Legal driving lights?

[sixstringsteve]

My van needs some help in the headlight department. I'm thinking of going with some led headlights or possibly some projectors with HID ballasts , but I'd like to add some more lights to the front bumper too. The primary use for these would be for driving on the highway at night (think hw 6, or the paved part of af canyon). I understand the legality of HIDS, and I'll be adding projectors with a clean cutoff so I don't scatter light and blind oncoming ttaffic. My questions are more around my additional lights beyond my headlights.

2 questions

1) what are the legal rules for additonal lights on your right and driving with them ato night and...

2) what lights do you recommend?

I want to be able to see deer and see the road well, not so much a big light bar on top of the rig. I'm thinking something like a second set of projector fog lights or something like that. Reccommendations?

 

[TRD270]

Utah code says no more than 4 forward facing white lights (including your headlights), any auxiliary lights cannot be mounted above your headlights. To be operated on the roadway they need to be DOT SAE approved.

Also keep in mind that is what is legal in Utah, once you cross into a different state you are subject to their laws.

Edit: added code

(c) A motor vehicle on a highway may not have more than a total of four lamps lighted on the front of the vehicle including head lamps, auxiliary lamps, spot lamps, or any other lamp if the lamp projects a beam of an intensity greater than 300 candlepower.

41-6a-1618. Sale or use of unapproved lighting equipment or devices prohibited.
(1) Except as provided under Subsection (2), a person may not use, have for sale, sell, or offer for sale for use on or as a part of the equipment of a motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or pole trailer any head lamp, auxiliary fog lamp, rear lamp, signal lamp, required reflector, or any parts of that equipment which tend to change the original design or performance, unless the part or equipment complies with the specifications adopted under Section 41-6a-1601.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Thank you for that! That's exactly what I'm looking for. I wonder if a light bar is considered 40 different lights (each led) or if it's considered one light. Regardless, I'm sure it's more than 300 candlepower.

 

[Greg]

I've been upgrading my cars to LED lights and LOVE the difference... whiter, brighter light with more lumens and an easy change. I put LED headlights in the Jeep, with Rigid Dually D2's in place of the fog lights and it's very bright. In my car I upgraded to LED bulbs (from SuperBrightLEDs.com) and they also added much more light.

I would upgrade your headlight housings to LEDs (go with a well known name brand) and add some kind of aux lighting for when you need more than headlights. Rigid makes a Dually XL that I love, big but not too big. They put out tons of light.

 

[RogueJeepr]

I run the best "factory style" light for my headlights to not blind oncoming traffic headed towards me and run 2 Amber fogs on my bumper also 2 spots on my rack for long range night driving. I call em "deer lights" .

 

[RogueJeepr]

Maybe since your towing all the time. It would be best to adjust the headlights accordingly. Since the back gets squatted from the weight of the trailer, the front will be pointed higher, blinding oncoming traffic.

 

[Gravy]

Following. My Ford (of the same era) has rotten headlights too.

 

[phatfoto]

I tried aftermarket housings on my Neon for a while. They looked cool, but the low beam projectors weren't very good quality, and even worse with HIDs. The high beams were better, but not very wide on the highway. I am back to stock housings with Silverstar Ultra bulbs. Worth every penny. I've gone through a variety of fog lights, currently have projectors actually, but they are cheap and again, not really wide, But yes, I have that pushbar and some 8" ProComp 100 watt pencil beams. Those really do show things down the road a couple miles. But I won't use them if I see headlights or taillights... I want something in between... I do also have some LEDs I got off Deviant. Way too eide for highway use, and impossiblle to see in fog. But they sure spot critter eyeballs on the sides of the road...

 

[bryson]

Rigid makes some DOT legal LED lighting, but as should be expected from Rigid, they aren't cheap.

http://www.rigidindustries.com/search-products/dot

If you go the HID route for headlamps, just make sure you use the appropriate projector/housing so they are usable and legal for you and safe for oncoming traffic. One of my biggest pet peeves is HID headlight kits just stuck in stock Halogen housings (i.e. every ricer/brodozer/small stuffed animal hangin' moron on the road it seems...)

Also, it seems that lately there are a LOT of people running full on LED light bars on the street! I'd think that it's pretty obvious that those aren't legal for use on-road... There I go giving society too much credit again.

 

[BlueWolfFab]

I'm running the Rigid DOT/SAE "fog lights" as my headlights on the civic I bought from Skippy. I like them as far as commuter car goes but they could use more output for seeing deer and stuff on the back roads and empty highways like you are describing. I'm sure in that case that the Rigid DOT/SAE "driving lights" would be good in that manner.