hids, light bar or both

[DSPIES]

Hey folks,
as the title states, i'm looking at improving my night vision and rather than pay twice, i figure best ask the forum before choosing my path.
I'm looking for both, better freeway vision (distance) and flood to help with the slower stuff:

so my options at this time
a) upgrading my spots to Hids; or
b) buying, a light bar; or
c) both

So the details... i've got the fairly standard 2004 GU setup. the old ipf 900 spots up front which dont offer much. i use them for high beams when touring so lots of on/off on freeways.
a)
this was the HID upgrade i was looking at:
http://www.offroadindustries.com.au/products/70w-ipf-900-hid-kit
thoughts? recommendations? alternatives?
i realise they wont offer much flood but they certainly seem the starting budget option.
b)
Option 2, is to not waste time putting dollars into the Spots/Hids and just buy a light bar. Too many options to choose from but i'd be looking at somehting that's single row and 30'. Any recommendations? there are so many... aurora (expensive) / ironman (cheaper) / alternatives??... can these be used as a high/ low beam when freeway driving or do they take too long to warm up and provide decent light?
c)
both - because option B is a sh*t compromise and option A doesnt achieve intended goal for low range driving. if i went with both i'd need to find a budget bar so i wasnt spending crazy $'s ontop of the HIDs.

folks, thanks in advance... i went to the the Explore Oz show today but its hard to get an honest opinion out of a sales rep.
what's worked for you?

thanks in advance.
cheers!

[MudRunnerTD]

The kit you linked is over priced for what you get.

The only reason you would want the HID is for distance touring on the highway. They will give decent centre penetration if they are both Spot rather than a spot and a spread which is standard?

The LED light bar is generations ahead of the HId for flood. Crazy good for bush and hwy work and great for showing you the kangaroos on the side of he road.1,000% better than any HID

Speak with Paul from LED Light co in the vendors section here mate. Honest and reliable. Well priced. Without he massive mark ups

[BigRAWesty]

Mate I wish I had my aroura 20" bar on for the high country trio we did Anzac weekend..
Omg. Never worrying about spotties again..

[DSPIES]

Mate, are u happy with 20?
Any before/after pics?

I could probably fk around with the mountings and get 30' on my front bar? Too many bloody options

[BigRAWesty]

Shoit yea.. I went a combo as the gq has poor side light and I now have good side of road light.
Straight line I have 400-500m of solid light but another 2-300m reflective..
I'll still be putting a couple either side ifthe roof rack coz those hair pins were a pita..

Check out led light co thread here my pics are there.. And a few others

[macca]

Good question D
I have a set of 8 year old IPF 900's and fitted a HID kit about 4 years ago, they have a dark spot in the middle the light is like an inverted V, so I have overlapped the beams to get rid of that. Do light up a long way in front but nothing to the side. They are starting to play up and after seeing a mates Narva light bar I am sold. Going to head that way, I really don't need to see into tomorrow, but to light up the sides of the road a bit closer to see Skippy etc. would be good. I don't want both as air flow to the radiator and intercooler scoop is important too.

[DSPIES]

thanks for the replies folks.

biggq, i think between your comments and MRTD, the light bar is the way to go. (i can awlays HId later if it fails. Airflow wont be disrupted with a single row light bar sitting flush with the front hoop)

The Auroroa seems like a good option, but there are about 100, no... 5 or 6 other options to cross off first. crees, bajas, snake racing's, ... all fairly expensive options...some more than aurora but i figure pay once and be satisfied.

i was thinking 30' but in an effort to avoid mounting issues (nobody likes mounting issues :1087:) i may stick with 20'.

Definatley a spot/flood combo and single row. i dont want it over the front bar, so its got to sit flush with the main hoop.

Deci$ion$ Deci$ion$.
thanks for the help gents!

[MudRunnerTD]

thanks for the replies folks.

biggq, i think between your comments and MRTD, the light bar is the way to go. (i can awlays HId later if it fails. Airflow wont be disrupted with a single row light bar sitting flush with the front hoop)

The Auroroa seems like a good option, but there are about 100, no... 5 or 6 other options to cross off first. crees, bajas, snake racing's, ... all fairly expensive options...some more than aurora but i figure pay once and be satisfied.

i was thinking 30' but in an effort to avoid mounting issues (nobody likes mounting issues :1087:) i may stick with 20'.

Definatley a spot/flood combo and single row. i dont want it over the front bar, so its got to sit flush with the main hoop.

Deci$ion$ Deci$ion$.
thanks for the help gents!

Have a chat with Paul from LED Light co mate, I know him very well and he will be honest and straight up with you. He has a good range of Cree and Araura light bars and his own brand all of which have different price points. Give hima bell of send him an email and he will get straight back to you mate. He is a Top Bloke mate.

[megatexture]

LEDs are Awesome but I do love my hid's, I have lightforce 240s (1 spot 1 spread) I put a 100w hid kit into them and they light up a hell of a lot and actually have a wider spread and further than my light bars (3x dual 22" spot spread combos).
At the end of the day it depends what driving you do but if your budget will allow a led bar and hid combo complement each other nicely.




