Baja Designs: General Discussion Thread

Desert season is here! Are you ready to light up the night?

Whether it's two wheels or four, street-legal or off-road-only, Baja Designs has you covered!

Baja Designs - The Scientists of Lighting



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@Baja Designs thanks for the help on the wiring for the 40" onyx ... super easy with the grounding switch. very simple and now I can not blind my friends during the day by turning the bar to low.. pretty awesome feature!!

All the lumens!!

 

Glad I could help. That is a killer lighting setup on the front!

Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

yeah im very happy with all the lighting you provide! im going to be wheeling in Johnson Valley and Moajve this weekend for a few days, so the lights will get their first real use. I will report back with photos of how awesome i know they are!

 

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Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

I've got a few newbie questions about lighting. I've got a 3rd gen 2018 Tundra Limited.

My goal is to improve night time visibility when off-roading on A) Desert playa at 40-50 MPH, and B) mountainous fire roads and tight rocky bush and tree-lined trails at 10-35MPH.

With the stock LED headlights, I've found that speeding along at night on the playa is a bit terrifying because I can't really see too far ahead, and on the trails, night time driving is tough because I can't see to the sides where I'd like to turn. I do not drive with excessive speed when off-roading. I do not want any lighting once I've turned the truck off, I prefer just the moon, campfire, or my head lamp. In other words, the aftermarket lights would be powered mostly by alternator, and very infrequently -- and for short duration -- by battery.

For my purposes, what is an ideal mounting location for aftermarket lights? Hood bulge, grill, or on the bumper? (I plan to get an aftermarket bumper)

Your website was a bit confusing to me, as a lighting newbie. Perhaps you can recommend a specific product or products for my application?

Finally, how are the lights mounted and switched? I am quite competent with 12VDC, so installing a switch in the cab is no problem, I just didn't see much information on this. Perhaps there are different vendors for the mounting and switching options?

 

I have an Onx6 40" in the grill
s8 30" with amber in the lower bumper
2 Squadron Pro fogs
Depends on your budget and how you want to mount. Before the aftermarket bumper I had the 30" hidden in the lower grill.

 

It all depends on how much you want to spend. With your "side of the trail" concern it sounds like some A-pillar mounts with some Squadron Pros or the XL to start with.

 

Thanks! If you could have picked only one piece to start, would it have been the 40" in the grill? I might have to build my way up.

Tell me a bit about the 40". How do you control it, where did you get the switch for this, and where did you mount it in the interior? For grill mounting, did you just drill & bolt, or did you have to get aftermarket mounting brackets or something fancy?

And -- with the 40" light bar sitting right behind that ++++++ grill thing, doesn't it cause a ++++ shadow in the projected light?

 

If you are building your way up, look into the squadron pros or sports in the fog pockets or on ditch brackets.

 

I have some XL80's on the way....can't wait.

 

That's a great idea, thanks. I see they have a kit available for squadron sports in the stock fog pockets, that might be a nice way to try things out and see where to go from there. Plus it looks like it uses stock wiring and switch, so I don't need to run wires and cut a new switch, which saves some time.

One thing I'm not clear on is the difference between the Squadron Pro and Squadron Sports, XL80, XL Pro, etc. Seems mostly brightness ... I'd be curious to know if there is a "street legal" brightness to be used on the road with other drivers, and then a "trail only" brightness. Or perhaps something with a trail/road toggle would be best.

And then the color -- amber, etc. I don't live in a climate that is foggy, but we get a shit ton of snow, so a color that works better in blowing snow would be a perk, but the most important would be whatever color lights up the trail / desert at night the best.

 

Squadron Pro and Sport are same size, but the pro has almost double the light output. Neither would be good for leaving on. Unless you want to get flashed a lot. I use mine essentially as high beams since we have a lot of deer around here.
The XL's are a larger light and won't fit in the fog pockets without modification. Again, one is brighter than the other. Pro will generally be brighter.
Amber would be better in blowing snow I believe. But I light the white color. Reason I have both on the truck.

 

Thanks for the interesting perspective into how you use the lights. I envision my usage would be strictly off-road; the stock headlights seem to provide adequate road-driving light. Sounds like I should experiment with the colors a bit this winter and see which works best.

 

Starting off with a Plug and Play, Fog Pocket Kit would be my top recommendation. We offer two kits with everything you need (including lights) that feature our Squadron Sport. The Sport puts out 3,150 lumens per unit and will exceed 3-4x the usable light of factory.

https://www.bajadesigns.com/Products/Toyota-Tundra-14-16-Lighting-Kits.asp

I would install a kit and drive around a little before adding additional lighting. Happy to make a recommendation based on if you feel you need more distance or a nice blend of distance and nearfield lighting. Personal preference makes an impact on what we recommend.

I personally run a set of XL80s for when NO ONE is around and I'm in rural areas. No issues cruising the dark highways of Montana at 75-80mph. Set of Squadrons Sports in the Fogs and I'm set

Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

Would anyone have any advice on my situation?

Just recently I’ve been having the issue of my squad sports (upgraded) fog light kit blowing the 15amp fuse. They’ve blown two fuses so far. The lights will only stay alive for about 10min of driving before blowing another fuse.

I’m using the kit that BD sells with the plug n play harnesses.

 

Sorry about the issue. Wanted to clarify, you ARE using the Baja Designs Plug and Play adapters? The only time they blow the OEM fuse is if there is a short. It's possible one of the adapters is wired incorrectly (pins reversed), if this is the case the fuse will blow.

Double check the connections at the light and adapter. Make sure all of the wires and pins are tight. A loose connection will cause excess heat and result in blown fuse.

Let us know what you find. Sorry again about the issue.

Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

this thread is what sold me on @Baja Designs you cant get better customer service from a representative of a brand.. Thank you guys for that.

 

I knew I was jumping the gun by posting before diving into it and checking the connection.

I am using the Baja Designs Plug and Play adapters. My issue have only happening recently but I’ve owned the lights for a decent amount of time now. I understand that a loose connection can cause a fuse to trip. I’ll double check and chime in.

Thank you.

 

When you get flashed for having LED headlights.... but wait... there's more

 

Exactly!!!

 

Whats your switch set up?

 

any of you got pictures on how they routed the wires under the hood to the battery for the ditch lights ? I Mounted the lights on a pillar. now I just need to wire to battery and back inside cab for the switch

 

Sorry just now seeing this. Im running a Switch Pro 9100. Not sure if thats what you were asking.

 

Check my build thread. I posted some info on how I ran mine in there.

Basically took off the windshield wipers to get that plastic trim piece under them off, then ran them through there.

 

Followed this harness out from under...


Went down behind that trim piece...


All under that trim piece...

 

great ! thanks

 

@Baja Designs any way to get some tracking info?

 

Do you have an order # or confirmation you can send me? Happy to PM you with an update and tracking info.

Baja Designs
www.bajadesigns.com

 

@Baja Designs
Any update on the dot/sae compliant lights?