Ideas for lights for my new ride

[WambliSka]

I invested in lights for my last '22 Gladiator Overland and while the setup was fantastic for off-road night use I never really appreciated the amount of incremental noise that came with it especially when driving at high speeds on the highway. I'm also sure they did not do me any favors in regards to mileage.

r

So I just traded it in on my current '26 Gladiator Mojave X and this thing is sooooooo quiet compared to my previous ride! And the main difference between them seems to be my lights.

So now that I have the correct wiring and factory switches to add lights without crazy rigging, I'd like to gain the capabilities I had before BUT I don't want the previous level of noise. Any ideas? Is there anything out there that is quieter? Maybe more streamlined? I REALLY like the metal bumper that came with the new Mojave X so I'm not changing that but I was thinking getting a smaller but more powerful light bar and install it on the bumper?

Anyway I'd like to see what other members have done or any suggestions you have on this topic. Pics would be great too.
Thanks in advance.

Sponsored

 

[ChrisNLA]

I invested in lights for my last '22 Gladiator Overland and while the setup was fantastic for off-road night use I never really appreciated the amount of incremental noise that came with it especially when driving at high speeds on the highway. I'm also sure they did not do me any favors in regards to mileage.

r

So I just traded it in on my current '26 Gladiator Mojave X and this thing is sooooooo quiet compared to my previous ride! And the main difference between them seems to be my lights.

So now that I have the correct wiring and factory switches to add lights without crazy rigging, I'd like to gain the capabilities I had before BUT I don't want the previous level of noise. Any ideas? Is there anything out there that is quieter? Maybe more streamlined? I REALLY like the metal bumper that came with the new Mojave X so I'm not changing that but I was thinking getting a smaller but more powerful light bar and install it on the bumper?

Anyway I'd like to see what other members have done or any suggestions you have on this topic. Pics would be great too.
Thanks in advance.

Lights with a spot beam on the cowl panel (bottom corners of the windshield) and flood/driving beam on the bumper would give you a lot of forward light while minimizing glare on the hood and also minimizing wind noise.

I don't need a ton of forward light at high speed so I have two floods on cowl mounts that face outward to the ditch.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

This above or quadratec has an internal light bar that would take care of the noise thing. I’m not a huge fan of cowl lighting but to each their own.

 

[ChrisNLA]

This above or quadratec has an internal light bar that would take care of the noise thing. I’m not a huge fan of cowl lighting but to each their own.

I don't love it due to hood glare, but I use mine a lot 45* out to the side, or even 90* out.

Used to get a lot of questions on my JK. My cowl lights were pointed straight out to the sides.

On that Jeep and my Gladiator they are even on separate left and right switches.

Folks were like why are your lights pointing to the side? I said well I have headlights and fog lights to see out front, but how do I see to the side? I used them a lot to set up camp at night, looking to the sides when turning at night in the woods or in a dimly lit yard, etc.

On my truck my cowl lights were actually mounted to the bed rails behind the cab. I moved them up front when I started running a bed cover.

 

[Mud Pie]

I'm not a fan of cowl lights either, being they inhibit the lowering of the windshield. Have I ever lowered it ? Nope, not yet, but I can. With cowl lights, that's a no-can-do. Ever.

I didn't want to go '70's crazy with a crap load of KC HiLites all over the front end. I bought a nice, heavy metal light bracket for my factory steel bumper; it mounts without drilling (mucho important to me) from a company called Grimm Offroad (60 bucks, worth every penny) and some bright round 5" 160w 18,800LM LED's. The blue smiley face decals was a "why not ?"...

 

[Pliny]

How much do you want to spend?

Not a great picture, but here are the Baja Designs LP4s mounted on my old OE steel bumper:

BD LP4 steel bumper kit
They also have a kit to mount the larger LP6 lights the same way, but I went with the smaller LP4s to minimize any obstruction of airflow to the radiator.

 

[WambliSka]

I like the ideas so far. Some sort of bumper mount seems to be the best alternative so far to keep the noise down and preserve what little aerodynamics the Jeep has. I appreciate all ideas and comments, and have some research to do...

Of note: I've heard a lot of folks mention hood glare on other posts and it's come up here too, but I never had a problem with it. The bar I got had a very definitive lower edge to the light pattern and I just adjusted it so it went just above the hood. The two small floods on the sides were pointed about 20 degrees out so they gave good side coverage to the edges of the trail.

