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Adding auxiliary lights?

9K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  brettwingfield 
#1 ·
Hopefully I edited my signature correctly and it'll show up there, but the truck is a 2016 F-350 Lariat Crew Cab.

Here in MN the days are getting shorter, and on our way back to the campground last night we found ourselves driving in a quite dark area on a country road. The domestic associate (DA) commented that the "headlights don't seem very bright". Of course, we're older and crotchety, so our aging eyes can always use a little help, too.

And they aren't. On the previous 2005 Chev I had replaced the headlight bulbs with aftermarket, 100W bulbs, and had the relays wired so the high beams, low beams, and fog lights ALL came on and stayed on with the high beams...

Back in our misspent youth we used to run SCCA road rallies, and our vehicle had added lights on the front. We had spotlights, driving lights, and fog lights. I recall the spots were very bright and we only used them on night rallies 'cause they'd blind anyone within a quarter mile. I'm not sure if the driving lights were driving beams or spread beams, but I don't recall being much concerned about "street legal" so I know they were all at least 100W, but that was WAY back before halogens and LEDs, so I'm sure a lot less power buys a lot more light today.

I looked in here and read several threads about lights, but they were "old" (2012) so I figured I'd ask about current ideas.

I'd like to mount additional fog lights and driving lights (or spread beams) on the bumper since I can't put ANYTHING on the root of the truck. I'll wire them through the auxiliary switches so I can disable/enable them to work with the fog lights and high beams. I'm not concerned about the wiring part, just looking for information on what's going to provide significantly better DISTANCE for light, and SPREAD for light...

My recollection is that way back we were using either Hella or perhaps PIAA lights - the medium sized (6"?) round ones as those were considered to throw the preferred beam pattern. But, with the LEDs and such today, what's a good setup to go on the front of the truck? Are driving lights preferable to spread beams since they're DOT street legal, or can we use the spread beams, which are supposed to be brighter? Are the round lights still better or have the small(ish) LED lightbars changed the game and work better? Same question for the fog lights. I'll keep the factory fogs in the bumper but put a second set on the front...

I don't want to spend 10x as much for a 1% improvement, so I'm curious about good/very good output but not necessarily the absolute highest priced whatevers.

Thoughts?

Second part: As I understand it, the factory headlight is an H13. Are there recommended replacements for these that'll be significantly brighter on the high beams? Same for the fog lights, 9145 bulbs?
 
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#2 · (Edited)
I got a 23" 126w "eyourlife" cree LED spot/flood light bar from amazon for $70ish, relay harness is $10 or so, went to junkyard and got both sides to a waterproof wiring harness for $5. I would post a link to the light bar, but it is currently no longer available.

Also changed my h13s to Phillips extreme vision 9008.

No fogs.

I had to take the front cover off of the light bar and seal with clear silicone caulk, no big deal. For the price it works amazingly well, and I don't worry about Crack head Carl stealing it.

Mounted to the license plate mount mounting holes in the bumper with supplied stainless hardware and a few washers. Parked the truck as level as possible and fixed light bar so the face was plumb, measured to center, and even depth left and right.

Wired up to high beams via waterproof relay, works great. High beam wire triggers relay for light bar. High beams and light bar same switch, easy to turn off should on coming traffic should appear.

Vision is great. So I know all about MN and dark roads and black bears and Moose and deer at night, with no cell reception and no one coming down the road for many hours.
I can see at least 100 yards out front and beyond both ditches very well. I drive in chapleau district in the summer at night, Family in Virginia and Sudan, farm country in Ohio with more deer then cars at night. Already have seen animals with them, then turned off and they where not vissable.

https://goo.gl/photos/96yrswavkiacKU4W6
 
#3 ·
I would recommend 5k (pure white) HID's for the low & high beam, LED pods in the fog lights, & a 20-23" combo LED bar inbetween the tow hooks.
You can wire the LED pods to work with the fog light switch, but you will need a bigger fuse (already have extras in the fuse box) & wire the LED bar to one of the auxiliary switches.
This setup (without the lightbar) is great for night time driving without pissing anyone off. Then when you're in the backroads or all alone on normal roads you can flip the lightbar on & off at your will. I will say the perfect fit for our fog lights are the Rigid Dually XL (3 x 3 leds) & leave no gap. If those seem a little too pricey, I would suggest the LED pods with the 3 x 2 pattern. Gives you 6 total LED's in the same housing that others only give you 4. (2 x 2)
Hope all of this made sense, if not I can clarify
 
#4 ·
If you want distance, I'd recommend a set of rigid dually d2's with the hyper spot beam in place of the stock fog lights. I have them in mine and they will light up street signs a mile down the road, for the fill on everything closer, a 20"-30" light bar in the bumper opening will take care of everything else.
 
