roof lights..

[spinks]

just got my hands on a light bar for the roof of the disco and wondered what you guys can recommend for a cheapish (as they'll get damaged laning) set of 4 rectangulat spotlights

[Cagey]

I had Ring ones on my 90, fitted under the rollcage to avoid trees etc... Not too expensive, good light pattern. That was my 90 in the avatar, sold now. Pity It's not the other way round, you would see the spots!

[Oceantreader]

I've got 4 of these on the rollcage of my RRC.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4X4-4WD-OVAL-FOG-DRIVING-LIGHTS-12V-UTE-CAR-SPOT-LIGHT_W0QQitemZ280334910733QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090419?IMSfp=TL090419127001r10713

Dunno how good they are, as I've not got round to connecting em yet!

But they're quite low profile, and are fairly safe from being snagged on things.

[imatthew]

Make sure that you set the lights back from the front of the roof. The closer they are to the front, the more they will light up your windscreen and bonnet and make it harder to see.

[DD]

excellent post there from ian.

I bought one of those gutter-mounted light-bars from Ebay - the ones that hug the roofline, look very nice and hang the lights at the very top of the screen..........****** to that, you can't see a thing when they're on - blinded by the bonnet!!!

[mrcheese]

As the light that hits the bonnet is wasted anyway, has anyone tried shielding the bottom parts of the lenses.

I had a set of four spots mounted on a roof bar so I could moved them back. But having ripped them off twice they stayed off. If they go back on they would need to be mounted as DD had done it, but I can't live with the reflection.

Edit to say that my lights are round, so shieding might be more practical than the rectangular parts.

[streaky]

I made some light deflectors for the Disco. They look a bit goofy but they stop 90% of the light from hitting the bonnet.
I've also tried masking the bottom part of the lens with black tape...this worked to an extent but also reduced the overall effectiveness of the lights.
I've since sold these rectangle IPF lights but have done the same baseball cap peaks on my HID roof mounted round spots.
Here's the only picture I have showing the round HID lights and the lower deflectors.

Combine these peaks and the matt black bonnet decal and you can use the roof mounted lights for their proper intended purpose. I have mine swept out to the sides to give me a much wider pattern of night vision. The Large HID spots at teh front just assist with the high beam lights.
Desert driving at night requires the best lights you can afford...with the widest field of vision. I am very happy with the results even though they look pretty stupid.

Hope this helps.

[winchman]

I put mine here (£7 from an auto jumble)

[mrcheese]

A nice idea, Streaky. I wonder if I can find some plastic pipe that has the same diameter as the lenses. Kind of like the shields used on traffic lights so they are not visible from the sides.

Perhaps masking the reflectors rather trhan the leanses would be better? I'll have to take a look at mine to see if I can get at them.

The bonnet on mine is satin black, but I do have chequer plate on the wings. I'll do some experimeting. Lights right on top of the roof are not a good option as I have ripped the old set off twice.

[streaky]

Masking the reflectors or masking the len's...in both cases would reduce the ammount of light output to the extent where you've wasted your money on additional lighting in the first place.

Your plastic pipe idea sounds like it just might work in the same way as the lights available from X-Eng.

Try doing one and let us know how you get on.

Regards.

S.

[andypandysdirtylandy]

mine are rubber work lights off ebay with 100watt bulbs in them , not great distance but a brilliant flood pattern for offroading

[ooky_123]

just picked up a pair of rubber WIPAC ones. they also do square flood style ones, that are commonly fitted to JCB's .