How much led light is too much led lights?

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sapietrzak

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Shawn
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Pietrzak
I have my light bar, "alley" lights, rock lights, aux reverse lights, swapped out factory driving lights and fog lights and I have fantasies about a roof rack with floods!! Am I sick? Too much? I didn't mean to be (too) flip but lights are cool!!

Cubes on the fender are cool!! CBI makes "ditch lights" that I like very much and I think are similar.....since one of the "reasons" for my truck is a "World War Z" scenario - I think "too much light" is an irrelevant point......
Got any pics? I am too building a "survival" rig per say.
 
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iamsuperdan

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Stony Plain, AB
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Nothing wrong with some extra lighting. Too much though? That's entirely up to you.

Here's the Jeep I had last year. Just a little extra in the mirrors.

 

timberwolf_120

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Influencer II

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Ridgecrest, CA
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ok so Id just like to add this in here since my buddy is telling me I should buy rigid lights (ive spent on average 20 bucks a set for my cubes and 40 for the ones on my roof rack, add all that up and it equals about 200 bucks and the light output is pretty good)
so I went to rigids site and did this, if I were to replace every light I have and add a 30" lightbar this is what it would cost me


Shopping cart

Shopping Cart
Product Price Quantity Remove Total
Radiance 30" Blue Back-Light $339.99 $339.99
D-SS | Spot Pair $299.99 $299.99
D-Seried Midnight Edition | Flush Mount Pair $234.99 $234.99
Dually HD - Flood - Pair $259.99 $519.98
E-Series & SR-Series Security Kit $28.99 $173.94
Light Bar Security Kit $19.99 $19.99
E 6" - Diffused $299.99 $1,799.94
D-Series Security Kit $28.99 $57.98
Flushmount Security Kit $8.99 $8.99
Total: $3,455.79

that's just absolutely ridiculous...especially with how many lightbars are being stolen lately...id rather have a set or hell all of my cheapo knock offs stolen and replace them without breaking my bank..then pay 3500 dollars to have them possibly stolen
 
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The other Sean

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Pathfinder I

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Minneapolis
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ok so Id just like to add this in here since my buddy is telling me I should buy rigid lights (ive spent on average 20 bucks a set for my cubes and 40 for the ones on my roof rack, add all that up and it equals about 200 bucks and the light output is pretty good)
so I went to rigids site and did this, if I were to replace every light I have and add a 30" lightbar this is what it would cost me


Shopping cart

Shopping Cart
Product Price Quantity Remove Total
Radiance 30" Blue Back-Light $339.99 $339.99
D-SS | Spot Pair $299.99 $299.99
D-Seried Midnight Edition | Flush Mount Pair $234.99 $234.99
Dually HD - Flood - Pair $259.99 $519.98
E-Series & SR-Series Security Kit $28.99 $173.94
Light Bar Security Kit $19.99 $19.99
E 6" - Diffused $299.99 $1,799.94
D-Series Security Kit $28.99 $57.98
Flushmount Security Kit $8.99 $8.99
Total: $3,455.79

that's just absolutely ridiculous...especially with how many lightbars are being stolen lately...id rather have a set or hell all of my cheapo knock offs stolen and replace them without breaking my bank..then pay 3500 dollars to have them possibly stolen
Add to that I would be terrified of a tree branch taking out a $$$ light. 99% of trails here in MN are in the woods.
 

TreXTerra

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Salt Lake City, Utah
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Check out Aurora lights. They are a very high quality light with excellent projection (much better than the cheap Chinesium ones on eBay) and cheaper than Rigid while having a similar build quality. Some you can even get with 5W LEDs instead of the usual 3W.
 

Mike W

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I use some little "OPT7 18w Cree LED pods" on KC HiLiTES 7300 light mount brackets (tube clamp). I put that on an OPT7 wireless remote relay harness, which has a little keychain remote.

I can move them left/right/up/down to point where I need them. The are spots, but at about 15ft away they are pretty broad and light up a normal camp area really well. I wouldn't want any more than the 18w pods just due to power use. I typically power them on really late at night in camp with the engine off, so I really don't want a super bright light bar which I also can't aim out into the woods if I need.

Having the remotes is nice for camp. I can have the remote in the tent with me and if I hear a noise or someone wants to get out/up.. i can touch a button and light up camp without getting out of my bag.

The remote unit can sometimes pickup stray signals (bad) and it also defaults to ON when it looses power.. which is just stupid. I might just put another switch relay inline with it so I can switch the whole thing off rather than unplugging it. I'd hate to part at an airport or be driving through town and have them come on without me knowing. I need to replace that remote part when/if I find a higher quality version. (please point me at options if you know of any.)





 
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Joey D

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Holladay, UT
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I have a Morimoto light bar on my roof rack and the thing is stupidly bright, but it works really well on back roads and has saved me from hitting a deer before. I also have KC FlexPods on my A-pillar which work really well as ditch lights. I think it's the right amount of light for my needs right now, although I do have a set of 9" round LED ARB Intensity knock-offs that I have in my garage I might install at some point.

I think it's important just to be able to control the amount of light you have. Put everything on separate switches and that way if it's too much light then you can just flip a bank of them off.

I'm also a big fan of mixing amber/yellow and white light.
 

15Canyon

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Edmonton
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I think it's important just to be able to control the amount of light you have. Put everything on separate switches and that way if it's too much light then you can just flip a bank of them off.
I definitely agree with that. Sometimes all-or-nothing is too much and you just need a couple on.
 

SlicedVeggie

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Traveler I

60
Utah
IMO - its too much when you start getting redundant. ie: if you have multiple lights doing the same job - you have too many!
 

WJ - Firefly

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Off-Road Ranger I

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Seems like I am going blind in my old age, I can't imagine "too much led lights". I am running around 47,000+ out the front, which works pretty well. I need to add some around the other sides and quartering off the front (ditch lights). That said, I always check my current draw against what the alternator can supply at idle. So far I haven't had any voltage drops. In the past though, I have had vehicles that would not charge at low rpm ( I got caught in a freak blizzard in Iowa in 1982, managed to get stuck because I couldn't see the road, stalled the vehicle, and it wouldn't restart due to low battery. Luckily, some college kids from Ames happened by and took my wife, 9 mo old daughter and me to the Perkin's in Ames). This was on an interstate that was just closed by the highway patrol. Not good. Always make sure you are not drawing your battery down. I have my led lights running through a switch controller that is enabled and disabled by the ignition switch. No ignition, no lights. Keeps me from making a serious error.