Driving vs Spot Beam Pattern for A-pillar Lights

[Whiteout]

Hoping to get a few opinions on which direction to go here. I am planning on adding some lights for the a-pillars. I am looking for these to primarily supplement my headlights/highbeams when driving on open country roads and such. The factory lights are not impressive here.
I'm also adding a low profile M@R 40 inch lightbar to my capable bumper which should be good for low speed/flood lighting and I already have some amber fog lights in the bumper. Just looking to fill out the gap for higher speeds/down road lighting.

Likely going with diode dynamics SS3 pros but exploring some others as well. I want a clean look/lower profile light with functional output. Am I best going with a somewhat broader driving beam pattern or should I get a focused spot pattern which may give more distance and less hood glare?

Appreciate any thoughts/experiences here!

Sponsored

 

[OracleLights]

If your goal is true down-road / higher-speed visibility, then a spot or combo pattern on the A-pillars will serve you better than a pure driving pattern.

Spot = max distance, but can create hood glare if you aim it straight ahead.
Combo = distance + some shoulder coverage, which is usually the sweet spot for real-world road use.

Since you already have amber fogs + a 40" light bar handling your close/medium range, your A-pillars should pick up where those fall off — so spot or combo is the right call, just aim them slightly outward to avoid lighting up your hood.

 

[DALOLA]

As a supplemental trail/dark road light, these are hard to beat. Proper low profile placement away from the hood, vertical adjustment, great light pattern. BluMak3D with Baja Design LED's. Bryan is a sponsor here if you look him up.

 

[Whiteout]

As a supplemental trail/dark road light, these are hard to beat. Proper low profile placement away from the hood, vertical adjustment, great light pattern. BluMak3D with Baja Design LED's. Bryan is a sponsor here if you look him up.

Those do look sharp and it's a super clean design! Looking for more forward lighting vs ditch lights however.

 

[RobWTX]

I've been back and forth a thousand times on which type/style/color to get, and finally decided on Diode Dynamics SS3 pro as well (Combo). With the black Friday sale, hard to beat the prices!
One really good thing with the SS3, if you have Combo lens, you can pretty easily swap it to a flood or spot ($29 per lens).

I also used ChatGPT and Google Gemini to give me some input, and the top 5 choices for lights. DD, Baja Designs were highly rated, and both suggested Combo for my needs.

 

[CalvinT]

You need to think about glare reflected back fron the hood. So either ditch lights pointing to the side or spots with a very narrow beam pointing forward. I think a combo beam pattern would give more glare back.

I think Hella or Diode Dynamics would give the least glare back. They seem to have put more thought into controllling light from the LED so there isn't as much side glare.

 

[daviper]

I have the M&R Pro lightbar on my bumper and love it. It provides great flood lighting. I have Baja Design LP4 Combo lights on my A-Pillar and they provide better side lighting. I also have the Bluemak3d ditch light mounts on the way that DALOLOA mentioned above for S2 Pro’s - I want to use those more for low speed driving for illuminating corners (independently controlled by side).

I guess I haven’t tried aiming my LP4’s straight ahead, but I’ve found the M&R Pro lightbar to have plenty of down range coverage for me. I more just use the A Pillars for adding to the sides of the light bar. Also, the LP4’s just look cool IMO

 

[Whiteout]

I have the M&R Pro lightbar on my bumper and love it. It provides great flood lighting. I have Baja Design LP4 Combo lights on my A-Pillar and they provide better side lighting. I also have the Bluemak3d ditch light mounts on the way that DALOLOA mentioned above for S2 Pro’s - I want to use those more for low speed driving for illuminating corners (independently controlled by side).

I guess I haven’t tried aiming my LP4’s straight ahead, but I’ve found the M&R Pro lightbar to have plenty of down range coverage for me. I more just use the A Pillars for adding to the sides of the light bar. Also, the LP4’s just look cool IMO

Appreciate your thoughts and I'm glad this setup is working well for you! Awesome looking ride BTW! I should probably just get my lightbar on first when it comes (went with the basic/slim one) and see if I truly need the a-pillar lights but it's hard to skip out on the black friday deals when they are here...and they just look cool too!

