LED vs Halogen

I would not say LEDs are better... depends on what you want from the light. HIDs out perform LEDs in a Lux comparison, while LEDs are superior in Lumens. Different ways of measuring light to measure two different objectives.

However, I agree with you on the looks part 100%

ZBoater
Stick with dot halogens for fog lights and then go wild with hid/led for offroading. You will save money getting dot approved halogens then finding dot approved hid/led. You will be happy and it seems that is the route your looking to go. Whatever you do make it your own and do WHAT YOU WANT.

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Alrighty then, so where's the pics?!

Ruger said:

As of now there are NO (zero, nada, zilch) automotive LED products that are DOT street legal.

Click to expand...

Actually, Headlights - Products - J.W. Speaker Corporation has several headlight, driving and fog lights that ARE "DOT-Compliant FMVSS 108
CMVSS 108 Buy America Compliant
SAE J583 SAE J1113
ECE Reg. 10 (Radiated Emissions) ECE Reg. 19". I do not have any experience with them though.

My pet peeve is; calling lights "fog lights" when they are nothing more than flood lights. Beam pattern is extremely important for fog lights. Even the LED manufacturers of "fog lights" misuse the term. When the beam pattern is round (looks like a circle when viewed against a wall), it is NOT a fog light. Fog lights are designed to not allow reflection back into the drivers eyes.

Food for thought.

Phydough you are right about the "flood"/"fog" name. Also fog lights are supposed to be mounted at bumper height or lower to keep the light out of the eye of the driver. Those speaker lights are cool and loom like they perform very well, but the price tag is a killer, IMO.

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It all depends on where you do most of your driving, and I am willing to bet that most Raptor owners do at least 85 percent, and probably more than 90 percent, of their driving on the road where legality is a very real factor.

These are not trophy trucks. They come off the same assembly line as the rest of the F150s, and have most of the same strengths and shortcomings. There is no podium here - none possible. Do what you want, spend what you want on what you want, but going the Walter Mitty route will only reveal yourself to be a pretender in his own personal la-la land.

The OP originally started with a post based on aesthetics of halogens and asking why they weren't often brought up specifically in the conversation with various LED types and brands that are popular here. I have no clue how this evolved into an discussion about DOT approved lights and why you only need this or that based on what most Raptor drivers do 85% of the time. The OP even specifically pointed out hood mount lights. I don't know about most, but to me that sounds like aux lighting geared towards offroad use. I know I'd get a ticket or warning in my jurisdiction using these on roads with other drivers and LE present regardless of whether a hood or roof mounted light had a little DOT on the lens.

I think we all have an understanding on some level regarding what constitutes street legal lights. DOT approval is definitely not the end all regarding legality and just because something has a DOT on the lens does not mean it's legal for a given application when legality is taken into consideration.

I'm just trying to clarify that at no point did I intend to imply that halogens aren't a viable option or that DOT approval doesn't have a purpose. It surely does if the OP is specifically talking about DOT approved aux lighting for street use, but I don't think they were that specific.

Also, be honest. Logic be damned. Regardless of whether you drive on road 85% or more of the time, you know everyone buys a Raptor because it looks badass and/or because of the capability it has inherently built-in regardless of strengths and weaknesses associated with being a production vehicle or whether you intend to exploit that additional offroad capability when compared to a regular F-150.

When did buying what you want make you a pretender? That usually stems with more of an issue on the part of the person applying the label vs. the person being labeled. I think everybody has a little Walter Mitty in them. If you don't think hobbies are a form of escapism then you're fooling yourself.

OP here. All I'm looking for is some pics of folks with Halogens so I can pick which ones I want to buy....

This looks sexy.

KC Hilites Front Light Bar for 2010 2011 Ford Raptor Black 4T 74281 | eBay

Too bad I only have 1" clearance in my garage and can't afford the extra length...

Try this Carr light bar. It has a bracket it sits on. It unclamps from the brackets with 4 Alan bolts. It holds 6 6in lights. For the wiring I used a trailer plug, so that I can remove the bar and put it back on. I need the clearance too.

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