I need some extra light when I'm trail riding at night. There are some cheap tractor lights at our local TSC, they come in flood, spot and trapezoid light patterns. What ones (patterns) should I go for, I am mounting 2 on the front bumper and maybe 3 on the roll bar. I know their cheap, but on the farm thats what the boss has and they work great to light up the paths. Should I go for them or should I pass and invest in something more worthwhile?

 

if you're going for good light the the more expensive ones like kc daylighters. but if they are cheap enough they might be worth it. what is your definition of cheap?

-cutts-

 

they are about $10 a piece. I just want something to throw down some more light when Im riding down the trails, especially the ones at work, they can get dangerous in some spots. I was just curious what pattern would be good, for the bumper and later on the roll bar. I've got a good chund of $$$ saved up but dont want to blow in on just lights.

 

Those tractor lights would be good for trail crawling and lighting up I'd say 30 yards in front of you at best. How far would you like them to shine in front?

 

you really shouldn't need that many lights shining forward. instead of wasting too much money i'd convert the headlights over to HID and then you shouldn't have any problems. if you still do just get a pair of real high quality on the front bumper. then get a box full of those tractor lights and mount them all over the truck, underneath shining down, on the sides shining out, and out back shining down and out. thats what i would do but i am silly. remember with that many lights you might have to upgarde your electrical system and prolly have to get a dual battery system!

-cutts-

 

those 4" "spot" tractor lights should shine out to a 1/4 mile if they are mounted up high like on a roll bar.

mounted low, they should be good for about 350 feet.

 

Here's an idea I proposed before. Mount a light pole in the back of your truck with a couple of those yard lights mounted at the top. You'd be hauling your own sun around with you.

I'm retarded...What can I say.

I wouldn't spend a bunch of money on expensive lights for the bumper. They're gonna get broken. Up on a roll bar, sure, but down low just use big azz cheap lights.

 

Since you say this is mostly for trail riding, I would mount two trapezoid lights ontop of the front bumper, These light up wide and can throw light pretty far in the shape of a rectangle so the light will still hit to road even if your truck is bouncing all over the place. Mounting these on the bumper will help you see holes and ruts easier, aim these forward.

Could you mount four lights on the roll bar instead of three? three is kinda odd... it should have at least four mounts, or maybe even five mounts. If you can mount four lights, mount two spot lights in the middle pointing straight forward. Aim these so the beams will light the ground a little further than your head lights.

And this is especially important for trail riding at night. Mount two flood lights as far outwards as possible on the roll bar and aim these out the sides and towards the ground a little bit. This is so you can see out your windows incase you need to make a sharp turn where the headlights dont light up and have to negotiate an obstacle.

I assume the trapezoid and flood lights use 55w bulbs, Make sure the spot lights are at least 100watts. You should mount the pair of flood, trapezoid, and spot lights all on seperate switches so you can turn off the ones you dont need at the moment. Im sure you can run all 6 lights at the same time without running into charging issues.

If you plan to run the trails at night often, you should consider putting one more flood light facing backwards between the two spot lights so it can help you when you have to back up in a tight spot, or just to make it easier to find stuff in your bed at night.

 

I love your diagrams man. ^_^ Rep!

 

Amtek you just answered all my questions, that picture is excellent!! My roll bar only has 3 tab mounts I believe and 2 threaded mounts on the front of the bar(kinda wierd I think), I was planning on mounting 2 on the tabs goin foward and 1 facing the rear hooked up to the backup lights. I was going to wire up the bumper mounted lights to the high beams, would that be a good idea?? The last time I wired up some aux lights the switch got a little hot and melted a little, now I'm nervous about wiring up the lights when I get them. Thenks for the replys yall, send any more tips if ya got 'em!!

 

Hey thanks man. I like to do the diagrams because it makes sure we're all on the same page. Nothing's worse than trying to explain an idea and people interpreting the words wrong. Hmm..I should carry a pen and paper with me when we go mudding, it would help alot when trying to explain how we are going to recover a stuck vehicle.


Well you could easily weld on more tabs to your roll bar if you wanted more mounting options.

For the wiring, dont use anything smaller than 16 guage and make sure the switches are rated at a higher amperage than what they'll be used for, this will insure a long life for extended use.

55watts = 4.5 amps 100watts = 8.3amps 200watts = 16.6 amps

watts/voltage = amps

additionally, you can use the cheap bosch 40amp relays and use any switch you'd like. Relays are cheap and pretty reliable and if one ever fails, you can bridge the power and the load together.

If you want to want to wire the bumper lights to the highbeams, you have to use a relay because the current wiring is too thin to handle the extra load.

I can make a diagram on how to wire up the lights if you want using just switches or relays and switches. Let me know.

 

I have been thinking about redoing my lights on new offroad lights would like to see i good wiring diagram on what would work the best.

thanks

Scott

 

Here is a basic representation of an auxillary lighting circuit using a fuse block (protection against shorts), a relay, and a switch.

This diagram is using a universal 4 circuit fuse block found in many auto parts stores, or at summitracing.com [ http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...0&autoview=sku ] So you can run upto 4 set of lights or devices. Additional blocks can be stacked for more circuits. The relay is used to handle the load instead of the switch for increased life. If you want to run more lights, simply add another relay and switch for each set. Use rubber grommets any time a wire has to pass through the sheet metal.

Use the watts/voltage=amps formula to see which fuse you will need to protect the circuit. The fuse should be rated slightly higher than the circuit will run. For example, two offroad lights at 100watts will be 200(watts) divided by 12(volts) equals 16.6(amps) so you should use a 20 amp fuse for that circuit.

 

Got some from the local Case (buloldozer) dealer, mounted out back, wide floods, does great for night work...got a set of Warn 6" round floods up on the front bumper for cornering lights, running KC's in the middle....works like a charm

 

If you could make a diagram that would show me how to hook up the lights with a relay to the high beams I'd appreciate it, I'm gonna try to keep it simple this time. Dont rush, truck's in the shop for a few days to get the shackle & bracket replaced.