What's the deal with offroad lights?

[J10Mike]

I don't mean to sound like Andy Rooney. But, myself and another local FSJ'er had a discussion on the merits of offroad lights recently. And, I thought I would bring it up as a topic of discussion here.
Keep in mind, I'm as guilty as the next guy with high wattage long range offroad lights on the light (roll) bar and lights in my Cliffhanger bumper.
Let's get to the nitty gritty. Most, if not all offroad lights are designed as very bright, high wattage, and long range lights. These lights are designed for night time high speed racing such as Baja.
Yet, I'm sorry. But, I don't know a lot of offroad guys here or anywhere else that drive offroad at 75 MPH or more at night. Very few that I know hardly ever go offroad at night period. Yet, a lot of us including most other crowds have numerous long range offroad lights attached to their vehicles. Why is this? Is it the cool factor?
It seems to me that if I were to go offroad at night, I would want a short range and a wide area of illumination type of offroad lighting...like a flood light.
Let's hear your opinions. What do you think?

[TexTJ209]

When I had KC's on my TJ, they came in real handy for making my way out of the backcountry after a fishing trip ran on a bit too long. The long range type pointed slightly outward give a nice wide lighting area that the stock headlights just can't provide. This, plus the fact I typically do 50mph down the sections of beach I had to travel.

Would the Flood type be better? No clue as I've never used them.

Are they necessary per se...no. But they help.



Most of the time they are just pointless offroad bling.

[Smith]

If you let them heat up nice you can probably cook a nice lil' egg. Cleans the dead flies right off with that omlet as well!

Nah, I would only ever use them if I was woodin' an' ran into dark.

I'm sure some people use them to show their appreciation for bein' cut off but you know, I'm sure no one does that around these boards

[aerocorey]

Some of the trails I do at night go into the trees. It's nice to have some lights with enough power to punch through a fair amount of vegetation. It's not always about lighting up your own path. Sometimes it's about lighting up someone else's rig for repairs or so they can see obstacles better. I think they're of value in certain situations other than baja racing, but not a nessecity in most cases. They sure do look cool though!

[J10Joe]

excactly, they are great for lighting a midnight repair on the trail. On your buddie's Fourd of course.

[FSJ-Earl]

I had some on my GW but took them off when I got my winch bumper. The ONLY time I ever used them was for some late night emergency trail repairs and when I assisted with severe weather emergencies with the local police, fire, or EMS. Other than that, pretty much off road bling.

[ChiefTawny]

I have the Lightforce brand on my baby jeep and they're adjustable like a mag light! flood to pencil beam long distance.

[Lindel]

You really need two types of light for decent night time trail riding. You need a set of wide angle, or fog lights (prefferably white), and some long range driving style lights.

That way you can light up the area immediatly around you and off in the distance. Or someone's rig for nighttime repairs, etc.

[J10Mike]

I have the Lightforce brand on my baby jeep and they're adjustable like a mag light! flood to pencil beam long distance.

Really? I never heard of those. I think I'll look that type of lighting.

[gsmikie]

take one of your KCdaylighters and have the machine shop sand/bead blast the lens then you will have a very nice area flood a cheap set of driving lights work good for this also for a wide low pattern the mid to late 80's mustang/ranger driving lights work great when im in mexico i cant have enough lights

[Headhoncho]

When I got my truck one of the first things I did was put a couple KC type lights on it because they were "in vogue" at the time. They were great for lighting things up a quarter mile away but were no good for anything close up. Then the show trucks went overboard (like they did with multiple shocks) and made them fall out of popularity. Nowadays, less is more and they've designed ones that are more useable than to just fry ants with. I like aftermarket lights but only if there's a few and they're put in stock appearing locations.


JR

[TexTJ209]

Really? I never heard of those. I think I'll look that type of lighting.

They're an Australian brand. Pretty sweet, some of them are designed to take a shotgun blast from a few feet away.

[goldhammer]

a clear fog beam helps with wet roads and finding what is coming out of the ditch. I also have a pair of floods (warn) that offer wide angle lighting on the dunes and trails, also useful for seeing deer in the winter when going to or coming from work. I get away with those because of not too much traffic, but keep a finger near the switch just in case.

[bigun]

Ditto on having both floods and spots different situations call for different lighting. Eventually Crom will be getting rock lights under the fenders and I picked up a really cool military spot light that is corded with a self recoiling 20' cord. We just need to convert it to 12 volt and figure out where to bolt it in.

[Gambler68]

They're great for spotting suicidal jackrabbits at night.

I have a couple of driving light kits laying around. I plan on using them differently..mounting one in the engine bay for nighttime illumnation, and one under the rear floor pan for backing up illumniation. As fun as it would be to have one pointing at windshield height for tailgaters, I'll pass on that. If they want to eat gravel being flung up from 33x13.50's, not my problem.