How much do you use auxiliary (i.e. off road) lighting? Is it worth the cost?

steven.croft63 · Dec 9, 2021

When it comes to lights I always see a lot of negative comments about LED bars and modern auxiliary lights in general. I don't get why someone could be so against modern lights. I use mine occasionally but when I use them they come in handy and in comparison to old halogen they cant be beat with lower power draw and whiter light. I have a pair of cheap LED headlights off Amazon not a perfect pattern but an improvement over sealed beams or H4 headlights at under $100. I have always had auxiliary lights on my 4 x 4s and have a few boxes of old Dick Cepek and KC lights I will never use. I have a A 500 watt LED lightbar mounted above my windshield on my Wrangler from STV in Las Vegas mounted on a Rough Country bracket, I thought if I replace my HID lights get the most power I can in a 50 inch bar at an affordable price I replaced my HID lights and am glad I did. Night and day difference they can light a small canyon, hillside, beach, boat ramp, snow or in emergency light a huge area. Its great to see what is ahead or provide light for work. A pair of 36 watt led lights on either side of my winch on the bumper plenty of light to set up camp and under $20 each, they are good for work or to use the winch. The lights are switched to operate alone or with the lightbar, a pair of 18 watt LED lights on my back bumper as mentioned in another response they are wired to a switch to work when in reverse, off, or on without reverse. They are great for accessing the back, setting up camp, hooking up a trailer or turning around or backing up on or off the trail. A pyramid LED whip with remote you can set or change color, brightness, pattern etc on one of their mounts by my spare tire switched to go on with my running lights or by itself for use in the desert at night. it helps prevent someone not seeing you cresting a hill, moving or stopped and when you stop on top of a hill it makes a great visible gathering or hangout spot.

C.J. Roberts · Dec 9, 2021

steven.croft63 said:
When it comes to lights I always see a lot of negative comments about LED bars

For me, I just can't see with LEDs, at least the ever popular 6000k lights. The blue tint washes everything out. It's like an overexposed picture. At 4000 or 4500k, I can see, however it's hard to find anything except 6000k LEDs.
There is one brand on ebay that offers 5000k, but those lights START at about $100. Simply put, halogens work for me. LEDs don't. If you can see with them, that's fine. I can't.
Since you mention modern lighting, I'll mention HID lighting. I had them on the last Freightliner I drove. I like them, the color is great, but again, good one are expensive. Not to mention they take several seconds to light up all the way. If I'm using them on a back road that has at least some other traffic, turning them on and off would not let me see as well as halogens.

XBD · Dec 9, 2021

I use mine enough to justify the cost. I think I'm in for $200 total [maybe] for everything, including switches and wiring. The yellow corner LEDs work great in heavy snow, the fog LEDs work great for dark dirt roads [think wildlife], and added two LED cubes under the hitch for extra reverse lights/camp lights.

For offroading, you need to be lead or following wayyy behind for them to be useful. Otherwise, you're just blinding others.

If you haven't already, upgrading your headlights (Halogen HELLA H4 conversion with some nice bulbs added) is the best bang for your buck.

Cheers,
XBD

Camo4768486 · Dec 10, 2021

Ya need bright headlamps and fog lights, but 99% can do without extra expense of light bars and a 10 extra cube lights. Like many mods, it’s all about the look more than necessity.

Naylia · Dec 10, 2021

Lights are useful if you tend to be the type of person who always leaves late the first day of a camping trip and end up showing up and setting up your tent in the dark by your car's headlights...not that that's ever happened or anything....

vertical horizons · Dec 11, 2021

Sometime down the road (no pun intended), I plan on getting a 52" Light bar for my TJ. The one that has "flood lights" on the ends of the light bar, & "spot lights" for the rest of the light bar.

I live about 4 miles off the beaten path. There are deer, opossum, hogs, skunks and all kinds of other creatures running around out here at night.

I don't intend to paint the front of my jeep with one of these guys, just because I didn't see him in time.

I like the look of the 52" light bar. But, it will also be used very often. Every time I have to travel those backroads to and from home. Most people around here do not drive in or out of here at night, unless they have to. It is pitch black out here, with no street lights.
Just a few houses here or there, and nothing else but trees.

Yes, I am definitely looking forward to the day that I pick up one of these light bars.

Vikster · Dec 14, 2021

78S_106E said:
Research your LED aftermarket headlights for the "Lux" number output and also the shape of the beam on low and high, particularly on high, if you want somewhat of a lightbar effect. I lucked out a few yrs ago with getting the new, at that time, Procomp JK LED headlights. VERY clean cut off on low, with a hotspot right in the middle. Not sure about TJ options out in the world. The high beams are like light bar bright! I've never seen an empircal comparison, etc on them, but I've been real happy. Great price back then, not sure about now. No affiliation and I'm typically the guy who goes with trusted brands like Metalcloak, Fox, Beilstein, EVO Manu, Brandmoton, etc. There's a video to highlight this topic in post #8 here:

Lights that shine far down the road

I'll add that I passed on the light bar too, bumper lights etc for the above reasons, but did install a small set of yellow cubes on my A pillars (next to the mirrors).

What would you use the yellow lights for? Can you use them on the highways?

C.J. Roberts · Dec 14, 2021

Vikster said:
What would you use the yellow lights for? Can you use them on the highways?

Yellow lights are best used in heavy fog. The yellow doesn't reflect back at you like white light would. It's only relatively recently that "fog" lights have been white, because for most people they're more a "style feature" that a purposeful light. If you live where you don't get much fog, white lights do very well as a secondary low beam light.
The set I have on the Muddog are canted outboard about 15 degrees so that they light the shoulder or corners of the road. They would be properly called Cornering Lights, but are usually called white fog lights. I have them vertically adjusted so that they are the same height as my low beams.

Ironhead Jed · Dec 15, 2021

in addition to what CJ said, yellow is also better in rain or snow than white fog lights.
yellow has a longer wavelength than white, which reflects less of the light back at you when it hits the water molecules, allowing you to see farther down the road and lesson the chance of a white out

How much do you use auxiliary (i.e. off road) lighting? Is it worth the cost?

steven.croft63

C.J. Roberts

XBD

Camo4768486

Naylia

vertical horizons

Vikster

C.J. Roberts

Ironhead Jed

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