Auxiliary driving lights

Monkey44: you may want to check and get your lights adjusted.
OP: I installed a pair of LED driving lights wire through a switch in the control circuit to a relay to act as daylight running lights. The switch is to turn them off when parking so as to not blind other campers. relay is wired to a good 12 volt hot location and the control is wired from a hot in run fuse location.
I aimed the lights slightly to the right so as to not blind on coming traffic. They are mounted lower then center line of headlights.

Some factory lights are so bright now, I click the brights thinking the oncoming traffic is 'brights', then get a click back with something even brighter!

Road vehicles get any brighter it will blind anyone on the road.

I agree with protecting the crossing wildlife - and our fenders - but have no clue how to protect that wildlife or prevent that damage. We usually just slow down if we suspect it might happen in rural areas.

I'd go with floods for the other 2 for sure.
Pencil beams straight ahead, floods aimed out a bit.
The lightbar I have is spots in the center section and floods in outside lights. It lights up ditch to ditch quite well for a significant distance. Even with the truck having a great set of HID low beams (they're arguably brighter than the OE high beams both near and far), the spot flood LED lightbar combo is orders of magnitude brighter.


Also if everyone could leave the "You'll blind oncoming traffic and the law states you can only have 4 lights on" cr ap Karen arguments out of this thread, that'd be great, mmmmkay?
You don't know how I or anyone else drive or when an where we use our bright lights. Thanks!

mkirsch wrote:

I live out in the sticks and there is so much traffic that even just using the factory brights is pointless. You can not see a car for miles but the moment you click on the brights, BAM, here comes a car.

We are getting there wrt to traffic. I wish all the #vanlifers, and work from homers, would leave us in peace. (Fat chance that's gonna happen though.)

Groover wrote:
There is a high likelihood that the lights that you want to install are not road legal and will blind oncoming traffic. Please be sure that your lights are road legal and compliant with your state laws.

As for fog lights, I have several vehicles with factory fog lights and have found them to be essentially useless. I can't even tell if they are on without turning off the headlamps. Their range is so short that they wouldn't do me any good over 20mph.

Idaho lighting laws:



Idaho vehicle lighting

Thanks for the link it did help me determine what to buy. The law uses some archaic language. Just measured the heights of the openings and they are w/in spec. These are 3"x3" and they don't scream for attention like the massive 20"-30" lightbars. I think fog lamps are worthless myself.

The spots are on their own switch so they don't come on w the headlamps and my intention is to use them only when conditions warrant. We have known big game migration corridors such as ID 20 near Fairfield,ID that extreme caution must be used, especially in low light conditions. I am a hunter and fisher so frequently travel at night, dawn, and dusk during active migrations in spring and fall thus the need for additional lighting.

I think I'm going to go w floods (on a dedicated switch) since the limit is 2 spot lamps. Even a slight glimpse of a crossing animal may be enough to allow time for some defensive action to avoid a collision.

Logically, if you have the spot lights pointed down the road they do NOTHING to illuminate anything coming at you from a 90 degree angle.

It would seem that floodlights would be the logical choice. However...

The factory driving lights on my truck put out a wide low (flood) light directly ahead of the vehicle. They too do NOTHING to illuminate anything coming at me from the side of the road until it is too late.

Flood lights would have to be so bright and obnoxious to give you any chance of seeing anything far enough ahead to stop in time, that they would be virtually unusable if there is any oncoming traffic at all. You would be constantly turning them on and off to avoid blinding oncoming traffic.

I live out in the sticks and there is so much traffic that even just using the factory brights is pointless. You can not see a car for miles but the moment you click on the brights, BAM, here comes a car.

There is a high likelihood that the lights that you want to install are not road legal and will blind oncoming traffic. Please be sure that your lights are road legal and compliant with your state laws.

As for fog lights, I have several vehicles with factory fog lights and have found them to be essentially useless. I can't even tell if they are on without turning off the headlamps. Their range is so short that they wouldn't do me any good over 20mph.

Idaho lighting laws:

49-918. SPOT LAMPS AND AUXILIARY LAMPS. (1) Any motor vehicle may be
equipped with not more than two (2) spot lamps, and each lighted spot lamp
shall be so aimed and used upon approaching another vehicle that no part of
the high-intensity portion of the beam will be directed to the left of the
prolongation of the extreme left side of the vehicle nor more than one hundred (100) feet ahead of the vehicle.
(2) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) fog
lamps mounted on the front, at a height not less than twelve (12) inches nor
more than thirty (30) inches above the level surface upon which the vehicle
stands, and so aimed that when the vehicle is not loaded none of the high-intensity portion of the light to the left of the center of the vehicle shall
at a distance of twenty-five (25) feet ahead project higher than a level of
four (4) inches below the level of the center of the lamp from which it comes.
Lighted fog lamps meeting these requirements may be used with lower head lamp
beams as specified in section 49-922(2), Idaho Code.
(3) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) auxiliary passing lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than twentyfour (24) inches nor more than forty-two (42) inches above the level surface
upon which the vehicle stands. The provisions of section 49-922, Idaho Code,
shall apply to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary passing lamps.
(4) Any motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two (2) auxiliary driving lamps mounted on the front at a height not less than sixteen (16)
inches nor more than forty-two (42) inches above the level surface upon which
the vehicle stands. The provisions of section 49-922, Idaho Code, shall apply to any combination of head lamps and auxiliary driving lamps.


Idaho vehicle lighting