60 replies to this topic

[Roaming_Eagle]

Since I had quite the gap between the camper and the cab, I decided to add a prinsu rack to act as a air deflector. Subsiquently installed a pair of visionx adv series driving lights.

[camelracer]

I hate sharing a trail with anyone that is using LED light bars. Maybe I need one of those grill mounted 50 watt CO2 lasers that ckent mentioned.

[ntsqd]

A long time ago (i.e. had to buy a copy of the Vehicle Code from the DMV) I researched KA laws on forward facing illumination lights. What I came away with for pavement use:

1) If they are "Fog Lights" they can only come on with the low beams.

2) If they are "Driving Lights" they can only come on with the high beams.

3) If they are "Auxiliary Lights" they can come on with either.

4) KA limits lights lit on the front of the vehicle to 6 total elements (this was WAY before LEDs or HID's). I never could determine if the marker lights counted in that total or not, so I've always assumed so.

 

Consequently the forward facing marker lights on a couple of my vehicles in the past, notably my old '67 Ranchero with it's four headlights, either didn't work at all or went off with the headlights turning on. And ALL of my lights are "Auxiliary Lights" no matter where they are mounted or how they are used.

 

At the time of that research a covered switch, i.e. one with something like those mil-spec red covers over the toggle, was an acceptable alternate to having covers on the lights themselves.

 

Something that I learned in my days of pre-running Baja with LocosMocos is to have a Master switch when running multiple sets of Aux lighting. Can turn on and off each set as needed, but only if the master switch is on and they all go off when the master switch is turned off. This is so that even when off-pavement if you meet on-coming traffic you can reduce your lighting and resume it when past the traffic with one simple move.

Another trick was to put different lengths of vacuum hose over the toggle. This allowed ID-ing which switch was which by touch rather than sight. In that truck's case the master switch had the longest piece of hose on it.

 

If the lights are mounted far enough back, the cab roof shields the hood from reflecting glare into the windshield. KC used to sell a stainless steel 'scoop' that mounted under their lights to act as this shield in the case of more forward mounted lights. Though I wondered at the time if they were long enough.

 

To my eyes the light of the cool color of most LED's looks "Hollow." Like it's there, but not really. I'll find out more as like Craig my CTD's headlights are some of the worst that I've ever had. I've order some Baja Designs Squadron Pro combo lights to put in the place of our non-existent OEM fog lights. And like the OP I have a set of lights that I have considered mounting to the leading edge of the camper. the lack of a clean routing and protection of the wiring solution has so far stalled that from happening. As such I am considering having a "light bar" made to fit tightly to the front of our OEM front bumper. I've yet to see an aftermarket front bumper that I wanted. The OEM front bumper is rather flimsy, so my thought is to make the "light bar" serve double-duty. It will rigidly mount the lights and it will function as a real bumper.

[Sourdough Jack]

As an aside, if you're bombing around at night with an overhead array glaring, and encounter fog, dense dust, or worst of all, snow you WILL instantly be driving half blind. 

[craig333]

I hate sharing a trail with anyone that is using LED light bars. Maybe I need one of those grill mounted 50 watt CO2 lasers that ckent mentioned.

If I'm following someone close I'll just turn my headlights off. Same goes for campgrounds and such.

[CougarCouple]

Thirty something years ago I had some yellow fog lights on the front bumper of my pickup truck. In the fog I thought they were awesome. How do the new LED lights do in fog, rain, snow! I see some driving around on the streets early in the am. If they come up from behind kinda blinding they seem pointless with all the street lighting, I'm sure they help if the only light out there comes from your vehicle.

Russ

[Vic Harder]

The OP wants lights for finding camp spots and such.  A flood light beam pattern is ideal for this. 

 

What I see too often is LED or HID bulbs installed into headlights that are supposed to NOT be flood lights, but targeted beams with sharp cutoffs.  With a change in bulb they lose focus and suddenly flood everything, including oncoming drivers. 

 

I've got HID's in my headlights, but I bought real HID projectors, hacked up my lights and glued/screwed/aimed them so they look great and work super, with SHARP cuttoffs.  I bought my stuff from this guy - https://www.lightwerkz.net/  He will also take a set of your lights and modify them for you, for a price.

 

For all the info you could ask for regarding lighting, check out Daniel Stern - https://www.danielsternlighting.com/

[kimosawboy]

Interesting how this thread got a tad off topic.... with the talk of LED and other light sources I do not believe anyone has mentioned E-Code lights....Puts the light on the road where you want it rather than up and out. I have had them on my vehicle for 5-6 years and they make all the difference, I think i have 60-90 yellow hella bulbs , so for the pacific northwest they are ideal. Running the E-code with aux lilghts is the norm for me and never been questioned about a yellow hue headlight. (it was a concern at first)

Happy Lighting

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[craig333]

I have the E-code lights on my Jeep and love them. If I could put them in truck I would. If you're not lucky enough to have round of rectangular lights you're out of luck.

[kimosawboy]

I did not realize that they were mainly rectangle/round...looking around I found ''Valeo-Cibie of Brazil"" manufactures E-code lights for you mainstream N. american trucks.. From the Ford site''''They make several versions of the headlight, roughly similar to the US-market styling variants, and for the early 2-piece design they offer both amber and clear turn signal lights. Their Ford truck models are named differently down there; they've got the F250-F350, but also "F1000 - F4000". Fortunately there are photos so you can see which front-end variant is which. Their catalog and new-releases supplement are here and here, respectively (PDF). You can see the various headlight options as well as the F-series European rear lamp (with amber turn signal). As for actually getting the lamps...that will be a bit of a challenge. In the early 1990s I got a set of the big square European-code H4 headlights and the 3-color rear lights from Cibie of Brazil for my '88 F250. They fit right in place of the original US lights, they made a giant improvement, and for the life of me I cannot remember how I got a hold of them! Although Valeo is a European company, their European operations don't/can't/won't supply lights made by Valeo Brazil :-( But if you're determined enough, it shouldn't be impossible to find a way to get them.

The links do not work but here is a link to the english page..https://www.valeoser...s-lcv/headlamps