Safari Rack LIGHTS

[2000runr]

I am going to order 2-4 lights to attach to my safari rack. I am partial to PIAA only from what i've heard from others about how great they are. The point of these lights will be 1) for extra light when on gravel road at lakehouse, 2) for looks. I am between the 520/525/540/580, anyone have recommendations? The 540 is the front runner right now as it is 5" diameter versus the others which are all 6, and i have to be careful about garage clearance. Thoughts/experiences on which ones and 2 or 4 are appreciated.

By the way, I asked the guys at Baja Rack to send me pics of the 4runner specific baja rack and it looks great, however it is more than double the price delivered than what the Surco cost me.

 

[LINY4Runner]

are you using them to point ahead or around like mine?




I hope you know it'll murder your gas mileage with 5 or 6" lights up there...

 

[2000runr]

Why is that

 

[JohnsD90]

Why is that

IT cant be that bad i driven a v8 Brick (defender) and got 16 or 17 mpg, i may reduce it by 1 or 2mpg. and its because aerodynamics.

 

[2000runr]

yeah i figured the aerodynamics part would affect it, but not in such a drastic manner as to what Liny said. i never thought about lights pointing to the side and behind me, way cool.

 

[SilverBullet01]

i would suggest the 5in lights just because of your situation, and having some clearance issues. you can also mount them with adjustable brackets so you can fold the lights down when not in use, so you wont have any clearance issues, or hurt gas millage at all

im mounting a set of 525's on the front bumper so i can use the high and low beam features accordingly

 

[Pikeman]

The only problem with mounting the lights up top is the actual effectiveness of them. They are going to be far back enough to be blocked by the roof and will have to be almost straight ahead and might actually reflect off the dust instead of through it. Kind of why fog lights are mounted low. But they do look good, and I was thinking of mounting some lights in back as additional reverse light and also switch controlled for campsite use.

 

[LINY4Runner]

you can lose anywere from 1-3 mpg with lights mounted on the roof...my buddy had a wrangler and it killed his gas mileage

 

[2000runr]

you gotta wonder how many mpg having the safari rack, of any make, knocks off the mpg, not to mention other added accessories

 

[LINY4Runner]

i usually take my rack off when taking long road trips, i average 2-3 MPG better without it

 

[2000runr]

all that being said LINY, what lights do you have on your safari rack? all tied into one switch?

 

[LINY4Runner]

I have 6 wide angle 100w driving lights, each pair with their own relay and a 3-way switch. UP will turn on all 6 and DOWN turns on just the rear lights...some tricky wiring involved and i got a bunch of relays but it works! haha