Lighting set-up's: LED vs. HID

[McFly2003]

O.K. so I have a feeling this may turn into a bit of a debate, which is not my intention, but I am looking to start lighting up the night with my rig and am wondering the best direction to take.
I am planning on running lights on both my ARB and eventually a full length roof rack. I have run HID driving lights in the past and they were fantastic. The output, throw and range were all very much on point. I also had a Rigid bar that I never really had much of a chance to use but it definitely put out a butt load of light. I am well aware of the power draw advantages of going with LED over HID, as well as the lifespan and durability of the better LED's out there. I have, however, heard that while LED technology is great as is, you still wont get quite as much range out of them as you would with a comparable HID setup.
My other issue is my mounting options on my ARB. With the control box for my Warn sitting right in the middle, mounting options for an LED bar are a bit slim and I am looking for a bit more light than just some dually's or D2's (plus they'd look a bit goofy up there). While I know that I could relocate the box, if I don't have to, I don't really want to.
My plan WAS to run a set of HID driving'g lights or floods on the bumper with an SR series hybrid on top of the bumper bar (mounted to the antenna tabs), then a 30-40" e series on the rack.
Now that ARB has these new intensity lights out, it has me thinking, what to go with?

So, my question is this: HID, LED or both. AND what have you guys found to be the best setup of beam patterns for coverage/spread out in front of the truck. I want as much throw as possible while also getting as much spread as possible to light around curves and also allow me to spot possible wildlife before it tries to play chicken with me

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Ohhh wee. Good questions.

I can give you some of my opinions and observations after I get back form lunch, I'm starving right now, can't focus :biggrin2:

 

[FactoryRide]

From everything you've stated, you seem to be on the right track. HID and LED from what I understand (I could be wrong) are comparatively the same in light output, but the HID has it's advantage in the range. It simply will throw more light further.

I wish I would have done a little bit more research on lights when I bought my Hellas. I love them, but at the same time, there are sooo many more options out there that would have been alot brighter.

I say go with the new ARB Intensities so we can have some reviews on them!! :hungry: Two of those, with a rigid bar on top mounted to the antenna tabs, and then a 40" E series or SR on the roof!!

 

[adio3x]

Those new ARB's are pretty hardcore, especially for $700 for 1 light. I would definitely just do LEDs all around. If you can afford it, I'd do the ARB floods on the bumper & a 40in E series Spot or Spot/flood combo on the rack.

Rigid also makes a clamp kit so you can mount your bar directly to the bar, on top or below.

 

[limamike]

O.K. so I have a feeling this may turn into a bit of a debate, which is not my intention, but I am looking to start lighting up the night with my rig and am wondering the best direction to take.
I am planning on running lights on both my ARB and eventually a full length roof rack. I have run HID driving lights in the past and they were fantastic. The output, throw and range were all very much on point. I also had a Rigid bar that I never really had much of a chance to use but it definitely put out a butt load of light. I am well aware of the power draw advantages of going with LED over HID, as well as the lifespan and durability of the better LED's out there. I have, however, heard that while LED technology is great as is, you still wont get quite as much range out of them as you would with a comparable HID setup.
My other issue is my mounting options on my ARB. With the control box for my Warn sitting right in the middle, mounting options for an LED bar are a bit slim and I am looking for a bit more light than just some dually's or D2's (plus they'd look a bit goofy up there). While I know that I could relocate the box, if I don't have to, I don't really want to.
My plan WAS to run a set of HID driving'g lights or floods on the bumper with an SR series hybrid on top of the bumper bar (mounted to the antenna tabs), then a 30-40" e series on the rack.
Now that ARB has these new intensity lights out, it has me thinking, what to go with?

So, my question is this: HID, LED or both. AND what have you guys found to be the best setup of beam patterns for coverage/spread out in front of the truck. I want as much throw as possible while also getting as much spread as possible to light around curves and also allow me to spot possible wildlife before it tries to play chicken with me

There's no question that you're going to get better throw out of an HID setup than an LED setup. But, the question you need to ask yourself is how much throw do you *really* need? I understand your stated requirement of as much as possible, but if that were the true requirement you'd go with HID no matter what. Questions you should ask yourself:

1. For which type of terrain will you mostly use the lights? Onroad? Offroad? Desert? Forest?

2. How fast do you anticipate driving in that terrain?

Then think about your battery setup and for how long you are going to be running the lights at any given time.

 

[Okki]

There's no question that you're going to get better throw out of an HID setup than an LED setup. But, the question you need to ask yourself is how much throw do you *really* need? I understand your stated requirement of as much as possible, but if that were the true requirement you'd go with HID no matter what. Questions you should ask yourself:

1. For which type of terrain will you mostly use the lights? Onroad? Offroad? Desert? Forest?

2. How fast do you anticipate driving in that terrain?

Then think about your battery setup and for how long you are going to be running the lights at any given time.

