On And Off-Road Lighting Tips And Tricks

Let There Be Light Jeep With Driving Lights Front Shot

Nothing changes your perspective on nighttime wheeling or even just driving down paved roads like a good set of lights. And unless you’re driving a brand new $50,000 4x4, your factory lights suck in comparison to what is available. There are multiple ways to put more light in front of your 4x4, including off-road lights and headlight upgrade kits. But these can range from $40 to over $500, so it pays to know a little bit about the technology before whipping out the platinum credit card.

Let There Be Light Light Housing And Bulbs

Headlights have come in several forms over the past 80 years or so. The older styles were sealed beams (left) with the filament mounted in a large glass assembly filled with an inert gas. Over the past few decades, new vehicles transitioned to composite headlamps which use a plastic lens and reflector along with a replaceable bulb (right). These still use a filament, but the gas-filled chamber was reduced to the small area around the filament. The latest headlight technology is HID (center), which uses two tungsten electrodes and the light comes in the form of an arc between the electrodes.

Headlights have come in several forms over the past 80 years or so. The older styles were

The Basics
In most vehicle lights, electricity flows through a thin piece of metal called a filament just like the soon-to-be-outlawed (in some areas) incandescent light bulbs in your house. The metal heats up almost to the point of melting, and the resulting glow puts the light in your lights. The reflector in the housing focuses the light in one direction, making it more intense. Headlights are rated in watts, and the most basic way to get a brighter light is install higher watt bulbs. These have larger filaments and sometimes different types of metal that handles higher amperage without melting. However, the filament is held in a gas chamber, and the type of gas affects the light output. Really old sealed beams were incandescent, and they use an inert gas. These lights give off a very warm, yellow glow. The filament starts to decay from the first time it is used, becoming dimmer and dimmer until they finally give up. The two most common gases used today for automotive headlights are halogen and xenon. Halogens produce a primarily white light, and the halogen gas causes a chemical reaction that redeposits separated parts of the filament back on the metal when the light is turned off, extending the life and maintaining the brightness of these lights over their life. Xenon is another gas that can be used in lights that have filaments, producing either a pure white or a blue tint. The color is caused by a different temperature at which the filament glows. Both halogen and xenon bulbs produce brighter light with longer life. To add some confusion, xenon is also often used to describe High Intensity Discharge (HID) lights.

This is a detail of a typical replacement bulb for a composite headlight system. The part of the filament that looks like a spring is what glows when the light is turned on. The glass chamber can be filled with halogen or xenon gas, which changes the characteristic of the glow for a brighter and whiter light. It also extends the life of the electrode.
This is a detail of a typical replacement bulb for a composite headlight system. The part
Upgrading a composite headlight is as easy as changing the bulb. IPF and others make kits to upgrade older sealed-beam lights to composite-type to make use of H4-style bulbs up to 100 watts. Be extremely careful not to touch the glass part of the bulb. Oil from your skin will cause the bulb to break when it heats up.
Upgrading a composite headlight is as easy as changing the bulb. IPF and others make kits

HID Lights
These lights have been used for decades by pro off-road racers for ultra-bright systems that operate at a moderate amp draw and lower temperature. An HID light doesn’t use a filament at all. Instead of heating a filament to the point of glowing, an HID uses electrodes that do not touch. When the gas in the tube heats up to the point of evaporation, an arc of light connects the electrodes. They use xenon gas in the tube, but don’t confuse a xenon light bulb with an HID. In addition to special bulbs – which some companies call a burner to distinguish them from filament-type bulbs – these systems also require a transformer to increase the voltage and create the arc, as well as a starter which literally starts the arc. While a halogen or xenon light attains its full brightness as soon as you turn it on, an HID has a warm-up period. A knock against HID lights has been the expense, but there have been several affordable off-road lights and headlight conversion kits introduced in the past few years.

