Thread: Roof Top Lights

Originally Posted by rangieman

But why would you want to mount Big dollars worth of lights up high , just to get broken by branch,s when off road unless you just want to be like all wanky jappers out there

Rangieman, you obviously haven’t been in a vehicle at night, fitted with roof mounted lights otherwise you would have seen how much safer night driving is, both on and off road, when roof lights are used.

They don’t have to be huge and you don’t even need to run high wattage globes.

I have 4 hella 181 driving lights on my RR, the highest wattage globes I use are 55w and the pics bellow will give you an idea of the coverage.

It also raises some lighting out of the mud that can be splashed all over the front of the vehicle, thus obscuring the headlights and spot lights when driving on very wet, muddy dirt tracks.

What are you guys scared of the dark or something

P.S. i fitted my disco to a pair of bull lights never had a prob with the boys in blue or vic roads yet best thing i ever did, not sure about roof lights
don't have a rack and i don't like the look of the light bar that sits above the windscreen.

Originally Posted by zulu Delta 534

My two bob's worth is as follows;
If you want to impress a lot of school aged kids, great,
but if you want vision, any professional driver will tell you that the further the source of light is from your line of vision the more effective the light is! (Watch a truck in fog- low mounted lights, usually on low beam, and a high elevation for the driver and he can see far further than you can in a car because he isnt peering in to a highly reflective wall of moisture!)
Its called physics I believe.
Regards
Glen

There are 2 reasons I have just put roof lights on my roof rack.

I got given a set of el-cheapo spreads for Xmas and didnt want them under my bull bar to get smashed and,

I have gone through a deep mud hole at nught before and you never notice it until it happens but there is no light out in the bush when yours go dark

I have found that they are also usefull for seeing around corners a bit and very good for spotting side streets, house numbers etc.

I dont really think I need anymore than the 1 set up there though, my Hellas and head lights work pretty well.

Hey Rangieman, what about HID inserts in head lights lol

Originally Posted by drivesafe

We were talking about roof lights, not fog lights but while on the subject, very, VERY few vehicles have genuine fog lights.

Most of these so called fog lights are nothing more than ****** lights and that includes the “fog” lights on all LRs.

Vehicles like early model BMWs, VWs and such, had proper fog lights that pointed down and lit no more than about 1 or 2 metres in front of the vehicle, not facing in front as these ****** lights do.

Back to the roof lights, although you often see pimped up 4x4s with 4 or more SPOT lights on the roof, there is actually no advantage to spots on the roof as they will give you no more advantage than bumper mounted SPOT lights.

You fit spread driving lights on the roof and you aim them to cover the area of road just ahead of where your low beam ends.

This type set up lets you see over crests better, see pot holes sooner and if you spread the lights slightly out to the sides, you can actually see around corners.

I’ve been running roof lights for over 25 years, on numerous types of vehicles and have run numerous combinations and I’ve found spots have proven to be a waste of time up on the roof.

After running 4 spreads on the roof and two spots on the bumper of my 03 RR, I have not even bothered to mount any spots on my 08 and just run the 4 roof mounted spreads when I’m doing some night driving.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

It also raises some lighting out of the mud that can be splashed all over the front of the vehicle, thus obscuring the headlights and spot lights when driving on very wet, muddy dirt tracks.

Originally Posted by mcrover

I have gone through a deep mud hole at nught before and you never notice it until it happens but there is no light out in the bush when yours go dark

Doesn't it just!!!!!!!!!!! I drove in to a very boggy section of track the other year and it covered the headlights and spotties and for about 50 metres I was driving from memory in total darkness and very slippery terrain with a creek crossing not to far beyond that.

Originally Posted by slug_burner

Taxi's in Sydney use lights on the roof that are not forward facing in order to read the house numbers.

Ambulances have similar lights.

They are fitted facing sideways and are not classed as headlights, thus they are covered under a different set of regulations. From memory the allowable wattage is low (maybe 55 watts) and the angle from horizontal is governed as well. I think they must also be "flood" lights, not spots or spread beam driving lights.

Originally Posted by dm_td5

Doesn't it just!!!!!!!!!!! I drove in to a very boggy section of track the other year and it covered the headlights and spotties and for about 50 metres I was driving from memory in total darkness and very slippery terrain with a creek crossing not to far beyond that.

Yep, took me by surprise the first time it happened to me, I got through the hole which was in a wash away and a steep decline over the other side, made it very interesting.

Just to add something Re rear facing lights.

You may have 1 rear facing white light not exceeding 35w and must be wired to come on with your reverse lights only and either have a switch to be able to turn it off or have it wired so it wont come unless the head lights are on.

This is what Ive been told by my auto elec but I dont ever remeber reading about it in the regs.

Ive got one which is a flood light and comes on with my rev lights (or is meant to, it's not working at the moment) but ive got a switch in the back to be able to over ride the reverse lights and power up the relay from the power feed.

Works great for putting on a trailer or just a camp site light

Originally Posted by Redback

In NSW roof lights are illegal, they can be ornamental however, which contadicts the other law on driving lights or any other light, that if lights are fitted they must work

Also there are a maximun allowed, 6 in NSW that includes your headlights and they must be in pairs (ie) one spot one spreed with the spot on the drivers side

Baz.

Originally Posted by rangieman

Also there are a maximun allowed, 6 in NSW that includes your headlights and they must be in pairs
The same law apply,s in Vic anymore than 6 (3 pairs) of forward facing lights your history !
But why would you want to mount Big dollars worth of lights up high , just to get broken by branch,s when off road unless you just want to be like all wanky jappers out there
Sorry its not for me

There's an echo in here