Good question D
I have a set of 8 year old IPF 900's and fitted a HID kit about 4 years ago, they have a dark spot in the middle the light is like an inverted V, so I have overlapped the beams to get rid of that. Do light up a long way in front but nothing to the side. They are starting to play up and after seeing a mates Narva light bar I am sold. Going to head that way, I really don't need to see into tomorrow, but to light up the sides of the road a bit closer to see Skippy etc. would be good. I don't want both as air flow to the radiator and intercooler scoop is important too.

My mate had the same issue with his ipf spotties because the hid globes are longer, he managed to fit a spacer on the reflector to make it sit proud and that solved it, its hard to describe but it basically changed the focal point of the light.

[Wetty]

I've got X-ray vison 55 watt converted IPF 900's which were a disapointment after firing them up (should have saved my money) and a 30" Wurton lightbar, which doen't throw far, but it turns night into day and has a very wide spread. . . . was damn expensive though

[threedogs]

I have both like a lot of ppl here not convinced you have enough reaction time
with a light bar at 110kph the fastest speed you can do in Vic. They are getting there [bars ]
but for high speed hwy work my 9" 100 watt HID will shine the way till something better comes along.
If going for a bar get the smallest angle possible as a spread beam you lose too much light, double row Cree 15 Degrees
or single row Cree are 10 degrees I think, speak to Paul on what you want I'm sure he'll sort you out

[Bloodyaussie]

I have been thinking of removing my spotlights as I dont really get any benefit from them for the driving I do... they are Narva HID's.

[Wizard52]

My IPF 900's with HID conversion -one spot and 1 flood are more than adequate with excellent distance and good width.
Last long weekend over on Fraser, I was parked just above high tide mark and saw someone coming down the beach with just high beam and a light bar on the roof. Light bar was bright as hell but when he went past me, I looked around to see how far he could see, and it wasn't far at all. A lot of light just going no where and pretty useless in that situation. Obviously do not know what brand and whether it was aligned properly but distance is more important than width when looking for best way through the cut up loose sand south of Indian Head or where waves are washing up on the beach.
Also I am reluctant to alter the air flow any more into the intercooler scoop as the standard Nissan bulbar already creates turbulence and I'm certain reduces the efficiency of the intercooler. I have been tempted to buy a light bar and if I did, it would have to go on the roof.

[bindi]

Sounds fair Wizard, and reckon as you say it depends on whether his bar was flood/combo or spot, and which brand too, as I dare say there will be huge differences between a cheap and quality light bars.

I too am concerned about the airflow into my intercooler with my standard alloy nissan bar and if I fit a 20" light bar it will have to be mounted to the front of the top bar as opposed to on top of it so as to not interfere with airflow. It might just look a bit silly, which is another important consideration for me.

A colleague of mine tried mounting his light bar on the roof and had to take it off as he got horrific reflection issues from his bonnet and bull bar, and he said the reflection was a real pain and really hurt his eyes. His truck is white and mine is silver so mine might even be worse. Yes I can put black tape all over the back of the bull bar, but i don't fancy painting my 18month old bonnet matt black (doh).

So, in terms of where i'm at, I currently have the standard 100w Nissan IPF900s and am thinking I might go HID before i try a light bar, but if I do go light bar (as well as the IPFs) I will go for a quality brand like a 20" Aurora bar.

Did you find that a HID conversion of your IPF900s was worthwhile? I have heard conflicting views on this re beam pattern and black spots etc.

Let me know how you go if you take the plunge and decide to roof mount a light bar.

Cheers
Mark

[Ronin]

Did you find that a HID conversion of your IPF900s was worthwhile?
Mark


I did the conversion of the IPF900 on my 2012 Patrol and it looks good. I bought the kit off Mick and the ballast etc all fits inside the spotties itself. so its all neat and tidy as well as water proof too.


http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2014/06/31.jpg

[BigRAWesty]

My IPF 900's with HID conversion -one spot and 1 flood are more than adequate with excellent distance and good width.
Last long weekend over on Fraser, I was parked just above high tide mark and saw someone coming down the beach with just high beam and a light bar on the roof. Light bar was bright as hell but when he went past me, I looked around to see how far he could see, and it wasn't far at all. A lot of light just going no where and pretty useless in that situation. Obviously do not know what brand and whether it was aligned properly but distance is more important than width when looking for best way through the cut up loose sand south of Indian Head or where waves are washing up on the beach.
Also I am reluctant to alter the air flow any more into the intercooler scoop as the standard Nissan bulbar already creates turbulence and I'm certain reduces the efficiency of the intercooler. I have been tempted to buy a light bar and if I did, it would have to go on the roof.


Sounds fair Wizard, and reckon as you say it depends on whether his bar was flood/combo or spot, and which brand too, as I dare say there will be huge differences between a cheap and quality light bars.

