best spot light?

[harlowmaverick]

Ok boys and girls, darkness is falling quicker than ever and we we all be searching out ways of illuminating the way forward in our trucks.
So what are the best spot lights to get
What are the best fog lights to get
What is the best way of mounting either of these as well.
Tell us all what you have.

 

[zippy656]

i think xlights... are the dogs..

but a bit pricey..

 

[lacroupade]

I used to swear by horribly expensive, but oh-so-cool chrome KC Daylighters.

I thoink when it comes to decent lighting the Yanks have the edge.....

 

[zippy656]

I used to swear by horribly expensive, but oh-so-cool chrome KC Daylighters.

I thoink when it comes to decent lighting the Yanks have the edge.....

i have KC's back in the day.. great lights!


and chrome!!!

 

[Fez_uk]

a few people on fwdc have these and highly rate them

http://24x7diy.com/index.php/cPath/23

 

[harlowmaverick]

Is it the hid or the led cree lights that are popular?

 

[Sparks61]

I have a pair of Hella Illuminator Compact Xenons that I am in the process of fitting. If my mate remembers to "acquire" some specific cable I want then I should get get them on by next weekend (I hope)

 

[harlowmaverick]

So where is everyone mounting these light and where are they routing the cables and hiding the relays

 

[ocelot]

I find the standard fitment sufficient on the front, on the rear, I have two worklights which are remote and on clips so can be plugged in and moved around to suit......
Typically, I use a marine light which is less prone to corrosion.......
Relays are fitted to the inner wings using sealant to stop rust in the holes, control via custom switches on the dash.......

 

[makeitfit]

So where is everyone mounting these light and where are they routing the cables and hiding the relays

See my photobucket link. Roof lights via military connector , undoable, fog light switch on dash. Rear work lights customised into rear lights, via extra fog light on dash
I did a write up on them too search and see :thumb2
Rear lights here http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4697&highlight=rear+work+lights

 

[makeitfit]

Roof lights here http://www.nissan4x4ownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3972&highlight=roof+spots but cant find the military socket version. the one in the pic fried :doh

 

[Sparks61]

Just finally got finished fitting the Hellas. The install is probably illegal UK-wise I know, but here they aren't so fussy. I have used an unused slot in the fuse box for power - adjusted a flat 1/4" spade so it goes in and locks properly and then I can use a standard 30A fuse ( I can't stand extra wires tagged on the battery terminal).
Switched the power through a control relay which is controlled with an illuminated switch below the dash fed from an ignition live - that way I can see when the lights are "live"; they can't be on without the ignition and I can keep them turned off when required (Icelandic rule). The light relays are switched via the high beam feed.
All the relays are bolted to the inner wing using un-used 6mm bolt holes.

The brackets water jet cut from 3mm Stainless. I had to drill extra holes in the middle of the light brackets and bolt through the top of the bumper behind the grill using spacers as the lights were too bouncy - seem good now.

Lights hung on and the ballasts fitted

Panel fitted and lights sort of squared.

They stick out the front a bit but not toooo bad

The ballasts behind the grill panel

I know the ballasts are exposed but they are hermetically sealed and the connectors all waterproof. It was the only sensible place I could find for them - the wires from the lights to the ballast are pre-terminated and not very long.

Have a trip out tonight and see if I have aligned them properly

 

[rustic]

They look great, but don't be surprised when you get vibration, which will cause the lights to wobble about up and down.

In my opinion, you need a brace to as close to the lamp fixing point as possible either from below or from above, as there is a huge overhang from the 2 small fixing screws that attach it to the bumper.

It doesn't need to be over strong either.

Good luck with the test.

 

[Sparks61]

Hi Rustic, yes I realised the two hole mounting wasn't enough and so I drilled an extra hole about midway down the plate (it wasn't done yet on the pics of the plates) and bolted through the plastic bumper (just behind the grill where it is hidden) - fitted plastic spacers to suit. It is much better but still has a little bounce. There is no physical stay point on the back of the lights. Will se what we get soon

 

[rustic]

Hi Rustic, yes I realised the two hole mounting wasn't enough and so I drilled an extra hole about midway down the plate (it wasn't done yet on the pics of the plates) and bolted through the plastic bumper (just behind the grill where it is hidden) - fitted plastic spacers to suit. It is much better but still has a little bounce. There is no physical stay point on the back of the lights. Will se what we get soon

Hi is it possible to put a spacer direct to the metal work within the bumper and drill a clearance hole through the plastic bumper through to the mounting plate, this will probably help.

I fitted 2 rectangular spot lights ( 100 Watt each air cooled by the rad fan)behind the Plastic grill and they are rock solid, and I only used very thin (less than 1mm), galvanised sheet bent at 90 degrees for the stabilisers.

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

can you explain what the ballasts do, and why these lights use them,
and how much more light you gain from them in the process, please.

prices?

 

[geoffdown]

can you explain what the ballasts do, and why these lights use them,
and how much more light you gain from them in the process, please.

prices?

the ballasts r there to turn 12v to much higher voltage to run the hid light bulbs a 35w hid produces the same amount of light as a 55w halogen but u can get diff colours like day light 6000k they seam brighter to the eye as its better colour as to the yellowish halogens which r 4300k(colour temp)

and how much more light its alot better than a halgon bulb the new 55w hids not street legal r 5x brighter than 55w halogens hope this helps

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

on my mk2 terrano2 I mounted some truck 9" spots, with side light bulbs
though that truck had a much slimmer centre grill panel.

I drilled down into the bumper finding quite a tough bit of metal below the
black finish.

The lights were were pretty stable and due to their height it was just
possible to see the tops of them over the bonnet and as such have an
idea where the front of the car was.


Surely even if lights are illegal for road use they can be wired via their own
switch AND the main beam selector. As I was looking at 100W traditional
bulbs for those spots.

 

[geoffdown]

on my mk2 terrano2 I mounted some truck 9" spots, with side light bulbs
though that truck had a much slimmer centre grill panel.

I drilled down into the bumper finding quite a tough bit of metal below the
black finish.

The lights were were pretty stable and due to their height it was just
possible to see the tops of them over the bonnet and as such have an
idea where the front of the car was.


Surely even if lights are illegal for road use they can be wired via their own
switch AND the main beam selector. As I was looking at 100W traditional
bulbs for those spots.

from what i know which is not alot main beam is fine but u cant use 55w hids in dip lights as they will dazzle on coming traffic

 

[Sparks61]

Well used the spots in "combat" for the first time today. Not bad but I had them set too high and I still do have too much bounce even with the spacers. I will take some pics tomorrow in daylight with what I think will fix it but basically I think some wide packers at the very front half of the light bracket will fix it.

@ Thomas - the ballasts are because , as geoffdown said, these are Xenon discharge lights rather than Halogen. I wanted these basically to keep the power usage down. They produce a very white light and these are pencil spots. Prices ?? - don't ask but I got a very good deal on them as they were ex-display and the guy in the shop didn't think to much when he was pricing them. I have seen them advertised for £300 + EACH but I didn't pay anything like that. Do a search for " Hella Xenon Luminator Metal"

If anyone is interested I'll do a pdf of the wiring diagram which includes power control.