Help me plan my lighting project

[etoften]

Hey all,
Planning my next projects..... aux lights. I am going to call them deer lights. We have an overabundance of deer and cornfields here in eastern nice. While LED headlights di a great job of lighting up the path ahead, that extra light kills your peripheral night vision. Thus the dilema. The goal would be lighting up the fields at about 45* to centerline. Whole leaving the option for adding two straight ahead lights later. I would love to hear some thoughts.

Lights and mount - Not sure what I want. Really need some input to help. I know what I don't want. I don't want a light bar. I have had them on previous trucks. Don't really like the look. Haven't seen one that will give me the lighting i am looking for. I don't want cowling or hood mounted dutch lights or really anything above the hood. I am thinking either the @Artec front bumper mount or the Quadratec brackets. I have the stock plastic bumper so I think either would work well. The artec bracket seems to have a lot of options and would make lining up the lights easy. Worry about the rigidity of the mount though. The Quadratec brackets seem like setting the lights at an angle could be tough. Open to any ideas on lights, beam, size, shape, that meet the goal. @Diode Dynamics @BajaDesigns @Auxbeam @KC HiLiTES @SUPAREE Thoughts? Any one else that should be considered?

Switching - Already narrowed this down to two. I like the Voswitch grab handle 4 switch system and the auxbeam slim single row setup. The Voswitch system looks factory, and wiring looks pretty straightforward. The buttons are pretty small though The Auxbeam system has an all off button. That's nice for when an vehicle comes up on the rural roads at night where these lights will get the majority of thier use. The install gets a little more complicated coming up through the dash to ball mount and arm. Again open to thoughts. Thanks all.

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[Soapy]

I have the Vos switch and like it. My choice of lights has been USA made Tyri. There are many good lights Tyri are very robust as they supply mining company lights all over the world. I have a 12 Hyperion light bar along with some 1010 lights.

 

[X35]

I also live in an area with a lot of deer. I went with KC HiLites Gravity Titans in driving beam. I used their optional wiring harness to wire them into the OEM headlights. This keeps me legal for PA State Inspection. I used the Mopar mount brackets to use them with my stock plastic bumper. I have them aimed straight ahead and they do a great job of lighting up the sides of the road. I’m very pleased with the performance of these.

https://www.kchilites.com/gravity-titan-led-pair.html

https://www.kchilites.com/wire-harness-adapter-jeep-jl-headlight-6325.html

https://www.quadratec.com/p/mopar/light-bracket-pair-jeep-wrangler-jl

 

[Terrymo]

Baja Designs LP4 Combo on the bumper. Baja Designs Squdron Pro used for ditch lights on the cowl with Seven Sparta mounts. Even though I have the factory auxillary switches I have lights wired to a JL400 grab handle switch.

 

[Centurion07]

Baja Designs LP4 Combo on the bumper. Baja Designs Squdron Pro used for ditch lights on the cowl with Seven Sparta mounts. Even though I have the factory auxillary switches I have lights wired to a JL400 grab handle switch.

 

[Centurion07]

@Baja Designs XL80s (spot/flood lenses) with S1s (wide cornering lenses).

 

[SUPAREE]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for mentioning us! We went through your whole post.

For your situation, our first recommendation would be the HELM 7. It has up to 217° of lighting coverage and 26,692 lumens, so it’s great for both distance and lighting up a wider area around the vehicle. For driving around cornfields and watching for deer, the wider coverage would definitely be helpful. It also works really well with a front bumper setup.

With the amount of light the HELM 7 puts out, you probably wouldn’t need to save room for another two forward-facing lights. It should be more than enough for your setup.

Another option worth looking at is the Hyper 5. It has up to 150° coverage and 4,556 lumens. Since you mentioned wanting to leave room for future upgrades, concerns about mount strength, and not wanting something too overwhelming, this might be a good balance. It’s also smaller and lighter than the HELM 7 (5-inch vs 7-inch).

Both lights include the wiring harness and switch, and they can work with the auxiliary switch systems you mentioned. Just make sure the switch system can handle the current draw.

We’re also working on our own switch panel, so hopefully we’ll have more options to share in the future.

These are just some ideas based on your setup. Either way, we’d love to see what direction you go with your build.

 

[3TV]

OP, with all those deer around have you ever hit a deer? This might be a good time to lose the plastic front bumper and get a steel bumper with a winch guard or other hoop that will protect bumper mounted lights.

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