What beam pattern for A Pillar lights?

[Jhollowell]

What beam pattern are you guys using for A Pillar lights? I'm in the PNW so I'm looking for more light off the side for tight mountain road switch backs. My thought was some Squadron Sport wide cornering but i'm interested to what you guys are using and for what purpose.

 

[smurfslayer]

I would absolutely not do wide corners on pillars.

Go BIG or go home. XL80 in spot would be my preference and is what I run. combo would be great as well but i would caution that in fog or snow, those lights will be worse than worthless, you be in a total white out. Dust as well.

If you have lower mounted fogs/combos/spots, then you’re golden, but if you have no other aux lighting, I wouldn’t go to the a pillars for a street driven truck or one that sees mostly street use.

XL80’s are like 9k lumens and I think the squadron PRO is 3100? or is it more like int the 4k. range? Either way, xl80 is 2-3x as powerful as a squadron PRO, more so for squadron sport.

I have 2x XL80’s + S8 on up fitter 1. That’s enough to be able to tell there is cat / raccoon, or smallish dog out to 500 or so yards -well beyond what my eyes are good for. Up fitter 2 has 2x LP4’s and 2x squadron pros in combo lenses. I can see the same critters out to .4 miles and I can easily tell if there are deer quite a ways off. The above lighting is good to tell there’s a human walking on the road in regular cloths to about .5 miles - I know because that’s the length of one of my streets near my house and tested it.

Squadrons sign off about half that distance and the intensity is nowhere near the LP4 or XL80.

For a short to medium distance I think you could get away with 4 squadron sports down low - wide corner and combo and if you still want more distance and periphery, throw some LP4’s on the pillars.

For more distance, you could do squadron pros + xl80s

all of that said, I would stick with spot lenses on the a pillars if you can. Combo lenses if you have to.

 

[NateMob]

I would absolutely not do wide corners on pillars.

Go BIG or go home. XL80 in spot

This, 100%.

Everything you said was great information but i quoted only the above to drive the point home!

 

[Jhollowell]

I apperciate the info, but maybe i should have been more clear. I'm looking for more light off the side of the truck. not sure how the spots help there. I drive mostly low speed tight roads so i don't need to see 100's of yards down the road. i'm looking for more light off the side.

 

[W0n70n]

I apperciate the info, but maybe i should have been more clear. I'm looking for more light off the side of the truck. not sure how the spots help there. I drive mostly low speed tight roads so i don't need to see 100's of yards down the road. i'm looking for more light off the side.

The reason no one is recommending wide angle lenses on the pillars is because the reflection off the hood will be more harmful than good, off to the side of the truck you're better off trying to get lights on a chase rack faced outwards.

 

[smurfslayer]

Correct.

OP: for more corner lighting, get a wide corner squadron pro pair, bumper mount. Even with a black truck, once it’s dirty I’m getting some splash on the hood, I can’t imagine how that would be with cornering lenses.

I have heard some positive feedback on the LP4’s mounted on the pillars, they’re not huge, about XL80 sized, and do have side shooting light that’s quite good, but OP’s use case is close in.

I’d go bumper mounted squadron pros in wide corner or wide corner + combo to get a little extra distance.

 

[LF LandShark 2818]

I'm also in the PNW and do a lot of night driving through mountain passes and inclement weather. I recently put a pair of Baja Design LP4 Pro's in Amber Wide Corner/Spot Combo up on SDHQ A-Pillar mounts. I absolutely love these lights for throwing light off to the side and down the road. I have them angled slightly outward as to not be washed out by my Rigid SR-L 20" in the bumper and the Morimoto XB LED v2 Headlights which give me more than enough white light down the center. I also use blinders on the inside of each LP4 to stop the light from spreading across the hood and used Vivid Mirror Film to hopefully redirect some of the IPT lumens out the front. If you want something less "fancy" matte black film cut to fit the inside of the light would work as well.

 

[Nex]

PNW here as well with trips up and down I90. I have 3 pairs of ridged in the bumper. Even then I find myself turning them off in fog or snow.

As said above, wide angle on a-pillars give you too much glare off the hood.

Why are you looking for more side light? Are you on a 1 lane, 2 way road on a hillside? If so just put some S2 sideways under the step. I wouldn't drive down the road with them on.

 

[UsedRaptor]

He's looking for game after hours.

 

[Nex]

He's looking for game after hours.

Hookers usually run from bright lights.