Bill Idaho
Newly Enlightened
I have been on CPF for several years in the searchlight forum, as I have several military VSS-1's and VSS-3's (180 million candlepower!). It wasn't until recently I scrolled down enough to see my a few other subjects dear to my heart - Knives and now automotive lighting. Please allow me to utilize what others have already learned and (hopefully) save me time and money in my personal quest................................
I have a 2003 Dodge 2500 (with original factory lighting) and travel a lot at night across Idaho and surrounding states. Lots of open spaces with minimal traffic (as in going for as much as a hour without seeing another vehicle). I have decided to add to aftermarket driving lights, as I must have an overpowered deer-magnet mounted under the front bumper. The factory high-beams seem like they are good enough (compared to nothing else), but I want to add something to light up the shoulders/roadside way out there, at the very least as far as the high beams. I swear those deer wait all night for my rig to drive by, but I digress.
(I apologize if I am not explaining myself correctly.)
I read threads about simply buying better bulbs to fit in the factory housings, and figure that might be a good starting point. Is there a better bulb, readily available, that I can just go down to the auto parts store and buy?
I am told the "standard" KC Daylighters are what a lot of people buy, but I am not thrilled about their amperage draw, especially since LED's seem to be the up and coming thing. Then, the guy at the truck-parts store tells me there are now LED Daylighters, that draw way less power, but he hasn't seen any at night to see if they throw as far as the "standard" model. (My web-fu couldn't locate any video of a comparison between the regular and LED models in real world fashion.)
I see a bunch of vehicles lately with LED "driving" or "fog" lights mounted, but I would wager 90% of them are simply eye-candy, with the effort to make their vehicles look cool. I want something that will work for its intended purpose.
I have a 2003 Dodge 2500 (with original factory lighting) and travel a lot at night across Idaho and surrounding states. Lots of open spaces with minimal traffic (as in going for as much as a hour without seeing another vehicle). I have decided to add to aftermarket driving lights, as I must have an overpowered deer-magnet mounted under the front bumper. The factory high-beams seem like they are good enough (compared to nothing else), but I want to add something to light up the shoulders/roadside way out there, at the very least as far as the high beams. I swear those deer wait all night for my rig to drive by, but I digress.
(I apologize if I am not explaining myself correctly.)
I read threads about simply buying better bulbs to fit in the factory housings, and figure that might be a good starting point. Is there a better bulb, readily available, that I can just go down to the auto parts store and buy?
I am told the "standard" KC Daylighters are what a lot of people buy, but I am not thrilled about their amperage draw, especially since LED's seem to be the up and coming thing. Then, the guy at the truck-parts store tells me there are now LED Daylighters, that draw way less power, but he hasn't seen any at night to see if they throw as far as the "standard" model. (My web-fu couldn't locate any video of a comparison between the regular and LED models in real world fashion.)
I see a bunch of vehicles lately with LED "driving" or "fog" lights mounted, but I would wager 90% of them are simply eye-candy, with the effort to make their vehicles look cool. I want something that will work for its intended purpose.