Blackout driving lights

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zoro
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Blackout driving lights

Post by zoro » Tue Mar 16, 2021 9:55 pm

Looking for info on hood or fender mounted blackout driving lights. Does anyone have a photo of how much light these put out? Thinking of using one as a license plate light for my fender mounted license plate light on my M416, just for the cool factor. I just don’t want to blind the cars behind me.

Another question is, what different types of these lights are there? Only ones I’ve ever seen up close are the ones on the M715. Ideally looking for the smallest one possible with the “hoop” for protection.


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gpw_42
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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by gpw_42 » Wed Mar 17, 2021 4:42 am

I don't have a pic with a BO drive light in use, sorry. But I can tell you from when I was in the army that they are designed to throw light on the ground 4-6 feet in front of the vehicle, not straight down like a license plate needs. It'd probably illuminate where you want the vehicle behind you to stop at a traffic light.

My opinions (note that I'm more purist than not):
Cool? Meh.
Blind someone behind you? Probably not.
Effective? Not likely.

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warbirdphotog
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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by warbirdphotog » Thu Mar 18, 2021 3:15 am

The light is so minimal, it needs to be pitch black to really see the light on the ground. Often times, I have to get out of the Jeep and walk to the front to make sure it's on. If you painted reflective silver paint under the over hanging top, it might reflect some light down, but I don't think it'll be enough.

As the previous poster stated, the light is shown forward at an angle, not down. Image

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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by robymn » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:56 pm

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious if there's a ground wire in the harness for the blackout lights?

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warbirdphotog
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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by warbirdphotog » Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:07 am

robymn wrote:Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious if there's a ground wire in the harness for the blackout lights?
Depends on the harness. Mine did not, it's grounded though a wire in the bucket to a screw, that touched the pivot bolt, sending ground through the guard, through the fender, etc. I know some Jeeps did have a ground wire, but I'm not sure which they were on.

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Steve Webb
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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by Steve Webb » Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:10 am

I think the radio jeeps had a lot more stuff with separate wiring for grounding than a normal jeep/vehicle. Noise and suppression concerns.
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Re: Blackout driving lights

Post by robymn » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:50 pm

warbirdphotog wrote:
Mon Apr 19, 2021 12:07 am
robymn wrote:Not to hijack this thread, but I'm curious if there's a ground wire in the harness for the blackout lights?
Depends on the harness. Mine did not, it's grounded though a wire in the bucket to a screw, that touched the pivot bolt, sending ground through the guard, through the fender, etc. I know some Jeeps did have a ground wire, but I'm not sure which they were on.

Image
Thanks for the info and pic. Will buy a set of blackout lights next week.


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