Why are aftermarket lights so popular?

Lindenwood

Lindenwood

New member
I am not judging; I paid $5,000 for kewl tan paint.

But, I have offroaded at night (in both of my 4runners, and my Samurai), dirtbiked at night (with taped-on flashlights) and mountain-biked at night (with headlamps), and never thought "man, I could sure use another 5,000 lumens!"

I generally understand the arguments for them, but it seems like every third page has a post about dropping $2,000 for a bunch of lights on otherwise stock or near-stock vehicles (i.e. they aren't out traversing Australia alone and unafraid).

Hell, I have even seen a surprising number of people list them as priority modifications in the various " top 3 mods" threads floating around the various offroad forums.

Am I missing something?
 
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You definitely don't "need" them... However, they can be pretty useful if installed correctly.

Rock lights, ditch lights, and even a light bar mounted up on the front bumper can all be very functional when running offroad at night. Much of it depends on the terrain and a proper install.

However.. many people do it just for the look, since the price and installation effort is generally pretty low these days.
 
They can be very useful for getting more definition to show how deep some holes ahead of you are. And like wfo9 above has noted they need to be properly installed and aimed. I've done a couple of night runs at events and realized it's just not my thing. More for the fact that people behind me do have those lights and they are quite distracting in the mirrors while going up and down and twisting left and right.

I haven't installed any yet but I do have a pair of cheap 4" ones that my wife bought off my Amazon wish list for Christmas. I wanted them more to fill in the holes in my CBI rear bumper than for actual use, but wasn't actually expecting her to get them. I just added them as a possible future purchase. I have lots of cool things in wish lists that I probably will never buy. It's just my way of bookmarking things for future reference or when I get a little extra cash for "want" instead of "need".
 
3wbdriver said:
They can be very useful for getting more definition to show how deep some holes ahead of you are. And like wfo9 above has noted they need to be properly installed and aimed. I've done a couple of night runs at events and realized it's just not my thing. More for the fact that people behind me do have those lights and they are quite distracting in the mirrors while going up and down and twisting left and right.

I haven't installed any yet but I do have a pair of cheap 4" ones that my wife bought off my Amazon wish list for Christmas. I wanted them more to fill in the holes in my CBI rear bumper than for actual use, but wasn't actually expecting her to get them. I just added them as a possible future purchase. I have lots of cool things in wish lists that I probably will never buy. It's just my way of bookmarking things for future reference or when I get a little extra cash for "want" instead of "need".
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Side note. When you are in a group or come up behind someone on a trail at night it is highly recommended that you turn off all your LEDs (especially spots)... Rock lights and ditch lights may be OK.

It completely blinds the vehicle in front of you and is not only unnecessary, but also dangerous.

I try to turn all my aux lights off when I encounter another vehicle on the trail. I've been on the receiving end many times and it is really bad.

Also, make sure you turn them off when you get on actual roads... So many idiots around here running light bars on the road.
 
I have only found 2 places where I'm glad I installed some relatively low-end $40 LED spot lights. One is driving a dark, windy road to my sister-in-law's house out in the Sam Houston National Forest. The other was on the dark, windy roads heading out to Big Bend where there were gajillions of javelina all over the road. These $40 lights were more than sufficient. Definitely don't understand the big-time prices some folks pay... but whatever, it's not my money they're spending and I'm sure I spend money on things other folks shake their heads at and say "why???"

#1 mod in my book: sound system upgrade. I hear the sound system every time I get in the car. More than I can say for the amount of time I spend ogling my light bar.
 
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Lights are generally the second mod I look at at behind tires. Out here in the desert, I find myself driving 40 plus miles of dirt road coming out of places at night at a decent clip and with good lighting it makes those small washouts that make you say oh sh** more visible so you can slow down. They also allow you to see cattle, mustangs, etc (open range around here) along side these dirt roads earlier so you can slow down as well. If you think a deer can make a mess out of a vehicle, try a cow. Seen it. With many of my vehicles in the past, I spent many of nights wishing I had lights and was really happy after installing them on each.It all depends on your needs but granted most people are mainly doing it for the cool factor.
 
2flyfishin said:
Lights are generally the second mod I look at at behind tires. Out here in the desert, I find myself driving 40 plus miles of dirt road coming out of places at night at a decent clip and with good lighting it makes those small washouts that make you say oh sh** more visible so you can slow down. They also allow you to see cattle, mustangs, etc (open range around here) along side these dirt roads earlier so you can slow down as well. If you think a deer can make a mess out of a vehicle, try a cow. Seen it. With many of my vehicles in the past, I spent many of nights wishing I had lights and was really happy after installing them on each.It all depends on your needs but granted most people are mainly doing it for the cool factor.
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Gotta love cows even more when you have to deal with the damage done and paying the rancher for his loss when in an open range environment, such as Arizona.
 
