Light Bar and Pod Light noise - Lessons learned, regrets, solutions and options

[Warped]

Your question was quite thought provoking for me. This morning on my drive in to work, I was thinking about this, as its a valid point, and I came up with only one (what I would consider) good reason and one so-so reason.

The "good" one would be damage, either from road debris or more importantly, collisions. This didn't occur to me last night as we were all discussing, but it seems obvious to me now. There is a good chance bumper mounted lights are going to be damaged or destroyed in any sort of front end collision. While one could argue that if you get into a bad enough accident to cause that kind of damage, you have bigger issues at hand (which is true), one huge perk to having expensive axillary lights mounted high up is that they will likely be out of harms way in most accidents and thus salvageable (for future use or sale). I don't know about you, but heaven forbid I get into a wreck in my truck, while the situation would suck incredibly, not having to add in this expense to the loss would take some of the sting away. In addition, I'm sure they'll take a little less of a beating from rocks and normal road debris.

The "so-so" one is security. While most "security" features be it fasteners, locks, etc are really just deterrents at best, I imagine there is some value in this regard with having the lights mounted high up (mainly up on top of the windshield). Putting on my thief hat, it would seem to me that I'd have a much better chance at successfully stealing a light or even cover ("KC" or "BD") mounted on the bumper than on the windshield. With the lights mounted up high, I feel like it increases the stakes and makes it a little harder to go undetected (in normal situations, like parked in a Costco parking lot). Still very much possible if the person has the cajones, but I think it would keep the majority of thieves (impulse) at bay. The "professionals", well, they'll take whatever they want, up to and including the whole truck.

Interesting perspective, but I have yet to hear about a rash of Aux light thefts. As far as crashes go, get a steel bumper. I hot a deer going 40 mph in my 2020 Rubicon. Zero damage to the lights or Warn winch. I spent some time later in the daylight cleaning off deer hair and mess, but the lights and bumper were damage free. Most good lights offer some protection with either covers, or grills. Also, no wind noise from mounting lower. This was your original question.

Something else to think about is off-roading on the East coast is usually in the woods. I would think that high mounted lights would be more susceptible to trail damage.

In the end, it's your truck and you do whatever you want to. I love the look of a light bar with a row of lights on top, but I also like a cleaner look as well. It is your call and I am just sharing my experiences. I look forward to seeing what you do.

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[Jteakus]

Camera view

 

[Cspence]

Sorry I uninstalled them (and the sunrider) for the winter months we are blessed with in Michigan :D. BTW: I've been using these security bolts on the bar's threaded ends: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09B2HFQ31/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Dang!! Well, maybe in the spring! I have a few other things to pull the trigger on before lights, so I probably won't be taking the dive until next year around this time, unless I run into some unexpected cash. If you don't mind me asking, why do you remove them in the winter? Visibility in the snow (with the yellow lenses) was going to be one of my main purposes for this...

Thanks for the link to the security fasteners, look just like the KC Light Locks

Light Locks | KC HiLiTES®

Interesting perspective, but I have yet to hear about a rash of Aux light thefts. As far as crashes go, get a steel bumper. I hot a deer going 40 mph in my 2020 Rubicon. Zero damage to the lights or Warn winch. I spent some time later in the daylight cleaning off deer hair and mess, but the lights and bumper were damage free. Most good lights offer some protection with either covers, or grills. Also, no wind noise from mounting lower. This was your original question.

Something else to think about is off-roading on the East coast is usually in the woods. I would think that high mounted lights would be more susceptible to trail damage.

In the end, it's your truck and you do whatever you want to. I love the look of a light bar with a row of lights on top, but I also like a cleaner look as well. It is your call and I am just sharing my experiences. I look forward to seeing what you do.

All good! For sure, my main question / concern is and was around noise. I was just stewing on your question a bit after the fact because it seems that the bumper location is quite popular and effective after hearing from you and so many others. Made me genuinely question why people mount them anywhere else (aesthetics aside) and figured I'd share my thoughts on here for future reference for any curious soul who stumbles across this thread in the future.

The good news is, I have lots of time to think about this, I'm not making this splurge for some time. But to me, the planning part of mods is half the fun (evaluating all the options, comparing pros and cons, finding the best bang for the buck)

Camera view

Thanks for taking the time to post this!!

If you don't mind, any chance you can share a photo straight on from the outside? I'm looking to gauge the position of the lights (using the grill as a reference). If I go this route, I wouldn't have a steel bumper, at least thats not my intent at this point, so I would need to use some brackets, likely the Quadratec ones I linked earlier in this thread. Wondering if how they install would allow me to achieve a similar spread for the same result.

