Looking to buy some off-road lights. Will be used for area lighting (setting up a camp), off road (i.e. lighting a riverbed or trail), some action coyote and rabbit hunting at night, and setting up before dawn for dove hunting.

I'm not able to buy incredibly expensive lights. Even the KC's that I've seen for about $150/pair are a little high for what I'm hoping to pay.

Anyone have a good compromise between a decent and bright light verses a good price?

Still batting around the idea of whether I want round or rectangular lights so either will be looked at. They will need to be available with black housing.



Any thoughts on these? About $97/pair
KC Daylighters 150 Watt



.

 

They've got the Stainless 150 watt daylighters for $117 a pair... That's the best price around now. I've got those on both vehicles, and LOVE 'em! The kits will include the relay, wiring, and switches to run 'em, but they're probably brown-box kits instead of retail box kits. They include all the same things, just in a plain brown box instead of a fancy retail box.

-Joe

 

Honestly the only off road lights I've ever had were a pair of KC 6x9 long rangers on my last truck.

Would the 130W ebay knockoffs be that much worse that KC? Am I paying for actual quality or mostly for the KC name.

 

JCWhitney has some off road lights. Yes they are off brand lights, and they have KC as well, but they are resonably priced and have some good lights. I have had 3 different sets on past vehicles and have had no problem with them. Just an idea.

 

I had a bulb go bad in one of my 150W daylighters. I sent it back to KC and had a new one in a few days. Would the knock-off's do that?

Between me and a few friends I have helped install four sets of the 150w daylighters, I was the only one who had a bad bulb which had been over about 10-11 years. Durability and output/$, I don't think they can be beat.

 

Very true, you do get what you pay for. Quality cant be beat. Yes, the price sucks sometimes but would you rather buy one set now and another in a couple years, or spend the money now and not have to worry about them for years to come.

 

Another thought. Should I be looking at a mix of floods and spots or just go "daylighter" and call it good?

 

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. All I want to do is increase the distance that is illuminated so I have more time to see something ahead. The 150w daylighters seem to throw a beam twice as far as my stock headlights (mind you this in on my '91, which has them mounted. see gallery for pics).
It is amazing to drive down a pitch black back road*, flip on the lights and see a tree line that is at least 1000 ft past where my headlight turned into darkness.

You may want to consider a fog light and perhaps even 100W if you just want to illuminate an area vs. using them running down the road for distance.

IMO either way you will be impressed with KC for the money.

(I do not admit to nor advocate using lights greater than 55w on public roads)

 

Ditto. I have two I sent out to them Friday. Sure, I had to pay for shipping, but for $12, I'm getting a pair of replacement bulbs. One went bad after 5 years of heavy use, and one of them was bad out of the box (the whole filament was sitting in the bottom of the reflector). I have an extra pair sitting on the shelf in the garage ready to go, so if I break one, I can swap it out and scavenge for parts.

As with all things automotive, you get what you pay for.

Also, if they were mine, I'd splurge and spend the extra $18 for the stainless ones. You can always paint them black if you want, but the mild steel ones will pit and corrode in a matter of a year or two (sooner if you live in teh salt belt). My stainless steel ones look just as good as the day they went on, and it's been more than 5 years now.

I wouldn't worry about flood vs. spot. Daylighter all the way, and be done with it. The key to using any of them is placement... If you're trying to use them to augment the headlights, they need to be mounted at least as high as the headlights. Hang them under the bumper and they will light the 'stuff' ahead, but not the road per-se.

-Joe

 

Just for comparison's sake:

Xenarcs on low beam:


55 watt Piaa 520 SMRs mounted in a PIAA airdam:


Xenarc low beam and PIAA fogs


Xenarc low and high beams (high beam is a 65 watt H3 bulb)

 

150 watt daylighters (notice how many telephone poles you can now see)


Xenarcs and Daylighters:


The WORKS! Xenarcs, PIAA 520s, and Daylighters:


The last one looks less bright because the camera has to compensate for the extra light... It's literally like daylight... no shadows for 3/4 mile easy!

 

Good point on the mounting.
Nice pictures! They still don't quite do it justice as to how far the beam goes.

 

Current plan is two in a brush guard and 4 on the roof. Guess I probably should have stated that before...

 

Then if that is the case I would be putting fog light patterns on the brush guard and daylighters on the roof. just my opinion though

 

ive got a set of the 100 watt daylights, bright bright bright had the truck pointing out the end of the shed which is parrallel with the road and my grandpa turned onto the road 3 miles away and could see them shining in the ditch from that far away. he got home and asked if i had my lights on and he said he thought something was driving in the ditch next to him at first. now when driving you cant actually see that far since theres hills and stuff and its just not possible to see that far but they shine a long ways. i had a set of cheap 100 watters from walmart, junk junk junk.