Led Lighting?

[Mike W]

I am about ready to take my led roof light bar off. It works ok for close up area, but it still is very washed out light and still spills a little light on the hood , even though its mounted back and low to the roof. Its just a 100watt single row bar. Nothing crazy.

The best light for actual moving vehicle use, is my ARB Intensity lights. 8.7" They are very focused light and don't spill off to the side much. I have the wired up with my high beams on a relay. I don't have any great shots of the light on the road, but they give me a good half mile or more of useable light. They are pretty crazy bright. The stock HID projectors are not bad though, so I don't normally need these unless its really dark or i want to see EVERYTHING.

The left one is the spot, with a ~10 degree beam and the right one is pointed to the right a little and is a 20 degree beam pattern. Means I don't fully blind people down the road if I have them on, the normal headlight brights might a little, but the super bright spots are focused down the road on my side. (I avoid using them with oncoming traffic though. The beam is very focused, but just too bright to risk it)

 

[McMurf]

Mike, do you have any photos of your Tactical 4x4 rear bumper? Do you have a tyre carrier on it?

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

A lot to talk about in this thread...

The original issue posted was not being able to see in tall grass. The only way to do improve that is lights mounted higher but with that said ditch lights are called that for a reason. I see waaaay too many people with them forward facing and that simply is not their intended use, as the OP learned.

I always advise against blocking airflow to any portion of the radiator. This has become increasingly important with the prevalence of automatic transmissions. We load up our vehicles, take them on difficult terrain, and in most cases we're completely unaware to the amount of heat we build up in the sensitive transmission.

Lights on the roof are fantastic if you can address the issue of glare. Matte black vinyl on the hood is a good option as is mounting the lights low and further back to shade the windshield/hood. Then theres glare shields you can buy or make yourself to shade the windshield/hood.

Lastly.. quality lights are worth it for any application and more isn't necessarily better. The right lights in the right locations eliminate the need for more lights... which frees up money for better lights.

When I bought my 2017 Wrangler, it came with LED headlights standard from the factory. The 2012 Wrangler I traded in had halogen head lights. Damn what a difference and made me wish I had put LEDs in my 2012 after I bought it. they're brighter, I get greater distance of light and I don't have to strain my eyes driving at night while watching for elk, deer, humans, etc on the side of the road.

I would for sure look into swapping LED headlights in to your vehicle if they are available. I will never go back to the old style of headlights again.

Had you put LEDs in the headlights of your 2012 I can assure you of two things. First being that you'd annoy the hell out of anybody coming your way at night. I can spot a similar thinking Jeep a mile away simply by the glare. The second being that you'd be better off with quality retrofit lights. I know stock halogen jeep headlights are awful but we all have to drive at night.

Retrofit LED's in forward lighting look bright but their performance, in one respect or another, is just awful. Their glare and awful throw is a well known thing and then theres the 'shadows' because of the design everyone uses. Projector housings can make up for a lot of it but reflector housings are just an ignorant train wreck. The difference between your 12 and 17 is that your 17 was designed and built to use LED lighting and your 12 wasn't. I love LED lighting and swapped my first bulbs 18 years ago but unless you're rebuilding your headlights to fully utilize LED forward lighting you and everyone around you is better off without.

 

[Fozzy325]

I am about ready to take my led roof light bar off. It works ok for close up area, but it still is very washed out light and still spills a little light on the hood , even though its mounted back and low to the roof. Its just a 100watt single row bar. Nothing crazy.

The best light for actual moving vehicle use, is my ARB Intensity lights. 8.7" They are very focused light and don't spill off to the side much. I have the wired up with my high beams on a relay. I don't have any great shots of the light on the road, but they give me a good half mile or more of useable light. They are pretty crazy bright. The stock HID projectors are not bad though, so I don't normally need these unless its really dark or i want to see EVERYTHING.

The left one is the spot, with a ~10 degree beam and the right one is pointed to the right a little and is a 20 degree beam pattern. Means I don't fully blind people down the road if I have them on, the normal headlight brights might a little, but the super bright spots are focused down the road on my side. (I avoid using them with oncoming traffic though. The beam is very focused, but just too bright to risk it)

Have you got a list of all your build parts?

