I've been looking into light bars to solve a lighting conundrum I have. My truck is my DD, as well as trail rig, exploration rig, and once it (and I) am ready, expedition rig. To this end, I want fill-in light when I'm running my high beams, but it has to be low profile (I'll be travelling from Idaho to Chile, one day).
Basically, when I'm off-road or on roads that have technical aspects as well as a need for long-range visibility, I need to be able to fill in that dark area created by my high beams in front of the truck. Think High+Low beams on at the same time.
Here's why I'm thinking light bar - my truck is a 2010 Tacoma - take a look at the grill - link. Up close, you can see there is room above the horizontal piece above the Toyota emblem and the top of the bezel. It looks like a light bar of the right design could fit right in there.
So here's what I need to know:
Is there a non-custom light bar that might work?
What kinds of heat considerations are there with the light being very close to the radiator and in-use at zero speed?
How much would a custom cost? Who builds them?
What level of light do you suggest? I don't want the lights to overpower the high-beams and restrict my long-range vision. I may or may not be able to run 80w/85w bulbs in the headlights.
Am I crazy?
Last edited by RiverRatMatt; 04-03-2012 at 03:27 AM.
Yours is an interesting situation: you need seeing distance provided by high beams, but you also need close-range light, but you also know enough (congratulations!) to worry about screwing up your distance vision by overlighting the foreground.
So you really don't need a lot of light in the foreground, you just need some. I would pick a good set of fog lamps that take H3 bulbs, derate them by installing 35w H3 bulbs, and aim them "walleyed" (left one angled somewhat left, right one angled somewhat right...opposite of cross-eyed). This would give you wide close-range illumination without ruining your distance visual acuity.
If you intend to increase the wattage of your headlight bulbs, you will need to beef up the wiring. And traffic glare on low beam will be a problem unless you lower the headlamp aim to the point that your own seeing distance will be shorter than it should be. This is a good application for a 100/55w bulb or similar.
Also, beware fatigued driving; you should definitely take more than one day to drive from Idaho to Chile. ;-)
For mounting, if you're not going to get an ARB (or similar), N-Fab makes a very nice, solid light bar that that is not too intrusive. I had one for a while, they are very solid. If you're in the Tacoma communities, you're probably familiar with them. They'll hold 4 lights. I purchased mine directly from N-Fab I think for $150.
Though, if you're building an expedition vehicle, I would imagine you're going to go with an ARB or other off-road/winch bumper.
I've seen a lot of guys to Ridgid/Vision-X (or similar) light bars in the grille, or more commonly in the lower bumper vent, as they are about perfect size for a LED bar. However, that's not going to help your situation as they will completely flood the near-field. They'd probably be great for technical trails.
ETA: I don't think you're going to find a set of decent fog lights that will fit in the open grille section, particularly if you want it mounted well. It's only a couple of inches. Some people do the mesh grilles and mount cheap lights to the plastic, but they have to do a lot of reinforcing and they still often get light shake. Most people that do behind-the-grille lights on the Tacomas either buy a custom radiator bracket (there's a couple good brands) or make their own that mounts to the radiator support. Those will be too far back to mount fog lights in the grille openings, though.
Hella makes some small, kind of oval fog lights. From pictures they seem pretty small. Those might be your best bet to fit in the grille (if you can figure out how to mount them), and Scheinwerfermann can probably say if they're crap or not. Hella FF 75's are what I am thinking about.
To answer your questions:
Is there a non-custom light bar that might work?
Some of the LED units claim long-range light, but will still flood near-field from all the pictures I've seen. The smaller LED units don't put out a lot of light though, most of the reviews with the longer-range lights are 30"+ sized bars.
What kinds of heat considerations are there with the light being very close to the radiator and in-use at zero speed?
None. The BDF or BKF or whatever radiator mount made for Tacomas will take 4 of the smaller Lightforces, and no real issue. I've not done it myself, but lots of people have lights mounted near the radiator and no issues (so my info is all anecdotal). The 2nd gen Tacomas have a mechanical fan, and it's going all the time so you should always have air moving through anyway.
How much would a custom cost? Who builds them?
I've only seen home-built custom LED style lights.
What level of light do you suggest? I don't want the lights to overpower the high-beams and restrict my long-range vision. I may or may not be able to run 80w/85w bulbs in the headlights.
The Tacoma has a 10A fuse for each light filament in the fuse box, but only a single relay per low/high (relay is before the fuses), so they will handle some bulb upgrades. Scheinwerfermann's suggestion for a 100w/55w bulb is interesting, I thought this was for motorcycles and not really appropriate for car use?
The late model Tacomas do not have negatively-switched headlights, so you can have a standard wiring harness.
OK, now that I've edited a couple times and thought about it, you *might* be able to do what Scheinwefermann recommends with a pair of Ridgid Duallys in amber. The smaller ones, not the new Dual Duallies or whatever. The light output should be less due to color, and they are tiny lights. They even have a newer diffuser patten for a higher flood pattern. They obviously will not work with oncoming traffic.
The only reason I mentioned amber is lower light output to prevent washout. I've heard mixed reviews on the light output amount on the smaller LED cubes. I'd probably steer clear of the D2's, just get ther regular Dually. There are also the Vixion-X Solstice singe 10W LED units, which may be physically smaller than the Rigid units. I'd probably go Rigid though, if they fit (which they should). The Solstice units, last I checked, were about $100 each.
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