What’s your lighting setup looking like?

Would love to go Baja on rear chase lights, but I found these and they match the design of my light bar… hard to beat the price. I took them apart, put yellow film on them, silicone and resealed. Mounted on roof rack. Worked 5 years now.

$16 Nilight 2PCS 7" 18W Ultra-Slim Single Row LED Flood Light Bar Fog Light Dricing Light Work Light for Offroad 4x4 Jeeps Trucks ATV UTV SUV Tacoma Subaru

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TKT9FBL

 

This thread has inspired me to add a few lights to my rig'.





....gotta love that' ChatGPT!

 

Ha! On coming traffic or anytime your way…
Or your battery when you flip the switch.

 

@Henry J lol

 

You laugh, but we pulled off 395 at 9:30 and went the back way into Mammoth. Absolute dark with no moon, when I flipped the lights my wife laughed and said “good boy”.

 

That's a pretty lit up path

 

Love the setup

 

I came across more lights for you (and I) to blow money on!:

these would come in handy when I drop items that my children are screaming at me for

 

I hate it when I can't see my feet.

 

Lmfao

 

Kept it simple. Diode dynamics ss3 behind the grill. Also did diode led driving lights. Need to do amber fogs sometime.

 

This is awesome! Every time I see someone NOT use a big name / over hyped, and perhaps over priced solution it makes me smile. Another vote for Nilight! Which yellow film?

 

Really?

After I replaced my Nilight 3 times in 2 years, the seals kept letting water in and it drove me insane, I went cry once buy once.

 

I live in the wettest desert on earth ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonoran_Desert ) with 5" to 7" of ANNUAL rain I think I can risk it. With the wiring and bracket already in place swap out should be quick.

Here is my personal break down..

lights linked are TWO for $16 + tax; we will round it to $20
$20 x 3 failures in 2 years (if all the lights fail at the same rate) = $60
my time is worth $150 an hour ; so each failure I would bill the project, let's be generous at 15 minutes to swap buy the light, have it shipped to my house, unbox, unmount/mount and call it $40 - now $120 for labor
so in 3 years I have the POTENTIAL to spend $60 + $120 = $180

yeah I'm pretty at ease with this math. but yeah the sample size is only 3 years for some random installation / production flaw. Mine ~could~ be worse or better failure rate.

now if I take the advice of @DriftingOverland and take them apart as soon as I get them and seal them better ... now I also can go 5 years for $20 + let's call it $75 in labor + materials (one time) to modify the light. now I'm at $95 for two 7" light bars. Is there a "buy once / cry once" option that matches this cost analysis?

*edit* I missed the "drove me insane" part of the conversation.. yeah I'm LOW stress/low drama for a non critical piece of my life.. not sure how to value protecting one's sanity -- so yeah add $1000 to the project for that cost.

 

If anyone wants some lightbar inspiration...

 

I get where you're coming from.

When I first started looking at ditch lights, a TW member recommended the Rigid D-SS at ~$500 for a pair. I thought they were overpriced until I looked at specs. The output on the cheapies wasn't even close.

I installed the Rigids in spring 2020 with the intention of removing them every winter to save them from the abuse of winter weather, which I never ended up doing. 5-1/2 years later and well over 100K miles of driving, and they hardly even look used.

I definitely have nothing against budget lighting options. But, after going the BOCO route, I have no regrets.

 

I'm all for keeping it simple!

Curios to know about your use case and how are you finding the light setup working for you?

 

so this thread got me thinking about the "buy once cry once" moto ; big names; not so big names

so I started to dig around to find "the big names" and then the not so big names and any boutique or maybe hidden gems out there for "off-road LED lights"

of course I shoved what I found in my knowledge sharing document (in a new tab: LED lights oh my), but if you don't actively reference that I'll drop the gems here and the hive mind can tell me if I missed any obvious big names / not so big names in the lighting solution realm.

listed simply in alphabetical order:

$$$$
AEV Conversions
https://www.aev-conversions.com/product/7000-series-led-off-road-light-kit/
ARB
https://store.arbusa.com/lighting/driving-lights/
Baja Designs
https://www.bajadesigns.com/
Black Oak LED
https://www.blackoakled.com/
Denali Electronics
https://denalielectronics.com/
Diode Dynamics
https://www.diodedynamics.com/
Go Lights
https://golight.com/lights/
Hella Lights
https://myhellalights.com/
KC Hilites
https://www.kchilites.com/
Mortimo
https://www.morimotohid.com/banger-off-road
Nacho Offroad Lighting
https://www.nachooffroadtechnology.com/
Oracle Lights
https://www.oraclelights.com/collections/off-road-lights
PIAA
https://www.piaa.com/store/car-truck-lights.aspx
Rigid
https://www.rigidindustries.com/
Stedi
https://www.stediusa.com/
Triple R Lights
https://www.triple-r-lights.com/
VisionX Offroad
https://visionxoffroad.com/

$$$
Blue Water LED
https://thmarinesupplies.com/pages/blue-water-led
DV8 Offroad
https://dv8offroad.com/collections/light-bars-light-pods
Go Rhino / Real Truck
https://realtruck.com/c/lighting/f/go-rhino/
JW Speaker
https://www.jwspeaker.com/products/categories/work-lights/
NightRider LEDs
https://nightriderleds.com/
Nordic Lights
https://www.nordiclights.com/techtalk/agriculture/led-tractor-lights/
OZ Lighting
https://oz-usa.com/led-pods-rock-lights-round/
Rugged Ridge
https://ruggedridge.com/c/lighting/off-road-lights/
SD Lighting AZ
https://www.sdlightingaz.com/
Strands
https://strandsamerica.com/
Summit Racing
https://www.summitracing.com/search...hts/product-line/summit-racing-led-light-bars
Westin
https://www.westinautomotive.com/led-lighting

