[RallySnake]

I drive my Arntz Cobra on long distance rallies. Many of them are all night events. Lighting is critically important. I tried several LED taillight bulbs and used the brightest ones so the little taillights really shine. I have tried many types of headlights over the years. Many of the aftermarket kits give terrible light patterns which blind oncoming cars. The best I have found are stock 35 watt HID projector beam assemblies from a Nissan Morano. I grafted these to the back of cheap 7" headlights I found on eBay. They give very bright low beams with sharp cutoffs. The high beams are a shutter that opens to reveal the topside light. I also use 75 watt HID driving lights that are wired to work with the high beams, but only turned on in remote areas. Once, I accidentally unleashed the full power of these lights on an oncoming car in a residential area and the poor guy had to just stop his car. In the total darkness of California and Nevada back roads, they are great!

They were not always so powerful. I originally wired them with 10 gauge wire. This was not enough. I have upgraded to an 8 gauge wire to the front of the car for all the lights with a relay box to distribute the power. I also had to upgrade the alternator output wire to 6 gauge. I also added a 8 gauge wire from the alternator ground to a large brass grounding strip under the dash. This connects all the grounds including an 8 gauge wire to the front of the car for the lights and radiator fan. Now the lights are fantastic and all the electronics are totally reliable.

I have been watching the development of the LED technology very closely and they are getting better. Most of them do not come close to the lumen output of HID's. There is also a new laser headlight assemblies that look promising, but is very expensive.

RS