#5 ·
Thanks for the replies. I probably don't need to throw light a mile, but it sounds like the two foot LED light bars are the modern equivalent of the old round driving lights.

If I go with the light bar (I'll have to go look at them and see what they're made to do), do I still want a couple additional fog lights or does the light bar do both? I'm thinking I wouldn't replace the existing fog lights - though if there's an LED bulb that puts out a lot more light I could see replacing the bulbs...
 
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#6 ·
I've been researching for the last half day (it's what happens when you're retired, have no life, and are obsessive). I'll throw what I've found so far out and see what y'all think.

First problem is we have JUST enough room to put the F-350 in the garage. There's definitely not more than 6 inches of total clearance front and back, and probably less. It works fine, but I'd be RELUCTANT to use ANY mount that puts the lights in FRONT of the bumper.. We're in MN, so we have a FRONT license plate AND tow hooks on the front, which means all those pictures of a 20/24/30" light bar mounted IN the front bumper between the fog lights aren't going to work. It looks like I have about 9 inches between the ends of the license plate and the tow hooks, so I COULD probably put a 6 or 8 inch double row light in there on each side, but I'm not sure that would provide enough improvement to be worthwhile...

If I'm going to go with a 20/24/30" bar it needs to sit above the bumper, not sticking out several (or preferably any) inches).

There IS a a setup that uses a pair of single row light bars IN the grill, one in the space at the top, one in the space at the bottom... I've got about 31 inches in the spaces in the grill, but I'm thinking having two light bars would be a bit more hassle to mount and aim. But then again, that could be OK since I could have better control over exact light direction for each light bar.

I'd LIKE to be at LEAST MARGINALLY street legal (I'm hopefully not as young and stupid as during our rally days and would prefer not to blind drivers a half mile away and run afoul or a Sheriff or State Trooper), so I'm thinking the combination units with a "spot" and "flood", which aren't actually EITHER since the spot beams are around 30 degrees instead of the 8-10 degrees a spot usually is, and the flood beams are more in the 60 degree range rather than the 90-100+ degrees of a "true" fog light. If I want additional side coverage I'll add a couple pods of fog lights to supplement the factory fogs.

With the combo light bar, I'd LIKE the ability to control the spot beams separate from the flood beams. Most reviews I read said this was a good thing to have and "commonly" available on "the non-cheap" lights. I'll be doing some fiddling so I can control the lights from the Aux switches, as well as the brights and fog light controls. My thinking is to be able to turn ON the spots and the floods with the Aux switches - if those are on the lights are on. Period. If those are OFF, when I hit the brights, I want to energize the relay and have the brights, spots, and floods all come on and go off with the brights.

Anyhow, from looking at reviews and discussions and manufacturer info, it seems like

CREE LEDs are very good. OSRAM LEDs good but not as good.

Separate controls for spots and floods are very useful.

Light color in the 5000 - 5400 degree range is less tiring than light at 6000 degrees and above (it seems like everything I've looked at so far is 6000 degrees and up unless they're amber tinted, which is good for fogs and less good for spots and floods...

IP rating of at least IP65 is the minimum necessary. Most decent lights are high than IP65, usually IP67 or higher.

Short warranties usually mean cheap, less than decent quality lights...

NOW I just have to find a decent quality, hot ridiculously expensive (eyourlife seems a decent option there, RIGID does NOT) light bar WITH a bumper mount that'll put it ON TOP of the bumper... Or the same thing in a grill mount...

I'm off to do more research.

Comments? Thoughts? Recommendations?
 
#10 ·
Ok, as far as street legal, none of these bars or pods will be street legal and will blind anyone else on the road driving at you, about your only option to stay legal would be rigid's dot/sae approved lights, but I wouldn't expect any long range lighting out of them. I have the rigid hyperspots with there narrowest beam and I will still get flashed immediately if I forget them on. So whatever you get, expect that it will be for when nobody is on the road coming at you.
 
#7 ·
So the eyourlife is not waterproof on its own, I had to caulk mine with silicon. No big deal to me.

I am sure the rigid are awesome, but I'm on a 4 kids budget.

Easy way to mount would be screw/bolt to the top of the bumper, although cheesy.

Maybe move your front plate down with a bracket, or bolt it to the valance.

