ultimate driving light combo?

[Jeff Boone]

just bought 2020 ($500 below invoice with lifetime powertrain warranty!!!) - don't get to pick it up for a week :-(. Looking for ultimate light setup (don't care about cost). Want as much of it to work automatically as possible. Want it to look as close to stock as possible (no A pillars or exposed light bars if possible). I don't want it to impede the front camera at all. I want:

Best SAE lights that I can wire to come on automatically when my high beams are on (thinking 2 Rigid 6" SAE SR's behind the grill)

Best SAE lights that I can wire to come on automatically when my low beams are on(and high beams if possible) - (thinking 2 Rigid D Series SAE fog lights as part of three pods in each side of the bumper)

Best lights that help me see to the side when mounted as part of the three pods in the bumper. I'd like to be able to run these whenever my headlights are on, but don't know if I can do that legally. Not sure which ones to pick for this. Possible Rigid Side Shooters, but don't think I could have these on whenever my headlights are on. Don't know if I can run Baja Corner lights whenever headlights are on either. If I can't run either automatically, I want whatever is the brightest that I would have to manually turn on an off.

Best lights for long distance when driving that are switched on manually that would also be part of the three pods in the bumper.

Best reverse lights that can come on automatically when in reverse or turned on manually. I duck hunt and will be backing up boats or trailers in the dark, so I'd like them to shine a long way, but I also want them to be fine when it's just the truck and I backing out of wherever. Rigid Radiance Scene's?

Best mounting kits/wiring harnesses/place to purchase. thinking about adding the three hole switch panel in the channel next to the shifter instead of using the auxiliary switches just because I don't want to take my eyes far off the road if I need to use the switches. Anybody use that instead of the auxiliaries?

Any advice or questions for clarification greatly appreciated!!!!!

 

[smurfslayer]

I’ve gone down this road, don’t cheap out on any component.

1: I’m of the opinion that the low mounted bumper lights are best configured as SAE + 2 combo per side, possibly wide corner + combo. Right now, I have B/D squadrons x3 per side, spot, combo, sae. I had wide corner’s where the SAE are now, and they were just way too bright for oncoming drivers, no matter how I aimed them. The SAE are more friends to oncoming drivers while still putting out a good, wide throw.

SAE you can leave on with low beams, but at least some states require they go out with high beams.


2: B/D S8 behind the grille kit is tough to beat. Lots of light, not a hard install, and preserves the truck’s lines.

High beam triggering has been done before; I would not go crazy with this - maybe trigger one of the combo’s with the high beams but if you go nuts, it will draw unnecessary attention, possibly get you a citation. There are some pieces you can buy to create a harness that will allow you to implement some relays to help trigger the lights as needed. The S8 will probably need a relay, period, but the rest can fit on up fitter circuits without, but if you’re going to trigger with high beams, you’ll need relays.

Best reverse lights that can come on automatically when in reverse or turned on manually. I duck hunt and will be backing up boats or trailers in the dark, so I'd like them to shine a long way, but I also want them to be fine when it's just the truck and I backing out of wherever

Those squadron (sport) wide corner lens i had before the SAE? THey’re now my reverse lights / trail lights. they’re 2k+ lumens each and work great.

you can grab the reverse signal at the trailer harness, and run power/upfitter wires to the rear along the frame rail.

I’m sure the supporting vendors will be along shortly to make recommendations.

One thing I would caution - the low mounted lights are going to get caked up with mud pretty quick, don’t rule out pillar lights altogether.

Black Friday is coming, so keep an eye out for sales from the supporting vendors. They’re pretty good for deals here.

 

[Droid]

Thanks for detailed post smurfslayer, I'm in a similar situation. I'll probably only ever do a fog pocket kit though.

I had been thinking of doing Baja kit with S2 Pro Amber Wide Cornering + Squadron Racer Spot + Squadron Pro Driving/Combo.

Maybe I should instead do S2 Pro Driving Combo + Squadron Racer Spot + Squadron SAE Amber for fogs?

Not sure whether I should do amber fogs, in videos they look like they give more definition in rain/fog but I've never used them.

 

[Jeff Boone]

I’ve gone down this road, don’t cheap out on any component.

1: I’m of the opinion that the low mounted bumper lights are best configured as SAE + 2 combo per side, possibly wide corner + combo. Right now, I have B/D squadrons x3 per side, spot, combo, sae. I had wide corner’s where the SAE are now, and they were just way too bright for oncoming drivers, no matter how I aimed them. The SAE are more friends to oncoming drivers while still putting out a good, wide throw.

SAE you can leave on with low beams, but at least some states require they go out with high beams.


2: B/D S8 behind the grille kit is tough to beat. Lots of light, not a hard install, and preserves the truck’s lines.

High beam triggering has been done before; I would not go crazy with this - maybe trigger one of the combo’s with the high beams but if you go nuts, it will draw unnecessary attention, possibly get you a citation. There are some pieces you can buy to create a harness that will allow you to implement some relays to help trigger the lights as needed. The S8 will probably need a relay, period, but the rest can fit on up fitter circuits without, but if you’re going to trigger with high beams, you’ll need relays.



