These days new rigs actually come with some pretty decent lighting, right out of the box, so there would be a heap of other mods I’d make before lights. But this is not a ‘why you shouldn’t fit spotties on your rig’ article, so let’s take a closer look at how you can pick the right auxiliary lights for your rig…

What are the benefits of auxiliary lights?

Um, we’ll they allow you to see more in the dark. That’s about it. But at a stretch, give you a backup supply of lights should your main headlights fail.

Where will you mount them?

This will always vary car to car. Dependent of if you’ve got a bulbar, what kind of bulbar, if you have permanently mounted roof racks, what type of rig, too many variables for me to cater for here. Put if I was to put possible locations into a priority list, here’s what I’d say.

• In between your headlights, protected by the top of your bull bar
• Mounted on the front of your roof racks
• Mounted above your bulbar
• Mounted on your front bumper bar

Some may disagree that mounting them on top of your bull bar should be higher in the list, however I consider reducing your vision through the windscreen by putting a set of huge spotties in the way to be a huge no no. Leave that to the competition trucks.

What will fit?

Once you’ve picked the ideal location it’s time to check what will fit. When your measuring your max size, don’t forget to consider depth as well as height and width. You don’t want your $400 spotties being the most extreme front point of your rig. Get em tucked away in your bull bar.

Is bigger better?

Yes, to an extent. A bigger version of a quality set of headlights will most likely perform better. However a medium size quality set, may outperform a huge set of budget lamps. It’s also worth noting that there are different grades of the same size – by the same manufacturers.

Type of beam

There are two main types of beams you’ll see when shopping for lights, pencil and spread. Pencil casts a long thin beam directly to the front of the lights. A spread beam casts a shorter but significantly wider spread of lights. Ideally you’d have two spread either side of one pencil, however rarely do you have the space for three lights, so you may need to stick with one pencil one spread. The illustration below shows the difference light direction of pencil and spread beam headlights.

Light penetration distance

This is really the main measure of the performance of a headlight. But don’t be caught in the marketing hype of the competing manufactures chasing that illusive, where the longest tag. Whilst brand x might claim distance Y, remember it’s on a perfectly clear night, and measuring only the faintest sign of light penetration. I’ve always support manufactures who don’t try to disguise that fact. Again the Hella brand is a good example of that.

Protection

Some lights might come with covers as a part of the package, other’s you’ll need to pay a little more. You’ve got two options when it comes to covers. Clear of not. Clear covers will impact the performance of the lights as it needs to pass through the Perspex, but give you the benefit of not needing to get out of the car when you want to run your extra headlights. It’s also means that your lights are protected at all times, where non clear covers will only protect your lights when they are not being used. Finally, manufactures who don’t offer a clear option, it probably means that they emit too much heat, which will just melt the Perspex. With it you leave your covers on these types of lights, you’ll melt the plastic and pretty much destroy your lights. It’s easier to do than you think. My advice, go with clear if you can.

Durability

Price does not always equal quality. But don’t expect a really really cheap set of lights to last long. Particularly if you’re hitting the mud frequently. A middle of the road model might outperform a premium model, but the cheap and nasties will never last. Quality until will also be more water resistant, if river crossings are in your destiny.

Availability of replacement parts

This is your last consideration, and it’s for the most part it’s about the globes. How easy is it to obtain and fit replacement globes? Check this before you buy. Also, if you go for covers, can you get an extra set of one breaks, or is stolen?

So there you have it, all the factors you need to consider when buying a set of aftermarket lighting for your rig. Enjoy!

Why a rope is better?

• Lighter More Maneuverable

  When I say lighter, I mean a lot lighter. If you’ve ever lugged cable up a 35 degree incline
  you’ll appreciate this benefit — a lot!

• It’s actually stronger

  Now I’m not going to get all technical speccy on you, but a quality plasma rope is actually
  stronger than a cable rope (hard to believe I know).

• Easier to spool

  Being lighter and more maneuverable it’s actually easier to spool. Something you’ll not do often. bit a pain if you need too.

• No more splinters!

  Cables will splinter, and even with the best set of riggers gloves, you’re going to get stung at some point. And those that already have — know how much it hurts

Why a cable is better?

• It’s cheaper

  Unfortunatly this is a choice people have to make. Not only are replacements cheaper, you’ll have
  to replace it less offen (see next point).

• Cable will last longer

  If your using a synthetic rope you’ll need to take care of it. Over explosre to sun, continual
  immersion in mud, the rope will eventually absorb chemicals that will breakdown the rope fibers. As the sythetic technolgies

So which wins?

Very few who spend the extra cash and purchase a synthetic rope ever go back to cable. It ticks
every box except for the cost. So if you’re budget will stretch, rope wins hands down. It’s
a better alternative, but other than ease of use, a cable is still a rock solid option.

A standard bull bar on the other hand doesn’t have any of the above. If you did want to fit a winch to a standard bull bar, take it to someone who knows what they are doing. Poorly installed winches as best, will only damage your car, at worst, are a death trap.

The price difference between a winch ready and standard bull bar isn’t that much. Sometimes its the same price – so really, even if you’re not sure if you’re going to fit a winch or not, you might as well have the provision for it, in case you decide to pony up the dough later.

Roof top campers add another dimension to roof top storage, not only allowing you to store you gear on the roof, but give you an quick, easy, and secure way to pitch your tent.

That said, roof racks in all their glory do have a downside which you should be aware off before you purchase one for yourself…

Greater wind resistance – A roof rack will increase your rigs wind resistance and will reduce your overall engine performance. You’ll also probably see a noticeable difference in your fuel mileage as you’re engine needs to work harder to get your rig going. Some racks have angled fronts to minimize this, but you’ll still see a change

Higher center of gravity – putting stuff on your roof will increase your centre of gravity making you more susceptible to rolling. You can minimize this by reducing the weight put on your racks, but even the weight of the racks themselves will have an impact. If you’re trips are long hauls across open plains then you’ve got nothing to worry about, however if you’re traversing rocky and undulating terrain, you might want to take it easy.

I would have to say that the benefits of roof racks far outweigh the downside, but don’t you feel so much better being more informed

Winch Bar or Bull Bar

You may have in your future plans to buy and fit a winch. If you’ve not bought a bar that caters for a winch from the outset, you’ll find you’ll need to buy another bar when winch time comes. Some people will claim that standard bull bars can be re-enforced to cater for a winch. Just remember that winches create huge forces, so I wouldn’t take the chance on a cut and shut, sorry re-enforced, bar.

Alloy or Steel

Personally it’s steel bars for me all the way. Steel bars offer substantially more protection than an alloy bar, which yes, means that you’ve got to carry around the extra weight – but when you hit your first tree, you’ll be thankful for it. They also enable the fitting of additional towing and jacking points. Important with recoveries, I do think that alloy bars look better, and are lighter

Tow points

A quality bull bar will usually come with a couple of very handy extra tow points. Go and grab yourself a couple of high tensile bow shackles and it will cut down your recovery time substantially.

Jack Points

As well as tow points, a quality bull bar will have multiple points to fix your high lift jack. When you’re replacing a tyre in the bush, rarely will you have nice flat terrain, so these extra jacking points can also come in very handy.

Entry and departure angles

Bull bars should increase your entry and departure angles. Unfortunately cheap bars can actually decrease the angle that you can enter a rise from flat. Documentation for a bull bar you is going to buy, should tell you how much of a gain you’ll get.

Unfortunately, like most things, you’ll get what you pay for. Cheap bars won’t have the solid build, be winch ready, and have all the nice features you’ll really value at a later date.