IIRC the Phillips LEDs where well reviewed. I forget exactly but Phillips vs CREE one looked more like a spot, one more flood effect.

Besides the LED chip themselves the reflectors have a lot to do with how they project.

The "whiter" color looks "brighter" 6k ish looks good and bright to me.

Light bars are like oil and tires, in the end there are a hundred different opinions.
 
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#8 ·
Hello!

First time posting here however I've been reading just about every thread out there as I'm finally back in a PSD. Just bought a 16 CCSB F250 last week and sure am loving it. Anyways back to the thread at hand. I put a 30in Rigid Radience Series bar in the grill of my truck. I already had the light bar that is a dual spot/flood combo. I plan on adding a second one to the lower opening in the grill and some Amber D2s next to the tow hooks. This bar is more affordable as I think I paid right around $300 for it. It also has a neat Amber back lighting that I wired into the parking lights for a Raptor like look. I had this bar on my 150 and it has worked in -50 below to over 110 above and anything else the elements could throw at it. Anyways here are a few pictures of it.
 

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#24 ·
I just bought one of those Radiance lights and as you did, I would like to wire the amber back light into the parking lights. Can you tell me where you tapped into the parking light and the color of the wire? Thanks so much!
 
#9 ·
<hangs head in shame> OK, I'm a doofus. I got SO fixated on "can't have the light bar sticking out in front of the bumper that it NEVER CROSSED MY MIND to just find a bracket to MOVE THE LICENSE PLATE DOWN OUT OF THE WAY!!!!!!! I'm SURE there's something on Amazon, I just haven't found it yet...

As for the eyourlife lights, I've found at least 3 that would - I THINK - work in the bumper opening - 20", 25" and 28". They've got the wiring harness with relays for about $12, so I'd be sort-of set. I just need to find some way to MOUNT the light bar in the hole. eyourlife doesn't appear to have any brackets for bumper mounting on the 2016 Super duty - at least none I've been able to find. Rough Country has a braket that' about $35 that fits their 20" light bar.

I found one setup on Amazon with the bracket and light bar that MAY work, but I'm gonna have to take things apart tomorrow on the truck and see what's what on how the whole license bracket, bumper space, and all that looks...

I looked at Rigid and Stage 3 and KC and I'm sure their lights are great, but I've gotta pay for the TRUCK... I also found in several reviews, including one by a person that has installed a whole bunch if different brands from the extremely nice (Rigid) to the "cheap chinese knockoffs" and said that basically they're very similar, save your money for something else.

Can any of y'all find a pointer to a reasonably priced bracket that'll move the license plate down AND give me a place to mount one of these eyourlife light bars in the hole?
 
#11 · (Edited)
I mounted my 20" bar between the hooks by buying a piece of 3" x 29" 14guage steel. I painted the plate black and mounted the light to the plate then screwed the plate onto the brackets behind the hooks. I added a couple of spacers to get the lights to be flush with the front of the bumper. My lightbar is a combo. The bulbs on the edge are flood and the center lights ( with the yellow) are driving lights. I attached the lights to one of my Upfitter Switches. When I'm on a back road, I just toggle them on/off as needed.

Mine is where your license plate needs to be. But I'm sure you bend a couple piece of steel to mount behind the light to the 3x29" plate and hang down to where the plate needs to sit below the the lights
 

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#12 ·
When we got back home today from the week in East Overshoe I removed the license plate and plate bracket from the truck and realized why I'm having trouble finding a mounting bracket... There are a PAIR of nice vertical plates right where I need them. Get a piece of heavy-ish gauge 1 1/2" or 2" aluminum angle iron (or steel if I want to paint it), attach the light bar to the angle iron, attach the angle iron to the brackets, space things as needed, and voila - light bar in a bumper!

The license plate bracket isn't even screwed in. it's got a couple plastic fasteners at the top, and just sits over the bumper hole at the bottom... A little fiddling and I should be able to move the plate down so it's below the light bar with no problem.....

I did a more accurate measurement and I have right at 30" between the tow hooks so anything from 20" to 28" should fit in there with no problem.

I"ll figure out which bar I want, in whatever size and get that ordered, and see how it goes.
 
#13 ·
I had hoped to put a 30" light bar in my space, But you need the mounting brackets that come with the light bar that mount on the ENDS of the light bar so you can aim you light. Tilt up or tilt down. The brackets have little indents that allow you to rotate up or down and then lock in when you tighten the screw.

