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A Ditch Light Photo Data Point (Comparison Pics)

Sparkherd

Badlands
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Lifelong Ford guy.
Your Bronco Model
Badlands
Clubs
 
It also seems most folks have their ditch lights pointed straight ahead, instead of, well, towards the ditch.

It would be helpful to know what the "right" angle is (90 degrees? ha!) to point them for the most efficiency.

Get out your protractors, kids! Let's measure those angles!
I've got mine (DD SS3 pro combo) pointed about 30 degrees from straight ahead.
The pillar mounting location throws too damn much light on the hood.
I would point them farther to the side, but I want some light to go forward.
I've got a set of DD SS3 pro spots coming this week, and will be mounting them on the roof; I don't want no steengkeeng giant light bar up there, just a couple of spots to aim where I want.
I'm hoping it won't make the truck look like M. Mouse...
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CalvinT

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Just throwing this on here to hopefully help someone in the future. I had a tough time finding good real world photos to know what improvement to expect. Seems like most photos are of the mounted light themselves, not what their output nor pattern looks like. I took a chance and am very happy with this functional upgrade.
Setup: Black Diamond on level road with rolling hill ahead.
-1st Factory Low beams w/ factory fog lights on
-2nd Factory High beams
-3rd Factory High beams w/ DD SS3 Pro Combo.
PXL_20240205_010511140.jpg
PXL_20240205_010516003.jpg
PXL_20240205_010520228.jpg
Thanks for posting useful photos. As been mentioned too many people post pictures of the lights and not the beam pattern. But then they're the ones who are buying lights as a fashion accessory and not for driving. I've been trying to decide which ditch lights to get. Your photos helped me decide.

I like the DD lights and will be buying them. I do not like the color temperature of their white lights (6000K). I'd prefer a beam that's not so blue. I mentioned this to the DD guys at the Flagstaff Overland Expo. They were very knowledgeable about their entire line and were able to answer all my questions. Many vendors couldn't.

They suggested I buy them with a yellow lens. They use different LEDs for the fog lights, around 5000K. Then order clear combo lenses. The lenses are very easy to swap out. I understand they'll give a credit for the yellow lenses.
 

GroovyGeek

Black Diamond
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Just throwing this on here to hopefully help someone in the future. I had a tough time finding good real world photos to know what improvement to expect. Seems like most photos are of the mounted light themselves, not what their output nor pattern looks like. I took a chance and am very happy with this functional upgrade.
Setup: Black Diamond on level road with rolling hill ahead.
-1st Factory Low beams w/ factory fog lights on
-2nd Factory High beams
-3rd Factory High beams w/ DD SS3 Pro Combo.
PXL_20240205_010511140.jpg
PXL_20240205_010516003.jpg
PXL_20240205_010520228.jpg

You should point them out farther, I see a ton of reflection from the hood, which at night I find incredibly distracting as it messes with my night vision.

One of the problems with the accessory points on the Bronco A pillar is that the side mirrors interfere with the proper direction of the ditch lights. They just reflect a ton of light back into the cabin the moment the angle is the ditch light exceeds 20 degrees or so (if you are using combo or flood lights)

The DV8 bracket is very useful to address this design issue, as it places the light low and on the side of the fender, where any glare does not make it back into the cabin.

https://dv8offroad.com/products/6th-gen-bronco-a-pillar-dual-light-mounts

DV8 kind of pissed on their good work by not proving any mounting hardware with these, as the heads of the OEM accessory bolts are too small for the mounting cutouts.

Below are a "without" and "with" pair with the DV8 brackets and the $80 Harbor Freight ditch lights.

https://www.harborfreight.com/light...3-in-led-spot-with-side-light-pair-57538.html

Notice the nearly complete absence of hood or A pillar reflection. The lights are pointed about 30 degrees out



STP8_20240223_223126486.jpg


STP8_20240223_223136757.jpg
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