Light bar opinions for 2018 (for driving not for show)

[Marcel Huijser]

We installed 2 Rigid lights in the bumper:
SAE Compliant Fog Light Set (D-Series)
Very happy with it... way better than the headlights.
They also light up the sides of the highway; handy for seeing deer adjacent to highway

[JWA]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

I have the Trucklite's on another vehicle, and while they are exponentially better than sealed beams, as well as better than Hella E-code housings with LED bulbs, I've found better lights for far less money.

Matter of fact, I installed these: https://www.amazon.com/Headlights-He...ram+110w&psc=1 a week or so ago, and the low beam is MUCH better than any of the other lights I mentioned...... I almost hate to say it, but one of my good friends has HID projectors from a well known (around here) vendor, and you'd be hard pressed to tell any difference in light pattern/output compared to my $90 LED projectors.

Those are utterly fascinating---are they indeed plug-n-play or does one need to upgrade the stock chassis power wiring?

I currently use the Sylvania Silver Star H6054 Halogen sealed beams and for the most part satisfied with them. I don't do any off-roading (not on purpose anyway ) but always looking for better lighting. I do most of my driving on city streets or the freeway which can run long lengths without street lighting.

Is there any significant difference whether we use the silver or black versions? Or is that just a personal preference?

Would you recommend the linked lamps for that use?

[TheLetterJ]

Originally Posted by JWA

Those are utterly fascinating---are they indeed plug-n-play or does one need to upgrade the stock chassis power wiring?

I currently use the Sylvania Silver Star H6054 Halogen sealed beams and for the most part satisfied with them. I don't do any off-roading (not on purpose anyway ) but always looking for better lighting. I do most of my driving on city streets or the freeway which can run long lengths without street lighting.

Is there any significant difference whether we use the silver or black versions? Or is that just a personal preference?

Would you recommend the linked lamps for that use?

Totally plug & play for h6054 lights. I believe all the euro-housing guys would need are the buckets, springs, screws, clamp rings, bezels, and an h4 plug? Sounds like a lot, but I'd bet it'd set them back $20-$30 at the boneyard. I'm (so far) impressed with them for dark, lonely backroad/highway use. I'd add a cheap lightbar to the setup for further throw if you want to really pick up the pace in uneven/windy/hilly terrain, otherwise these should suffice. Since they use projectors (yes, they're plastic) the housing color makes no difference in performance, purely cosmetic. I went with black since I already have a black grill and trim rings, I just painted the stainless steel retaining rings black and it cleaned up the look of the front end nicely. No more "work truck" sealed beam look.

I also bought some protective film for them from Lamin-x (I couldn't find precut 6054 from Xpel) and put that on immediately. I hate how easily most plastic housings get scratched up (which can really diffuse your light output in a bad way, and it just makes them look like crap) and I feel these types of products are worth the money (roughly $20.)

I apologize if I've hijacked the thread, but I truly believe better primary lighting should come first. I'm also not one to push products (there's nothing in it for me) but it's rare that you find inexpensive lighting that's actually any good, and I feel the lights I posted represent a very good value... assuming they'll last a few years.

[nyyankees588]

Little late to the party, but could somebody help me understand the difference between the "euro" and 6054 sealed beam housing units? I like the idea of the those Osram lights on Amazon, but want to first determine if I'll need to do any modifications due to my van's housing style.

I can grab a photo of my headlights if that helps.

[unreng]

To respond to the original thread...superbrightleds sells a DOT fog light - https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...ens/3542/7536/
and a DOT driving light - https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...0-lumens/3541/

I bought a few fog lights (the first link), and haven't had a chance to install because the van is in the shop. Read the reviews for feedback.

These might help!?!

[jamesc]

Originally Posted by TheLetterJ

I have the Trucklite's on another vehicle, and while they are exponentially better than sealed beams, as well as better than Hella E-code housings with LED bulbs, I've found better lights for far less money.