Since these mount on the end of most light bars, A 30" bar would not have room for the 3-5" or brackets on the ends. So I had to choose a smaller bar. The choices I had were 20" and 30" they didn't offer a size in between. Hence the 20" bar o my truck and that leaves me room to adjust the light aim
 
#14 ·
There are several available in 20, 25, 28 inches that DON'T use the end brackets for aiming. They have the underneath brackets. I ordered this one

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-Waterproof-Driving-Lights-Warranty/dp/B00WE47RP6

and a 25" one from eyourlife, also with the bottom adjusters.

but there's also this 28" one that has the adjusters on the bottom

https://www.amazon.com/Eyourlife-Du...8600&sr=1-2-spell&keywords=28+inch+light+basr

and here's a 30" one that also has the adjusters on the bottom. I didn't go that way 'cause I was concerned the bar was actually a bit WIDER than 30" and it wouldn't fit, so I went a little shorter... I figured the 25" was a good start and if I have to I can always go to the 28". And if it's just a width coverage problem I can add a couple fog light pods on top of the bumper.

https://www.amazon.com/Auxbeam-degr...=1473818783&sr=1-4&keywords=30+inch+light+bar

BTW: From what it LOOKS like, the plastic cover on top of the bumper just has clips that hold it down. Which means holes in the bumper. It seem like it would be pretty easy to create a mount that would let me use those holes to bolt down a mount if I really want the light above the bumper, OR to use them to mount a couple fog light pods if I need/want the extra coverage...
 
#15 ·
Here's the installation I wound up with...

Here's the area for installing with the license plate gone. The space to the outer edge of the two brackets is 29 inches, so that's the size I made the mounting plate. I used a 2" x 36" aluminum angle iron, and cut it down to 29 inches. KEEP the scrap, you can use it for the license plate bracket.




Here's a closeup of the bracket on one side with the holes drilled. I slipped speed nuts onto the holes so I don't have to get behind there to put nuts on. You COULD do that if you want, just pull the three plastic buttons off the air dam back there and you can easily put nuts on the back. Either way works fine.

Now I've gotta go do the wiring, which I'm HOPING will be simple....




Here's a shot of the 25" light bar (Nilight from Amazon) and the angle iron mount. Very, very simple. You can see where the light bar mounts. I picked the 25" instead of the 28", which SHOULD fit in the space, because this way I can get at the screws at the ends of the bracket and easily attach or detach the whole assembly. This was the largest, readily available, light bar I could fit in the space and still do that.




Here's a shot of things with the license plate bracket on the front. I took the 6+ inch piece of scrap angle iron and ripped 2 pieces about 1 3/4" wide, figured out how far to the front of the bumper (4 1/4") and bent them 90 degrees. Drilled and put in 1/4" x 1/2" lag screws to hold the plate brackets. This is everything together, ready to go into the bumper.




All together. Everything bolted in, the light bar aimed SORT-OF APPROXIMATELY where I"m hoping it'll go once it's wired and it gets dark so I can see where it's throwing the light.



The only downside I've seen so far is the small bolts that adjust the light bar angle aren't REAL easy to get to. BUT, using a 1/4" ratchet, with a 12" wobble extension and a 10mm socket I can pretty easily loosen and tighten them. There are FOUR on each mount, so I'm figuring once it's tight it SHOULD stay in place.

The whole bracket assembly looks very visible in this picture, but in reality it's recessed far enough into the bumper that you don't notice it. I MAY decide I don't like it, in which case I'll either COVER it with something black, PAINT it black, OR find a piece of angle iron to make a bracket that's powder coated black... Again, that's if it bothers me...

SO, that was my couple hours of fiddling around to put this in. I SURE can't see spending what they want for an installation bracket (if you can even FIND one for this setup) when I ended up with $6 for the angle iron, $2-3 for all the other little stuff, and maybe 2 hours 'cause I'm not fast and wasn't in any big hurry.
 
#16 ·
It looks like you came up with a great, custom fabbed solution for installing your light bar, but I'm surprised no one recommended the Rough Country light bar that is (sort of) a bolt on kit for the grill of our trucks. I have their dual kit installed as well as a pair of VisionX 4.5" Light Cannons custom mounted on each side of my front plate and couldn't be happier.

I ran everything heading into camp last time I went out as it was getting dark and they were life savers. I admit that it was overkill and I could have gotten away with the Light Cannons or even one Rough Country bar, but it was nice to be able to turn everything on and turn night into day. I didn't even run the brights, as they made no difference, and the low beams allowed the factory fogs to stay on to light everything directly in front of the truck. Below are a couple pics of my setup.



