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

[Stetson]

I didn’t have that particular light bar, but I did have an overhead light bar on my wrangler. It was obnoxiously loud and also whistled. I fiddled around with it for several weeks. I added little spacers and little fins and different ‘solutions’ to eliminate or at least reduce the noise enough to make it livable.

in the end I took it off and ended up giving it to a friend who thought it was great. It made the same amount of noise for him, but he didn’t care.

depending on your tolerance for loud wind noise and a little whistling mixed in, it may or may not be a problem for you. I disliked it enough I took mine off.

if you add one, let us know what you think.

Stetson

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[chorky]

Thanks!

Man, those LP6's are spendy for just (2) lights, sounds like they're nice though

After thinking more about the bumper mount option, it dawned on me that I have the trail cam, got me curious if the lights on the bumper would impede anything there. Based on this video I found on YT, it looks like it should'nt be a problem if I went this route, at least with just two light like this configuration.



You guys got me thinkin!!

I can maybe take a pic of the front cam tomorrow but with how mine are mounted at least there is zero visibility loss. Well...maybe like an inch or so.

LP6's are nice. But honestly I think dollar for dollar the XL80's are as good as it gets. You dont have those side LED's but forward light projection is better, and overall amp draw is much less. You could easily do 4 or even 6 XL80's with a couple smaller 2 led lights for the ditch lights for WAY less money and amp draw of 4 LP6's. and the LP9's are just insane cost. I'm sure they're brighter though as they have more LED's

Forward lumen projection of 4 LP6 is 34,400. With XL80's though you have 38,000. The LP6 do have side led's so their total amp draw is 30a whereas LX80's would be 22a.

Here is a spreadsheet I made a while ago to compare.

 

[chorky]

It is also easier to swap out the lens of the XL80's and because theyre 'basic' you can swap out whatever lens it has with a 'spot' beam (basically just a clear lens). This is not an option on the LP series as they want you to have a 'combination' style lens.

And scratch the above post - I think I got the specs for the LP6 crossed with the 4's. Their website has all the numbers though.

 

[Cspence]

I can maybe take a pic of the front cam tomorrow but with how mine are mounted at least there is zero visibility loss. Well...maybe like an inch or so.

LP6's are nice. But honestly I think dollar for dollar the XL80's are as good as it gets. You dont have those side LED's but forward light projection is better, and overall amp draw is much less. You could easily do 4 or even 6 XL80's with a couple smaller 2 led lights for the ditch lights for WAY less money and amp draw of 4 LP6's. and the LP9's are just insane cost. I'm sure they're brighter though as they have more LED's

Forward lumen projection of 4 LP6 is 34,400. With XL80's though you have 38,000. The LP6 do have side led's so their total amp draw is 30a whereas LX80's would be 22a.

Here is a spreadsheet I made a while ago to compare.

Man, you've done your homework, thanks for sharing all this detail! Great food for thought!

 

[Gvsukids]

As perfectly sensible and reasonable as these alternative set ups are, I'm still seriously interested in the KC overhead light bar. Anyone with it able to chime in for us still on the fence?

@Lexicus has the overhead light bar and also has bumper mounted lights.

 

[Cspence]

Is there a real need for higher lighted lights? A good set of bumper mounted lights can make daylight out of the darkest trails in the middle of the night. I am a fan of Baja Designs.

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.

 

[Jteakus]

I have bumper mounted KC’s no interference with forward trail cam

 

[Lexicus]

@Lexicus has the overhead light bar and also has bumper mounted lights.

The flexera4 lights are amazing, I would say they cover 99% of what I need. The KC Pro 6 is pretty fun thou and I think it looks really good on the Gladiator. It's not nearly as loud as I thought it would be an no whistling etc but I do get some buffeting on the highway with the sunrider top.

 

[Jteakus]

KC has amber and clear plastic covers to protect from road debris. They snap on just like the hard cover. I have to admit I don't use the lights nearly enough to justify their expense, the factory LED lights are legit.

 

[Cspence]

The flexera4 lights are amazing, I would say they cover 99% of what I need. The KC Pro 6 is pretty fun thou and I think it looks really good on the Gladiator. It's not nearly as loud as I thought it would be an no whistling etc but I do get some buffeting on the highway with the sunrider top.

Thanks for the reply!!

I know its hard to capture sometimes, but would you be willing to try and capture on a short video to try and demonstrate what it sounds like? Sounds like there are several folks (on here and else where on the internet) that would greatly appreciate a video like that. Short of going for a ride to experience it firsthand, a video would be about the next best thing. Opinions on things like this are so subjective....

 

[Jteakus]

I love the look of the KC lights above windshield. I too am worried about the wind noise and also that lights mounted above windshield highlight every bug or piece of mud on glass and hurt your vision.

 

[Cspence]

KC has amber and clear plastic covers to protect from road debris. They snap on just like the hard cover. I have to admit I don't use the lights nearly enough to justify their expense, the factory LED lights are legit.

Thanks for posting the picture, I was just starting to dig through your posts to look for one lol!

I imagine you just attached using bolts or holes in the modular steel bumper and not using any other sort of bracket?

 

[Jteakus]

I drilled factory bolt hole out a little bigger and they bolted right up

 

[Alpine Warthog]

I had a LED light bar and messed with noise canceling quite a bit. I inserted some super thick rubber wedges in a couple spots and it mostly killed the noise. I still eventually took it off and have gone to A-pillar KCs. I've not hear any noise from them yet.

 

[Lexicus]

Thanks for the reply!!

I know its hard to capture sometimes, but would you be willing to try and capture on a short video to try and demonstrate what it sounds like? Sounds like there are several folks (on here and else where on the internet) that would greatly appreciate a video like that. Short of going for a ride to experience it firsthand, a video would be about the next best thing. Opinions on things like this are so subjective....

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

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