Nick, Author at Off Road Dad

Driving through a snowstorm in the mountains you start to think do I need more light? Chances are if you own an a 4Runner or a different off road vehicle at some point you have pondered needing more light. So does the average off road vehicle owner need a light bar? If you are a mountain driver, go camping off road or find yourself driving in adverse weather, the answer is YES. If you are city driver or rarely go camping or off road I would say, NO. Average Cost You can go from mild to wild in the lighting category. There are Chinese light bars that can be bought for next to nothing, or you can opt for the higher end brands like Baja Designs and Rigid Industries. You can get into the game for under $100 while some of the higher end units can push you well over $1000 depending on size. Between my past Jeep and my current 4Runner I have had a few different light bars. I have had a 50" Rigid Industries light bar on my Jeep that cost me in the neighborhood of $1500. When I started on the 4Runner I had a fairly middle of the road Cali Raised 30" light bar that I paid $300 for. In my current setup I have a 30" Baja Designs S8 in amber. This particular light bar will set you back about $750. When do light bars come in handy? Night Time Driving It is always nice to have extra light when its dark out. I love cranking up my auxiliary lights when its pitch black and no one else is around. It is especially nice to have when we head up to our cabin and its dark out. Driving up dark canyon roads demands all the light you can get to avoid deer and elk. Camping If you roll into camp late at night, you will be wishing you had some sort of extra light to set up with. Trust me I've been the guy trying to set up a tent in the dark with a flashlight in my mouth. (Do yourself a favor and put a headlamp in your vehicle now). If you tend to camp in campgrounds around other people just be sure to be aware of what you will be blasting with your light bar before you fire it up. I have also been the guy rolling into camp late with my 50" light bar on and there were more than a few angry campers out there. Driving in Adverse Weather This is probably the time I use my light bar the most. Snow in Colorado can be bad at times and this is the main reason I chose to go with an amber light bar. The amber color cuts through the adverse weather better than the white colors. White will reflect off the snow or fog much more than amber. Off Roading at NightThe biggest and most important time to have an auxiliary light bar would be if you are off-roading at night. You may not think you will be off-roading at night, but you'd be surprised how easily a simple daytime 4-wheeling trip can run into night. A wrong turn or a flat tire in a bad spot are a few situations that would keep you out on the trail much later than anticipated. Light Bar Laws There are very few light bars that are actually street legal. I highly suggest you check your local laws before running any non DOT compliant lights on the street. Rigid Industries does make the adapt series of light bars that will adjust brightness and beam patterns according to speed and location of the vehicle. You will pay a hefty price for these light bars. If you plan on running your auxiliary lights on the street make sure they are stamped with SAE or DOT. Most times those designations will not be the brightest lights out there but they will have a focused beam that will not blind oncoming traffic. Photo by Linh Pham on Unsplash Color Choices I personally have chosen to run amber lights on my truck. This is mainly for adverse weather conditions. In the past I have run white lights on other vehicles. To give you an idea I had a 50" Rigid Industries light bar on the roof of my jeep along with a 10" single row rigid light bar on my bumper. With the 10" one I had a yellow lens on it for bad weather. I almost NEVER used my 50" light bar. When I moved into the 4Runner I always said I did'nt need a light bar on my roof, so I just went with an inexpensive white one behind the grill. I have since moved into the yellow Baja Designs one and was very surprised how much more light comes out of the Baja Designs one. I rarely used the white light one on the 4Runner, but do find that I flip on the yellow one more often. White light will give you the best visibility in normal situations, but I have found myself in those situations less that I would imagine. I have been driving home from work in heavy snow storms more than a few times. This is when having a good amber light bar pays off. Placement and Installation Most light bars are pretty straight forward to install. Some come with switches, while other companies make you buy them after the fact. I personally run an Spod BantamX system to power all my add on accessories. This makes wiring so easy a cave man could do it. You run one ethernet cable into the cab, and the brains stay under the hood. Wiring things up is as simple as running positive and ground to the brain. The Baja Design light bar has an option to have running lights hooked up while the light bar is off. You can leave this if its not for you, I personally like the look-- just hook another wire to a positive source. As far as placement, I am over the light bars on the roof. On the Jeep it whistled like crazy on the highway. The other thing to consider with a roof mounted light bar is that it will shine on your hood. Some hoods will glare right in your face with all that light. Currently I have one 30" light bar mounted in the Low-pro bumper on the front of my 4Runner. This single light bar paired with headlights and fog lights are more than enough light for me. If you need more light than that, I would say to throw that 40"-50" light bar on your roof. Final Thoughts It never hurts to have more light available when you need it. The average driver will be fine never having a light bar on their vehicle. If you plan to go off-road it is definitely a good thing to have. As far as price goes, you do get what you pay for. Cheap lights will turn yellowish over time, and may develop leaks. Your higher end brands will definitely be brighter and come with better customer service if you happen to have any issues. One reason I tend to lean towards Baja Designs personally is they sell lenses that can be changed out by the end user. If someday I want to to change all my lights to white all I need to do is buy an inexpensive lens. I do have a mix of Baja Designs and Rigid Industries lights on my truck right now and these are the brands I would feel confident in recommending.