I paid for it I couldn't be happier.

 

Hooked one light up when I got home and checked the current, battery had 13.17v and the draw was 1.37A. works out to 18.04W per light. So, their claim of 36W per light is way off and these are supposed to be spot but flood out pretty good, overall, not what they claim but pretty much what I expected from a $15 light and will do what I wanted them for.

 

Subscribing for the install and mounting

 

Moving everything to

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...num-build.html