Christian Andras Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 Hi! I have an 2017 FJ with the original roof bars. I would like to install one led bar at the front of the roof, which I have seen many have, for off roading. My questions/concerns from those of you who have this kind of light installet are 2: 1. Is the light from this position "good", I mean not reflecting/lighting up the bonet? 2. Is there a lot of extra noise when driving on the highway? Thanks for your inputs, /Chris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 32 minutes ago, Christian Andras said: Hi! I have an 2017 FJ with the original roof bars. I would like to install one led bar at the front of the roof, which I have seen many have, for off roading. My questions/concerns from those of you who have this kind of light installet are 2: 1. Is the light from this position "good", I mean not reflecting/lighting up the bonet? 2. Is there a lot of extra noise when driving on the highway? Thanks for your inputs, /Chris Hi @Christian Andras your points and concerns are completely valid. I used to have a double led bar mounted on the roof, but the wind noise was quite horrible and the reflection on the hood was also there but by pointing them a little bit upwards i was able to minimize that. From my opinion i have seen better results from a slightly smaller bar with latest LED technology mounted on the front grille. 8 "Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Seidam Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 Thank you both @Christian Andras for the query and @Frederic for the feedback as I was planning in the near future for such installation 👍 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Andras Posted October 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 @Frederic Thanks for your inputs. I guess both reflection and noise is somewhat dependent on car type, size and mounting. I had another car before with roof lights, and the reflection was really a bad problem. I am just speculating that the FJ might be better in that sense, since the windsheild is more erect, and the bonet short. But then again, it's just me speculating, it would be good to hear from someone who has it... Same goes for noise - before buying the FJ, I was told the noise with the original roof rack on is very bad, but when I bought it, the previous owner removed the most front transverse bar, and there is no problematic noise... I also was thinking of a ledbar at the grill, but I have limited experience of driving off-road at night, is it not better to have the light higher up on the car?? What's your opinion? 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Srikumar Posted October 26, 2020 Popular Post Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 I use both the roof top LED bar as well as the one near the headlights, and both serve two different purpose. 1. The LED bar at the top is curved which is more of a spread light which helps see a bit on the left and right of the car especially when you are crisscrossing a dune, however the straight line visibility is limited. 2. The one in front of the headlight is a powerful spot LED bar which gives good straight visibility. If I had to choose one between the two, I would choose the spot LED bar any day because of the light intensity and the clear visibility of the track in front of you. I would recommend installing it near the headlights or just below as that is the best place to install without any reflections and you can direct the light in the right angle. Now, if you are installing near the front headlights, depending on the space availability you should look to install the most powerful spot LED light bar. Mine is a 32 inch spot LED light bar of 480W and my night vision has improved so significantly that I am no longer called a Day time Marshal (the old timers in the club would know what I mean) 😁. You can put smaller LED light bar beam as per the below image on the two sides (near your windscreen) that would give you a peripheral vision. This would be my recommended setup. 10 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaitanya D Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Christian Andras said: Hi! I have an 2017 FJ with the original roof bars. I would like to install one led bar at the front of the roof, which I have seen many have, for off roading. My questions/concerns from those of you who have this kind of light installet are 2: 1. Is the light from this position "good", I mean not reflecting/lighting up the bonet? 2. Is there a lot of extra noise when driving on the highway? Thanks for your inputs, /Chris Roof bar needs perfect placement and angle to decrease the glare from bonnet. Wrapping it snugly reduces noise significantly. If you can get a mix of white and amber led light it will be perfect because white light visibility when there is dust is awful. Best set up would be one led bar on roof ~40 inch (spot and flood combo), one spot led bar in between headlights ~20 inch and side shooters for peripheral vision. You have various brands some of which are as expensive as a car , but I have Toby's from Dragon mart. Cheap and serves the purpose with rough off road usage. Edited October 26, 2020 by Chaitanya D 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Andras Posted October 26, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 Thank a lot @Chaitanya D and @Srikumar for your valuable input! I was actually thinking that the roof bar will serve both purposes (bout forward spot and sideway flood). I have seen some cars having this small "side shooters", and I thought it's more "looks" than functionality, but is seems they are good. It also seems that a led bar between the head lights is a very good investment. So maybe I go for all 3 positions... Any obvious garage that is dealing with this kind of work you would recommend..? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srikumar Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 I would suggest to add one at a time and see how it performs. Start with the spot powerful LED bar near the headlights, then depending on how your visibility is in the night you can add more. First check where is the place to install this LED light bar. Then measure the width and buy the LED light bar. Toby's is a very good Chinese brand and they have a shop in Dragon mart. Both my LED light bars are from Toby and they are quite competitively priced compared to other bigger brands (which are also assembled in China). 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 38 minutes ago, Christian Andras said: Thank a lot @Chaitanya D and @Srikumar for your valuable input! I was actually thinking that the roof bar will serve both purposes (bout forward spot and sideway flood). I have seen some cars having this small "side shooters", and I thought it's more "looks" than functionality, but is seems they are good. It also seems that a led bar between the head lights is a very good investment. So maybe I go for all 3 positions... Any obvious garage that is dealing with this kind of work you would recommend..? I have two of these sideshooters on my front bumpers and they really help a lot when aimed at the corners. Dragon Mart has them from Toby's brand. 5 1 "Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaitanya D Posted October 26, 2020 Report Share Posted October 26, 2020 But be aware most of the designs and especially side shooters ( flood type with 6LED and 6 small side led) are out of stock with Tobys. Winter and off road season has kicked in! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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