Derick Freese wrote: I want to get something to light up mailbox numbers for when I deliver at night. Does a light bar seem like overkill for the task?
You need a decent $5-25 flashlight. Having used p71 spot lights driving taxi and flashlights a pocket or smallish 3 led ebay flashlight will work much better. If you want to know more or a recommendation send a pm
In reply to wbjones:
When I worked there I took them out of the box and hooked them up to a battery, then shut the lights off in the back half of the store. They seemed very bright compared to the other fogs we had, and they had a nice wide pattern.
I have to go there tomorrow, so I'll grab some pics of them and see if it has any details on the box.
thanks ... I really would like a wide pattern fog type, to help the low beams, (but not so wide pattern that on coming traffic would be flashing me ... so mounted quite low), and a tight pattern driving type to help the high beams ... so the front of the truck would be full of ancillary lighting 
that is a nice pick up in the forward lighting ... how much mph safety do you thing you picked up ?
There are some knock offs out there starting to use lenses on them. Not many, and they aren't cheap, but they are WAY better for a 'driving light' I have a cheap one, and it throws a berk ton of light, but it washes out the foreground really bad and is hard for your eyes to adjust to at anything more than say 20mph. Ever get in snow/fog? Forget about it, it makes it into a white wall in front of you.
Keith Tanner wrote: We used bars from Lang Racing in the 25 Hour a few years ago. I've also used them on a customer build. I was quite happy with them, and they come with a variety of patterns. http://store.langracing.com/motorsport-lighting/ and http://store.langracing.com/10w-evolution-motorsport-led-light-bars/
These look fantastic. I know where I'm getting my next set.
java230 wrote: There are some knock offs out there starting to use lenses on them. Not many, and they aren't cheap, but they are WAY better for a 'driving light' I have a cheap one, and it throws a berk ton of light, but it washes out the foreground really bad and is hard for your eyes to adjust to at anything more than say 20mph. Ever get in snow/fog? Forget about it, it makes it into a white wall in front of you.
Thank god i moved south!
I've been thinking about adding a LED bar to my '14 Honda CR-V because the factory lighting is so very poor. (The factory fogs are better than the high beams.). How weave are these things and how rigid does the mount need to be? Nobody makes a grill guard/bash bar for my car and my fabrication skills are sorely limited...
These are getting good reviews if you have the grill space 
96W of LED's each, but they are 9" round.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pair-Red-Round-9-96W-Cree-Led-Driving-Spot-Work-Light-4WD-Offroad-VS-Hid-100W-/191248429429?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c874b7175&vxp=mtr&rmvSB=true
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/131732-Clone-of-ARB-Intensity-LED-Driving-Light-Light-Force-250!
Two vehicles were blasting lights similar to these on my one mile commute home from work. One directly behind me and one coming towards me. Both XJ cherokees unsurprisingly.
That was pretty much my view for a while. berkeley those things. They don't belong in traffic.
if they would design those with lenses that made them act like normal driving/fog lights, I think they would be exactly what I'm after ...
A) lots of light
B) aimed with cutoff to mimic current fog or driving lights ...
but ... yeah ... with those the way they are ... that's bad ... I've actually pulled off and made someone pass me (who wouldn't switch to their low beams, even with every oncoming car flashing their highs at them) and then pulled in behind them and switched on my high beams ... lowered each time there was on coming traffic, then back up again ... he never did figure it out ....
yeah, I know shiny happy person actions on my part are no more acceptable than shiny happy person actions on his part ... but in my defense (not much of one) I was much younger and much more prone to doing stupid things
What about putting LED bulbs in place of the H3 bulbs in any set of driving lights, like Hellas, PIAAs, Cibies, etc? Then you have focused beams of whatever type you wish, and low power consumption so the alternator can keep up.
Or, are those replacement bulbs just a bunch of LEDs that end up drawing as much power as the halogens anyway?
Jumper K. Balls wrote:
I hardly use mine on the street, and I always turn them off if anyone is ahead of me at any range. I'm really tempted to use them to punish people who don't turn their high-beams off, but then we'd both be blinded.
Sorry, but until I see a legitimate use of aftermarket LED lights for on road use, anyone who drives with them on in traffic is an shiny happy person.
I've griped about it enough here and there's too many brodozers and 4-Door Jeep Wranglers out here driving with them on all the time. I get that we live out here in the country and it gets pretty dark, but there is no need to see 20 miles ahead of you.
Sanchinguy wrote: I've been thinking about adding a LED bar to my '14 Honda CR-V because the factory lighting is so very poor. (The factory fogs are better than the high beams.). How weave are these things and how rigid does the mount need to be? Nobody makes a grill guard/bash bar for my car and my fabrication skills are sorely limited...
Depends on the size. They all have huge aluminum heatsinks on them and plenty of hardware to hold them together, so even the little 6-led units weigh more than your average incandescent foglight.