 

[obrianmcc]

Most light options serve really only one purpose... and that's extracting $$$ from your bank acct . My lighting is from Heretic ... a set of 2 pod ditch lights and 4 pods on the bumper. I rarely ever use them..... like in three years I've probably legitimately only used them twice. However, I would suggest that whatever you decide to do ... DO NOT mount on your cowl. You think wind noise is bad, wait until you fire up a legit light bar sitting on your hood.

 

[Cspence]

Most light options serve really only one purpose... and that's extracting $$$ from your bank acct . My lighting is from Heretic ... a set of 2 pod ditch lights and 4 pods on the bumper. I rarely ever use them..... like in three years I've probably legitimately only used them twice. However, I would suggest that whatever you decide to do ... DO NOT mount on your cowl. You think wind noise is bad, wait until you fire up a legit light bar sitting on your hood.

Probably very true lol

Funny you should bring up the cowl light bar option, I was about to bring that back up to see if anyone had any thoughts, or more importantly first hand experience with it. While I know there will be glare no matter what, I imagine the optics and focal ranges will really have a profound effect and be the difference between having it be obnoxious/unuseable and actually functional (though probably not as optimal as the other mounting locations)

 

[MMBMRM]

I have the KC light bar and soft top. I thought I made a mistake getting it at first because it does get quite noisy at speeds 45+. It buffets and sometimes clanks. However, I've had it for months now and I've gotten used to it. The noise and buffeting are normal to me now. I just turn the radio up on the freeway and wait to make any phone calls.

 

[Cspence]

I have the KC light bar and soft top. I thought I made a mistake getting it at first because it does get quite noisy at speeds 45+. It buffets and sometimes clanks. However, I've had it for months now and I've gotten used to it. The noise and buffeting are normal to me now. I just turn the radio up on the freeway and wait to make any phone calls.

Thanks for the feedback!

That sound clip, was that cabin sealed up (windows shut, top closed)? What speed?

Didn't sound too bad to me!

 

[MMBMRM]

Thanks for the feedback!

That sound clip, was that cabin sealed up (windows shut, top closed)? What speed?

Didn't sound too bad to me!

No problem, happy to help.

Everything was sealed up in the video. I was going about 65mph. Windows down doesn't make the buffeting/noise any better, in my experience. As long as you don't have overly sensitive hearing or a problem with a bit of wind noise, you will get used to it and enjoy it. Light output is top notch. There is also no whistling that I've experienced with this light bar. Good luck with your decision.

 

[Cspence]

No problem, happy to help.

Everything was sealed up in the video. I was going about 65mph. Windows down doesn't make the buffeting/noise any better, in my experience. As long as you don't have overly sensitive hearing or a problem with a bit of wind noise, you will get used to it and enjoy it. Light output is top notch. There is also no whistling that I've experienced with this light bar. Good luck with your decision.

One last random yet related question for you....

Do these lights impede vision at all, or is their mounting position high enough that you can't even see them from inside the cabin?

 

[MMBMRM]

One last random yet related question for you....

Do these lights impede vision at all, or is their mounting position high enough that you can't even see them from inside the cabin?

You can see just the just the very bottom of the lights from inside the cabin. It does not obstruct your vision whatsoever.

 

[905_gladiator]

so the only people who i actually know who complain of noise with the KC bar are those with the soft top on. For me the KC bar generates no noise and highway speeds and the cowl lights work great

 

[Jteakus]

Here is the requested front shot

 

[JerseyMark]

I was looking into lightbar options that would not cause too much wind noise. I saw this light bar from Quadratec which looks interesting. No wind noise issues, but I wonder how well it would work for lighting, shining through the windshield:

https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadrat...inch-light-bar-jeep-wrangler-jl/1-piece-jl-jt

 

[Cspence]

I was looking into lightbar options that would not cause too much wind noise. I saw this light bar from Quadratec which looks interesting. No wind noise issues, but I wonder how well it would work for lighting, shining through the windshield:

https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadrat...inch-light-bar-jeep-wrangler-jl/1-piece-jl-jt

I was eyeballing that solution for a while too. Looks great from the outside, awesome that it can switch from white to amber, will have zero wind noise obviously, no clearance issues and offers more security. Points of contention to me though were the obvious potential for glare on the glass at night (though it seems that is resolvable with some additional weather-stripping), reduce field of view from in the cabin, and not the best light output for that price point. I do like it though. For the price of the KC bar, I could do the quadratech bar AND some bumper mounted BD LP6's...

 

[reverse01134]

Anyone running four 3" pods for cowl lights? (2 on each side) I personally don't like bumper lights or bulky light fixture for cowl. Rigid and DD make a cowl kit with 4 pods and I would like to hear experience.

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