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Need light on my 1997 Ford F150. I looked through a year of posts concerning headlamps but read nothing on this. School me on driving lights & fog lights please. A bumper height light bar or brush guard mount would work.

For me it would be actual Ford factory headlight and fog light lenses. Most of these aftermarket lenses get moisture in them in no time.

If you put a bull bar on then figure out what width of LED bar will fit it and shop from there.

These get high marks.
https://www.blackoakled.com/collections/led-light-bars

Thanks 10 Ga. Many here run those light bars. I was hoping for something more old school like 6 or 8 inch round flamethrowers & maybe a couple off color fog lights on a bull bar as you say.

Old school won't get you near as bright crisp sharp light while drawing as little power as LEDs.

Not sure what is available for a 97, but I upgraded to LED bulbs in my 2014 and it made a big difference. Price wasn't too bad. Around $70 IIRC. To do it right you really need to replace the entire headlight assembly and you can spend near $1000 to do that. The bulbs I put in my truck aren't as good as the factory LEDs on our 2020 Explorer but were a significant upgrade. The factory lights on my 14 were terrible.

If you're looking for old school appearance, and your budget allows, these are worth their weight in gold.

https://arbusa.com/driving-lights/arb-intensity-lights/intensity-solis-led-lights/

By far the best lights I've ever experienced, with 5 different brightness levels for different conditions. Self confessed light slut here, I've spent some serious coin on auxiliary lighting because I drive quiet country roads with a lot of deer and hogs in the areas on the way to the hunt camp, and these the the bomb.

👍🏻

I installed Diode Dynamics yellow SAE/DOT fog lights on my wife's car a few years ago. At the time they seemed to be one of the better units, and I think they work great, but I don't know what the latest and greatest are.

Following your link, I see ARB has a five intensity digital switch pad. Do you see any utility in this? I think I'd either have them off or cranked all the way up, but maybe that feature might be useful in snow?

I used that function more than I thought I would. There were times that full brightness was just too much in areas with lots of reflective road signs. They would blind you. On very dark country roads with few road signs I would crank them up.

I have since sold my 2014, and now have a 2023. I chose to go the light bar route rather than the ARB's, because they look a lot cleaner, and because of the cost of the ARB's. If I had to do it again, I would probably go back to the ARB's. The light bars (Black Oak) are very good, but not as good as the ARB Solus for both spread and distance.

Current setup.............

Black Oak Light Bars

Old ARB light output...........

2014 with ARB's


Excuse the picture quality, I must have had Wabi's camera................

I have a 30" bar and a Unity HID roofmount spotlight on Big Whitey. Spotlight is a handy sumbish. And BRIGHT....

Are you wanting to enhance your lighting only off-road or while on the road? All the light bars and other add on lights are generally illegal to use on the road. With good reason, as they are totally blinding to oncoming traffic. If you are off-road it doesn’t matter. On road you are pretty much limited to headlight replacement with better/brighter units. Look to something like a replacement headlight kit with led projectors. My understanding is a simple bulb swap is likely to make things worse. You really need the unit to be designed for an LED bulb.

Not all of us are brainless window lickers. I am very aware of how bright these lights are, and will always dip my lights for oncoming traffic, most times before I see the oncoming vehicle. It's easy to see the haze from their lights on the other side of a hill or curve. I use them on-road in rural areas and have been able to brake for wildlife on many occasions to avoid hitting them. Interesting thing that I've noticed is because they completely illuminate the roadside, deer tend to freeze instead of run, which does help. I'm not sure of your locale, but local law enforcement has never stopped me, and a few LEO's (acquaintances and friends) have quizzed me about them, asking how effective they are.

YMMV...........

Nice ram. Why do you take offense at my post? It wasn’t directed at you?

No offense taken, just responding to your assumption (maybe mistakenly on my part) that those who have auxiliary lighting makes them automatic abusers of other people's eyeballs......................................

Don, is that a magnetic roof mount?

No, its the same style that is on cop cars, but roofmount and brighter. Went to get a link and see its discontinued and only halogen and led are available.

https://www.unityusa.com/390-Series-HID-Rooflight-S6-Discontinued_p_2637.html

Thanks. LED would be my choice of the 2 available.

Well K1500, I will use them for both. I have very sensitive eyes when it comes to light & normally use as little light as possible so I'm quick to dim for others like Badger said. The area I live in is full of deer. I've hit 16 deer with vehicles & since I'm a preacher I'm out often at night & could use better lights than I have. This is the main reason I want the lights though I will use them offroad now & then. In the southern coal fields of WV many people will tell you, every where we go is offroad [running joke round these parts].

As to being lawful, I was told the led light bars are illegal here. I haven't verified this though. Also the light can only be so far above the surface of the road. I've seen no one challenged by LE unless, like you say, you are running round blinding on coming traffic.

I have enjoyed the pictures & the post in this thread. The Dodge looks real nice.

Thoughts on tying a bar/Aux lights into the high/low beam? Meaning no matter what, when you switch to low-beam, there is also no Aux lighting?

Mine are plumbed that way through relays, with the addition of a cut-out switch to disable them with the high beams on. So I can use high beams without them, but can't use them without the high beams on.

Just from years of reading your posts, I knew you'd be thoughtful and responsible with your light usage. However, around here there's a bunch of wannabe country boys rolling coal in their POS second gen Dodge trucks who haven't evolved to window licking... they are more likely to be licking doorknobs. Run the super-bright and badly adjuster lightbars 24,7.

They are everywhere, I’m afraid. From the individuals you describe to the countless work trucks and vans with cheap Chinese LED lights aiming at the trees…..

Rigid lights

KC Lights

There are a lot of off name brands out there as well. I tend to wait and purchase a better product, they just seem to last longer (who would a thunk)

Both good companies, but ARB blows KCHILITES away in terms of performance. The KC light bar produces 6900 lumens, the ARB over 25000. Pricing is similar, with the ARB about $100.00 or so more. When you are spending that kind of money, it’s worth doing the research.
Rigid makes a good product too, but their after sales service sucks, in my experience. I had a set of their DOT/SAE compliant foglights on my 2014. Not cheap stuff, about $550.00 at the time. The lenses started to develop small cracks in them, and I had a helluva time getting them to warranty them. Not a great experience.
Black Oak (Florida based) has a no questions asked lifetime warranty on their stuff, and they have a very good reputation.

Yes I agree on ARB, they just slipped my mind this morning. Holley is making some good light now, as well.

I have a couple of Rigid lights. One is getting hot and blowing fuses and melting wiring. Needs to go back to Rigid after 5-6 years.