Spot lights vs light bar??

[Andrew T]

Gary,
Sorry to join in late, but I really rate my old school hella 2000's on the front, when I have my roof tent on I have a pair of KC Daylighter copies on the roof.

I have made a few attempts to solve the roof lighting snags, as they can light up your bonnet and dashboard.

The advantage of front spots is they dont cause the driver glare, downside is you have a dark zone behind the headlights.
The advantage of roof lights is that you can illuminate the ground beside the front tyres and see whats about if you have to offroad at night, also they can light up branches which may hit your windscreen in the dark zone behind your headlights, which is why I fitted mine after a late night trip in Wales.

Sadly I feel it more mods required to fix mods !!

And before we start the cooling argument, most of my cooling comes in under the bumper via the drilled fill in plate not the factory grill. in 30+degs this year fully loaded soffroading the temp needle never moved.

 

[Chris Green90]

Technically that would be an illegal wiring option as auxilliary headlights must turn off with high beam but its one I have see before (though more usually as an on/off/on with highbeam arrangement).

Just be aware that a diligent MOT tester could fail you for it.

Just a question, not questioning your knowledge. So would it be legal to run them from 2 switches eg. of/n with brights and another off/on.
Surely this would make sense or are we expected to fit separate work lights???(But then might it be illegal for those front facing lights not to go out with brights)
IIRC the do have to be switched so that they can be turned off even with brights on sou you cant just have them off a relay when your brights come on and another switch for when using them to give light when pitching a tent for example. It's all such a minefield when it comes to light.

Hope that lot makes sense.

 

[warrenpfo]

Thanks for the comment about legality it's something to consider. My plan is to make the light bar removable as its just the sort of thing to go walking when back in South Africa.

The only reason it would be nice to have a permanent on option is if its needed whilst parked in camp as it won't be ignition switched.

Can they or do they Ming being used to "flash" someone or something or do they prefer to be switched on for longer periods bearing in mind there is a delay in them coming on so it might not work to use them to flash someone/something.

 

[Andrew T]

A few folk wire them up on a three way switch, off/on/on with headlight relay

I just wired mine in with a fused relay onto main beam, yanking the fuse gives me the off option!

Aux lights dont have to work for the MOT, as they can be off road lights and many 4x4s have them unwired for decoration - not sure I understand that one.

Dipped beam is usually plenty for pitching a tent

 

[Graham]

I have a pair of "no name" 55watt halogens on the front, just where Andrew has his Hella 2000.
I think mine are 8 inch, and cause no cooling problems through Spain at 42 deg, or towing the tin box.

But I will be swapping them for a pair of 7 inch / 35watt HID driving lights.

I think the high mounted lights, be they spots/driving lights or light bar, will always cause some driving discomfort with reflections on the bonnet, or the "A" bar.



Gra.

 

[AndyCook]

nice Pyrenees photo there Mr T - what happened to the trip report

 

[OG.]

The rules are covered in the Lighting regulations 1989, specifically Schedule 5 part I and II.
Note clause 10 which states

Electrical connections–(a) Every main-beam headlamp shall be so constructed that the light emitted therefrom–

(i)​

can be deflected at the will of the driver to become a dipped beam, or

(ii)​

can be extinguished by the operation of a device which at the same time either–

(A)​

causes the lamp to emit a dipped beam, or

(B)​

causes another lamp to emit a dipped beam.
(b) Where a matched pair of main-beam headlamps is fitted they shall be capable of being switched on and off simultaneously and not otherwise.

From this you cannot have a simple on/off switch as it fails condition A and B.
You do not need a separate switch to control the extra lights if they are wired in conjunction with high beam though personally I would recommend it.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1989/1796/schedule/5/made#text%3Dheadlamp

 

[Towpack]

Hey Gary,

I've sent my mate an email regarding the light pattern options, they don't list a combination bar but I'll let him query it and will let you know what he comes back with.

With regards to lengths available you can get them in 40"; 30"; 20"; 15" & 7.5".

The tech details I have for the 40" are:
. LED Power: 240W
. Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
. Waterproof rate: IP 67
. 80pcs*3w high intensity LEDs
. Current draw 16A @ 12V,8A @ 24V
. Optional Color: Black,White
. Color Temperature: 6000K
. Material: Diecast aluminum housing
. Lens material: Toughened glass
. Mounting Bracket: Alu firm bracket
. Opitonal Beam: Flood beam pattern(60 degree).Spot beam pattern(30 degree)
. 30000 hours above life time
Dimensions:41.5 inch

If there are any other spicifics you want to know let me know and I'll find out.

Ryan

What is the actual radiated light power of these? It'll be in lumens or candela, the watt rating is just the power consumption. I've seen some in use on various vehicles and while they do appear very bright when you look at them the 'useable' light is disappointing.

I have some Hella luminator HID lamps on the front and apart from the mentioned warm up time (from cold), when it comes to beam pattern and intensity I've seen nothing yet to touch them, EXCEPT, by pure chance I was talking to a guy in a local filling station last weekend who had some new Hella Luminator LED lamps on the front of his pickup and I have to say these come pretty damn close! I guess it comes down to the usual 'you get what you pay for' but just make sure you're sat down when you look up the price!

 

[grantw]

I used to have something like these on my truck back in oz: http://www.lampline.com/240par56wfl-ge-188-p

They are to date the brightest setup i've seen, the light isn't very focused but there is that much of it that there is little need. They are very high wattage (250w) so take around 40amps to run. The biggest downside is they aren't road legal as they are aircraft landing lights on the massive plus side though they are dirt cheap!

You just can just see how they look in the pic below.

 

[Mal Eade]

Santa came and left me some HID spot lights.
The light is truly amazing. I would say a range of 200mts or more.
Well, pleased.
The only trouble is when you go off main beam and the HID's are off your headlights appear so dull and yellow.
I have also used flexible armoured cable with waterproof fittings. They say the lights are waterproof but on inspection out of the box NO WAY, so a rebuild was carried out as you can see from the pictures.
Cost £150 for all three the wiring and bits and bobs £20.

Mal

 

[grantw]

They look really nice Mal. Where did they come from? For the price it seems like incredible value.

 

[Mal Eade]

Roof Lights

I would go on to say that the roof lights are very good.
When we were in the mud after dark in the Pyrenees the front lights got covered in crap and were no use at all.
So turn off all the lights a just use the roof lights, they don't get so muddy up there.

Just need a change of bulbs to 100watt Xenon's quick and cheap £10.

Genesis 1 - 3

God separated the light from the darkness now I can do that with my HID's


Mal

 

[OG.]

I have a feeling that legally you must have pairs of lights....

Just checked. Its fine to have 3 provided the single one is on the vehicle centreline.

 

[Mal Eade]

Hi
Yes I checked before I fitted them.
The other way is to have them wired to a switch and it should be marked Off Road Use Only.


Mal


Mal

 

[OG.]

The other benefit to roof lights is when fording you get light all the time.

To minimise reflections off the bonnet mount them slightly back from the windscreen if possible or paint the bonnet matt/satin black or some other dark colour.

 

[ram]

Hi grant do the air craft landing lights come with the housing or did you have to source a suitable housing for it?
And did you get them del. to the oz or did you you pick them up in states
THANKS