Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives Learn me up on aux. driving lights?

Missed this earlier.
My use will be primarily on-road. The lights I see on rigs of all types from semis to sedans many times are extremely bright and having as many as 8 aux lights. Most are dimmed when oncoming traffic is encountered. I don't think there are any worries with legality.

I'll look into those lights Chris. Although it hasn't been below 0* in over a year, I get your point. I once changed a water pump outside at -30.

Thanks, Dwayne. Always happy to read a post of yours.

Interesting subject!

How many of you guys fit white rear facing work light to your trucks?

I haven't fitted anything on current vehicle, but previously I have fitted rear facing floods, usually on a separate switch..

They are great for carrying work at the rear of the vehicle and also when reversing at night..

The only draw back is they are very tempting (but very illegal) to use when you have some idiot tail gating you with main beams full on....

My pickup's stock backup lights are terrible so I have an aux backup light that runs from a dash switch. It also feeds through the trailer light plug and I have a couple good backup lights on my camper and horse trailer. They're invaluable when trying to get set up in the woods after dark.

Pete E;
Good afternoon to you sir - see I check the time in Wales - hopefully this finds you folks doing well.

I had auxiliary back up lights - 4" round "tractor" lights on two of our pickups and yes they are handy.

In fact if I don't go too crazy with other budgetary items around the place I've been meaning to install some small ones on the rear of the cargo rack on my pickup for just that reason.

I keep on hoping to find some small, affordable LED units to try out and just can't seem to here in Canada. They'd be nice as they wouldn't need such heavy wire to get decent light back there - but anyway we'll see what I can find and how the family budget holds up I suppose.

It's always good to hear from you sir, I hope this finds you doing well and all the best to you this year.

Dwayne

If you find something in the US of A that could be shipped, PM me!

Go to Amazon, select automotive, and search on driving lights. You should get about 400 pages of stuff to sort through. When you find something you like, search for it elsewhere for a better price. You'll usually find it.

I am installing several sets of LED lights on my Tacoma, front and back. For me, the LED is the best choice for low amp draw and light output.

For my driving light, mounted on the top center of the bumper, will be this 10 inch combo.

LED light bar

It will provide both distance and side vision in one light. I only want one as I still have the headlights, plus LED fogs. Here is a chart that shows the coverage of the different beams: http://www.rigidindustries.com/sites/default/files/catalog/19.pdf
By combining the spot with the flood or driving, you get the best of both worlds. This chart shows how far out to expect light: http://www.rigidindustries.com/sites/default/files/catalog/18.pdf
It's easy to pick a light that will give the coverage you are after.

For the rear of my truck, I am mounting these in the top of the shell so they can rotate to cover inside or outside the bed: http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/22211


Good, durable LEDs are expensive. There are lots of cheap products on the market, but I expect my lights to last for years and take some abuse. LEDs provide a much better product than the old tech bulbs. Sure you can see fine with what you have now, but you could see much more. Think of it as standard TV verses HD TV. I was slow to go to HD, but wouldn't go back now if you paid me.

One more thing about this company:

I'm sure they get the bulbs from China like everyone else, but at least the lights are assembled here in the US. Most of the stuff on the market is completely made in China.

We had to get a new LED stop/tail light for our association stock trailer. I found out the price difference between two units is having the printed circuit board in Lucite.

The LEDs last, the problem is the electronics that fail from vibration.

Yeah. It would scare me to buy something off Amazon or some similar site. I wouldn't get aux lights unless they were designed from the ground up for off road applications. Waterproof and shockproof with a good company to stand behind them.

Good links. Thanks.

The rear lights on my ex are a $30 set from amazon. Low enough amp draw that i tapped the circuit and had no probs w/o a relay. When i grab reverse.....it lights up PLENTY. I have a vision x bar on the front, it is AMAZING.

I ended up adding a 30 inch combo light bar to the Tacoma. I went with AVEC as I got a great deal on the bar and two pods for the back. I was going to add fogs as well but this will give me enough light I think, and it just fits the bumper perfectly.

I run a pair of Hella 100 Watt lights on my 4Runner. Sure lights up the road, and a quick flash is a great way to get others to dim theirs.

http://www.amazon.com/HELLA-H12560031-12-Volt-100-Watt-Position/dp/B0002M9SUO

That's pretty cool. Those LEDS put out some light too.

I have a 20" vision x two row on my rig.....it is amazing.

Badger (and others):

Knowing the value of those lights, and that they are "exposed" on the exterior, do you take any provisions that would make them more difficult to steal?

Have not had an issue yet. I've had good quality driving lights on my trucks for 25 years and have not lost any to theft. (Touching wood here). There are devices available like special anti-theft fasteners that require a special socket to remove them, but I figure that is someone really wants them, they will take them regardless. I generally don't park my truck in high risk areas, and if I did catch someone trying to steal from me, I would change their priorities in life. I also have them itemized on my insurance policy so I'll be out the deductible if they come up missing.