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Old 04-17-2012, 04:01 PM #1
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Roof mounted or bumper mounted lights
I'm thinking about installing lights soon. I'm trying to decide between a bumper mounted light bar or roof mounted. Which one would give the best off road lighting? Or does it not really make a difference?
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:20 PM #2
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Not sure what your budget is for lights, but if you can swing a higher price up front, those Rigid LED lights are pretty outrageous. You can mount one 20" bar across the front of the roof, and combined with your headlights, will light up everything in front of you, near or far. For regular rounds, I believe floods are best on the bumper (otherwise they'll light up your hood and mess up your night-vision). Long-range driving lamps can go in either spot, I should think. Fogs should definitely be on the bumper, as low as reasonable without risking damage. If you're just doing a pair, I'd go with the bumper--easier to run the wiring, and no glare.
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:24 PM #3
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Why not both? Wider beams up to can tend to put a pretty good glare on your hood. I run fogs up front and Hella 500FF on my roof rack. There isn't much glare, but my hood is lit up pretty good at night.

The only real benefit I've noticed is being able to get a better view over brush at night. However depending on how much trail riding you do at night then I think it really comes down to aesthetics.
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:26 PM #4
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Yeah. I was thinking about the wiring. Not sure how to run it on the roof. I like the look of the roof bar and rectangle lights though. My budget would be between $200-$300, and I'd like to install them myself. Gotta start learning how to fix, repair, and install things on my truck.
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:27 PM #5
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The down sides to roof lights are that the hood usually get lit up, tree branches can hit them and when you roll over again, they will get crushed.
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:30 PM #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gerdo View Post
The down sides to roof lights are that the hood usually get lit up, tree branches can hit them and when you roll over again, they will get crushed.
I'm going to try real hard not to roll over again.

As far as how much night driving I'll do. Not too much. We run out to the desert at night about once a month or so to get away from the city lights and watch the stars.
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Old 04-17-2012, 04:38 PM #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OCMike View Post
Yeah. I was thinking about the wiring. Not sure how to run it on the roof. I like the look of the roof bar and rectangle lights though. My budget would be between $200-$300, and I'd like to install them myself. Gotta start learning how to fix, repair, and install things on my truck.
Roof install is not that bad it just takes time. Also depend on if you want to drill any holes or not. Personally being in Florida I tried to keep as water tight as possible. I went up through the A-pillar, crossed over into trim and finally up through the rack itself.
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Old 04-17-2012, 07:54 PM #8
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Well, seeing that I have less than 12" clearance if I need to pull into the garage, it looks like I may have to go with bumper mounted lights. The clearance issue also throws a wrench into my idea of hanging a rooftop tent from the ceiling and backing up under it for easy attachment.
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Old 04-17-2012, 08:37 PM #9
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I had lights mounted on my 86 Toyo pickup. 2 on my front bumper facing foreward, and 4 on top pointing towards the sides a bit to light up the trail around turns, and not light up my hood. That set up worked well. I just got cheaper ones for the top, as they do hit branches once in a while.
That set up lights up everything in my field of vision.
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