HID lights provide the highest light output, but they require additional components. The Lightforce Stryker HID on the left shows the starter (A) and transformer (B) that are required to start and power the arc in an HID bulb. You’ll need to find locations to mount these securely to your 4x4. The Rugged Ridge HID (right) has these components built into the light housing, which greatly simplifies installation. Lightforce recently introduced the Genesis line, which also has the components built in.
HID lights provide the highest light output, but they require additional components. The L
[A] [B] [A] An HID uses two tungsten electrodes (A) and a chamber between the electrodes where the arc occurs (B). There is a bright flash when you first turn on an HID caused by the starter, followed by a low glow that comes into a bright light after 10-30 seconds.
[A] [B] [A] An HID uses two tungsten electrodes (A) and a chamber between the electrodes w

Let There Be Light Led Replacement Light

We have to admit that when we saw the first LED replacement headlights a few years ago, we questioned the validity of the concept. But after trying them, we’ll attest to their brightness, coolness, and ruggedness. Truck-Lite offers 7-inch round LED assemblies that replace headlights. These use 10 LEDs in a single housing. Pro Comp and Vision X Lighting make a variety of off-road LED lights.

We have to admit that when we saw the first LED replacement headlights a few years ago, we

LED Lights
A relatively new technology for forward-facing lights is Light Emitting Diodes (LED). They’ve been popular for trailer and Jeep taillights for a long time, but the concept of using them for headlights or off-road lights is pretty new. In an LED, diodes are mounted on a circuit board, and are electrically charged to create light. They are extremely efficient, producing bright, white light with very low amperage draw. They are the fastest to light, and they also produce practically zero heat. A big advantage for off-roading is that they are nearly impervious to damage from shock and vibration.

The Truck-Lite 7-inch LED lights come in a sealed housing with a wiring pig tail that plugs into the standard three-prong headlight socket on your vehicle. They draw very low amperage so there isn’t a concern of overheating old wiring and there is no need for a relay. The light body is held in place with your original headlight mount ring.
The Truck-Lite 7-inch LED lights come in a sealed housing with a wiring pig tail that plug
This comparison shows an old sealed beam light (left) and the new Truck-Lite LED. The LED is several times brighter, giving both better illumination and farther reach. You can also see that the light is white with just a hint of blue, compared to the yellow cast of the older light. LED lights are generally more expensive, but they have a very long service life and hold up very well to shock and vibration.
This comparison shows an old sealed beam light (left) and the new Truck-Lite LED. The LED

Let There Be Light Off Road Driving Light Choices

There are even more choices when you dive into off-road lights. These don’t have to be street legal, so they can be much brighter and reach much farther. Pick a light that will produce the type of beam pattern you want as well as fit your vehicle and your budget. You can choose a traditional bulb like the Pro Comp 9-inch H11 light (top left) and Lightforce 170 Striker, or an HID such as this 7-incher shown from Rugged Ridge (right). All three of these companies offer high-output traditional lights as well as HID lights.

There are even more choices when you dive into off-road lights. These don’t have to be str

Starting Point
When you’re ready to add more light, the best place to start is your headlights. You use these every day, um, we mean every night, so a step up here will be something you’ll get the most use and satisfaction from. Older headlights are a sealed beam-type; when the bulb goes out you replace the entire headlight. Newer systems are a composite made up of a plastic housing that has the reflector and lens and a replaceable bulb. For either of these types, you can upgrade to halogen or xenon bulbs with higher wattage ratings. You’ll probably want to stick with DOT-compliant bulbs to keep out of trouble with your local law enforcement and other motorists, but that’s up to you. There are plenty of legal choices as well as few off-road only options. As a safety precaution, some late-model vehicle electrical systems, such as that in the ’07-up Jeep Wrangler, sense the amp draw through the factory headlight switch and will shut-down the system if the draw is too high. If you want to go brighter than 60/55-watt bulbs, you’ll need to use a relay kit such as the one from Painless Performance shown in “To Relay or Not To Relay.”