Spot vs flood cube lights

blink9cd

Member 2024
Blue Ribbon Coalition
VA4WDA
My bumper has pre built light tabs and am finally interested in getting cube lights for them (I put bottle openers there for fun, but now they won't fit right with my winch).

Would spot or flood cube lights provide me the most utility? Like will spots see farther than my headlights, or floods be wider than my fogs, and which is the bigger difference from my factory setup?

Or maybe one of each? This link said a food combo is driver side spot, passenger flood: https://arbusa.com/spot-vs-flood/

For reference I already have the LED package headlights, fogs, and led fenders too.
 
I generally find floods to be the most useful, we're talking about off-road lighting, any thing you add beyond the headlights and factory fogs is not legal for road use.

Since the added lights would be most useful off-road you want a wider area lighted to see what is close around you, not so much what is far down the trail.

Spots (IE: Driving lights) are useful for high speed off-road, and we just don't have a lot of oppurtunity for that here in the eastern part of the country.
 
Agree with what Zuke said. I have floods on my cowl and spots on my front bumper (they are on same switch), but the floods are probably more useful.

To answer your question about the spots, they do go a lot brighter and further than my stock LED headlights, but as mentioned above, you cant really use on the road.

As for cube or round, it is just what you like the look of, but make sure they come with covers as you will need those for state inspection time..
 
Edited to add some more.

As said above, spots are good for high speed stuff, but if you're crawling, floods are your best option. I only have floods on my Jeep and they work GREAT night wheeling. To be honest, the rock lights are my favorite. Not just to see but when you're stuck, seeing whats going on underneath to hook up to.

I have white floods on the bumper and yellow floods. The yellow floods, ie fog lights, work great in fog obviously, but also dust, so when you do get slightly higher speeds on the trail behind someone, the yellow pushes through nicely.

@Nacho You may want to consider flipping your spots to your cowl and floods to your bumper. Floods throw light lets say 20 feet (estimating a bit). With them on the cowl, 7 feet of that 20 feet is being eaten up by the hood and the height to the ground. I know we all like looking at our Jeeps, but...... ;) :ROFLMAO:
 
Here is some information on lighting zones.


To answer your question and echo what others have said, it depends on what you are using them for.

Spot or longer distance focused lights work well to case light further down the road but in a narrow focus. Great for high speed stuff but not really great for on road as it is just too busy on the east coast.

On the trail I use a combination of fog ( 40 degree pattern) and spots. I get the benifit of a broad light pattern up close and more light down the road to walk trail if needed.

I use a yellow lense. Less reflection from the environment making it easier on the eyes. in all weather. The color doesn't make the light go further but it does change the reflectivity of the environment you are working in.

Flood Lights are generally work lights and most times mounted high and pointing down with linited range due to the wide spead pattern. Somethign to think about at 55MPH you are out driving you headlights on low beam. This means you are hard pressed to identify and obstruction and react in time.

Rule of thumb,
Broad light patterns mount low and forward.
Focused light pattern mount higher
Avoid patterns that cast light on the hood making it harder to see due to glare.
 

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@Nacho You may want to consider flipping your spots to your cowl and floods to your bumper. Floods throw light lets say 20 feet (estimating a bit). With them on the cowl, 7 feet of that 20 feet is being eaten up by the hood and the height to the ground. I know we all like looking at our Jeeps, but...... ;) :ROFLMAO:
Admitted, part of it is aesthetics as the floods I have are much smaller and the spots are rounds. Plus, it is cool looking at night seeing the trees lit up around my Jeep. :cool:

....but logically, you are correct. :)
 
Agree with what Zuke said. I have floods on my cowl and spots on my front bumper (they are on same switch), but the floods are probably more useful.

To answer your question about the spots, they do go a lot brighter and further than my stock LED headlights, but as mentioned above, you cant really use on the road.

As for cube or round, it is just what you like the look of, but make sure they come with covers as you will need those for state inspection time..
I didn't even think about cube or round as far as looks...another thing to debate o_O For clarification (as I forgot to specify), are your spots a lot farther than LED headlight low beams, high beams, or both?
 
Here is some information on lighting zones.


To answer your question and echo what others have said, it depends on what you are using them for.

Spot or longer distance focused lights work well to case light further down the road but in a narrow focus. Great for high speed stuff but not really great for on road as it is just too busy on the east coast.

On the trail I use a combination of fog ( 40 degree pattern) and spots. I get the benifit of a broad light pattern up close and more light down the road to walk trail if needed.

I use a yellow lense. Less reflection from the environment making it easier on the eyes. in all weather. The color doesn't make the light go further but it does change the reflectivity of the environment you are working in.