Edit: Found pics of my mounts. These have survived heavy offroad use, they're made of steel a bit more than 1mm thick, 18-gauge IIRC:
And updated my rides entry with new pics, here are the fogs mounted:
In reply to Jumper K. Balls:
I've actually been wanting to add a set of lights pretty much exactly like that to my Cherokee for a while now. If you've seen the output from the stock headlights you would understand why, and I do a lot of driving on lightly trafficked rural roads (with LOTS of deer.) Still no excuse to behave like an shiny happy person with them though. I'd plan to wire mine to the high beam switch as well as a separate switch for the aux lights, such that they could only be used with the high beams on but could also be left off completely.
On a related note, does anyone else feel like a lot of newer crossovers with stock HIDs have the low beams really poorly aimed? I seem to find myself muttering "turn your brights off, shiny happy person" a lot anymore, only to watch them turn the high beams ON immediately after passing me. Its been a pet peeve of mine lately.
DeadSkunk wrote: What about putting LED bulbs in place of the H3 bulbs in any set of driving lights, like Hellas, PIAAs, Cibies, etc? Then you have focused beams of whatever type you wish, and low power consumption so the alternator can keep up. Or, are those replacement bulbs just a bunch of LEDs that end up drawing as much power as the halogens anyway?
I seem to remember some folk doing this .. can't remember what the problems were ... among other "problems" was the lack of heat, so condensation was a problem ... what else I don't remember
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Sorry, but until I see a legitimate use of aftermarket LED lights for on road use, anyone who drives with them on in traffic is an shiny happy person. I've griped about it enough here and there's too many brodozers and 4-Door Jeep Wranglers out here driving with them on all the time. I get that we live out here in the country and it gets pretty dark, but there is no need to see 20 miles ahead of you.
but those don't really give you the "20 mi" view ... for what I've seen all these do is light up right around the vehicle ... again, if it would be focuses way down the road I'd be happy ... it would be nice to see the deer before they jump in front of me LOL
SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: Sorry, but until I see a legitimate use of aftermarket LED lights for on road use, anyone who drives with them on in traffic is an shiny happy person. I've griped about it enough here and there's too many brodozers and 4-Door Jeep Wranglers out here driving with them on all the time. I get that we live out here in the country and it gets pretty dark, but there is no need to see 20 miles ahead of you.
I agree that they should never be used in traffic, but I live in the sticks in deer country. I have a use for them.
Furious_E wrote: In reply to Jumper K. Balls: I've actually been wanting to add a set of lights pretty much exactly like that to my Cherokee for a while now. If you've seen the output from the stock headlights you would understand why, and I do a lot of driving on lightly trafficked rural roads (with LOTS of deer.) Still no excuse to behave like an shiny happy person with them though. I'd plan to wire mine to the high beam switch as well as a separate switch for the aux lights, such that they could only be used with the high beams on but could also be left off completely. On a related note, does anyone else feel like a lot of newer crossovers with stock HIDs have the low beams really poorly aimed? I seem to find myself muttering "turn your brights off, shiny happy person" a lot anymore, only to watch them turn the high beams ON immediately after passing me. Its been a pet peeve of mine lately.
not only the lows.. I have seen many cars running around with the highs on.. and I didn't even notice until I realized that the entire "pod" was light up inside and outside lights. It was no wonder they were running with the highs on, the entire light was aimed at the ground
I'm actually kinda surprised my local oil change place doesn't offer headlight aiming as a service. They try and upsell everything else.
In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:
There are some DOT approved ones for 7" round replacements. But they are serious $$$
oldopelguy wrote: I'm actually kinda surprised my local oil change place doesn't offer headlight aiming as a service. They try and upsell everything else.
I wish most places would. I remember when I bought my old Hyundai Tiburon, new off of the dealer's lot. It was my first car with projector headlights and was quite disappointed with how poorly they lit up the road. It was not after almost hitting somebody walking across the street that I realized they were never aimed correctly.. once I brought them "up" by a considerable margin, I became impressed with the amount of light they put on the road. They were aimed so far "down" that they were at the limits of the adjusters.. from the factory
Jeez. I never knew before how expensive these things are! Crazy!
Got mine in yesterday and was so excited I laid on the driveway in the cold for 45 minutes to get them hooked up:
one on each side of the bumper, wired into the reverse light wire in the trailer connector. I just used existing holes in the (beat to hell) bumper. They don't really hang down any further than the hitch, but they seem sort of exposed. I probably worry too much.
First impression? Berk me these things put out light! I can back up like Mater running wild around Radiator Springs. Seriously, the amount of light for $20 is astounding and they seem to be built like a tank. I didn't bother to disassemble and seal them, but I might come boating season. Or I might not. I did notice that while you get a LOT of light, it doesn't have a lot of throw - great for close, bad for long distance. These are the "flood" version, so that's what I would expect. I could see using them on the front of a vehicle for nighttime off roading, but speeds over about 10mph are going to make them useless.
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