Light me up!

[BarneyB]

OK guru's, I need to learn more about after market illumination.
What I know about the current headlight products wouldn't fill a midgets purse.

I have a D40 with an ARB b/b and no additional lights.
I live in Tasmania. The local marsupials are positively Kamakaze.
I have a small budget for a lighting upgrade. I'm not trying to out-do anyone or turn the truck into a moving footy stadium.
Just a decent high beam spread and decent low beam perfromance.
I've only driven the truck once at night and the lights are......OK I guess.

What's a "Roll Royce" brand?

What are the shit brands?

What's a good brand for cost-vs-quality?

Should I steer clear of SuperShit/AutoBarn/Repco etc ??

Would LED "bulbs" inside the cars' headlights be enough? (and costs vs bolting something on)

What have you got? Are you happy with them?
What would you do differently?

 

[Old.Tony]

I tried IPF "Fat Boy" bulbs. Definitely more light. Won't make that mistake again, they just didn't last.

LED is a good idea but the lenses of the headlights aren't right and you end up spreading light everywhere for oncoming drivers (even on low beam).

So I'm on standard halogens in the headlights, putting out about 2.5 candles' worth of light each, with a 120W light bar on the front, with a mix of flood/spot sections in the bar. Coverage is excellent. Visibility is excellent. It draws just 10A when it's on so you don't need to upgrade the alternator.

I haven't tried Supercheap. I got my lightbar from an eBay store run by sunyee (if I remember correctly, I've had it for years now). Some Supercheap stores allow you to test the lights (they have them set up on display), give 'em a try?

 

[Horatius]

Not sure there's a lot you can do with the headlights. If they're anything like the D22, they're awful. Also never seen as many brushtail possums on the road anywhere else, as they are in Tassie.

I left my headlights standard and have always had a set of driving lights to go with the high beams. I've got fog lights in the bull bar as well that help the low beams (not sure oncoming traffic likes them though lol) and are also useful off road. Though I leave the driving lights off all together in more urban areas, they're great in the back blocks. Throw a wide spread of brilliant white light for 500 mts and beyond. Saved many a marsupial and feral critter. Also caught sight of an emerald green eye shine of something that probably doesn't belong in the Aussie bush on one track, but that's another story (and hopefully it was misperception lol).

Have had brand names like ARB and Lightforce but the ones I have had for the last 6 yrs or so are cheap fleabay led's. Great set of driving lights, have taken lots of punishment without any problems. I got them because the set was far cheaper than replacing one rusted chrome retaining ring on the ARB's lol.

The problem with most cheapy sets (IMO) is the colour of the light. They usually have a blue tint that looks horrible. The "adventure kings" cheapies seem good except for that. I get a laugh out of light tests that explain the cheapies don't always throw out the light they advertise, at least I couldn't care less with mine. They work great and I could probably buy 6 sets for the price of some of the name brands.

Some negatives are that in general they can reflect aggressively from signage and if you do have to dip the lights, it suddenly feels like driving in the dark lol.

The problem with testing lights in store is you won't know what they're like until you get them on the road in different conditions. It might be best to ask around, strike up a conversation with people with different light set ups, they'll usually be happy to talk about it.

 

[GunMentalGrey]

Not sure about low beam, but chucking on an led light bar or spotties would help with high beam. I run a 20” light bar on mine and it makes a world of difference. Not great on distance but has quite good spread.

Our local trading sites have heaps on lightbars for sale for under $100. Often as low as $40. Add some wiring and it’s not a huge spend.

 

[johnl56]

I tried LEDs in my D22 but they caused issues with the CPU and it went into limp mode as soon as I turned on the lights. These were only cheapies from Ali express. I think you have to have CANBUS type which then costs a shit load. I have 250watt LED spotties for night time here in Tassie. And yes the wildlife here is a nightmare, hence I don't drive at night that much. Other people just don't give a shit about the wildlife and there is always road kill on our road. Possums, paddy melons and wallaby's.

 

[BarneyB]

I tried LEDs in my D22 but they caused issues with the CPU and it went into limp mode as soon as I turned on the lights. These were only cheapies from Ali express. I think you have to have CANBUS type which then costs a shit load. I have 250watt LED spotties for night time here in Tassie. And yes the wildlife here is a nightmare, hence I don't drive at night that much. Other people just don't give a shit about the wildlife and there is always road kill on our road. Possums, paddy melons and wallaby's.

My old man's place is in the bush at the end of a dirt road. There's hundreds of critters on the road at night.
He knows when the forestry workers have been through the area because there's an increase in roadkill.
They don't brake, swerve or avoid

 

[BarneyB]

I've been looking at the Olsta products at Navlife.com.au.

Anyone have any experience?
There's very little online about the brand. Just a video of the company staff trying (in vain) to destroy them!
Maybe they're a good compromise between the fleabay casino stuff and full price brand-name bling?