 

[The Beaz]

I have the BD S2 pro spot on mine....and here they are at night a bit of hood glare, but not bad, I find I get more annoying glare from any fogging on the windshield than I do the hood

 

[Whiteout]

I have the BD S2 pro spot on mine....and here they are at night a bit of hood glare, but not bad, I find I get more annoying glare from any fogging on the windshield than I do the hood

Thanks for this and the hood glare doesn't look bad at all. Do you find that these S2 lights provide enough light to make a significant improvement over the headlights and high beams?

 

[Beggsie]

Hoping to get a few opinions on which direction to go here. I am planning on adding some lights for the a-pillars. I am looking for these to primarily supplement my headlights/highbeams when driving on open country roads and such. The factory lights are not impressive here.
I'm also adding a low profile M@R 40 inch lightbar to my capable bumper which should be good for low speed/flood lighting and I already have some amber fog lights in the bumper. Just looking to fill out the gap for higher speeds/down road lighting.

Likely going with diode dynamics SS3 pros but exploring some others as well. I want a clean look/lower profile light with functional output. Am I best going with a somewhat broader driving beam pattern or should I get a focused spot pattern which may give more distance and less hood glare?

Appreciate any thoughts/experiences here!

Get an adjustable flashlight and hold it on the A pillar where your lights will. Adjust it to spot and point it where you want extra lighting. Adjust it to flood and move it around. I know this sounds stupid, but it will quickly give you and idea of what kind of lighting you like and what you're looking for BEFORE you spend money on the wrong approach.

 

[Callelk]

I have the SS3 Max fogs and driving lights in the bumper and SS3 Max in driving pattern on M-to-M brackets on the A pillars. I leave the fogs on at all times and they are great. On country roads I only use the bumper mounted driving lights as the pillar mounts reflect back the road signs too much for my liking. Once I get to the trails, the pillar lights in driving pattern work great as its more technical and not high speed. I don't really notice the glare from the hood so I cannot address that for you,

 

[Denis85]

i found this very useful.

Lighting Zones Explained - Baja Designs - Off-Road LED & Laser Lights | Automotive, Jeep, Truck, UTV, ADV, Dirtbike

 

[Brian_B]

Two different use cases for ditch lights really

If you are trying to see peripherally in the ditch (as the name implies) - I think a wide angle does a better job. You aren't trying to cover hundreds of feet to the side, just get the peripheral vision illuminated, and a wide angle will get ~all~ your peripheral vision lit up out to 30-50' or so.

If you are trying to help see way down road, or using it as a spot light (this would want a mobile mount like on a police car though) - then you want a spot beam. Those laser LED pods seem built exactly for this. They will throw light hundreds of feet down road, but the pattern is pretty focused.

So - depends on what you want to use the lights for. Personally, I think on the A-pillar I would opt for wide beam pattern thrown outward... and if I needed more down road light, I'd look to adding a light bar to accomplish that. I do have some pocket fog lamps that are combo lensed - and they do ok, but I find they are mounted too low to really get out down road unless it's just flat road -- really need something up high.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Hoping to get a few opinions on which direction to go here. I am planning on adding some lights for the a-pillars. I am looking for these to primarily supplement my headlights/highbeams when driving on open country roads and such. The factory lights are not impressive here.
I'm also adding a low profile M@R 40 inch lightbar to my capable bumper which should be good for low speed/flood lighting and I already have some amber fog lights in the bumper. Just looking to fill out the gap for higher speeds/down road lighting.

Likely going with diode dynamics SS3 pros but exploring some others as well. I want a clean look/lower profile light with functional output. Am I best going with a somewhat broader driving beam pattern or should I get a focused spot pattern which may give more distance and less hood glare?

Appreciate any thoughts/experiences here!

I'd do a COMBO light as it's both a driving and a flood pattern. The Diode Dynamics spot pattern is very defined wheras the Comb's Driving portion is a bit wider so it's better for "supplemental high beams", especially since it has flood in it.

I'd recommend the SS3 over an SSC2 as it's a bigger light and will have more light down range.

We've got some amazing sales happening right now and our ditch kits include the upfitter harness

https://www.4x4truckleds.com/vehicl...onco/auxiliary-lighting/ford/a-pillar-lights/

Sponsored