I have many small cheap led lights on my Offroad Jeep. If damaged I won't cry. They are too prevent driving off a cliff or into a tree or river. I have 12 or so extra lights on the Jeep. Most point down or straight out. Two point forward, two point straight back. They are strictly for immediate area illumination.

Zero lights on the 4runner. It's mostly street driven by the wife. Factory lights are enough.
 
I have just spots for now but they come in handy off-road. I will use mine as the chase truck I guess for our toys.i have busted a tire at night on a razr and while my little flashlight worked a 10in spot light on the side of the rack helped light everything up.
 
Depends on the style of wheeling too, I used to do frequent night runs when living in Arizona, almost never now that I'm up in California. I did invest in some nice Hella projector fog lights though, suckers are wide, bright, and sharp.
 
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Honestly I did the HID headlight conversion and Baja Design fog light conversion because literally half of the time I'm driving to work the sun is already down, or not yet up. I'm essential public safety so I don't get a break when the weather is bad, roads are crap, or anything else that keeps sane people home. The fogs I probably could have done less expensively, but the HID's were a very worthwhile upgrade.

Now that doesn't cover my bumper light bar, because that's for night driving in remote areas. Mostly that's near my parents' house out in the mountains of TN where the nearest cell signal is 12 miles back, deer and bear are common, blind corners all over the place, and I never seem to arrive in daylight. I've considered ditch lights for this reason as well.

I also plan on mounting a pair of cheap rear facing LED's on the roof rack so that I can see down the damn boat ramp for predawn launches and late evening recovery/stowage. (Surprised [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] hasn't shown me how yet!)

So every light has a purpose, even if not a frequently used one. No I don't routinely go off-roading at night, although TN's definition of a road is kind of sketchy.
 
Friggin Idiot said:
I also plan on mounting a pair of cheap rear facing LED's on the roof rack so that I can see down the damn boat ramp for predawn launches and late evening recovery/stowage. (Surprised [MENTION=65614]Antman[/MENTION] hasn't shown me how yet!)

.
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Not all my mods are well documented! I have this already, lol
 
I have a remote control flood light I stick on roof when needed offroad - think I've used it 3 times in 8 years.
I think factory lights on both my vehicles are great - of course anything is great after learning to drive in a '48 Chevy.

and --

I think these youngsters are scared of the dark!
 
Bro... bro... come on bro...

Lights bro! It's just... BRO THEY'RE AWESOME!

You ain't got no Off-Roader if you ain't rockin' $10k in LEDs bro!

dual-jeep-light-bar.jpg


That being said, light bars and a roof rack on a bit low on my priority list at the moment as I don't do a whole lot of night driving and my headlamps and PIAAs in the bumper are doing good enough for now.

It's all about the "look", same thing back in the 80's~90's and such you had all the people rockin' chrome roll bars on their pick-ups with KCs rounds or squares bolted up to them. LEDs are just the modern update to that.
 
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OK- For real this time.

I do use the front LED's almost every day for the very dark country roads where I live. I originally had Hella Halogen lights up there, but the hood glare was HORRIBLE. The LED's do not have any hood glare and they are quiet up there as well.
The lights are also very nice for trail riding at night- I have used them a few times for this - they really make you feel more comfortable when you can SEE!

The rear lights I use to hook up my boat and launch it on unlit ramps. They are also AWESOME for lighting up a campsite at night while setting up.

Maybe some people buy them for the looks- Me? I use my lights ALL THE TIME. Love 'em.
 
It's an addiction, once you have a little, you want a lot... :sad:



I have a bad habit of being out looking for camp spots after dark, spending a few bucks to light the way makes it much better. I put a 40" Rigid Radiance bar on my rack, for like $300 I paid its ridiculously bright. The others I have serve other more specific functions and while none are used daily, when I want them it is a nice luxury to have. It's is a luxury though...
 
Well. I can safely say mine are totally for looks. Besides flicking them on to illuminate each wall of the garage (within which she spends 99% of her time), they serve no other purpose.

But

1) they weren't $1000's. That's dumb. Maybe total of $350 entirely.

2) my entire truck is based on satire, and being on the edge of stupid and ridiculous

3) I'm drunk, therefore honest.
 
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