Amber chase lights

HoffmanMark

HoffmanMark

Rank III

Enthusiast III

684
Dallas, Texas, USA
First Name
Mark
Last Name
Hoffman
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6806

Hi OB crew!
I’m looking for amber light options to install on the rear of my roof rack. Ones that can pull double duty of being a nighttime camp set up light and a chase light when I lead the group down dusty trails. I would like it if had a strobe option. I’ve seen many emergency light setups, but they are way to big. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks
 
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Diode Dynamics SSC2 (Sport). I originally got these in white with an amber backlight and used an amber lens cover. I since replaced the pods lens with amber.
 
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If I was running a roof rack I would run one of the lightbars like the ones here: Chase Bars
They come in different sizes and sections can have different light colors. For me: Red attached to brake lights on the two outside, Amber just inboard of those, and white work lights in the middle
 
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I like the Baja Designs S1, but they don't have a strobe feature that I'm aware of, but they are small, bright, and built well. And at $200 they aren't cheap, but they won't break the bank, either. They're a high quality light, though, not some Chinese knock-off, and priced accordingly. I don't have any of these on my truck (yet, I spent 2020's light budget on LP6s for the front) but I do have a pair on my dual sport motorcycle and I love them.
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ptgarcia said:
I like the Baja Designs S1, but they don't have a strobe feature that I'm aware of, but they are small, bright, and built well. And at $200 they aren't cheap, but they won't break the bank, either. They're a high quality light, though, not some Chinese knock-off, and priced accordingly. I don't have any of these on my truck (yet, I spent 2020's light budget on LP6s for the front) but I do have a pair on my dual sport motorcycle and I love them.
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They're actually $100 a pop if you just get a single. Two chase lights is better for communicating distance but I (and race orgs as well) think one would suffice for caution. Excellent lights though. I just installed their dual S1 reverse kit on my truck and I'm swapping it out for being too bright back there... they basically compete with my factory LED headlights so ordered some a-pillar brackets to get some sideways lighting.


For OP, you can get a strobe box for any light for relatively cheap and do a DPST switch to trigger it ON-OFF-STROBE. I've found 1,000 lumens about right for a chase light so something like a BD S2 Sport that accepts a cover is probably the best bet for dual use. You can always experiment with Rit dyes as well to tint clear lenses to reduce output if they're too bright for camp.

And because this always seems to come up discussing chase lights... amber is the standard for racing for a reason. Don't listen to people who tell you red's lower wavelength travels better through dust. They're right, but it's academic because you get 4x the transmissivity of light with amber over red so you'd need 4x the power to make the argument valid.
 
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Baja Designs S1/S2 or KC Hilites flex lights would be my two suggestions as they both have replaceable lenses. Spendy, but worth it for the size and durability. I have seen one of these companies make a specific chase light bar, both make one I believe, but that may not suite your needs depending on what rig these will go on.
 
Another big plus for Baja Designs is their customer service. If you contact them directly, they will put together a light set to your specifications. For instance, the lights on my motorcycle are not sold on their web page in that configuration. It only took an email for me to get exactly what I wanted, with no extra charge over the pre-packaged light pairs.
 
I have a pair of KC Cyclones that I’ve yet to hook up but they are small, cheap, and put out about 500 lumens each.
I don’t know if they’ll be ideal as dust lights but for sure better than being invisible in a cloud of flour.
 
Sputnik said:
I have a pair of KC Cyclones that I’ve yet to hook up but they are small, cheap, and put out about 500 lumens each.
I don’t know if they’ll be ideal as dust lights but for sure better than being invisible in a cloud of flour.
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I have two of those in white I am going to use for underhood lights. Seem to be decent quality.
 
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