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Choosing off-road lights

WhitneyWillys

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What kind of off-road lights are must useful? Full light bars, cowl/pillar pod lights, bumper lights/light bars? I already have factory LEDs. I am not looking to go crazy, because I wont be using these most of the time. But I can imagine myself at dispersed campsites, or occasionally getting out of the trails late dusk.
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cosine

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bumper only. a pillar only. or both would work just fine. a full roof light bar would be overkill for your use.

flood will light up the area around you and works well for slow speed driving. spot is more for distance and doesnt really light up as much as you would like. (thats my opinion)
 

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I put two KC Gravity Pro 6 wide beams on my bumper and two spots on my A-pillar. Should be plenty for my limited use. And I like the smiley face covers!
 

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I just installed a pair Rigid 360 6" driving lights on my Warn bumper and these are insanely bright! I might put a pair of Rigid 360 4" spots on the bull bar just because :)
 

roaniecowpony

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First, what speeds and types of wheeling? My lights are for 2 reasons. I use them on high speed lonely highways on occasion, so I can see to ensure no large game in the roadway and also for off road where my speed is more often than not, in the 15-30 mph range on dirt trails/roads. The former requires long range lights and the latter requires wide/side lights. The low speed requirement drives me to use wide beam pods aimed outward.

I'm a big fan of Baja Design lights
 
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WhitneyWillys

WhitneyWillys

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First, what speeds and types of wheeling? My lights are for 2 reasons. I use them on high speed lonely highways on occasion, so I can see to ensure no large game in the roadway and also for off road where my speed is more often than not, in the 15-30 mph range on dirt trails/roads. The former requires long range lights and the latter requires wide/side lights. The low speed requirement drives me to use wide beam pods aimed outward.

I'm a big fan of Baja Design lights
My use cases are pretty much the two you mentioned.
 

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I just installed a set of Baja Designs LP6 lights on my front bumper. Incredible output low, high, and to the sides. No way can I use them anywhere near traffic. Pricey, but I won't need to add any more lights to the front.

My use cases are pretty much the two you mentioned.
 

Whaler27

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A couple of pods mounted as far forward as you can. Preferably on the front bumper. They will provide plenty of light. The idea is to see in front of you, not what your hood looks like at night.
I love this, but Iā€™m a light-a-holic, so I prefer switchable lights all over the place.

I have powerful driving lights on the bumper that I wired into an Aux switch AND a high beam relay, so they come on and off with the high beams if the Aux switch is on. These light the path directly in front of me. (I had some cheap 9ā€ Amazon LEDs up there, and they were incredibly bright, but I couldnā€™t get past the way they looked, so I installed some quality KC lights.)

I have KC LED flood-pattern lights mounted on the A-pillars that illuminate the ditches on both sides of the Jeep. They are my sometimes-effective critter-warning-system, so Iā€™ve only hit one deer in 5,000 miles.:like:

I installed powerful, flush-mount, rigid LEDs in the factory rear bumper, also switched, to illuminate the campsite and, occasionally, discourage the guy who insists on running high-beams while tailgating me.

I installed an LED bar on the rear glass to light the rear cargo area and tailgate, and I installed a couple LED pucks inside the hood to illuminate the engine bay.

Finally, I installed colorful rock lights ā€” because Iā€™m an idiot, the 15 year old in me thought they looked ā€œcoolā€, and I canā€™t stop fussing with my Jeep. (I would not do this again).
 

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roaniecowpony

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My use cases are pretty much the two you mentioned.
I currently have 2 Baja Designs Squadron Pro combo (spot/wide) lights in the bumper fog light positions. They work well for long range and covering ditches on the highway. They pretty much are enough for all my uses as is. If I were to add any other lights, I think I'd get some type of wide beam and angle them outward quite a bit. BD makes a single LED S1 Pro that is very small that might fit the bill.
 

mark090852

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Well, since you are not looking to go crazy I won't say KC Gravity Pro 6 light bar...
Well, I guess I did go a little crazy. But I can honestly say I can now turn night into day! They are amazing!
Jeep Wrangler JL Choosing off-road lights KC Light Bar 1
 

roaniecowpony

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Well, I guess I did go a little crazy. But I can honestly say I can now turn night into day! They are amazing!
Jeep Wrangler JL Choosing off-road lights KC Light Bar 1
Adequately excessive. :rock:
 

Headbarcode

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I love this, but Iā€™m a light-a-holic, so I prefer switchable lights all over the place.

