GEN 2 Baja Squadron Pro Question

[Mariners Fan]

View attachment 143272. s2pro wide cornering amber ,squadron pro diving combo ,squadron sport wide cornering

That's exactly the setup I've been looking at. Got any pictures at night?

 

[greatone99]

I will try and get some ,they turn night into day ,the only change I made were the sports I had sae before ,kind of a waste no where near as bright as the sports or the s2 pros , the pro driving r insanely bright ,to me the sports and the s2 u can get away with them at night with the right angle and only 1 set at a time on .the squadron pro u better be by yourself ,bright as hell.all 3 on at once with the headlights ,night into day .and each fills a section or area .wide cornering r the the most street useful light pattern imo

 

[smurfslayer]

You think this is bright... to paraphrase Yoda... ‘much to buy, you still have’

I’d augment with the S8 behind the grille kit. Worth it.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Reading about swapping the lenses from a wide cornering to a SAE, would it be possible to swap the lens from a SAE to one of the brighter lights to keep the SAE pattern? I realize it wouldn't still be legal, but with the sharper cutoff it should be better to other drivers twide cornering.

Also, for those wanting to run multiple combo instead of a wide cornering and a spot, shouldn't it end up exactly the same since the combos have two of each lens?

 

[K223]

Reading about swapping the lenses from a wide cornering to a SAE, would it be possible to swap the lens from a SAE to one of the brighter lights to keep the SAE pattern? I realize it wouldn't still be legal, but with the sharper cutoff it should be better to other drivers twide cornering.

Also, for those wanting to run multiple combo instead of a wide cornering and a spot, shouldn't it end up exactly the same since the combos have two of each lens?

I can tell you from doing some lens swapping, the SAE reflectors are also different as compared to wide cornering sports/pros. You will cut down some of the pattern, but it will also remain brighter than a true SAE light.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I can tell you from doing some lens swapping, the SAE reflectors are also different as compared to wide cornering sports/pros. You will cut down some of the pattern, but it will also remain brighter than a true SAE light.

That is the idea. I saw a YouTube review from a Tacoma guy in California, he disassembled the SAE and a regular squadron, it looked like the parts could interchange. There could be a heat issue with the plastic bits that sit closer to the LED elements in the SAE, so maybe a Sportsman at 3150 lumens would be a better choice than a Pro at 4900 lumens. I’m positive @Baja Designs wouldn’t endorse this.

Fast forward to 5:30.

 

[Oldfart]

Those are the older SAE's. The newer lenses used are very different.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Those are the older SAE's. The newer lenses used are very different.

The lenses look the same, but they added a shield to minimize stray light. The parts still look interchangeable, the boards inside his examples are both labeled Squadron Sport. There might be some gains to be made from opening up some of the shields.

Fast forward to 4:50.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Reading about swapping the lenses from a wide cornering to a SAE, would it be possible to swap the lens from a SAE to one of the brighter lights to keep the SAE pattern? I realize it wouldn't still be legal, but with the sharper cutoff it should be better to other drivers twide cornering.

Also, for those wanting to run multiple combo instead of a wide cornering and a spot, shouldn't it end up exactly the same since the combos have two of each lens?

Okay I may as well chime in here

First, if you take apart your SAE light you void your warranty (per Baja Designs). I'm not entirely sure the reasoning behind this, but something to do with losing the SAE rating if the manufacturer "disassembles the light".

Second, the SAE lights have the same wide cornering lens as the other lights (with the exception of the SAE stamp)

Third, we actually did this with a set of Squadron Pros.

I took the optics out of a perfectly fine set of SAE and put them in a set of Squadron Pros. I put the wide cornering lens on and presto Pro SAE right? Not quite. While the optics DID help with the light scatter, due to the amount of light there was still some scatter. I chose not to use the diffuser panel in our test because I wanted the most output in our test.

Does it work... EHHH sort of? I mean yeah, it definitely helped a bit BUT at the same time, there's still scatter. I have my lights aimed way down on my truck and you can still see the scatter on overhead highway signs. I may try throwing in the diffuser piece as well to see what that does but figured I'd share my results.

Also, Baja does NOT recommend this. They are not 100% sure if the extra heat will melt the optics. I gotta be honest. I did this about 4-5 months ago and i've yet to check on my optics to see if they melted them. I should one of these days.

So is it recommended to do this.. NO - Will people who have extra parts laying around try this... PROBABLY will you get results you were hoping for... NOT REALLY

Is it worth it in the end? I'm going to say no. The price for a set of SAE and a set of Pros just to MacGyver these for more light isn't going to do what you hoped.

Baja designed the SAE to act as fogs. I just wanted to try something different when I did this.

I think the SAE work great as they are out of the box. A nice clean output in your fogs to avoid glare. They light up the fog area just enough.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

The lenses look the same, but they added a shield to minimize stray light. The parts still look interchangeable, the boards inside his examples are both labeled Squadron Sport. There might be some gains to be made from opening up some of the shields.

Fast forward to 4:50.

I inquired about this when we first got our SAE. It was the first thing we did "let me rip this open and check out what Baja made" and asked about the sport board. From what I was told... the SAE is based on the sport board but they have slightly different circuitry. So they probably (don't quote me on this, since I don't know 100%) used the sport board as a base to build off of, if that makes sense?