$$
Alpena
https://alpena.ca/
Auxbeam
https://auxbeam.com/
CoLight
https://www.led-colight.com/collections/offroad-driving-lights
Harbor Freight Roadshock NOV Sight
https://www.amazon.com/stores/NOVSIGHT/page/5F2A39FD-1CA5-4E96-B2AF-F505F9A4398E
Nox Lux
https://nox-lux.com/product-category/off-road-led-lights/
Oreilly Auto Sylvania
https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/brands/a/sylvania/syl?Categories=N2045
https://www.sylvania-automotive.com/view-all-off-road/
Oznium
https://www.oznium.com/
Rough Country
https://www.roughcountry.com/off-road-led-lights
Super Bright LEDs
https://www.superbrightleds.com/vehicle-lights/off-road-lights
Tractor Suppy TravellerX
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/brand/TravellerX/automotive-lighting?cm_re=Shop By Brand-_-Brand Link-_-TravellerX&manufacturerAlt=TravellerX&filter=1q|TravellerX

$
AKD
https://www.amazon.com/stores/AKDPart/page/94A22A04-458D-4942-85BC-EB90D0493C71
Angel Ma
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Angel+ma
Exzeit
https://www.amazon.com/stores/EXZEIT/page/16417E7E-BEDF-4112-BAFE-8479B2B6FD4F
FireHawk
https://www.amazon.com/stores/FIREHAWK/page/A6A57B01-787C-46AD-B67B-11A8B3504AED
LightTronic

$43 Super Bright Off-Road LED Light Bar 6" Single Row, Amber Long-Range Wide Flood Beam for All-Weather Applications, 12V/24V DC, Corrosion & Vibration Resistant, Rugged Die-Cast Aluminum Housing, 1-Pack

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Range-Headlight-Supplement-Corrosion-Waterproof/dp/B01LX4DKK5
Nilight
https://www.nilight.com/

I was not surprised to learn that tractor/farming/equipment/towing industry basically uses the generics you would find on AliExpress or similar. The marine realm is a bit niche for the shapes, but I did find a few well regarded brands in that use case. Fire/Police/Emergency high markups on generics.

 

Ya my off-brand offroad lighting have all either let moisture in or faded from UV, or both.
I take apart, wipe lens, seal better.
I cannot pay baja designs and such their ludacris prices, so..
Ain’t no city wetter than Vancouver..
It’s possible my moisture issues came from getting too close with pressure washer tho.

 

They work great. They're the pro model. They're pretty bright for the size I think. Two are sae/dot driving and two are a combo spot/flood.

I use them mostly off road/back roads. I'll use them later at night when no one is on the roads. I live in the boonies and often times can drive a lot of miles and only see a car or two. I just make sure to shut them off the second I see headlights.

 

As long as you don't care about getting maximum performance, the generic lights are probably worth the saved $$.

My only rationalization for spending the money was the actual output. That, combined with over 5 years of holding up to the weather has made it worthwhile.

 

You’re not wrong, at all. I would enjoy the finish holding up as nice as squadrons and such, I’m just not interested at that price, landed to my door - and performance much more maximum than I ever need given my sparse use lol. Some of my eBay lumen output and wattage isn’t not comparable to the top brands, and leds boast 50,000hrs without lying

 

My setup is very simple, operating with very limited electrical skills. Running
Lasfit Low & High beam leds, game changers only use & need the brights on back roads & off roading or when I’m driving out to the desert at zero dark 30 and no one else is on the highways.. amazing .
Lasfit LEDs in the running / fog lights with double layers of yellow tint .. very nice throw
& running these 6.5in hood mounted lights.. i’m in SoCal so we don’t get a lot of real weather, but I do go out to the desert often and I do like going out there in the witching hours. There’s something unique mystical and even Erie about being in the badlands at that time and these lights throw out long and wide beam They do have some vibration, but I don’t notice it much. That’s my set up very simple … ohhhh left out the most important light Raptor light!!!! Ahhhhhhh lol!

 

Love the OEM buttons. How's the wiring for these? What kind of fuse, etc...?

 

6.5” 180 watts 13,000 lumens 15A(per pair?)
Holy Moses!

 

Thanks man ya me too, it was worth the effort.
Each switch comes from its own relay in the engine bay beside fusebox. Each switch has its illumination wire t-tapped to the existing OE dash switches.
A Blue Sea Systems fuse block (various amperages) off the battery, protected with a breaker, distributes 12V to the off-road lights. Learned it from members here.

 

@Oscar
I didn't see Extreme LED on your list. A 30" X6 slim combo light bar is about 309$. Not sure where that goes on $$$ list. Also, thanks for your links on everything.

 

I do not know if those numbers are accurate
But I know they are clean bright & throw lights like laser beams into the distance

 

Just cresting a ridge, lights shining on the embankment
Thought they were going to ignite
The scrub brush . Again I have very limited electrical knowledge but I do go out early early mornings late nights and I couldn’t be happier with these lights. I’ve had them for about 8 to 9 months. They’ve been through rain, lots of dust and lots of heavy vibrations, slow speed and high speed so far so good