 

[madcratebuilder]

Tip of the hat to Wawa Skittletits posting about glare shields, I've never read about them. I have a 42" bar on my roof rack that is back from the edge of the roof and about a 1/2" above the metal. I have about half the hood in mat black but still get some glare. Hopefully I can reduce this even more.

 

[darjo242]

A lot to talk about in this thread...
Had you put LEDs in the headlights of your 2012 I can assure you of two things. First being that you'd annoy the hell out of anybody coming your way at night. I can spot a similar thinking Jeep a mile away simply by the glare. The second being that you'd be better off with quality retrofit lights. I know stock halogen jeep headlights are awful but we all have to drive at night.

Retrofit LED's in forward lighting look bright but their performance, in one respect or another, is just awful. Their glare and awful throw is a well known thing and then theres the 'shadows' because of the design everyone uses. Projector housings can make up for a lot of it but reflector housings are just an ignorant train wreck. The difference between your 12 and 17 is that your 17 was designed and built to use LED lighting and your 12 wasn't. I love LED lighting and swapped my first bulbs 18 years ago but unless you're rebuilding your headlights to fully utilize LED forward lighting you and everyone around you is better off without.

Thanks for the info! I still get the occasional flash when driving at night up here in the White Mountains, and that's when my headlights are set in the standard position. They are bright as hell.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

Tip of the hat to Wawa Skittletits posting about glare shields, I've never read about them. I have a 42" bar on my roof rack that is back from the edge of the roof and about a 1/2" above the metal. I have about half the hood in mat black but still get some glare. Hopefully I can reduce this even more.

Glad to help! I hope you're able to come up with something to eliminate the remaining glare.

Thanks for the info! I still get the occasional flash when driving at night up here in the White Mountains, and that's when my headlights are set in the standard position. They are bright as hell.

Yeah that'll happen. My low beam projectors have an amazing cutoff and I still get flashed on rare occasion. LED lighting is awesome and I'm glad Jeep finally addressed the ongoing issue with an effective solution. Just wait til we get DOT legal laser lights on this side of the pond haha.

 

[Boostpowered]

Update, today it seems that the led lights caused a code to be thrown on my 2017 colorado causing the check engine light to come on i will know for sure tuesday when i take it to the dealership for warranty repair. Long story short the led are getting tossed in the trash post haste. If i do it again its going to be halogen
kc hi lights.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Update, today it seems that the led lights caused a code to be thrown on my 2017 colorado causing the check engine light to come on i will know for sure tuesday when i take it to the dealership for warranty repair. Long story short the led are getting tossed in the trash post haste. If i do it again its going to be halogen
kc hi lights.

What code did you have? I've read about dealers claiming that LED's are causing this but I'm not convinced. Do you still have the stock day time running light setup? Running LED's at reduced voltage may be a issue. First mod I did with my 17 Colorado was convert to all LED's. I have the Gen5 DRL harness with switch backs and only non LED bulbs in the truck are the lic plate lights.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

What code did you have? I've read about dealers claiming that LED's are causing this but I'm not convinced. Do you still have the stock day time running light setup? Running LED's at reduced voltage may be a issue. First mod I did with my 17 Colorado was convert to all LED's. I have the Gen5 DRL harness with switch backs and only non LED bulbs in the truck are the lic plate lights.

Not all LEDs are the same. The inexpensive options are 'noisy' and can disrupt CANBUS which in some vehicles is very sensitive.

 

[Boostpowered]

P0641 is the code that was thrown said faulty circuit or sensor, my headlights running lights and bumper fogs are all whatever came stock. The leds in question are 70 watt led ditch light on my bumper i was getting 12v acc through a fuse link on the trailer brake light fuse under the hood, the didnt seem to cause any interference with the radio or other electroics or noise as they say. The led lights are the only thing ive done to my truck since new so i assume the problem im having is related i removed the lights and the truck is still under warranty so im letting gm deal with it tuesday

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

P0641 is the code that was thrown said faulty circuit or sensor, my headlights running lights and bumper fogs are all whatever came stock. The leds in question are 70 watt led ditch light on my bumper i was getting 12v acc through a fuse link on the trailer brake light fuse under the hood, the didnt seem to cause any interference with the radio or other electroics or noise as they say. The led lights are the only thing ive done to my truck since new so i assume the problem im having is related i removed the lights and the truck is still under warranty so im letting gm deal with it tuesday

The ‘noise’ isn’t an audible one. Did you ground to the battery or to the chassis?

