where to put all my off road lights!

[spoiler900]

Hey guys, post pics of your ride with lots of off road lights! I currently have 2 set up in my brush guard, have a roof rack I will be installing with 4 on the front, and I just picked up 6 more lights for $60 off craigslist (2 flood and 4 spot beams). Planning on putting 2 flood on the back of my roof rack, but what to do with the rest of the 4 spot lights? Anyone mount them on the side my the side view mirrors like jeeps or cop cars have? Opinions? where else are cool places to put lights

 

[the great him]

read through this and it should give you an idea of all the places ive had all my lights....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/105400-rescue-runner-build-thread.html

 

[zooroadbaja]

dang, thats a lot of piaa. why not just buy a single 40" led bar for the roof and be done with it

 

[5RUNNERZ]

or 2 big ones!



or you can alway go this route

 

[5RUNNERZ]

BTW there is 2 more lights on the back of the roof rack!

 

[the great him]

dang, thats a lot of piaa. why not just buy a single 40" led bar for the roof and be done with it

cause i probably have less into all my PIAAs than 5runnerz has in to his two lightforces and certainly less than a 40" LED bar of any kind of quality... and if my light set up cost more, i know for a fact that the amount i paid out at for any two sets of lights was no where near the hit that an LED bar or those lightfroces would be.

id love me a nice set of lightforce, but i havent found a place yet that i can get them for a killer deal. besides for me PIAA is a local company and i can deal factory direct with the manufacture and they offer superb customer service... not to mention that their lights are probably the best halogen lights money can buy and neck and neck with lightforce in the HID category. look at WRC or baja, or any kind of endurance racking, 80+% of teams out there run PIAA lights

 

[snivilous]

That's totally not true kid, CREE $200 40" LED bars are great quality

...but honestly, the quality isn't bad...

 

[the great him]

well when you can submerge them for like 20 min with them on and they still work then sure, or they can take rocks from a log truck at 100+ mph then ill think about it lol or better yet give them 10-20 years then subject them to that lol... im sure right out of the box the chinese LED bars are great, im just questioning their long term durability and reliability...

 

[zooroadbaja]

I've tried quite of few brands of lights, piaa, lightforce, tjm, hella, kc, kragen, baja designs, rigid. Most recently was a chinese single row 40" 10w cree led bar which blew me away. It didn't have the throw of an HID, but my 4Runner never out ran the light. But for $200, nothing on the market could come close to the output.

 

[Illestreker]

I've tried quite of few brands of lights, piaa, lightforce, tjm, hella, kc, kragen, baja designs, rigid. Most recently was a chinese single row 40" 10w cree led bar which blew me away. It didn't have the throw of an HID, but my 4Runner never out ran the light. But for $200, nothing on the market could come close to the output.

Where did you find a 40" Cree light bar for $200? Best price I seem was around $300

 

[snivilous]

Where did you find a 40" Cree light bar for $200? Best price I seem was around $300

I got mine off ebay:

240W 42 inch Flood Beam 60°LED Alloy Work Light Bar 4WD Offroad Boat Mine Lamp | eBay

$230 and you can "Make an Offer". When I did that I got my 30" bars for $180 versus the advertised $190, so they will probably drop down a bit. I didn't look if anywhere else has it cheaper either.

 

[zooroadbaja]

Not bad but you want to look at the ip rating, lens material, and the led mfg.

 

[Park]

View attachment 97490
read through this and it should give you an idea of all the places ive had all my lights....
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/105400-rescue-runner-build-thread.html

[MENTION=60147]the kid[/MENTION] I always enjoy imagining you pop off all of those light covers before you can actually turn anything on.

I just have two 6'' KC's and I dont see why I need any more. If anything they are there for show, I never use them

 

[snivilous]

I just have two 6'' KC's and I dont see why I need any more. If anything they are there for show, I never use them

Psssh...

Well you have them if you ever need them.

This weekend my buddies Cherokee sheared off the mount for his upper link of his 3-link so we had to come back and weld it back together on the trail at midnight, my lights certainly helped

I can't take credit for all the light, he does have rock lights which at this point have been used more often for fixing the Jeep than anything.

 

[Illestreker]

Not bad but you want to look at the ip rating, lens material, and the led mfg.

I want to get one of these light bars soon. Can you explain what to look for as far as these specs go? Thanks.

 

[zooroadbaja]

I want to get one of these light bars soon. Can you explain what to look for as far as these specs go? Thanks.

The IP rating is Ingress Protection Rating. The first number is the Solid particle protection, and the second is the Liquid ingress protection. So an IP68 is the highest rating you can get. 6 is for Dust tight, and 8 is immersion beyond 1 m.

Info can be found here IP Code - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The lens material makes a difference. I've read people saying the glass can crack and shatter. The PC, which I believe is polycarbonate scratches easy, and seemed to get hazy. At least on the one I had. The nicest seems to be lexan, which I believe is what Rigid uses.

I've never used the epistar leds, only Cree since they're made in the US and that's what Rigid uses.

Also I don't think many of them list the anodizing they use. But I believe it's type 2 anodizing that came on one of the led bars i bought and it fades to a bronze color from sitting in the sun.

I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me. But I'm just going off memory.

 

[Illestreker]

Based on all this do have any light bars you recomend that aren't crazy expensive, and where to get them.

 

[smkd13]

Based on all this do have any light bars you recomend that aren't crazy expensive, and where to get them.

I will be going with Olympus Offroad light bars. They are made in Denver and carry a lifetime warrantee. (As in if you happen to break it they will replace it) they stand behind their products. Their prices are pretty good as well.

 

[Scramble]

cause i probably have less into all my PIAAs than 5runnerz has in to his two lightforces and certainly less than a 40" LED bar of any kind of quality...
and if my light set up cost more, i know for a fact that the amount
i paid out at for any two sets of lights was no where near the hit that an LED bar or those lightfroces would be.

id love me a nice set of lightforce, but i havent found a place yet that i can get them for a killer deal.
besides for me PIAA is a local company and i can deal factory direct with the manufacture and they offer superb customer service...
not to mention that their lights are probably the best halogen lights money can buy and neck and neck with lightforce in the HID category.
look at WRC or baja, or any kind of endurance racking, 80+% of teams out there run PIAA lights

This, you cant beat PIAA's long term tried & true durability.
You get what you pay for, buy once cry once.

I've also read horrible reviews about the wiring & relays that come with Lightforce. If I was going to go cheaper than PIAA, I'd get Hella or KC .

And as far as getting one 40" lightbar as opposed to multiple lights....
You need multiple lighting for different circumstances. You cant use a 40" lightbar on the road or in bad weather.
You should have fog lights for bad weather, driving lights that come on with your high beams or for additional low beams or for off road etc.
I like having each set on it's own switch so you can use then one at a time or all together when you are by yourself on a rural road at night.