I like going for looooooong runs up into the local wilderness and I lose track of time exploring new trails and areas, so it's not unusual for me to be crawling off a mountain or the desert long after dark and if there is no moon it gets pitch black around here. Jeep headlights at least in my model are... how can I put it, "acceptable" for road driving. Wife feels a lot better when I switch on the big lights off-road and I can see a whole lot of territory ahead of me.

As a bonus, it seems to me that having a higher vehicle a lot of folks think I have my high beams on all the time. I get a lot of high beam flashes from oncoming traffic when I drive at night even in the city. I usually just flash my high beams momentarily to show them I'm on regular beams and that is the end of that, but every once in a while I get some jackass that then decides they are going to "get even" with me so they then turn on THEIR high beams in my face... So I respond to that with a full light show

 

[bd100]

Take your pick of bumper mount lights. Quadratec has a nice bumper mount bracket which clamps to the radiator mounts, but paint it before install because the powder coat only lasts a few years before the rust sets in. (True of most aftermarket powder coat, unfortunately.) I have little Baja Design 2x1 sized lights in driving combo pattern and they're great for "much better" but not gaudy amounts of light.

(Be sure the Quadratec brackets work with the new style grill.)

For the sides, for looking around turns and reading camp ground site markers, etc, consider D&C Lucid VSL lights. They replace the cowl with an integrated side light plus an amber blinker. I made my own by drilling the existing cowl for little amber marker lights wired to the blinkers, plus some rock lights in white. I'm sure the D&C lights would be brighter.

For a while I think someone was offering a harness adapter to get to the turn signal wires. Forget who that was. I went in there and spliced w/o cutting the original wires. Strip 1" insulation in the middle of the line, separate the strands into two parts, poke the new wire between the strands and wrap around a few times, solder, seal, tape, zip tie for vibration, done.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

For ditch light I plan on bolting to the hoop bolts on the bull bar thing of the bumper and turn them out at an angle. As long as it lights up the side I should be good. Plan on doing side shooters anyway so should create a wide swath of light to see out front. Lights below are my hard look for bumper lights. 2 sets out front and maybe 1 to the side. Depends on how funky I decide to get when I click “buy”.

https://auxbeam.com/products/v-ultr...-side-shooter-amber-pod-lights-with-amber-drl

 

[maninblak]

Running these roadshock edge 4 spots from harbor freight, mounted to the cowl on KC mounts. Love the setup. Great output. The only issue with these is the side shooting leds on the inner sides being very distracting. Found these covers from Omaha bravo designs to take care of that. https://omahabravodesigns.com/products/harbor-freight-roadshock-edge-4-led-reflector-covers

 

[SanTan38]

I use KC slimlite spots. I put 4 on top of a sports bar. No glare whatsoever so ever and I don’t loose any of the main spot beam since I don’t have any leveling. Easily reaches out 100 feet. Then I put two on the front bumper. I can put amber / yellow / clear lense covers and utilize them as spots or use the SAE diffused covers for driving. I also use LEDs for the fog lamps to see in front and sides of the front bumper. If I turn them all on, I can light up and see everything from the bumper to 100 feet out.
Lastly. I put those oricle back up lights on a separate switch.

 

[WestwallNF104A]

I use the AEV front bumper setup and it's fantastic. Whatever noise it generates is far up front, so I never hear it.

 

[LoneWolfUSMC]

Currently, I only run cowl/ditch lights. For the overlanding we do, they are critical. Mine are angled about 45 degrees out because I need to see off the side of the road/trail when looking for possible campsites after dark. I will eventually put some supplemental front lights on, but the factory LED headlights are pretty fantastic compared to previous vehicles I have owned. I am not running high speed at night and I am usually pulling a trailer, so I am never over-driving my headlights.
These are Auxbeams that I salvaged from my old truck. They work well. I will eventually splice the amber backlight into my marker lights.

 

[Bandit’s Lair]

These are Auxbeams that I salvaged from my old truck. They work well. I will eventually splice the amber backlight into my marker lights.

How long have you been running these? They’re on my very short list of possibles so interested in longevity of the housing coating and any functional issues. Do you get a good spread with the side shooter stuff?

 

[MattHamilton]

I bought these for the front https://www.diodedynamics.com/ss30-...jl-wrangler-gladiator-amber-combo-single.html Easily hooked up to the VoSwitch 300. Works exceptionally well in fog/snow/rain. And I very rarely get flashed.

Sponsored