I have powerful driving lights on the bumper that I wired into an Aux switch AND a high beam relay, so they come on and off with the high beams if the Aux switch is on. These light the path directly in front of me. (I had some cheap 9ā€ Amazon LEDs up there, and they were incredibly bright, but I couldnā€™t get past the way they looked, so I installed some quality KC lights.)

I have KC LED flood-pattern lights mounted on the A-pillars that illuminate the ditches on both sides of the Jeep. They are my sometimes-effective critter-warning-system, so Iā€™ve only hit one deer in 5,000 miles.:like:

I installed powerful, flush-mount, rigid LEDs in the factory rear bumper, also switched, to illuminate the campsite and, occasionally, discourage the guy who insists on running high-beams while tailgating me.

I installed an LED bar on the rear glass to light the rear cargo area and tailgate, and I installed a couple LED pucks inside the hood to illuminate the engine bay.

Finally, I installed colorful rock lights ā€” because Iā€™m an idiot, the 15 year old in me thought they looked ā€œcoolā€, and I canā€™t stop fussing with my Jeep. (I would not do this again).
If not for a country's distance, we'd be good friends. I just installed an 8-button switch panel and controller, to be used for just lights. When the rest of the BD lights come in, I'll have 2 pairs of Squadron Pros on the a-pillar (1 pair spots, 1 pair floods), four amber LP4's on the front bumper (1 pair under and 1 pair above the bull bar), a pair of S1 floods on the rear glass hinges, Lux 8-piece rgb rock lights, and a rgb coms antenna on the spare tire carrier. All pairs will be wired independently, but the switch panel can be programmed to latch up to 4 separate buttons.

I'll be able to see suicidal Bambi from a mile off, and I'll be able to singe the eyebrows off anyone that likes driving around blinding others. Muahaha!

Heres the SwitchPros panel and the 1st set of lights. These are the spots. The matching floods will go outboard of them.
Jeep Wrangler JL Choosing off-road lights 20210117_125015
Jeep Wrangler JL Choosing off-road lights 20210117_140757_resized
 

Whaler27

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If not for a country's distance, we'd be good friends. I just installed an 8-button switch panel and controller, to be used for just lights. When the rest of the BD lights come in, I'll have 2 pairs of Squadron Pros on the a-pillar (1 pair spots, 1 pair floods), four amber LP4's on the front bumper (1 pair under and 1 pair above the bull bar), a pair of S1 floods on the rear glass hinges, Lux 8-piece rgb rock lights, and a rgb coms antenna on the spare tire carrier. All pairs will be wired independently, but the switch panel can be programmed to latch up to 4 separate button

I'll be able to see suicidal Bambi from a mile off, and I'll be able to singe the eyebrows off anyone that likes driving around blinding others. Muahaha!
20210117_125015.jpg
20210117_140757_resized.jpg
We even have the same color Jeep!

Looks great! I think a pair of ambers up front is a good idea, particularly here, where heavy fog is common. Iā€˜m thinking of converting the factory fog lights to brighter ambers.

The AAL fender kit looks great too. Iā€˜ve been sitting on the fence on that purchase, but I think Iā€™ll pull the trigger on that kit and the inner liners if Iā€™m feeling flush this spring.

My brother also has a set of small LEDs mounted on his roof rack that light up the area on both sides of the Jeep. Itā€™s helpful to have that light facing down at camp and, when his bat wing awning is deployed and the sides are up, it will light the interior of the tent.
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