In line with what Limamike already mentioned, ARB has a great article about their new lights in their ARB 4x4 magazine (free online) that explains light patterns, distance etc that may help you understand what best suits your purpose and is the best use of your money.

Okki

 

[1engineer]

O.K. so I have a feeling this may turn into a bit of a debate, which is not my intention, but I am looking to start lighting up the night with my rig and am wondering the best direction to take.
I am planning on running lights on both my ARB and eventually a full length roof rack. I have run HID driving lights in the past and they were fantastic. The output, throw and range were all very much on point. I also had a Rigid bar that I never really had much of a chance to use but it definitely put out a butt load of light. I am well aware of the power draw advantages of going with LED over HID, as well as the lifespan and durability of the better LED's out there. I have, however, heard that while LED technology is great as is, you still wont get quite as much range out of them as you would with a comparable HID setup.
My other issue is my mounting options on my ARB. With the control box for my Warn sitting right in the middle, mounting options for an LED bar are a bit slim and I am looking for a bit more light than just some dually's or D2's (plus they'd look a bit goofy up there). While I know that I could relocate the box, if I don't have to, I don't really want to.
My plan WAS to run a set of HID driving'g lights or floods on the bumper with an SR series hybrid on top of the bumper bar (mounted to the antenna tabs), then a 30-40" e series on the rack.
Now that ARB has these new intensity lights out, it has me thinking, what to go with?

So, my question is this: HID, LED or both. AND what have you guys found to be the best setup of beam patterns for coverage/spread out in front of the truck. I want as much throw as possible while also getting as much spread as possible to light around curves and also allow me to spot possible wildlife before it tries to play chicken with me

If you are worried about wildlife you should just get this:
A friend of mine has this and it is way cool.

 

[McFly2003]

You bring up a good question/point. The lights will be used primarily on the trails and back roads up here in the Rockies, though there is the ever lingering possibility that I could PCS to anywhere, so it's hard to say. I guess up here in CO, extreme range is really not as important as output

 

[McFly2003]

If you are worried about wildlife you should just get this:
A friend of mine has this and it is way cool.

haha that'd be kick ass, but those setups can get ridiculously expensive. I guess I'll start saving :wink2:

 

[DannyLlama]

If you are worried about wildlife you should just get this:
A friend of mine has this and it is way cool.

Pretty cool, Greg.
Where would that display though? I tried looking at their website, just says it " with an integrated, automatic window heater. using a 12VDC input power source, standard NTSC or PAL video is output for compatibility with most monitors or displays."

Does that mean you'd be able to flip a switch and see it on the stock nav screen?

 

[adio3x]

I can't seem to find where I saw a better picture of these, but Rigids coming out with a light similar to the ARB's, but square. I'm interested to see how much output these can produce.

 

[McFly2003]

I can't seem to find where I saw a better picture of these, but Rigids coming out with a light similar to the ARB's, but square. I'm interested to see how much output these can produce.

Great find!!! Visually, I definitely prefer these to the ARB's. I find the ARB's a bit gaudy with all of the branding and I am still torn on the bright red bezel. Do we have a timeline on these, as well as performance figures?

edit:: it also looks like they did a sort of dual beam set-up? maybe a flood on bottom and a spot on top

 

[SOcalTRAIL]

Here is a link to Rigid's 2013 Master Catalog, lots of new stuff in there that isn't listed on their site:

https://www.rigidindustries.com/Articles.asp?ID=281


So, you are definitely on the right track and from your description of how you will be using your light, it seems very similar to my requirements.

Generally speaking, a light bar that that puts out 5,000 lumens will have significantly less throw than a big 5" or 6.5" halogen or HID. This is only because of the reflector differences, not the inherent differences of the actual light itself. Nice deep reflectors like those found in Hella, Vision X, and Lightforce lights produce great throw. That said, the output of some of these light bars these days like the Vision x- 5-watt and 10-watt xmitter prime light bars and even the Rigid SR and E series, is pretty insane. In my opinion, what a light bar lacks in throw, it makes up with its purely even light output. No weird artifacts in the light, just nice even bright light. Also, they LED light bars are practically indestructible, have no warm up time like HID's do, draw less current per lumen, and run cooler. Ultimately, if possible, I think it is best to combine a nice LED light bar with a couple nice Halogen or HID lights, the two compliment each other nicely and will really, really, light up the night.

 

[phillyd2]

Can't answer about the mounting but if there is anything out there that I can't see with my Rigids....well, I don't think I even want to know about it. The other option is to wait until the sun comes up. :biggrin2:

 

[treklights]

If you're looking to outfit your rig with more than just front-facing lights, I'd go with LED's. Less power consumption, easier on your electrical system if you're running a wide array of lights.

If you absolutely need the 1/2 mile throw and you're only planning on getting lights for the front, go for the HID's.