Extra lighting

[Surfscottydog]

I am thinking of adding some KC lights to the front of my truck. I was planning on some 6" diameter led lights but I'm not totally sure if I want flood or spot. The last truck I had I had put floods on it and I liked it. Was I missing something? Let me know your thoughts on this.
I don't have enough money to put 2 floods and 2 spots. Maybe over time, later down the road. Thanks

 

[Outdoordog]

Haha, I wanted both and got 1 of each. It actually works well for me, I thought it would be weird but my gamble worked.

 

[Old Tanker]

Go with one of each, with the spot in front of the driver.

 

[M Rose]

If you can only do floods or spots, start with floods… add the spots later.

 

[Surfscottydog]

Thanks guys, I’m probably going to start with floods first. My high beams will get out there enough for my floods to work close up. I drive real slow on the trail and really hope to not have to use them anyway. If I can, later I could get some spots for it. 4 lights on the front would look really cool anyway

 

[Boostpowered]

Most good lights come with a spot and flood cover

 

[MMc]

I went with Baja Designs a few years ago. I went with 1 spot and 2 floods , they were the best lights they made at the time. They were expensive, I got a deal at the off-road expo in Pomona. I love them and would recommend doing it. I hated pulling the trigger at the time.

 

[smritte]

The biggest issue I've had with my lighting is driving through parts of the desert and having the bush's be just below hood height. As much as I don't want to, I need to add some on my roof. When I do, they will be spots with a shield under them to keep the light off my hood.

 

[smritte]

Forgot to add. On the front I have driving lights. Not spot or flood. Gets me distance and a bit of the sides. I changed my headlights to HID projectors and my high beams cover my off road lights completely (High beams are nowhere near legal). I will probably swap over to a low mounted spot for the distance.

 

[Surfscottydog]

The biggest issue I've had with my lighting is driving through parts of the desert and having the bush's be just below hood height. As much as I don't want to, I need to add some on my roof. When I do, they will be spots with a shield under them to keep the light off my hood.

I don’t have room on my roof, was planning on putting them on my bumper

 

[El-Dracho]

Good light is important. Especially when, as now in the northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter and, at the latest in autumn, visibility is getting worse. At the latest then it is important that we look after the vehicle lighting on our rigs. But even so, good lighting is important on an overlanding vehicle. Sure, the recommendation is mostly not to drive in the dark on unknown routes, but from time to time this happens or is necessary. I had written something regarding this important topic once here in the General Overland Discussion forum:

A regular check of the vehicle lights is important

Hi fellow overlanders! In the northern hemisphere summer is drawing to an end. The days are already noticeably shorter. This makes it more important that we dedicate ourselves to the lights of our vehicles. But what to consider and what is recommended? As some of you may know, I publish...

www.overlandbound.com

Maybe that helps one or the other here.

By the way, we have very clear rules here in Europe, which lights may be mounted on a vehicle and in which way and how they may be used. How does that actually look in the U.S. and Canada? Can you add everything as you like? I am only curiously interested...

 

[genocache]

At first I made some brackets to hold the KC flat LED's and used them as a flood; Land Rover LED fog lamps

Next I went with a roof mounted LED light bar, it combines spot and flood. Freaking amazing! Land Rover 109 LED light bar

Then I bought some LED headlights, They are sooo much better than the stock head lights; LED head lights for 109 Land Rover

 

[M Rose]

Most good lights come with a spot and flood cover

They do? I’m pretty sure I haven seen spot or flood covers for KC, PIA, or any of the “Good” lights… I have seen rock covers, and daylight covers, but all the good brands use separate reflectors as well as lenses between the spot lights and flood lights.

 

[El-Dracho]

Then I bought some LED headlights, They are sooo much better than the stock head lights; LED head lights for 109 Land Rover

I can understand that very well. I installed 7 inch LEDs in my Landy about six years ago. Very very good light!

 

[ptgarcia]

At the speeds we travel overlanding, spots just are not a necessity. The driving combo beam pattern from Baja Designs is perfect for overlanding. Start with a pattern like that, and add spots if you find them necessary.

If you haven't already, take a look at this link to Baja Designs Lighting Zone System where they lay out lighting zones and how to cover them.

 

[LostWoods]

Forgot to add. On the front I have driving lights. Not spot or flood.

Key differentiation right here because manufacturers don't keep consistency in their terminology. Rigid's flood is actually narrower than their driving lights, for example.

@Surfscottydog

IMO spots are secondary. A good combo driving/spot pattern on the bumper is the way to go if you're only doing two lights or straight driving lights are fine as well. Pure spots are for seeing obstacles at a distance and putting them on your bumper both reduces effective range and tends to wash out terrain more than a good driving light. So if I were to start I'd do (did) something like a pair of Baja Designs LP6 combo on the bumper and plan for a spot bar on the roof in the future if you feel you need more light. If you need something more affordable, KC makes great lights too and while not as bright as BD or Rigid, their LED driving lights are excellent. They make an SAE pattern as well which is road legal as a high-beam light.

Edit just to add... one light is not equivalent to another and you may find that by buying the good stuff to start, you need less later on. I had some grand plans for my lighting setup with a 30" spot bar on the roof and additional driving lights and after installing the two LP6 lights, I found I really don't need much more except some ditch lights facing about 45 degrees out and the peripheral lights on my roof rack. They have a low beam setting as well which disables the spot and is great for illumination while following.

 

[ptgarcia]

Key differentiation right here because manufacturers don't keep consistency in their terminology. Rigid's flood is actually narrower than their driving lights, for example.

@Surfscottydog

IMO spots are secondary. A good combo driving/spot pattern on the bumper is the way to go if you're only doing two lights or straight driving lights are fine as well. Pure spots are for seeing obstacles at a distance and putting them on your bumper both reduces effective range and tends to wash out terrain more than a good driving light. So if I were to start I'd do (did) something like a pair of Baja Designs LP6 combo on the bumper and plan for a spot bar on the roof in the future if you feel you need more light. If you need something more affordable, KC makes great lights too and while not as bright as BD or Rigid, their LED driving lights are excellent. They make an SAE pattern as well which is road legal as a high-beam light.

Edit just to add... one light is not equivalent to another and you may find that by buying the good stuff to start, you need less later on. I had some grand plans for my lighting setup with a 30" spot bar on the roof and additional driving lights and after installing the two LP6 lights, I found I really don't need much more except some ditch lights facing about 45 degrees out and the peripheral lights on my roof rack. They have a low beam setting as well which disables the spot and is great for illumination while following.

Great choice in lights.

 

[smritte]

Rigid's flood is actually narrower than their driving lights, for example.

Didn't know that. When I look at light specs, I want to see the pattern. The better manufactures will give a diagram on how the light spreads out. It would be nice if they used the proper terminology. That would make shopping much easier.

 

[LostWoods]

Didn't know that. When I look at light specs, I want to see the pattern. The better manufactures will give a diagram on how the light spreads out. It would be nice if they used the proper terminology. That would make shopping much easier.

That's the worst part too because even beam angle isn't really enough. Their driving pattern is much flatter so while the flood is narrower, it's more a circular pattern than a flat oval like the driving lights. They have a light tool that demonstrates what their lights look like but it's incomplete... I just wish more companies did real pattern tests like KC has on their youtube channel for some of their stuff.