Need help with light plan

[Bratch]

Guys I'm a long time light junkie, home lights, flashlights, weapons lights you name it. Given this the first thing I want to attack on my new truck is the auxiliary lighting. I'd love any ideas, comments or suggestions on my plan, I'm new to this world.

I have a 2014 Screw with HIDs. It currently has a NFab RSP Prerunner front bumper with 4 6" KC Daylighters halogen lights. I'm not sure what the beam pattern is on them. Two of these are on Aux 1 and two are on Aux 2. Aux 3 is not in use and Aux 4 has LED strip lights in the hood grates.

I really like the look of the old school KCs and would like to keep the round style.

My original thought was to replace the KCs with either LEDs or HIDs and get them all on a single switch to free another up. I hadn't gotten much further than that.

I'm currently thinking about keeping the KCs halogen and changing out the glass. I'd change the outer two to fog lights and the inner two to 130W driving lights. Doing this I'd keep them on separate switches to be able to use the fog lights.

I want to put a pair of HID or LED spot lights on a hood mount these would go on AUX 3. I'm looking at 4" Baja Fuego or 4" VisonX light cannons.

Eventually I plan to change out the rear bumper to one that includes built in LEDs, something like a Rogue Revolver. This would go on Aux 4.

Does this sound like a solid lighting plan? Anything else I should be looking at?

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

Hey there @Bratch, hopefully I can help.

First off, if you look at the lenses of your current Daylighters, you'll be able to tell if you have a spot or spread pattern by looking at the lens.

If the lens is completely smooth, like the one pictured below, you've got a spot pattern.

Spot Pattern


If the lens has ridges in it, then that's a spread, flood, or fog pattern as seen below.

Spread Pattern


Flood Pattern


Fog Pattern


So the cool thing is that if you want to keep your current Daylighters, you can keep your lights and swap the parts from Halogen to LED with the G6 LED inserts and also swap out the lenses so they're all clear. So you'll have spot lenses and then add either spot, driving, or wide-40 inserts because the LED version lights control the beam pattern by the reflector bowl instead of the glass.

Here's a link to KC's site so you can check out the LED inserts: KC HILITES | 6" Gravity LED Drop-in Pair Pack System

In addition to being brighter than the halogen lights, you'll also be using less power going from 130 watts per light down to 80 watts for all 4 lights! Now you'll be able to free up another Aux switch.

If you're wanting to upgrade your Daylighters as a whole, you could always upgrade to the Carbon POD lights, but that is a more expensive option.

Now, for your hood mounts, if you're wanting to stick with the round light look, the best lights on the market for this would be the Baja Designs XL-R Series lights. You've got a few different options to choose from including beam distance and power depending on your needs and your budget.

Here's what the Baja Designs XL-R lights look like:


As for the rear cubes you'll eventually have, you'll be able to tie them into your reverse lights or tie them to an Aux switch. Or both if you use a diode.

Hope this helps and please let me know if you'd like any pricing on anything!

 

[raptor36]

I have 4 VisionX 4.5" 25w light cannons.

I ran 4 5" KC apollo pro halogens previous to my light cannons. I wasn't impressed and I would consider ditching them. However, they are budget friendly.
Photo I took of 4 5" KC halogens:


This photo is just two light cannons. (I have 4 now)



I recommend the Visionx light cannons and if you have more $$$ then look into Baja designs XL80 and XL-R.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bratch]

Nick.

Thanks

The KC glass pictures are gold. I've been hoping to find something like that but hadn't had much luck. I'll have to go check my lights tomorrow to figure out what they are.

I'll check out the other lights you mentioned, I just purchased the truck Wednesday so my wife has hidden the checkbook for a while. I could swing the halogen to halogen swaps right now with my slush fund but going to LED would have to wait.

 

[Nick@Apollo-Optics]

Nick.

Thanks

The KC glass pictures are gold. I've been hoping to find something like that but hadn't had much luck. I'll have to go check my lights tomorrow to figure out what they are.

I'll check out the other lights you mentioned, I just purchased the truck Wednesday so my wife has hidden the checkbook for a while. I could swing the halogen to halogen swaps right now with my slush fund but going to LED would have to wait.

Happy to help. Since you have the lights already, I figured swapping from Halogen to LED would be cheaper than having to buy all brand new lights.

Keep me posted on whichever direction you'd like to head and I'll be happy to work with you to get the job done. Please don't hesitate to reach out if there's anything I can help with.

 

[Mike175]

@Bratch As far as your hood mounted lights go if I were you I would save your cash and get some Baja Designs. Keep an eye out too in the "garage sale" section as they have scratch and dent sales to save some money. Because lets be honest they are pretty damn expensive.

I would at all cost stay far far far far away from the Vision X lights. I have a set mounted on my hood and I have never been more disappointed in a single purchase ever. My high beam's shine further than they do. I honestly can't even tell when I throw the switch to them. Some people here will try to tell you they are bright and what not but I think they don't have the HID headlights. Honestly don't be like me and stay away from them.

 

[Bratch]

I checked and all of the existing KCs are spot pattern lights.

 

[SVO 85]

@Bratch As far as your hood mounted lights go if I were you I would save your cash and get some Baja Designs. Keep an eye out too in the "garage sale" section as they have scratch and dent sales to save some money. Because lets be honest they are pretty damn expensive.

I would at all cost stay far far far far away from the Vision X lights. I have a set mounted on my hood and I have never been more disappointed in a single purchase ever. My high beam's shine further than they do. I honestly can't even tell when I throw the switch to them. Some people here will try to tell you they are bright and what not but I think they don't have the HID headlights. Honestly don't be like me and stay away from them.

I've got amber covers on my hood mounted 4.5s and can easily see them even with my 55 watt HIDs. With no covers and high beams I could see it being a little harder to see them but I'd angle them a bit to cover what the headlights were missing. If you hate them that much, I'm sure there's plenty of people on here that'd be happy to buy them from you.

 

[Hopscotch]

I'd say start with hood mounts. You can get a lot of coverage up there.

Here's my setup:
Rigid duallys for fogs, spots forward and floods to the side. Put a new headlight switch in with the fog pullout.
Baja designs XL80 in driving combo on the hood.
Visionx 6.7 on the svc tower
Whelen micro pioneers on the side of the tower.
Baja designs S2 amber in flood pointed backward off the tower for chase/reverse.
Rigid dually flush mounted in the rear bumper with diffused lense.

 

[Bratch]

Are those Rigids mounted in the factory rear bumper?