What are the best auxiliary driving lights?

[Alans17]

I’m not looking to replace my existing headlights, but my high beams are pretty weak. So I’m looking to add a pair of driving lights on my winch guard that I can tie into the high beams.

The KC Hilites Gravity Pro 6 seem like a decent option, but does anyone have experience with them? And what other options are out there?

Thanks!

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[Mr._Bill]

Would these be for On or Off Road use? If you don't already have them, LED headlights would be a good place to start. I have the Factory LED headlights, and they are more than adequate for my driving needs.

 

[Mac]

Baja Design LP6 are really nice and have a cool drl like light built in you can have on also narrow and wide light patterns

 

[WXman]

I took the bulbs out of my old Max Tow and put Supernova V.4 bulbs in the housings. I got them from Headlight Revolution. H U G E difference. It was as bright as the noon day sun in front of the Jeep after that, even on the darkest nights. And the low beam patterns are so great that I never got flashed by oncoming traffic, ever!

As far as aux lights, I like the Rigid offerings. But what I'm really curious about is if you get yours wired up so that they come on with your high beams automatically, let me know how you accomplished that. I'd like to do the same.

 

[Forum Crawler]

Baja Design LP6 are really nice and have a cool drl like light built in you can have on also narrow and wide light patterns

This. Anything by Baja Designs is top shelf.

 

[Wyofuy069]

Diode Dynamics SS3 max. If there yellow fogs are an indication of there power you will be impressed. They are a lot brighter than my low beams.

 

[rob_o]

Diode Dynamics SS3 Max.

 

[LostWoods]

The aforementioned Baja Designs LP6 are probably the best driving lights you'll find anywhere and I absolutely love mine but they're not road legal in the slightest. The only road-legal lights I know of in that kind of package are the KC SAE driving pattern lights.

The KCs are great lights though... they are reflected more traditionally vs the BD lights so while they have less throw and intensity, they have a great pattern for on-road use.

 

[dcmdon]

I’m not looking to replace my existing headlights, but my high beams are pretty weak. So I’m looking to add a pair of driving lights on my winch guard that I can tie into the high beams.

The KC Hilites Gravity Pro 6 seem like a decent option, but does anyone have experience with them? And what other options are out there?

Thanks!

I'm kind of a lighting geek. So I've got a few thoughts.

1) who cares if the lights you choose are road legal if they are wired into the high beams? By definition your high beams aren't on when others are around to be bothered. Based on my behavior of using common courtesy towards other drivers, I've always looked for the brightest driving lights I could buy, and wired them in with high beams.

Back in the day, that was a set of Hellas with a 90w H3 bulb run off its own relay tied to the battery.
These days, that's not really necessary.

2) LED replacement H13 bulbs are available for short money on amazon. You might try a set of those. My current car uses separate bulbs for high and low beam. I found that the LED bulbs did not provide a good cut off. If I used the LED for low beam, it was inconsiderate of other drivers.

So I just kept the LED for the high beams. The cutoff was not crisp, but it didn't matter since they threw so much light.

The H13 in the Gladiator is a dual filament bulb, which means one bulb is used for both high and low beams. So a LED might not be the best idea if the low beam cut off is not in the right place.

Its easy to try. Just buy a set on Amazon for $40 and install them. If people are flashing their lights at you when you have low beams on, then its no good. You get 30 days to return them to Amazon if you run into this.

You will need a Taser mini to do any kind of retrofit. The car is otherwise looking for a 50+ watt draw from an incandescent bulb and if its suddenly only drawing 20 watts it may show a bulb out.

3) Obviously, you can replace the OEM lights with full LED units for $400+. I think that is a great idea , even with the driving lights. My wife's car has the best low beams I've ever used and its amazing how good they are. And nobody flashes their lights at me. So low beams can be very good and still not blinding.

Just my .02. Good luck.

 

[Alans17]

Thanks for all the responses. I should add that I have standard headlights, but I’ve upgraded the bulbs to LED. The low beams are great, but we’re blinding people so I angled them down a bit more and we’re in business. I’m very pleased with the low beams. Plus when I upgraded my bumper it came with LED fog lights. These are also quite good. So lows are great. But my highs are just bad. Looking for something to beef them up. I’d rather not replace whole headlights, but it’s not 100% off the table.

 

[TheGrendel]

I'm kind of a lighting geek. So I've got a few thoughts.

1) who cares if the lights you choose are road legal if they are wired into the high beams? By definition your high beams aren't on when others are around to be bothered. Based on my behavior of using common courtesy towards other drivers, I've always looked for the brightest driving lights I could buy, and wired them in with high beams.

Back in the day, that was a set of Hellas with a 90w H3 bulb run off its own relay tied to the battery.
These days, that's not really necessary.

2) LED replacement H13 bulbs are available for short money on amazon. You might try a set of those. My current car uses separate bulbs for high and low beam. I found that the LED bulbs did not provide a good cut off. If I used the LED for low beam, it was inconsiderate of other drivers.

So I just kept the LED for the high beams. The cutoff was not crisp, but it didn't matter since they threw so much light.

The H13 in the Gladiator is a dual filament bulb, which means one bulb is used for both high and low beams. So a LED might not be the best idea if the low beam cut off is not in the right place.

Its easy to try. Just buy a set on Amazon for $40 and install them. If people are flashing their lights at you when you have low beams on, then its no good. You get 30 days to return them to Amazon if you run into this.

You will need a Taser mini to do any kind of retrofit. The car is otherwise looking for a 50+ watt draw from an incandescent bulb and if its suddenly only drawing 20 watts it may show a bulb out.

3) Obviously, you can replace the OEM lights with full LED units for $400+. I think that is a great idea , even with the driving lights. My wife's car has the best low beams I've ever used and its amazing how good they are. And nobody flashes their lights at me. So low beams can be very good and still not blinding.

Just my .02. Good luck.

point 1 is great way to get yourself pulled over especially in a state like Texas where I live.

 

[Alans17]

point 1 is great way to get yourself pulled over especially in a state like Texas where I live.

Yes, same here (also in Texas). I’m definitely looking to stay street legal. I can always add additional high-powered lights later if I’ll be off pavement.

 

[WXman]

point 1 is great way to get yourself pulled over especially in a state like Texas where I live.

Why would you get pulled over for "illegal" high beams if you're never using those high beams with people (police) around, as he mentioned? I don't follow....

I tend to agree with him on that point. If you're only using them for highs, find the brightest lights you can and hook 'em up.

I do not agree with him on his advice about LED bulbs in halogen housings. There is a HUGE difference in quality and design among LED bulbs, and buying cheap junk from eBay or Amazon is the fastest way to get bad results, blind oncoming traffic, and generally just waste money. If you're going to do the swap, do it right and buy quality bulbs from a reputable vendor like Headlight Revolution. No, they aren't cheap, but I'd put the Supernova V.4 or GTR Lighting Ultra 2 bulbs swapped into halogen housings up against ANY aftermarket full housing upgrade on the market. The light is intense, the beams are perfect, and if the OP of this thread had them he wouldn't be complaining about the high beams because the high beams from those Supernova bulbs are amazing.

 

[TheGrendel]

Why would you get pulled over for "illegal" high beams if you're never using those high beams with people (police) around, as he mentioned? I don't follow....

do cops in your state not hide on the side of the road? because I can tell you they do here big time.

i've literally driven all across the western Us and up and down the eastern seaboard and no other state has as many cops on the roads as Texas.

 

[Alans17]

I’ve been pulled over before for failing to dim my high beams when I should have. Probably my own fault for not paying attention and I was let off with a warning, but it can and does happen.

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