Good Back up lights

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What is a good back up light to mount on roof racks? I was thinking about the hella 550 fog. any info would be great. thanks

 

[Rev Den]

Shop around prices vary...

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I have a set on the back for back-up lights, and a set on the front for trail lights.

Rev

 

[THE_OWL]

Looks like the NAPA tractor lights. Cheap and semi waterproof with rubber housings. I use a set of those and a set of KC ones. Ive been using the NAPAs since 1994. (old pic)

 

[bbaker80]

The ones I mounted on my spare tire carrier were "ElCheapo" brand, or something like that, and cost about $10.00 for the pair. I certainly wouldn't run them as driving lights (I'm pretty sure my camping lantern has a more focused beam than they do) but they get the job done as backup lights. Unless you're concerned about being stopped for running uncovered lights on the roof go with the cheapest things you can find. By the way, where do you plan to run you wires?

 

[bburge]

The_Owl: How are you doing the rear license plate holder? I need one, and was looking for one like that. Is there a light?

bburge

 

[THE_OWL]

I use a long bolt from the back of the rim and a wing nut right into the center of the plate.
I also use DEI Light bolts. They are for hotrods. Fairly bright, street legal and they are on quick disconnects just In case I need to use the spare(god forbid).

Small pic of the blacked out plate.in pinches into a 15" rather nice.

 

[BLUTO]

Just thought I'd toss this in for the heck of it. I recently replaced my factory front fogs with Hellas dual bulb (fog/driving) lamps. That necessitated me installing a new dbl pole/dbl thro switch and leaving the factory switch and harness in place.
I'm moving the OEM fogs to the rear bumper and plug them in at the front connectors. This will give me a manual switch to turn rr fogs on at will. This is in addition to the higher powered 1157 bulbs I want to install in the taillight lamps.

BLUTO

 

[8Mud]

Police around here, frown on uncovered roof lights, of most any flavor. I put a set of small rectangular back up lights (55 Watt bulb) under the rear bumper. Made a bracket and moved them up and forward, as close to the gas tank as pratical, haven´t managed to drag them off yet. They don´t help much in tall grass, but the bumper keeps them from shining too high and blinding the drivers behind me, in the city. They generally get the job done and are up and out of harms way.
Installed a relay in the left rear panel, got power, from my trailer harness main power cable and used the OEM back-up light wire (piggy back splice), to actuate the relay.
I partially melted one set of OEM back up light (taillight assembly) covers using a bigger bulb and browned (toasted) another set.

 

[JLane99XJ]

i use a set of them $15 bling-bling driving lights (small oval shaped) wired into the back up lights, from AutoZone comes w/ wiring & switch, but i let my gear shift be the switch...

 

[Handlebars]

Is this bright enough?

All I need is that one Hella work lamp. It has 2- 55 watt fog lamp bulbs, it's bright and throws a broad beam... perfect for a back up lamp. Just don't try running extra back up lamps off of the existing wiring, put in a seperate fuse and relay in to supply the power. I got all of that at Susquehhana Motorsports.

 

[JLane99XJ]

Re: Is this bright enough?

All I need is that one Hella work lamp. It has 2- 55 watt fog lamp bulbs, it's bright and throws a broad beam... perfect for a back up lamp. Just don't try running extra back up lamps off of the existing wiring, put in a seperate fuse and relay in to supply the power. I got all of that at Susquehhana Motorsports.

why not just patch into the existing wiring, i've burned mine off the existing wiring for about a yr. w/ no problems not even the 1st blown fuse & alot of times when i'm needing extra light thrown rearward @ camp or in the shop i'll burn em for how ever long i need em, just turn the key to run & pop shifter into R... ??

 

[LOCKED UP]

Not the brightest lights in the world, but more than enough. SOld as "Trailer hitch" lights at AutoZone....

I cut some holes in the stock bumper till they fit & wired a new line for them off a switch ...

 

[Handlebars]

Re: Is this bright enough?

why not just patch into the existing wiring, i've burned mine off the existing wiring for about a yr. w/ no problems not even the 1st blown fuse & alot of times when i'm needing extra light thrown rearward @ camp or in the shop i'll burn em for how ever long i need em, just turn the key to run & pop shifter into R... ??

'Cause you will get major voltage drop in your wiring that way. The easiest way to get bright lights is to give them full battery voltage.

 

[bburge]

What wiring did you use to get full voltage? Did you run some all thre way from the front? Did you scavage the trailer hitch harness?

I'm probably going to run 6GA or maybe even 4GA from the front to the back to cover lighting, compressor and maybe a bass amp.

bburge

 

[Handlebars]

Bill, I tapped into the fuse box in the right kick panel and ran a 12 gauge wire back to the right rear trim panel, where I mounted one of those universal Bosch relays, triggering the relay off of the back-up light wire. I think I ran the new wire out through the grommet for the right tail lamp to the back up lamp.

 

[8Mud]

My trailer hitch harness has a major red wire, for interior lighting (battery) and such for a travel trailer, the fuse is behind the drivers side kick panel.
Figured putting another 9 amps (or so) through the back up switch, wasn´t a good idea.
Nice big red wire (with a fuse), doing nothing much, figured why not use it for something.