So what are the pro's and cons of bar versus round spotty/spread combo?

 

[GunMentalGrey]

Without really knowing, I can’t see there’s be a lot of difference between bar vs round LEDs. They typically all use the same LEDs, just arranged in a different shape. I guess a couple of round ones could be pointed in different directions, ie one left-ish one right-ish. Bar is stuck with straight ahead. Most bars will have a few spot and a few spread LEDs.

Older halogen or HID lights tend to have a better distance throw because of the larger reflector area.

 

[BarneyB]

So after much googling & YouTubing & procrastinating, I ordered these because they were having a 15% off sale.
I'll follow up with a review after I fit 'em.

https://supernovalighting.com.au/products/7-inch-led-driving-lights-intense

 

[Phunk]

I've added LED replacement globes to my Headlights that I grabbed off Ebay (NightEye Brand) and they have been fantastic.

10 fold brighter than haolgens and I adjust my headlights as low as possible to be courteous to others on the road.

When I say brighter, I mean noticeably brighter.

I've used the NightEye brand for a while now on multiple cars and they have been great.

I even popped some into my Fog Lights as well.

NIGHTEYE H4 HB2 9003 LED Headlight Kit Light Bulbs High/Low 72W 9000LM/Set White | eBay

 

[Erick]

Ran LED replacement headlights in my old Rodeo. Good but lit up everything including signs and the low high cutoff was not the best.
This time I’ve tried HID /only 35 watt, 6000 k) and love them.They don’t turn night into day like theLEDs but put the light where u want it-down the road. Distance penetration is great. And the road signs don’t dazzle Perhaps the best thing about them is that the bulb changes position to give high/low, there is none of that change in light output that normally occurs. Really makes a difference
I got a good set with remote ballasts. Does not interfere with radio like the LEDs did.

 

[gethro]

Ran LED replacement headlights in my old Rodeo. Good but lit up everything including signs and the low high cutoff was not the best.
This time I’ve tried HID /only 35 watt, 6000 k) and love them.They don’t turn night into day like theLEDs but put the light where u want it-down the road. Distance penetration is great. And the road signs don’t dazzle Perhaps the best thing about them is that the bulb changes position to give high/low, there is none of that change in light output that normally occurs. Really makes a difference
I got a good set with remote ballasts. Does not interfere with radio like the LEDs did.

What brand HiD do you use?

 

[Phunk]

What brand HiD do you use?

With HID's if you go down that path, do the 55w not the 35w versions.

55W cost a bit more but work so much better.

I've used HID's for many years, I much prefer LED.

 

[BarneyB]

OK so semi-update...

SuperNova 7 inch spotties fitted & tested. I drilled a second hole in the bar to allow for as much outboard placement as possible. I wanted to minimise any disruption to air flow to the various heat exchangers. (A YD25 doesn't need any encouragement to run hot....and my old school winch controller is bigger than a Ford Laser.

I've only had a quick drive up in the bush reserve behind my place. Adjusted the up/down....but didn't have the tools for port & starboard, so will need to tweak that a little next time I'm out past bed time.

Initial impressions? F#cking fantastic.
The build quality of the lights, the stainless brackets, the high quality hardware, the excellent loom/harness included (for no extra $).
All seems excellent. Sure they're probably made in Zhao Zhang Zing Zang Province....but you wouldn't blink if someone said they were Australian or USA made. The lights are very heavy for their size too, which I figure is good (?).

I don't have a photo of the light spread at night yet, but it's huge. And more importantly it's enough for what I need, and my budget.
I don't drive at night much.

These are the "little" 7 inch model and their power is amazing. The big boy 9" must be nuclear!

And FWIW I chucked in some Philips high performance halogen globes in the H/L housings to improve the regular low/high beam too.

I'll post up some night time photos soon....

 

[Phunk]

Good stuff mate, with those things you'll be able to see into next week.

Whats the lumen output rated to?

 

[BarneyB]

Good stuff mate, with those things you'll be able to see into next week.

Whats the lumen output rated to?

1 Lux @ 960 meters.
Lumens not given.

... and this;
"... Intense 7 surpasses standard IP69K PSI rating of 1450PSI with a staggering 3200PSI pass at 80 ºC..."

 

[Phunk]

From the layout and the amount of chips they'd be blinding

Hell, my H4 LED headlights can burn a hole through time, those spotties would be next level.

 

[Horatius]

So after much googling & YouTubing & procrastinating, I ordered these because they were having a 15% off sale.
I'll follow up with a review after I fit 'em.

https://supernovalighting.com.au/products/7-inch-led-driving-lights-intense

Look excellent mate, no doubt the marsupials will be grateful.

Looks like they have a mix of flood and spot reflectors. Will be interesting to hear what colour temperature the light is from them. The brilliant white light is best (IMO).