 

[Boostpowered]

Chassis, i removed everything resarted 3 times and code and engine check light still on

 

[madcratebuilder]

P0641 is the code that was thrown said faulty circuit or sensor, my headlights running lights and bumper fogs are all whatever came stock. The leds in question are 70 watt led ditch light on my bumper i was getting 12v acc through a fuse link on the trailer brake light fuse under the hood, the didnt seem to cause any interference with the radio or other electroics or noise as they say. The led lights are the only thing ive done to my truck since new so i assume the problem im having is related i removed the lights and the truck is still under warranty so im letting gm deal with it tuesday

I want to make sure I understand this correctly, you have stand alone LED pods that receive power from the trailer lighting circuit? Why not use a harness powered off the battery with a relay?

0641 is a sensor losing it's 5v reference (most common).

Adding stand alone LED lighting does not effect GM warranty unless the wiring is wonky.

Wiring in new rigs is manufactured using vegetable oils, ie Peanut oil, this has created a problem with rodent damage in wiring throughout the vehicle.

 

[Boostpowered]

We have enough barn cats that rodent arent a problem, yes the 12v was wired to the trailer brake light fuse location for acc , i was told that there is a voltage regulator on batt positive that would cause trouble also i tried to wire to batt and the led lights on the wiring harness switch were constantly on which would drain the batt. To be clear the check engine light came on saturday morning and on friday i had the dealership do a oil change under warranty all this started after that

 

[Boostpowered]

Not my first time wiring electronics on a vehicle but is my first with a newer vehicle with so many electronics. Im not happy with it and if gm cant figure it out tues im likely to sell it and get my 88 ranger back on the road.

 

[Boostpowered]

Ive heard from everyone that owns colorados the code can be anything from a bad pcm, bad sensors or chaffed wires somewhere which is unacceptable for a vehicle this young, build date on door jam says was built january 5th 2017

 

[Boostpowered]

More info: the truck is running fine, shifts normal, performance wise there is no problem no limp home mode, just throwing that one code without any other codes in log history and check engine light.

Well just found another issue that my be related to the code that makes me think its a bad pcm, it 32° this morning and i tried to use my remote start with no results it wont remote start from my key fob, i went out and put key in ignition and it started up with no trouble.

 

[Wawa Skittletits]

We have enough barn cats that rodent arent a problem, yes the 12v was wired to the trailer brake light fuse location for acc , i was told that there is a voltage regulator on batt positive that would cause trouble also i tried to wire to batt and the led lights on the wiring harness switch were constantly on which would drain the batt. To be clear the check engine light came on saturday morning and on friday i had the dealership do a oil change under warranty all this started after that

The issue you’re referring to with voltage sensitivity is the negative terminal and the reason I asked where it was grounded.

 

[madcratebuilder]

We have enough barn cats that rodent arent a problem, yes the 12v was wired to the trailer brake light fuse location for acc , i was told that there is a voltage regulator on batt positive that would cause trouble also i tried to wire to batt and the led lights on the wiring harness switch were constantly on which would drain the batt. To be clear the check engine light came on saturday morning and on friday i had the dealership do a oil change under warranty all this started after that

Someone gave you bad info on the battery. Switch light should only be on when LED's are getting power, wire on wrong switch spade??

CEL on after dealership service, that would be a good starting point. I don't think the LED lighting has a damn thing to do with your CEL.

My 17 ZR2 has DRL elimination harness, switch back LED's, in fact all bulbs in truck are LED, two added LED light bar harness with wireless remotes, hard wired dash cam and radar, LED bed lighting. I've tapped in to the BOSE system for a sub, added a power lock on the tail gate, just about everything electrical you can do to the truck. Not one issue.