Why are aftermarket lights so popular?

[MattAK]

I've used mine a few times since I installed it. We tend to leave on Moab trips after work on Fridays, which usually means finding a camp site and setting up in the dark. The light bar has been quite useful for that. I don't think I'd want any more than the one I have however. I spent < $200 total on mine.

 

[JSparky]

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!

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.

lol reminds me of this: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EzMrB1NHFkk

 

[Ray Dunakin]

I plan to add some lights to mine eventually. Mainly a light bar on the front of the rack, and a smaller one on each side of the rack. When I'm on my Mojave/Nevada trips, I spend a lot of time driving around in the dark, usually looking for old mines and mining camps. I don't need the extra for the trail so much (though they would help with that too), but most of all for seeing what's around me.

 

[JSparky]

I plan to add some lights to mine eventually. Mainly a light bar on the front of the rack, and a smaller one on each side of the rack. When I'm on my Mojave/Nevada trips, I spend a lot of time driving around in the dark, usually looking for old mines and mining camps. I don't need the extra for the trail so much (though they would help with that too), but most of all for seeing what's around me.

I'm on point with you here. I've got a perfect slot in my Demello bumper for a 30" bar, eyeing the baja designs. I find myself driving at night a lot with no one around, especially out in Nevada it would be super helpful. That stretch of 50 between Fallon and Ely would be much nicer with some aux lights, for both width and distance to help spot animals.

I drove from Vegas to 29 Palms one night in an older truck with Piaa aux lights and they came in really handy, must have dodged over a hundred rabbits attempting to commit suicide.

 

[Lindenwood]

Thanks for all the anecdotes!

 

[4RunnerAquasport]

I spent a few bucks on lights, but not over board. Picked up all of them through group buys which saves a few dollars. I put 2 forward spots up on the rack and a work/backup flood on the rear, white fog lights that I purchased with my bumper, a 20" combo on my bumper, and 2 amber floods angled slightly outward on either side of the combo.
The amber is probably the most valuable as they are very helpful (especially at hwy speeds) cutting through fog, smoke, and the dust kicked up on a trail ride without reflecting glare back in my eyes.
Be careful how much light you put on your roof and how you focus these lights. Lot's of folks learned the hard way how bad the glare off of your hood and reflection off fog/smoke/dust can be with too much light mounted on your roof. IMHO most folks have gone way overboard and will never need the amount of light they have mounted. If I ever go Overland for several thousand miles, I will consider adding more light especially work lights and ditch lights, but for now most of the lighting I have is more than adequate. Also, here are a couple of links for the Baja designs pattern and zone page which helped me a lot.https://www.bajadesigns.com/Science-of-Lighting/Lighting-Patterns.asp
https://www.bajadesigns.com/Science-of-Lighting/Lighting-Zones.asp

 

[Baja Designs]

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?

Safety is one of the top reasons our customers add lighting to their vehicles. This ranges from bone stock vehicles (our fog light replacements) to extremely modified trucks. The last thing you want to have is a situation during the day or night where your OEM lighting doesn't do the trick causing an accident or worse. All of our LED lights have interchangeable lenses and patterns allowing you to fine tune the lights per your driving style or needs. If you're moving through the desert with a group of vehicles, you're definitely going to want additional lighting to avoid running into the person in front of you. This also applies for mountain roads where suddenly deer or elk can come running out in front of the vehicle. With proper lighting you can easily and safely detect an obstacle or obstruction before it becomes a problem. Not all LED's are created equal and a quality set will definitely provide added comfort and performance day and night. We use the following Lighting Zone charts to help figure out what pattern or light is best for your application.

Example,
[MENTION=129593]MTN4RNR[/MENTION] LOW BEAM HID:

Fog Pocket Kit & 20" S8 Light Bar:

As you can see the Fog Pocket Kit and 20" S8 (behind the grille) provide much more usable light than your headlights. You get extra distance, midfield, and nearfield lighting.
Looking out towards the shoulder of the road our Wide Cornering pattern really spreads out further than the OEM headlight. This great for detecting wildlife and other obstructions as well as cutting through poor weather.
The S8 Light Bar in Driving/Combo also reaches distances the OEM lights can't. The Driving/Combo has some of the Wide Driving optics giving you spread as well to blend the two patterns nicely.

Thank You for posting up. It's nice to see an open discussion on why people are buying lights and for what applications.

-Bailey, Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

[rainmn]

Around here, it seems like the primary point of installing LED light bars is to ensure that others on the road can immediately identify the driver as a douchebag. These drivers make it even easier by driving with the light bars lit on the road....that way you can spot the douchebags from much further away.

I wish I got a pic of the asshat I came across yesterday in the lifted F150. Picture perfect sunny day, 1:00 in the afternoon, headlights, foglights and LED bar blazing.

 

[1engineer]

My story I recently posted:

Once upon a time, when I was a mere lad, I learned a valuable lesson regarding aftermarket lighting.

I had skimped and saved up money for the better part of four months, enough to equal two whole week's pay, so I could buy my dream lights. "These lights would help me immeasurably off road!" I said. "These lights are a must for seeing deer further away!" I said. "These lights will make driving the dark back roads safer!" I said. Basically, I justified and convinced myself I just couldn't live without six, count 'em, SIX, top of the line KC HiLighters. Remember, this was early '80's lol. Four on the roll bar and two on the push bar! All those smiley faces! A whole family!