Flood Lights are generally work lights and most times mounted high and pointing down with linited range due to the wide spead pattern. Somethign to think about at 55MPH you are out driving you headlights on low beam. This means you are hard pressed to identify and obstruction and react in time.

Rule of thumb,
Broad light patterns mount low and forward.
Focused light pattern mount higher
Avoid patterns that cast light on the hood making it harder to see due to glare.
Looks like my bull bar light tabs are....square in the middle between the two of your lights spots and where you have none :ROFLMAO: It's probably obvious enough, but I wanted to try this new Mac feature, so here's the spot I'm going for:

IMG_5598.png

My main use case is definitely for this this area...I've never done or really have any idea what high speed wheeling might be (sounds like something I should find on Youtube). I imagine maybe a night ride around here, or perhaps I'm in a dark area trying to park (staying on an off the beaten path airbnb) which all are slow affairs. The only high speed use is I could think of is (and I know they're for off road only), but some sort of very deserted highway, or I'm parked and trying to see farther than my high beams allow (tbh I can't think of a situation I've been in like that one).

Following your rule of thumb, and summarizing the helpful advice here so far, my reading is that you guys are in agreement that the wider beam pattern of the floods would be better choice for me in this area because of location in the lower front of the vehicle, the type of trails in this part of the country, and my general use cases.

On the ARB link idea of doing one spot driver, one flood passenger, it seems like you guys would recommend not to do that, and that it'd be better to just do a second set of spot lights higher up, e.g. on the cowls? (no plans on that for now, just making sure).
 
Looking at your suggested mounting location couple thoughts come to mind:
1) You already have a winch located in front of the radiator blocking air flow adding ARB lighting ( fairly large) will further disrupt the air flow and could lead to overheating issues in the hot summer heat.
2) a smaller set of dual beam lights Driving /Fog might be a better fit for that location ( not as cool as a big set of lights).
3) you already have Driving/fog lights ( bumper mounted) Any thougths of upgrading them to a better light and pattern?

Question, How often are you going to use these lights? Most folks are heading home when it get dark. If it is an astetics thing I get it.
 
Just to add to was @R3 said. Most folks are heading home when it gets dark. That thought process was why I put off doing under carriage lights. Then, one run I went on, a guy in the group said "one more". We did. He broke the locker in the middle of a black. It got dark pretty quick getting him out of there. He had under carriage lights. That made the difference between a 2 hour extraction and a 4 hour extraction in my mind. 7 days later I started my install. lol

It's just a matter of what your motivation is. Looks or use. Obviously they overlap a bit.
 
Looking at your suggested mounting location couple thoughts come to mind:
1) You already have a winch located in front of the radiator blocking air flow adding ARB lighting ( fairly large) will further disrupt the air flow and could lead to overheating issues in the hot summer heat.
2) a smaller set of dual beam lights Driving /Fog might be a better fit for that location ( not as cool as a big set of lights).
3) you already have Driving/fog lights ( bumper mounted) Any thougths of upgrading them to a better light and pattern?

Question, How often are you going to use these lights? Most folks are heading home when it get dark. If it is an astetics thing I get it.
Thanks for the follow up!

As far as 1) goes, that is a good point on the radiator and light size. In my head, I wasn't imagining huge lights (aesthetics wise, which are somewhat important to me, I like a slightly more restrained look in my choices regarding product design, color, logos, etc.). I have the Rock Hard Patriot bumper, and this is the set they sell with the bumper that they partner with: https://www.rockhard4x4.com/product_p/kc-332.htm. You can click the link, but here's a sample image to make it easier on a glance:

Screen Shot 2023-01-18 at 5.26.56 PM.png


I have no idea if those particular lights are a good quality/price (I've heard the brand name at least), but that is initially closer on the light size and look I find appealing. I realize it's pictured on a lowered mount bumper and I have top mount, but they don't look big enough to block that much more airflow?

2) Because of the weld on tabs, I am set to this location in particular vs lower or higher, so if the answer is a third option of light would be the best for that spot I'm open to it. Rock Hard only had spot/floods as options on their site, which is what led me down this path of research (not tied to buy from them at all, but it was my springboard).

3) I already have the OEM LED package for headlights/fogs and think they work well and don't feel the need to replace them. And would still leave me with open light tabs being unused and bothering me haha.

As far as use case goes, it would be mostly incidental. Day to day life, I live and work in a city environment and park in a very bright parking lot, street, or garage. So the most likely scenarios are similar to what I mentioned above, some wheeling if it's darker, maybe driving around an unlit remote area, etc (cabin, airbnb, etc). Touching on what @spnkzyj said, generally I won't be planning on using them but nice to have if I have to (especially since I have the space for them already). I haven't thought about undercarriage lights yet, but that sounds useful, even for doing work normally... Looks wise I don't like the unused space and want some functionality out of it (why originally I had bottle openers for fun).
 
