Got the LED light bar wired... Wow!

I bought a 26" 360 watt LED light bar from Amazon a few months ago but hadn't had time to wire it up until yesterday.

My 14-mile commute to work is through rural farmland with plenty of deer. I go to work at 6 pm and come home at 6 am, and until recently, both drives were in the daylight.

Now they are both in the dark, and with hunting season starting, the deer are on the move, so I figured I better get the light working.

Took me about an hour and a half to wire it up using a harness with fuses, relay, and all connections. I bought a switch that matches factory Toyota style and pops into the factory slot. Looks OEM and worked like a charm.

My previous vehicle had another cheap LED light bar, but it was only a 20" and 120 watt. It was OK, but only marginally better than my high beams.

I got off work this morning and drove home and when I turned on the light bar... Holy cow does it light up the entire area!

It's like I'm driving onto an outdoor football field with the lights on. The ditch lights I installed earlier are only 44 watt and do little to help spot the deer. This sucker not only spots them, but they freeze in their tracks and look confused.

I know it's only a cheap $60 Chinese POS, but it's been on my rig for a few months and shows no sign of wear, corrosion, or fading.

With just high beams on...



With the light bar on...

 

Forgot the details of the light bar...

Nilight 26" 180W Waterproof Spot Flood Combo Led Bar Work Light Off Road Lights Driving Fog Light with Mounting Bracket for Truck, Car, ATV, SUV

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FWOKKGI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I've bought nilight pod lights before and never had any issues. I recommend running a bead of silicon on the seams of the housing. My buddy has nilight bars on his Jeep. His first set got moisture in them. They were warrantied, he silicone'd the second set and they've been holding up fine.

 

Nilight looks to be one of the better budget friendly lighting options. I don't think I've really heard anything bad about them.

@MountainMan , how did you mount it?

 

What a big difference. What did you mount it too?

 

In my part of the world, I don’t think it’s legal to run with a light bar on, on a legal road. I’m sure it would be no problem in a rural area though. I remember commuting home to Canada from Grand Marais, Minnesota in the fall and especially the spring and the deer there were lethal after dark.

 

I believe it's illegal here as well. There may be some exceptions, though, where they can be used as auxiliary high beams.

I used my bumper bar in a rural area recently and just shut it off when there were oncoming cars like you would with brights. I wouldn't think about it in the city, though.

 

with the light on, like night and day...(lol) looks like it was money well spent..looks good...

 

I have a brush guard up front that had pre-drilled holes that worked...

 

Sorry to change topic, but what rack do you have up there and where did you find it?

 

It's a GoRhino! I found on Amazon. It's OK. Took three times for them to send me one that was usable due to shipping damage. It also affected my gas mileage by at least 1 mpg and there is a lot of wind noise. Might take it off since I don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would.

 

Dislike. Thank you for the information though!

 

@MountainMan , how is the bar holding up? I have read about moisture getting into Nilight bars.

 

I love that difference, but it seems not so easy to wire that up