I too am concerned about the airflow into my intercooler with my standard alloy nissan bar and if I fit a 20" light bar it will have to be mounted to the front of the top bar as opposed to on top of it so as to not interfere with airflow. It might just look a bit silly, which is another important consideration for me.

A colleague of mine tried mounting his light bar on the roof and had to take it off as he got horrific reflection issues from his bonnet and bull bar, and he said the reflection was a real pain and really hurt his eyes. His truck is white and mine is silver so mine might even be worse. Yes I can put black tape all over the back of the bull bar, but i don't fancy painting my 18month old bonnet matt black (doh).

So, in terms of where i'm at, I currently have the standard 100w Nissan IPF900s and am thinking I might go HID before i try a light bar, but if I do go light bar (as well as the IPFs) I will go for a quality brand like a 20" Aurora bar.

Did you find that a HID conversion of your IPF900s was worthwhile? I have heard conflicting views on this re beam pattern and black spots etc.

Let me know how you go if you take the plunge and decide to roof mount a light bar.

Cheers
Mark

I would be getting hold of some coloured string and taping length of 100mm all over your bonnet, every 200mm and go for a drive at 50-70 and 100km/h and see how much the air is farked by a simple bull bar... Then add your light bar and see how little impact it would have on the already disturbed flow..

[megatexture]

Bindi I have a silver gu with 2 light bars mounted under my roofrack and have no issues, if you mount it on top the rack you will more then likely have issues as I initially did untill I moved them under the rack and moved the rack back slightly and have no reflections now . You may however be blinded if you have a white fibreglass antenna on your bull bar but that's a simple fix of using some black heat shrink or paint.

[bindi]

Bindi I have a silver gu with 2 light bars mounted under my roofrack and have no issues, if you mount it on top the rack you will more then likely have issues as I initially did untill I moved them under the rack and moved the rack back slightly and have no reflections now . You may however be blinded if you have a white fibreglass antenna on your bull bar but that's a simple fix of using some black heat shrink or paint.

Nice to hear, looking a your motor you have plenty of lighting there mate :)

[megatexture]

You can never have too much !:smiley_thumbs_up:

[Wizard52]

Sounds fair Wizard, and reckon as you say it depends on whether his bar was flood/combo or spot, and which brand too, as I dare say there will be huge differences between a cheap and quality light bars.

I too am concerned about the airflow into my intercooler with my standard alloy nissan bar and if I fit a 20" light bar it will have to be mounted to the front of the top bar as opposed to on top of it so as to not interfere with airflow. It might just look a bit silly, which is another important consideration for me.

A colleague of mine tried mounting his light bar on the roof and had to take it off as he got horrific reflection issues from his bonnet and bull bar, and he said the reflection was a real pain and really hurt his eyes. His truck is white and mine is silver so mine might even be worse. Yes I can put black tape all over the back of the bull bar, but i don't fancy painting my 18month old bonnet matt black (doh).

So, in terms of where i'm at, I currently have the standard 100w Nissan IPF900s and am thinking I might go HID before i try a light bar, but if I do go light bar (as well as the IPFs) I will go for a quality brand like a 20" Aurora bar.

Did you find that a HID conversion of your IPF900s was worthwhile? I have heard conflicting views on this re beam pattern and black spots etc.

Let me know how you go if you take the plunge and decide to roof mount a light bar.

Cheers
Mark

Hi Mark

Did conversion about 5 or 6 years ago and no problems or dark spots. Bought kit for about $220 from Nissan dealer in Morayfield and installed inverters behind headlights and had to drill bigger holes for wires to go in back of light. Before I moved up here from Brisbane, was doing a lot of night driving and could not ask for or need better lights. Great on the beach. Only problem is the chrome surrounds on the lights rust from inside out so have had to replace them and this time painted the in sides to reduce chances of rust again.

On the subject of turbulence from bull bar, when driving at any speed in the rain, you can see water drops coming off the bull bar and over the top of scoop. Also, when looking down on intercooler, front half is clean and original colour but back half is discoloured and from time to time has debris in it. This would suggest air flow into scoop is not as it should be.

cheers

Peter

[Robo]

Hid's in the spots for distance is a nobrainer.
and then if your not happy with it spread wise then go for a lightbar.

I have on GQ ipf's spot/flood combo with ebay 35w hid 4500k and that's good on the freeway, but personally not fussed with em on back roads when skip can jump out as spread is less than perfect.

And also ebay 55w hid 5500k in converted nightstalker both spread beam.
These are cheap floodlights and throw light down the freeway for about 1.5k, and I can see lane lines for several hundred meters, so not bad light for cheap.
Thinking about upgrade 100w hid's in nightstalkers.
Don't get me wrong the ips are a better focus distance wise, but spread is a weak point and don't suit my needs

The IPfs were on our GU when we got it,but to improve air flow for towing I swapped em for the smaller Nightstalkers it's the shape of grill and b/bar to work around, and as the other have also noted the intercooler needs air to.
Really we can live with floods and headlights.
But we can't live without good airflow into the engine etc.
A second thought is to up grade headlights to relays and +100% hi low beams, can't be a bad idea either.

Cheers