I just got a 2005 silver LR3 SE with the winch package, brush guard/lights and a roof rack.
I hated the cheap front brush lights and decided to replace them with something more of Land Rover's caliber. HID off-road lights would look good because they match the Rover's HID lights. THey would be bright as hell, too.
Luckily, I am a distributor for an off-road light manufacturer and have access to really awesome off-road HID lights. The only problem is, the lights that come are specially made and have a special mounting system. THis would have to go. I machined two T6061 aluminum brackets that take the place of the factory one. Here is that they look like:
After machining, I attached the mount to the light and then attached the mount/light to the brush guard. I cut the wires from the existing lights and connedted my HID lights directly to the old wires. BEcause these lights have integrated balasts, I did not have to worry about additional wiring. Also, because these are HID lights, they only draw 35 watts of power, far less than what was on there in the first place.
Now... people always ask, if they draw far less power, how are they 5 times brighter than a Halogen off-road light? because of a few reasons. First, HID does not waste as much energy as a filiment light does. You can rest your hand on one of these and they are only mildly warm. Also, The light spectrum is exact and does not waste a lot of light in frequencies that are either not desired or that you cannot see (infrared, for instance).
Anyways, I've never actually used these before. They typically go on Baja race trucks and are about $500+ each (msrp). That being said, I took a trip to the mountains of North Carolina. Coming up to a curve on the edge of a mountain, these lights would illuminate across the valley and you could see the trees on the other side. It was truly spectacular! And these are not the long eange pencil beams - they are the Euro beam pattern and light up the sides of the road very well.
I plan on getting rid of the goofy front cover that is on my roof rack and mounting four more of these bad boys. I was thinking I would probably do two more euro beams and two pencil beams. I had thought about one of the flood beams as well, but I think the Euros do awesome at that. Anyonw know what that cover is for? I was thinking probably to reduce wind noise. I would have to machine mounts, too.
Here is a photo - keep in mind that I have special gasketed clear plastic covers over the lights that act as protection from rocks and such. I am big on this because after a Baja race, these things are completely sand blasted and have dents from the other trucks. Once you take them off, you have brand new lights and just put on new covers. FOr the cost of these lights, you would be foolish not to use them (I think they are $20 each... that may be my proce or that may be msrp... I don't really pay attention because I don't usually sell to the retail market... just race companies and such).
I hated the cheap front brush lights and decided to replace them with something more of Land Rover's caliber. HID off-road lights would look good because they match the Rover's HID lights. THey would be bright as hell, too.
Luckily, I am a distributor for an off-road light manufacturer and have access to really awesome off-road HID lights. The only problem is, the lights that come are specially made and have a special mounting system. THis would have to go. I machined two T6061 aluminum brackets that take the place of the factory one. Here is that they look like:
After machining, I attached the mount to the light and then attached the mount/light to the brush guard. I cut the wires from the existing lights and connedted my HID lights directly to the old wires. BEcause these lights have integrated balasts, I did not have to worry about additional wiring. Also, because these are HID lights, they only draw 35 watts of power, far less than what was on there in the first place.
Now... people always ask, if they draw far less power, how are they 5 times brighter than a Halogen off-road light? because of a few reasons. First, HID does not waste as much energy as a filiment light does. You can rest your hand on one of these and they are only mildly warm. Also, The light spectrum is exact and does not waste a lot of light in frequencies that are either not desired or that you cannot see (infrared, for instance).
Anyways, I've never actually used these before. They typically go on Baja race trucks and are about $500+ each (msrp). That being said, I took a trip to the mountains of North Carolina. Coming up to a curve on the edge of a mountain, these lights would illuminate across the valley and you could see the trees on the other side. It was truly spectacular! And these are not the long eange pencil beams - they are the Euro beam pattern and light up the sides of the road very well.
I plan on getting rid of the goofy front cover that is on my roof rack and mounting four more of these bad boys. I was thinking I would probably do two more euro beams and two pencil beams. I had thought about one of the flood beams as well, but I think the Euros do awesome at that. Anyonw know what that cover is for? I was thinking probably to reduce wind noise. I would have to machine mounts, too.
Here is a photo - keep in mind that I have special gasketed clear plastic covers over the lights that act as protection from rocks and such. I am big on this because after a Baja race, these things are completely sand blasted and have dents from the other trucks. Once you take them off, you have brand new lights and just put on new covers. FOr the cost of these lights, you would be foolish not to use them (I think they are $20 each... that may be my proce or that may be msrp... I don't really pay attention because I don't usually sell to the retail market... just race companies and such).
