What's everyone using for lights? - Pirate4x4.Com : 4x4 and Off-Road Forum

Sully · 11-15-2006, 10:14 AM

It's the time of year where it's dark when I leave the house, and its dark when I come home.

If I want to get any riding in, it's got to be after dark. I need a new set of lights. It seems the really good ones are prohibitively expensive. But the cheaper ones are just to be seen by other cars, not to actually provide any useful light for you.

Since most of my riding is on trail, I'd prefer to actually be able to see.

What light setups are you using that fit the bill?

rokhound21 · 11-15-2006, 10:24 AM

The trail rat or head trip from niterider is the only way to go. Price range any where from $95-$120. Check pricepoint.com and performance.com, nashbar.com some times has ok deals. Jensonusa.com(i think thats the web page) gets killer deals on diff stuff from time to time. but as any thing else prices are slightly higher this time of yr. Let us know what you find !

Sully · 11-16-2006, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rokhound21

The trail rat or head trip from niterider is the only way to go. Price range any where from $95-$120. Check pricepoint.com and performance.com, nashbar.com some times has ok deals. Jensonusa.com(i think thats the web page) gets killer deals on diff stuff from time to time. but as any thing else prices are slightly higher this time of yr. Let us know what you find !

The trail rat is actually the one I have been looking at the most.

I just don't like the fact that it doesn't have a smart charger. I would prefer to be able to plug the battery into the charger, and forget about it. leave it there till I need it. When I'm done, put it back.

I don't want to worry about fawking up a $60 battery by overcharging it when I forget to unplug it after 9 hours.

I'm also not keen on the 9 hour charge time, but I can live with that.

mxracer33x · 11-16-2006, 10:22 AM

the smart charger is the biggest problem I had with the trail rat as well. Lets keep this thread alive, I know a few guys here in town have some high dollar stuff, and a few of us are trying to be chaeap. Ill keep you posted on the outcomes. I think im going to try to pick up a blackburn X3 from blackburndesigns.com Smart charger and a good lifespan on the battery. average price of $130

ZJim · 11-17-2006, 11:19 AM

A while back I posted about my setup that I made myself, in part because I wanted a high dollar performance light but didn't have the cash to justify spending on it. I took my Niterider Trailrat housing and switch and replaced the 6V bulb with a 12v bulb that was 20 watt. Then I bought a lithium battery (4600 mah I think) from Batteryspace.com that put out something like 14.6 volts. It's overvolted which reduces the life of the bulb somewhat, but also makes it brighter and even more efficient. Total cost was maybe 60 bucks?

91Toyota4x4 · 11-24-2006, 07:46 PM

Yeah like Jim said overloading does reduce the life of the bulb, but going from 1500hrs to 1000hrs is well worth it. I mean unless you ride at night ALOT it will take years to burn out the bulb.

11-15-2006, 10:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Sully Zeus of the Sluice Join Date: Jun 2002 Member # 12121 Location: Live Free or Die Posts: 4,787	What's everyone using for lights? It's the time of year where it's dark when I leave the house, and its dark when I come home. If I want to get any riding in, it's got to be after dark. I need a new set of lights. It seems the really good ones are prohibitively expensive. But the cheaper ones are just to be seen by other cars, not to actually provide any useful light for you. Since most of my riding is on trail, I'd prefer to actually be able to see. What light setups are you using that fit the bill? __________________ Live Free or Die Why is mankind the only species that attempts to preserve the shallow end of its gene pool?

11-15-2006, 10:24 AM	#2 (permalink)
rokhound21 Wheeler Join Date: Sep 2006 Member # 79555 Location: Pa Posts: 102	The trail rat or head trip from niterider is the only way to go. Price range any where from $95-$120. Check pricepoint.com and performance.com, nashbar.com some times has ok deals. Jensonusa.com(i think thats the web page) gets killer deals on diff stuff from time to time. but as any thing else prices are slightly higher this time of yr. Let us know what you find ! __________________ Everyone Dies. . . Not Everyone Lives !!! Go For It !

11-16-2006, 10:22 AM	#4 (permalink)
mxracer33x Registered User Join Date: Feb 2005 Member # 43110 Location: Chico, Ca Posts: 755	the smart charger is the biggest problem I had with the trail rat as well. Lets keep this thread alive, I know a few guys here in town have some high dollar stuff, and a few of us are trying to be chaeap. Ill keep you posted on the outcomes. I think im going to try to pick up a blackburn X3 from blackburndesigns.com Smart charger and a good lifespan on the battery. average price of $130 Last edited by mxracer33x; 11-16-2006 at 10:26 AM.

11-24-2006, 07:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
91Toyota4x4 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2005 Member # 41026 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 390	Yeah like Jim said overloading does reduce the life of the bulb, but going from 1500hrs to 1000hrs is well worth it. I mean unless you ride at night ALOT it will take years to burn out the bulb. __________________ 91 Toyota SAS Truck

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11-17-2006, 11:19 AM	#5 (permalink)
ZJim Registered User Join Date: Nov 2003 Member # 24099 Location: Gainesville, FL Posts: 1,359	A while back I posted about my setup that I made myself, in part because I wanted a high dollar performance light but didn't have the cash to justify spending on it. I took my Niterider Trailrat housing and switch and replaced the 6V bulb with a 12v bulb that was 20 watt. Then I bought a lithium battery (4600 mah I think) from Batteryspace.com that put out something like 14.6 volts. It's overvolted which reduces the life of the bulb somewhat, but also makes it brighter and even more efficient. Total cost was maybe 60 bucks?