Solution for glare from roof lights?

[Haf-E]

I would move it so that it is just in front of the roof rack's cross bar - perhaps attach it to the rails some how. That would move it way back and eliminate all of the stray light...

Would be better than some kind of rigged up shield under it or a windscreen stripe (which will stop the light on the dash perhaps but will still allow the light to make anything on the glass shine).

If that isn't possible then just make up some new brackets that attach the same way but replace the supplied end mounts completely so that the light can be moved back on top of the rack rail feet.

Just my thoughts - always like your SX4.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Not really an option as the bar doesn't fit between the rails. And I regularly use my roof rack for all kinds of stuff (RTT, paddle board, snowboards) and I mounted it specifically in that location so it wouldn't interfere with anything and would still be usable (except while carrying the paddle board I guess - but I usually strap it to my trailer anyways).

 

[AFBronco235]

Part of yoru problem is how long your hood and windshield are. The only way you can prevent the glare is with a shield of some kind. If you can find a local machine shop, they may be able to make you something in a few hours. Just make sure you take the bar in with you so they can see the problem first hand.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Part of yoru problem is how long your hood and windshield are. The only way you can prevent the glare is with a shield of some kind. If you can find a local machine shop, they may be able to make you something in a few hours. Just make sure you take the bar in with you so they can see the problem first hand.

I agree, I already know this is probably the only real solution that will work, but I'm going to try the tint strip first since I've been meaning to get it done for quite some time now anyways. If it doesn't help as much as I'd like, I'll go ahead and get a shield fabbed up somewhere.

 

[155mm]

It's a combo bar so it has 12 floods on each end and then the middle is spot pattern. It's supposed to be 30deg and 60deg but there is no discernible focus so I'm just going to go ahead and call it a flood pattern bar. But that's exactly what I wanted. A lot of my driving is on back country roads so I wanted that spread to see wildlife before it gets to the road. Or the opposite in tight forest roads where a lot of the time you have low-hanging branches that you need to avoid, so again I wanted light absolutely everywhere. I pretty much have 180deg of light in front of me.

If I can just get rid of that little bit of glare it would be 100% exactly what I want. A lot of the times with my spot beam hella 500FF's on tight winding forest roads I found myself straining to see what was around the corner even though I had the two outside lights pointed pretty far outwards. It's not really noticable unless you're someplace in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no lights, not even any light from the moon if you have tree coverage.

My 20" front bar is a combo bar as well but it seems to be focused a lot better, I just use only that when I'm in a situation where the roof bar isn't optimum.

This is your problem. Forward facing roof lights must be spot-focused or shielded (and therefore wasting your light) and pointed out in the distance, not down. 30 degrees on a roof light is already too much, 60 degrees is way too much. Use cornering type or wide angle lights mounted lower to light up the sides and around curves.

Put your flood lights and cornering lights on the front, and the distance spots up top. You only want your roof lights on to see way into the distance, as it's gonna be a royal pain in the butt otherwise if there is any snow, rain, or dust.

Forward facing floods should be mounted below the top of the hood.

 

[155mm]

I agree, I already know this is probably the only real solution that will work, but I'm going to try the tint strip first since I've been meaning to get it done for quite some time now anyways. If it doesn't help as much as I'd like, I'll go ahead and get a shield fabbed up somewhere.

If you can't exchange the lights, mock up the tint strip, then if that doesn't work enough, then mock up a strip of tint on the lower edge of the light bar (to "simulate" a narrower beam by blocking some of the light where you don't want it).

 

[java]

A sheet metal fab shop could bend you something like this very easy. I really think its the best solution.

 

[richard310]

The issue isn't getting the lights to "line up properly." The issue is the amount of light bleed from badly designed housings and/or reflectors with no built-in glare shields. If you ask me, all LED housings (and even halogen/HID housings) should have at least an inch of shielding all around the lens to eliminate the bleed on areas like the hood, windshield, dash, and even the sky. Recessing the entire unit with that extra bit of housing will help boatloads and help focus the lighting better, offsetting the light bleed further down the road.

I've got pencil and spots on my roof above the windshield and I get massive amounts of glare. It doesn't matter where you put what. You're still going to get that excessive bleed with whatever lighting you put up top. Either a black or tinted 6" strip across the windshield, or spend more $$ to get some custom made glare shields on the lights themselves.

 

[Joanne]

A sheet metal fab shop could bend you something like this very easy. I really think its the best solution.

Those look like the answer. Years ago I had lights mounted on the roof of my truck. The glare was unbearable so I made up some shields that fit right under the light. It completely solved the issue. It didn't affect the light beam, just eliminated the glare.

You might tape some cardboard under your light to see if it solves the glare problem. (cardboard aided design) If you like the results, then you can get one fabbed up. Done correctly it might look pretty cool too.

Joanne

 

[Ace Brown]

I used to race off-road, Baja, Mint, etc. We tried lights on the roof but found they caused so much glare, especially in dust, we rarely used them. This was on a Jeep CJ with no windshield, hood flat blacked and glare shields. Even though Baja racers still use those huge light bars in my experience they cause too much trouble. If you feel the light bar has got to stay then the windshield strip and deflectors under the lights are your best solution. But even then your going to have lots of stray light.

 

[lysol]

It seems like it would be easier to just take the rack into a metal shop and have them "recess/sink" the lights deeper into the front. That way, the front of the roof line of the vehicle will naturally block all light shining onto the hood.

 

[rayra]

Mount the lights a little further back will usually do the trick.

 

[dwh]

Do you even need the thing? Maybe the solution is just get rid of it.

 

[MaverickTRD]

Do you even need the thing? Maybe the solution is just get rid of it.

this. In all honesty, I wanted a roof mounted LED bar on my prerunner, and eventually after much pondering chalked it up to more of the look of it than anything. i could put a 40" bar on the roof, and deal with considerable wind noise/whistling, and figuring remedies to reduce glare. Or i could put a 30" on the bumper/grill area and have more productive output and save money while doing it.

depending on the size you have, you could drop it down to the front of the rig, or sell it and recoup funds to purchase a smaller one. I really don't think there are many rigs on this forum that are going to outrun that much light on the dirt. i know I cant.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

I'm spoiled by it now, I can't see ever going back to just my 20" front bar. Having that full 180deg of light in front of the car is fantastic. Having light even with your head is great for tight forest roads when you're trying to find that campsite. I don't know the last time I made it to my destination when it was light out. The crappy part of living 5-6hrs away from any good camping grounds. I have tinted windows and I always having to find I had to roll down the front windows.

As far as wind noise, I was warned by everyone I knew that I would take it down after a week of highway driving with it. But honestly, it doesn't whistle any more than my crossbars do. Turn on the radio and it's gone. I think my tires make more noise on the highway. And we just had a brutal wind storm here. Gusts up to 110km/h and I was driving straight into it also doing 110km/h. Could definitely hear it was there then, but then again I can definitely hear when I have my crossbars on. Maybe I was just expecting brutal wind noise from everyone warnings, but the tiny bit it adds doesn't bother me at all.

And this is coming from someone who takes off their CB antenna off the back of the car unless he's using it because of the wind noise