Matter of fact, I installed these: https://www.amazon.com/Headlights-He...ram+110w&psc=1 a week or so ago, and the low beam is MUCH better than any of the other lights I mentioned, having smooth light with no hot spots and excellent side illumination. The beam cut off isn't razor sharp, but pretty dang good. High beam doesn't throw quite as far as my other lights, but is still very good. High beam has more of a "cone" of light, which is something that I really appreciate in hilly terrain as it throws light up enough to illuminate ahead when your pointed down hill. I almost hate to say it, but one of my good friends has HID projectors from a well known (around here) vendor, and you'd be hard pressed to tell any difference in light pattern/output compared to my $90 LED projectors.

Simplesez: I'd strongly suggest upgrading your primary/low beams first. It sucks going from all the light in the world on high beam/aux lighting, to mediocre on low when you meet oncoming traffic. Having such a drastic difference between high and low will make it seem as if you've gone blind when you flip back to low.

I didn't see it posted, do you have the plastic "euro" housings, or 6054 sealed beams? If sealed beams, I can fully recommend the conversions (direct drop in replacement) that I linked above.

As for light bars, I don't believe that any auxilary lighting has to meet any DOT requirements as long as they're not being used as your primary lighting, and not mounted any higher than your state allows. Of course, that assumes that you'll treat them as your high beam, and turn them off when meeting oncoming traffic. In CA, you can have a total of 4 forward facing lights (housings) installed, any more than that and they are supposed to be covered while onroad. That's not a problem on our vans since they only have 2 headlights, as long as you mount your light bar below the stock headlights, I don't see you having any problems. I know that a 20" curved bar fits nicely behind the "mouth" of my stock '98 bumper. If you browse around, you can find the single row type (bigger individual reflectors) that have yellow filters over floods at the edges, and clear spots in the center. Being that your desired use is on graded roads, I'd bet you'd get along great with an off brand bar.

Are these wrangler led's plug and play or is there a lot needed to make them work?

[jamesc]

Originally Posted by jamesc

Are these wrangler led's plug and play or is there a lot needed to make them work?

Sorry, late night post, this was asked and answered.

[nyyankees588]

Thought I'd add some additional insight here - I recently installed the amazon LED lights recommended by TheLetterJ. Haven't had a chance to fully put them to the test yet, but they seem great so far. My van had the "euro" style lights to start with - for those confused about the difference, the euro style lights have a replaceable bulb in them and are not square/rectangle shape. The "sealed beam" style lights are the standard 5x7" rectangle lights that the Amazon LED are plug & play with. The sealed beam and euro style housing units are interchangeable, provided you pick up all of the little parts to make the swap work.

I pulled 2x sealed beams from a van at the junk yard for under $30 - when you do this it's helpful to take photos and be sure to get EVERYTHING that is used to mount the sealed beams in to the van. This includes the buckets, springs, bolts, screws and little clips that snap in to the plastic housing and allow the bolts/screws to screw in to. It sounds like a lot, but it isn't hard to figure out what you need. You'll also need to grab the pin connector from the sealed beam donor to splice in to your euro housing because the euro and sealed beam have different connectors (although the wiring is the exact same on each).

One little thing - be super gentle when removing the clips that the sealed beam's bolts/screws fasten in to. They have little wings on the back of them that secure them in place that are easily broken off - once they break off they won't allow the bolts/screws to hold the light securely and you'll end up going back to the junk yard to pull working ones. I'd also recommend using a screwdriver rather than an impact driver to remove/secure the screws & bolts. They (and the clips) aren't the highest quality and my 20v impact driver nearly stripped/de-threaded a couple of them.

Here's a google drive folder with some photos of components, etc. Feel free to PM me with specific questions. I'm not some mechanical/electrical wiz, so if I can do it I'm sure others can as well. I spend a lot of time on forest service rds and I'm hoping these will do wonders for visibility compared to the stock lights.