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Off-Road Light Options?

9.5K views 18 replies 6 participants last post by  GeoJosh  
#1 ·
Looking to put on an SSD light bar and trying to figure out which direction to go with for lights. All of them have pros and cons, but hoping current light bar owners could shed some input. Moving back to an area of Oregon that is littered with deer and coyotes. The likelihood that I will hit a deer or have many near misses is incredibly high on the road that I will be driving.

One option is to go with four 4" LED lights and wire them to the high beams with an optional rocker switch. The advantage to these is they are a little smaller in profile and will work well with the SSD mounting locations.





Another option is to go with an LED light bar. I am sure that it will come with some bar clamp mounts or I can fabricate something to work with existing mounting holes. This is definitely low profile and I imagine substantially more over powering. Downside is possible mounting abilities.





The last option is to go with some Hella 500's or a similar brand of driving lights. An advantage to these is that I could DOT approved lights in them, but I suspect it would still be illegal to run four of them in conjunction with high beams for road purposes. The downside is that with four of them mounted they look really cluttered.

 
#2 ·
#3 ·
Mount Location?

@GeoJosh,

Thanks for posting. That looks like an excellent light and price.

I believe that the two-lamp-high configuration is taller than will project through the "slot" in the '14+ grill.

Are you planning on a roof or front bar mount?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wish we got snow :crying: .
 
#10 ·
I mounted some Hella 500's and not impressed at all with their output. Feel like a pair of 511 Tactical flashlights mounted would have been better. Going to swap out and go with an LED bar. Saw one last night a guy had and it was insane.

That light switch is a tough mount. That whole panel pops out though doesn't it to make it easier to access?
 
#11 ·
Here is my output comparison

Light bar output shots.

Low Beam HID - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800


Low Beam HID and High Beam Halogen - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800


Low Beam HID and High Beam Halogen plus 12,600 lumen LED bar - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800


12,600 lumen LED bar ONLY - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800


ZOOMED IN SHOTS

Low Beam HID - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800- zoom


Low Beam HID and High Beam Halogen - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800- zoom


Low Beam HID and High Beam Halogen plus 12,600 Lumen LED Bar - 1-5 second, F4.8. ISO 800- zoom
 
#12 ·
Not too bad, but I am sure it looks much more impressive in person. This is where I mounted my switch and unfortunately did not fit in the pocket. Is the traction control switch on yours a push button? Curious if that would work instead of my current switch setup.

 
#13 ·
Not too bad, but I am sure it looks much more impressive in person. This is where I mounted my switch and unfortunately did not fit in the pocket. Is the traction control switch on yours a push button? Curious if that would work instead of my current switch setup.
Yeah, the VDC button is a normal push button.
 
#18 ·
That's a nice output. DO you know what kind of lens that bar has? Seems like most LED bars are available as spot lenses or flood lenses, but not many direct comparisons between the two.
 
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