just wanted to see what people are running on roof racks, tjm,grill gaurds ETC.
i am considering 4 hella 500s up top on the rack and a pair of lightforce 240s on the front bumper .
anybody have anything bad to say about the lightforce , i havent heard or found anything negative yet on lightforce , BUT FILL ME IN ON WHAT U THINK AND WHAT YOUR USEING

PLEASE!!! ENLIGHTEN ME

 

I'm planning on 4 Lightforce 170 Strikers for my rack. They are very impressive lights from what I have seen of them.

I'm also looking into a couple Lightforce 240 HID Blitz's for down near my front bumper.

 

I have some sucky aftermarket ones that I mounted on the bumper they're like 35 watt fog lights I think? yeah... they light up stuff a bit but I want something that'll make it a LOT brighter not only near but far as welll......

 

i gots two hella ff50 driving lights in my front valance. For their size, they light things up pretty well! Would like a set of fog lights too to light up the sides of the road a bit more, but other than that i am a happy camper.... except i need one of those police spotlights.... oh well

 

Right click and look at the properties. Says it's a taxi.

 

1. Roof lights/Hella 500s
There is to much glare coming off the hood when trying to use these on dark roads.
They are good though when out camping and you need to see at night to set up camp.

2. Bumper/Hella 500s
Most excellent.
These shine a lot further ahead and are brighter than the high beams on the Toyota lights.
I highly recommend these for under $70.

Here is a picture of both of them.

3. Rear aux/tractor lamps
Very good for backing up where you will not blind another driver, and also useful for setting up camp.
These hang pretty low, and I have hit them on stuff.
Here is a picture.

Lightforce lights from what I have seen are very nice.
Toddski has a set of the 170s on his 1st gen and really likes them.

Out of my 3 sets, I like the bumper ones the most for lighting up the road when no one is around.
I have them aimed up higher, and they will blind.

If I ran them aimed lower, I could use them with the low beams while in traffic, but my headlights are good enough for that.

 

I've go 4 KC's on the Roof Rack. (Very Impressed with them.. SUPER BRITE and durrable...)

We are not allowed to use these lights on the road where I come from So they are for offroad action only.

 

I notice you wanted some brighter lighting. I have 5 Pro Comps for sale..check out the sale section. i live in Fairfax, VA btw..thanks

Matt

 

[QUOTE=Corey]1. Roof lights/Hella 500s
There is to much glare coming off the hood when trying to use these on dark roads.
They are good though when out camping and you need to see at night to set up camp.

my rack is set way further back than yours on the topper of a regular cab taco do you think i would still have the same problem with the light reflecting back? and are yours fog or driving up top

Ben

 

Why on a taxi Some nice dark roads I guess. Margin of safety?

 

Ben, I am not sure.
I would think the problem with mine is due to the rack being further towards the front of the rig.

I wheeled with a guy with a Land Cruiser FZ80 who ended up putting black on his white hood, and he said it helped.
I am not about to do that though.

 

What about one of those nice carbon fiber hoods?

 

I have lights on a rack on a Tacoma, but mine is an xcab and it works out fine. I think an easy way to tell is to look at the truck from the side, and draw an imaginary line from wherever the top of the lights will be, to the front edge of your roof - continue this line straight past the roof and see if it intersects the hood at all.

BTW, I had the LF 170's and loved them (my avatar pic). I liked them so much that I really wanted to see what the 240's are like so I sold the 170's and just got some 240's. I haven't mounted them up yet though.

 

I have Hella 550 fogs mounted just under my bumper (using existing stock mounting points) and they work great but I rarely use them so they keep the covers on but winters coming.

 

i have a couple LightForce 140s on my TJM. i'm very happy with them, and would get lightforce lights again. i may someday get some lights for the roof, not sure what i'd get for up there.

 

Lightforces are awesome, I haven't heard any bad things either. Their designs are top notch from what I can tell. They are also the only light (that I have heard of) that have a HID setup with the ballast and everything built into the light so you can mount them anywhere. I don't know why you would have more powerful lights on the bottom, that has me wondering. You want fogs mounted low and driving/pencil beams mounted high. I chose the hellas because of the very low price. Eventually I think I'll get some lightforces but, I'm happy and have much better things to spend money on. Hellas are good and cheap and do a good job. Yeah, some may be brighter but espcially if you have 4, you will be a happy camper.

 

hey Bajataco
did you do the light hookup to your rack on your own ?

If so where di you run the wires?

 

Is hooking up lights preatty easy ?? or do most of U take it somewhere to have them installed?
Im no good at the electrical stuff

 

First a note for legality, you can't have driving lights mounted above the height of the headlights for on-road use. They will be more effective if mounted on the roof rack but the gestapo is far more likely to give you hassles if you use them on-road. You would be more likely to get away with running wattages over the 55w limit at bumper height then running even 55w lights higher up. For trail use the higher the better provided that you can keep the rubber side down so you don't crush them or scrape them off on branches.

Lightforces are really nice lights but are big $$$$$. Hellas, PIAAs, etc. are pretty if that is what your priority is but they are far overpriced for the perfomance IMO. My 'best performance for the hard earned dollar' award goes to a set of 6" Pro-Comp 130w. They are the same design as KC lights. I paid less then $100 US for two lights, a relay, switch, and wiring. I only have mine mounted on my bumper and on a straight stretch they have an effective range of about 700m and I can still pick out reflective objects such as signs and eyeballs for about 1000 yards.

Wiring driving lights is SIMPLE and worth doing yourself. You save a few bucks and as a bonus you learn something. A 30A or 40A relay, a switch, and some wire will only be a few bucks if your lights didn't come with a full wiring harness. Here is a wiring diagram that is all you need to know to do it yourself for standard lights. I have my lights wired to only come on with the high beams as well. To do this all you have to do is run the wire from the switch (the one in the diagram shown to run to the fuse box) back up and into the fuse for the high beams in the circuit box under the hood. Legally auxilliary lights have to turn off when you turn the high beams off and trust me it is a PITA to have to hit more then one switch when you encounter another vehicle.


A HID system may be a little different but I am sure that they would come with instructions.

 

is it bad for lights to be switched on and off. for example we have a lake house and on the way up there on some really dark roads i have a hard time seeing with even my brights. so i was thinking about getting some lights for the top and my arb. and when traffic comes, i could shut them off. would it be bad for the lights to turn them off and on like that?