Light Bars - simple but effective

[Airic]

Okay guys I have a job for you, I need you to design me the best light bar kit that I can mount behind my grille, I would also like some fog lights since my raptor did not come with them. I looked into Rigid and holy crap they are expensive... Don't get me wrong I would gladly pay this price if I was a big time off-road guy or did racing of any sort, but I don't. I'm just a normal guy that likes to go off road to put smiles on my families face, and yes that includes me. LOL.

I have researched many of the forums and discussions here and have found a lot of opinions and options but some of the posts were a few years old so I'm not quite sure of the newer technologies AND OPTIONS, if there is any.

Here's my wants/needs/questions, so feel free to design my truck as if it was yours:

• 30" or 40" light bar(s) behind the grille, is it best to put it above or below the Ford sign?
• Curved or straight bar...and if behind the grill how much light is blocked from the grille itself?
• I would like my light bar to not just be a beam straight in front of me, I would like it to have a wide angle also
• do you recommend a 20" bar in the lower portion where the license plate was, just wondering in case I get a winch in the future.
• are these bars easy to mount myself or will I need to take it into a off-road shop?
• If done myself which brackets and wiring harness will I need?
• For the fog lights what is the benefit of having white and Amber, or should it be all white?
• Should I have one set of fog lights facing forward and another side facing?

With all that said the biggest thing is budget. At this time I do not have the biggest budget for these accessories but I do not want to buy anything so cheap that it does not last long or more importantly not exactly bright, I do want to 'see" what I paid for (pun intended). Here are a few options that I found online, please feel free to tell me the do's and don'ts and give me your own list and opinions. thanks

AuxBeam Curved lightbar
AuxBeam Straight bar
Rigid Fog lights
KC HiLights

this would be a nice look to have.


THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND SUGGESTIONS.

 

[Airic]

Any thoughts on the lightbars from Squarespace - Claim This Domain
good price and looks easy to install. does anyone have these?

Custom Ford F150 LED Lights - F150LEDs.com

 

[Kahuna]

Put a straight 40 below the ford and a straight 30 above.

Can probably use the brackets that come with the light for the 40. You can just drill holes into the grill supports for the 30 and use no brackets.

Behind the grille halves the light output.

Amber cuts output but better in the snow/fog/dust.

It will be mostly wide as dispersed by the grille.

If you want to spend less, get on Amazon and search for good reviews on a cheapie. One of mine is this one which I am happy with so far.

If you want to spend $200-300, get a Tuff Stuff light.

Next step up is probably M&R & Apollo and from there, sky is the limit, Baja, Rigid etc.

 

[SuperRaptor]

I hate to be that guy...but all these questions have been beaten to death on this forum and all answers are readily available.

 

[Airic]

Sorry I'm not trying to be "that guy"..... I'm new to the forum and I noticed there is a lot of information on said topics but some were posted years ago and I'm trying to come up with a summary of everyone's expertise. Not only in my new to the forum I'm also new to owning a Raptor and the options that it offers.

Example: many threads talk about their Chinese made light bars and how much money they saved but I'm having difficulty finding if they're still happy year(s) down the road. Is the quality still there? Is there moisture problems? If you were to do it all over again would you spend more money on a higher-quality bar? etc...

I will continue to research and I will let you guys know what I decided to do. Thank you for your help.

 

[The Macf]

5w auroras still running strong. Spend the money and get KC flex though.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f81/lighting-shootout-results-trr-2014-a-33574/

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f81/lighting-shootout-results-trr-2015-a-42166/

 

[Airic]

Not quite sure how I overlooked these post. Great information. Thank you

 

[2014RubyRed]

Look on our website at the bumper fog light options. KC Flex are awesome. Wouldn't mount them behind the grill though, it just kinda kills the output of the lights if that is what you are looking for. They look cool, though.

Good luck and hits up if you need any help.....

 

[AZEngineer]

I put a winch on my Raptor. All of the mounts I researched fit behind the opening in the bumper. I don't think placing below the bumper would make sense as you would severely reduce your clearance. Most want to go the other way and trim the frame horns to gain clearance.

I've read everything on lights since I got my truck almost 3 years ago. I have not put on behind the grill because I hate the idea of wasting 40-50% of the output. I haven't put a bumper on the front with a light on top because it would make fitting in the garage harder and I like the opposite look better, thin race style close to the valance with trimmed frame horns.

So, I keep to offroading in the daylight