I remember tears came to my eyes when, after toiling away for hours installing the lights and switches, darkness came and I could try out my new lights! BOOM! I swear I heard angels sing when I flipped the switches! Night turned into day in front of my truck! I hurriedly scurried around, making minute adjustments to get the beams aimed correctly. I then climbed up into the bed, leaned over the roll bar and basked in the goodness of light badass-ery.

I stayed like that for about five minutes. I then turned off the lights and, after giving them time to cool down, I put those precious smiley face covers on my new lights.



...and I think I turned them on twice (one week's pay each time) over the next three years.


I have not bought aftermarket lights since. Lesson learned.

...and I probably am off road more than the majority of you. Factory lights are fine.

 

[Snow-Jet-MK5]

I have a lightbar, ditch lights, rear back up pods and baja designs foglights. With the exception of the foglights all the lights get removed unless I'm actually out on a trip. And even that do I rarely put them on unless I'm out in the Vegas desert doing some trails at night. I think of them like my firearms, it's better to have it and not use it, than it is to need it and not have it imho.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[jwkilgore]

Lights are on my to-do mod list, but for exact opposite reason as above. Someday in the way-off future I'll probably retire near my family out in the country. Then I'll want some long-throw spots and wide cornering lights for driving way too fast at night. Hitting deer at night isn't fun, but it does make for a good excuse when you're late returning your girlfriend home and miss her curfew.

But as for now I live in the city. Can't run the big brights on roads, and when I'm off-road I'm driving too slow to need anything longer than my headlights.

When I get lights I'm going for LOW lumens. They'll be for easing down hunting roads before dawn and after dusk, with the goal of preserving my night vision and not blinding anyone in the stands I pass along the way. I'll have dimmable lights front, side, rear, and rock lights. I was originally thinking red, but it appears the latest research says a dim greenish-blue is the best.

 

[e60ral]

I upgraded the headlights to HID because i think the factory headlights are absolutely terrifying beyond ~40mph at night on dark country roads when you can't use your high beams for various reasons.

The first week I had my car I took a trip that had me driving in a 65mph unlit divided highway during deer season with just enough oncoming traffic that I couldn't run the high beams for more than a few seconds at a time. I was hunched over the wheel straining my eyes driving under the speed limit, basically driving on trust that there wasn't an obstacle out of headlight range and said **** this. I ordered the HID kit that same night.

Next I plan on modifying the fog lights so I can do foglights + parking&DRL when in the city or a similar solution

 

[Engineer]

I like switches.....

 

[VTXWheels]

Lighting can help with going through dusty trails. Especially amber! It improves visibility quite a bit with the times I've used it.

​

 

[5280 TRail-Runner]

Your lighting needs may vary depending on where you live and where you traverse. For myself, I would say most of my driving is highway and some city driving. For the highway driving, a good portion of that through mountain roads that have little or no light at all. Going 70mph on the highway late at night or early morning with just headlights is not enough light. Then throw in high wildlife traffic into the mix with freak weather you get here in Colorado and that is a recipe for disaster.

I went on a fishing trip earlier this year when I had my cheap Amazon light bar installed, I thought it would be enough since it lights up dark county roads well but as we got further into the mountain, the weather was quickly going south and it was quickly evident that the 30” light bar was not enough because it did not throw enough light down the road for me to see. Needless to say, that stretch of the drive got really hairy… After that trip, I ordered myself a 20” light bar from Baja Design to replace the 30” i had. The 30” light bar I had claimed to have 15k lumens versus the Baja Design 20” S8 light bar which has 8k lumens but the difference between the 2 light bars is day and night.

Below is a before and after. My after set up is the same setup as [MENTION=129593]MTN4RNR[/MENTION] as mentioned earlier in this thread by [MENTION=87816]Baja Designs[/MENTION].

HID Low Beam + Amazon special 30" light bar - 15000 lumens + Squadron Pro

HID Low Beam + Baja Designs 20" light bar - 8000 lumens + Squadron Pro

For me personally, I love the squadron pros in place of my factory fog lights. The color it puts off is easy on the eye and lights up the roads and cuts through fog and snowy conditions really well. I am planning on picking up a low profile winch bumper and when I do I will probably run a 30" Baja Design light bar Driving/Combo in amber and swap out my Driving/Combo lens on my 20" to the spot lens. I also like the fact that you can easily swap out the lens on the Baja lights to accommodate your needs.

 

[5280 TRail-Runner]

Lighting can help with going through dusty trails. Especially amber! It improves visibility quite a bit with the times I've used it.

View attachment 248519​

I agree! Amber lights are extremely useful!

 

[4Reak Show]

I like switches.....

Awe yes. The other half of the reason why I installed my light system

Forgot all about that cool factor, good catch!

 

[VTXWheels]

Awe yes. The other half of the reason why I installed my light system

Forgot all about that cool factor, good catch!

The switches are definitely cool too :thumb3:

​

 

[2flyfishin]

Awe yes. The other half of the reason why I installed my light system

Forgot all about that cool factor, good catch!

With all the switches and the k-bar it must feel like riding in a fighter jet

 

[4Reak Show]

Damn dude! Good eyes! Yes it's a k-bar, and awesome. And yeah it is somewhat jet like considering the wind and tire noise I get in the damn thing