Since it's primarily aesthetics, and 'I'd use it if I had it'... I'd suggest a combo flood/spot low profile 10 to 14" light bar of mid quality, I wouldn't break the piggy bank for a Rigid or Baja Designs, though others will have perfectly valid reasons why you should.

I'd go something like this;

 
Since it's primarily aesthetics, and 'I'd use it if I had it'... I'd suggest a combo flood/spot low profile 10 to 14" light bar of mid quality, I wouldn't break the piggy bank for a Rigid or Baja Designs, though others will have perfectly valid reasons why you should.

I'd go something like this;

Thanks for the suggestion! And yep, trying to figure out the best use for that space since it's available to me. But agree, since it won't be for regular use, I don't wanna go extravagant on this one. Still willing to pay for something decent quality over an anonymous Bezos special though haha.

After your suggestion, I've looked at several pictures of light bars in that particular spot and unfortunately I don't really like the way they look (and given that will be its main function most days, is fairly important). I also like cubes better than round in that area since they sit more flush. Since both you and @R3 think a combination is a good idea, I'll see if that's available in pod form, but if not go with flood since it seems like everyone is in agreement that would add more value in that area than spot.
 
My 2 cents... Buy quality and buy it once. Went from cheap lights to BD lights... Performance is amazing and quality will last a long time. For me the quality of light is worth the added pennies.

Ridgid, Baja Designs, Hella, KC highlight all offer quality equipment in a package that will work for your application.


Cheers
 
My 2 cents... Buy quality and buy it once. Went from cheap lights to BD lights... Performance is amazing and quality will last a long time. For me the quality of light is worth the added pennies.

Ridgid, Baja Designs, Hella, KC highlight all offer quality equipment in a package that will work for your application.


Cheers

And there is one of the valid Reasons I said others would have :) ! I have a pair of KC Hi-Lites halogens that have moved from my wife's Yellow JKU, to The Blue JKU, to the Gladiator now as each was the wife's daily driver... Quality lights can be almost heirlooms, when they are used for practical reasons and regularly they are worth the money, (The KC's are awesome Bambi spotters at 4 in the morning on the way to work!), The mid grade lights won't survive the kind of use that these 15 year old high quality lights have served for!
 
My bumper had two mounts for 2 lights. I went out and bought a piece of 1”x 1/8 steel. Drilled a hole at each end where the 2 tabs on the bumper were and 2 holes spaced equally in between. Then installed 4 Rigid cubes. Just an idea vs the light bar.
 
My bumper had two mounts for 2 lights. I went out and bought a piece of 1”x 1/8 steel. Drilled a hole at each end where the 2 tabs on the bumper were and 2 holes spaced equally in between. Then installed 4 Rigid cubes. Just an idea vs the light bar.
I'm curious about that one. Do you happen to have a picture?
 
And there is one of the valid Reasons I said others would have :) ! I have a pair of KC Hi-Lites halogens that have moved from my wife's Yellow JKU, to The Blue JKU, to the Gladiator now as each was the wife's daily driver... Quality lights can be almost heirlooms, when they are used for practical reasons and regularly they are worth the money, (The KC's are awesome Bambi spotters at 4 in the morning on the way to work!), The mid grade lights won't survive the kind of use that these 15 year old high quality lights have served for!
I didn't think about how the lights could outlast the Jeep, especially with how long LEDs last!
 
My 2 cents... Buy quality and buy it once. Went from cheap lights to BD lights... Performance is amazing and quality will last a long time. For me the quality of light is worth the added pennies.

Ridgid, Baja Designs, Hella, KC highlight all offer quality equipment in a package that will work for your application.


Cheers
Just did a search through Quadratec. Haven't taken a look at everything yet, but it looks like as an example, Diode Dynamics make 3" cube pods in a combo, so it seems like I could follow your suggestion: https://www.quadratec.com/p/diode-d...andard-led-pod/white-sport-combo-pair-DD6479P. They have three different versions, $100/light, $150/light, $250/light. They also have a nice graphic on light patterns:

Screen Shot 2023-01-19 at 8.41.25 PM.png
 
I like to run one spot and one flood, both with a yellow "frenched" lens. Aesthetically you'd have a very tough time noticing they're different beams when not powered- they look like a pair. Its amazing how much better yellow cuts through dense fog (blue ridge parkway, early morning camp departures). I never use them with oncoming traffic, but often use them on back roads and forest roads. If you want maximum light output for the space, you could mount a small 20-30" light bar that spans the two mounting surfaces. When you wire them up, consider using a quick disconnect (or buy covers) in case you have issues with state inspection.
 
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