Those squadron (sport) wide corner lens i had before the SAE? THey’re now my reverse lights / trail lights. they’re 2k+ lumens each and work great.

you can grab the reverse signal at the trailer harness, and run power/upfitter wires to the rear along the frame rail.

I’m sure the supporting vendors will be along shortly to make recommendations.

One thing I would caution - the low mounted lights are going to get caked up with mud pretty quick, don’t rule out pillar lights altogether.

Black Friday is coming, so keep an eye out for sales from the supporting vendors. They’re pretty good for deals here.

Thanks! On the mud thing I'm surprised someone hasn't made a housing that will prevent mud from getting to the back of the lights. I see that being a mess.

 

[Big Blue]

There are a number of great Forum Vendors here that offer every lighting configuration you can think of and most of them have Black Friday deals, so be sure to check out the Vendor section below.

https://www.fordraptorforum.com/categories/ford-raptor-forum-supporting-vendors.37/

 

[OffroadAlliance.com]

@Jeff Boone

With Black Friday coming, now is a great time to be looking at lights. Your take on light beams seems to be a great fit for your needs. Getting some lights in the grille like a Baja Designs 30” S8 or the Rigid 6” grille kit definitely helps get some bright light up higher.

For the reverse lights, the new Baja Designs S1 kits have been incredibly popular. At 2375 lumens each, they throw a lot of light behind you. Paired with our custom aux wiring harness, you get dual control over them (when in reverse and via an aux switch).

As Smurf mentioned, we caution folks about tapping into their high beams. It can absolutely be done but we’ve heard a ton of stories about people cutting/splicing wrong wires and damaging their electrical systems.

For on road use, SAE lights are going to really be your only option. And most states have a maximum of four forward facing lights on at a time law. Best to double check your local laws. The Rigid Side Shooters are great, but recommend those for A-pillars if you are going to run them. The side projectors work best when not tucked behind the front bumper openings.

Let us know if we can help! We’re available via phone at 888-466-8991.

Online — OFFROADALLIANCE.COM

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Hey Jeff, welcome to the club.

So I'd recommend the following setup for you

-SPP Triple Fog Light Kit w/Baja Designs Lights
-Squadron SAE Wide Cornering
-Squadron Pro, Driving/Combo
-Squadron Pro, Spot (or if you want the LONGEST distance, Squadron Racers would do the job, but i tend to like the spots better as they have a bit more coverage, although not as FAR as the racers). Racers are good if you are racing around 60mph+ on back roads.

I'd also grab the LVJ Motorsports Relay Panel here: https://www.lvjmotorsports.com/product-page/gen-2-hi-beam-modified-relay-panel

The reason for the LVJ is that, while you don't need the relay system for power, you'll want it for the ease of tapping into your highs. LVJ lets you pick/choose which wires can turn on with your highs. So you'd wire your lights to the LVJ, then wire the upfitters to the LVJ. You can then change a diode to pick/choose which circuits come on with your highs.

So you could leave the SAE lights on at all times via the switch, then wire in say the driving/combos to activate when your highs are triggered (or even the spots as well). I have customers who trigger their LP9 lights when their high beams come on (for me, my LP9 low mode trigger when my highs are on).

It's a nice setup. Plus our SPP Triple Fog Light Kit lets you pick/choose lights if you are not happy with the setup I recommended. You can really pick/choose what lights to go with. We include stainless steel brackets and an all-in-one raptor specific wiring harness as well.

It's available here: http://www.4x4truckleds.com/2017-ford-raptor-triple-fog-light-kit-w-baja-designs-lights/

For reverse, can't beat the Baja Designs reverse kits. I run the S2 Reverse kit on my truck here: http://www.4x4truckleds.com/baja-designs-ford-raptor-2017-s2-reverse-light-kit/

But we also offer this with the new Baja Designs S1 lights. The S1 lights are smaller then the S2 and offer about 2x the brightness as the S2 Sport: http://www.4x4truckleds.com/baja-designs-ford-raptor-2017-s1-reverse-light-kit/

Now your truck has upfitters, but if you want that 3 hole panel, we stock them here as well: http://www.4x4truckleds.com/center-console-switch-panel-for-2015-ford-f-150/

You'd have to run wires to your upfitters and battery though using that 3-hole setup.

Here is our demo truck showing our SPP Triple Fog Lights and those LP9s I told you about. It might give you some ideas for future lighting as well.

Just shoot me a message if you need help or text me. Contact info is below

 

[Loufish]

My 2 cents:

1) Reverse lights - Many run the B/D SII Sport in wide lens, and these are guys (including myself) who can afford the brighter SII Pro's..BUT heres the thing, too much light and it will wash out the reverse camera...the Sport models put out plenty of reverse light without camera washout.

2) I highly recommend the reverse lights be wired not to the tail lights, but the 7 pin trailer harness. The tail lights wires are so small because of the low current draw they are harder to work with and more fragile...

3) Unless you have a specific reason not to, the "A" pillar light option is pretty awesome with a set of BD XL80's Driving combo lens! Those XL80's are big enough physically to match the truck, and still not to big or heavy for the brackets out there...The pillar lights are at a very good height for getting light down range...

Hope you enjoy your new truck!

 

[MileHighMike]

What do the Black Friday deals usually look like? Hehehe

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

CHeck out our site the week of Black Friday to see the deals. Or signup for our mailing list