 
#17 ·
I THINK there was an early suggestion of the Rough Country lights as an option. At the time I wasn't confident about the installation since I hadn't had the grill off. Having swapped out the headlight bulbs for some brighter ones, I'm now aware of just how easy it is to get the grill off the F-350 and the Rough Country grill mounted lights would be a nice option!

SO FAR, we've used ours a couple times and they are a HUGE improvement over the factory lights. We're currently "up north", which in Minnesota means on the North Shore, where the traffic is light and the deer, foxes, vermin, turkeys, and whatever are plentiful! As I said, the DA has now requested a pair of "fer real" FOG LIGHTS to supplement the wide area coverage... I did some looking and it appears that Hella has a nice set that aren't too large or too expensive... I THINK I can mount them right on the bumper using spots where the plastic bumper cover goes through the bumper... Since the wiring harness I bought has TWO sets of plugs, I can either power the fog lights whenever the brights are on, or do something different...

I want the fogs to come on whenever the factory fogs are on, AND I want the fogs to come on whenever the light bar, which comes on with the brights, is on. I'll end up with a combination of diodes to power the relays from other lights, and upfitter switches to enable me to control what works when...
 
#18 ·
We're currently "up north", which in Minnesota means on the North Shore, where the traffic is light and the deer, foxes, vermin, turkeys, and whatever are plentiful! As I said, the DA has now requested a pair of "fer real" FOG LIGHTS to supplement the wide area coverage... I did some looking and it appears that Hella has a nice set that aren't too large or too expensive... I THINK I can mount them right on the bumper using spots where the plastic bumper cover goes through the bumper... Since the wiring harness I bought has TWO sets of plugs, I can either power the fog lights whenever the brights are on, or do something different...

I want the fogs to come on whenever the factory fogs are on, AND I want the fogs to come on whenever the light bar, which comes on with the brights, is on. I'll end up with a combination of diodes to power the relays from other lights, and upfitter switches to enable me to control what works when...

Hey there!

Bailey here with Baja Designs. Are you looking to retain the OEM Fog Lights?
For the 11-16 Super Duty we do have a Fog Pocket Replacement Kit as well as other vehicle specific options.
http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/baja-designs/1155138-ford-super-duty-11-16-lighting-kits.html

*S8 30" Kit and Plug and Play Fog Pocket Kit Shown
www.bajadesigns.com

- Ford, Super Duty (99-16), Fog Pocket Kit
Ford Super Duty 99-16 Fog Pocket Kit
$79.95 ------ $71.95

I would recommend looking at the Squadron Sport or Pro in Wide Cornering. The Wide Cornering is a 42 degree horizontal beam that is designed to reach out past the corners of the vehicle. This really helps in areas with lots of wildlife that could quickly run onto the roadway. You can easily see and detect animals on the shoulders.

You also mentioned wanting the lights to come on like the factory fogs. This kit includes wiring adapters to function like the OEM fogs do. You could always wire into the upfitter connections if desired instead.

Please let me know if you have any lighting questions. Happy to get you setup with the correct light packaged based on your needs.

Thank You,
Bailey, Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com
bailey@bajadesigns.com
(800)422-5292x114
 
#19 ·
Nice ideas. I have put AUX LEDs on the back of the truck. Now thinking about the front. I will more than likely make my own solution, Might even slip 100 W LEDs in side my fog or main light covers. Or conceal some under the truck or on my brush guard. You can by 100 W 12v LEDs for about 3 bucks apiece. I can take some pics of them if you want. they out out about 300 Lumens a piece
 
#20 ·
Yes, we'll keep the factory fog lights where they are. If I add fogs, I'll most likely mount them on the bumper. As I said earlier, PIAA makes a pair of fogs that should have a wide beam with a good vertical cut off.

First I"ll try brighter LED units in the factory fogs and see if that makes the DA happy. If not, I'll add a new pair.

I've got 10A diodes on order from Ebay, so I'll be able to wire things with switches, and power relays from existing lights with no problems...
 
#22 ·
I ordered two small 4" HID lights to put in front bumper of my truck and I would like to put a couple of LED lights under back bumper so i can see my trailer tongue. I just need to figure out how to wire them to aux upfitter switches that are already installed in my truck.
 
#23 ·
heres mine... i added two single row 30" lights to the grill and two twin row 28 inch lights to the hole in the bumper!!! worth every penny and simple to install!!! if anyone wants to know what lights i bought or how i did it. just hit me up on here or text me at 305-798-6736 and i will gladly share.... super easy and looks badass.. not to mention daytime at night!!
 

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