LED off road lights

[35Remington]

Unless you are fixated on LEDS, I'd recommend HID. Several Top companies like, Hella and KC make them in the 4 - 6 inch size. The output blows leds away.

My experience has been the opposite.

 

[vmax]

To be fair, the Chinese knock-off lights still have decent output and tremendous savings. They cut cost on their housings and mounts, and also on their reflectors. I know a few guys that run them and they perform pretty well. If you really want to save money, I would do what I did on one of my SUVs.

In place of the factory fog lamps, I bought some GE Q4509 halogen lamps. They're used as landing lights for airplanes. They are a standard PAR36 size so you can get a housing for $10/ea from a big rig supply store. (PAR36 is a common size for truck applications.) From there, you only need to figure out wiring. I actually used the existing fog light wiring so I can control it with my factory fog light switch. But even if you go full custom, a spool of 18ga wire, a $5 switch from RadioShack, and some creative fabwork will do the trick.

My airplane landing lights are blindingly bright, and a total investment of about $60.

I had a budget in mind of around $150

I don't need a wiring harness.. I got that covered. A spool of wire, some heat shrink, zip ties, a relay and a switch.

I have property in the country and we drive back sometimes at dark. It's 15 miles down winding 1 1/2 lane roads till I get to the nearest town
I'd like to add some lights for that use for sure. I might just tag them into my Ford's factory fog lights. That way I can use the switch in the dash.
All I need to do that is a small amount of wire and a relay.

thanks to everyone for the help.. this info has been awesome

 

[T-FAST]

Here is a raptor that a friend owns... He's gonna do a 50" bar on the roof next.

 

[Dawico]

I had a budget in mind of around $150

I don't need a wiring harness.. I got that covered. A spool of wire, some heat shrink, zip ties, a relay and a switch.

I have property in the country and we drive back sometimes at dark. It's 15 miles down winding 1 1/2 lane roads till I get to the nearest town
I'd like to add some lights for that use for sure. I might just tag them into my Ford's factory fog lights. That way I can use the switch in the dash.
All I need to do that is a small amount of wire and a relay.

thanks to everyone for the help.. this info has been awesome

Think about tethering them to your brights. If you hook them up with your fog lights then you can't use your fog lights seperately. Also generally your fog lights shut off when you hit the brights and you couldn't use the brights and new lights together.

Just be sure you can shut the new lights off seperately from your brights for normal bright use.

 

[AKM]

LEDs are great I know a lot of guys I know stopped using HP lights and switched to LED on their bow fishing boats. Heard good things about them using them off road also

 

[M. Sage]

My experience has been the opposite.

+1. And HIDs are about as unreliable an automotive light source as you can get. I uninstalled a kit on a Mustang we sold and put the OE bulbs back in because the stupid aftermarket kit quit working.

 

[T-FAST]

^ I've never had a problem with HIDs, actually had a kit on my civic for 6yrs no problems. Having said that, LEDs are superior.

 

[M. Sage]

^ I've never had a problem with HIDs, actually had a kit on my civic for 6yrs no problems. Having said that, LEDs are superior.

I see problems with the kits all the time. Factory setups seem to be a bit better.

IMO, the complexity of the HID system is stupid (bulb plus ignitor plus ballast... Yeah, just like a fluorescent light.) and they don't seem to be very good at handling vibration or shock.

 

[T-FAST]

I agree, I have friends that replace theirs every year, I got lucky with my kit and I put the ballast in a place outside of the engine compartment so it got cold air.

 

[kusai]

I did a 42" Led bar on my 2013 tundra last year. Its a 240watt wicked bright led bar, I pretty much did my part on research before I bought it off from china. You can't beat it at $200 shipped by DHL on 3rd day delivery and even if it blows every year I can change it for next 15 years and its still better than $3000 vision x, and here's my take on the one's that you can buy in US

Rigid: Made by Hanma or used to be and Hanma are half the price of rigid and exactly identical. Beware rigid threatens to sue people who buy hamna ;-)
Vision X: overly price good stuff
There are others but most of them imported from china.

Here where I bought mine.

Here's mine

 

[tXfactor]

I did a 42" Led bar on my 2013 tundra last year. Its a 240watt wicked bright led bar, I pretty much did my part on research before I bought it off from china. You can't beat it at $200 shipped by DHL on 3rd day delivery and even if it blows every year I can change it for next 15 years and its still better than $3000 vision x, and here's my take on the one's that you can buy in US

Rigid: Made by Hanma or used to be and Hanma are half the price of rigid and exactly identical. Beware rigid threatens to sue people who buy hamna ;-)
Vision X: overly price good stuff
There are others but most of them imported from china.

Here where I bought mine.

Here's mine

well done.

i should pick one up...

 

[PhulesAu]

I see problems with the kits all the time. Factory setups seem to be a bit better.

IMO, the complexity of the HID system is stupid (bulb plus ignitor plus ballast... Yeah, just like a fluorescent light.) and they don't seem to be very good at handling vibration or shock.

I have the Hella self contained, 3 years back roads at speed, Texas highways and regular trip to the beach. NOT 1 problem yet.

 

[tXfactor]

I think some of us are talking about different types of HID lights. The KCs and Hellas are dedicated off-road lights designed to handle the punishment. They are certainly very reliable. Some people seem to be grouping them with the cheap Chinese knockoff HID conversion kits, which certainly are shit quality and tend to fail quite regularly.

 

[tXfactor]

I have the Hella self contained, 3 years back roads at speed, Texas highways and regular trip to the beach. NOT 1 problem yet.

I had Hella HIDs before my LEDs, and never had a single problem with them. They were excellent. I just switched to LEDs because it's what the cool kids are doing, and also I prefer the sleek, almost hidden look of my light bar, as opposed to 5 big ass HIDs on the roof.

 

[PhulesAu]

I had Hella HIDs before my LEDs, and never had a single problem with them. They were excellent. I just switched to LEDs because it's what the cool kids are doing, and also I prefer the sleek, almost hidden look of my light bar, as opposed to 5 big ass HIDs on the roof.

Yeah I hate that Cool shit!!!! But 2 75w on the rack, and it's Day light for mile or more.

 

[PhulesAu]

PS. After Brain Fart...... Here's a place to look. www.larsonelectronics.com Spotlights and Flashlights - HID Equipment Lights ? HID Lights - 12 volt flood lights - 12 volt spot light - 24 volt flood lights - 24 volt spotlights - Larson Electronics

 

[kusai]

Not trying to hijack but anyone have any idea on the laws for LED Light bar running during day time. Night time I know they scare crap out of people so no point running at night in city.

 

[DMC]

Surplus Center

These guys have some decently priced led lights and bars, I run their larger light bar on my golf cart along with 6 of their flood lights. All of them on will light up a 30 acre field.

 

[35Remington]

I think I will add this to the ranch truck in the next couple of weeks.

http://www.amazon.com/Tuff-Stuff-Performance-Light-Led-180W-11/dp/B00BF2RCXA/ref=cm_rdp_product

 

[PhulesAu]

Not trying to hijack but anyone have any idea on the laws for LED Light bar running during day time. Night time I know they scare crap out of people so no point running at night in city.

They would be the same as any other forward facing light. Check txdot, most of these bars are not for highway use.