THE POWER OF GENESIS DRIVING LIGHTS
A thorough test revealed many types of illumination for a variety of driving conditions.
O ne of the first three modifications we made to our Wrangler JKU was to replace the stock headlights (and fog lights) with
LEDs. The difference was stunning – not only at night but during twilight hours when details at road level begin to fade away.
We’ve tried roof-mounted light bars but they created more noise than we care to hear on our daily driver, and we found that smaller, bumper-mounted lights didn’t provide enough illumination for our driving style. That left us with a couple of untenable choices – wearing infrared goggles or hoping science would catch up to fiction and we could get cat eyes implanted in our skulls.
Scrolling the pages of 4WDSupply.com, we read the specs for the new Lightforce Genesis driving lights. This was something we had to ‘see’. We also ordered four additional lenses, which alter the beam pattern and colour.
The specs that caught my eye were for the 210 mm (8.27 in) LED driving light with 37 Lumileds LEDs, which offers 140 watts of power to produce 13,850 raw lumens (lm), 12,000 effective lumens, a colour temp of 5000K, and an estimated life of 50,000 hours. Translation – over a kilometre of usable, long lasting light. There are three settings – full intensity as well as daytime and nighttime running lights.
They come with a black cover to keep you legal (depending on your mounting decision and regional laws), and an impact-tested, clipon polycarbonate clear, spot lens for protection from road debris. Optional impact-tested, clipon polycarbonate filters include alternate beam patterns for spot, flood, or combo. Colours include clear, crystal blue to increase clarity, amber for dust and haze, and yellow for fog, dust, and haze. You pick the colour and beam pattern combination that you like and need.
Their overall height is 232 mm with a width of 214 mm, which makes it a large light that requires a sturdy mount. Yet, a pleasant surprise was the shallow depth of 73 mm that allows them to be mounted on a variety of vehicles and bumpers.
However, our TeraFlex steel bumper proved impossible for us to mount the lights the way we wanted. We needed them level to keep us legal, out of the way of the winch and winch controls, and not block the existing headlights and turn signals. After enough head-scratching to triple the size of our bald spot, we decided to fab a prototype that we could manipulate. This turned out to be cheap, easy and the results were much sturdier than we had any right to enjoy.
The lights are sold individually and come with an instruction manual and mounting bracket. An optional wiring harness is available to make installation easier (almost plug and play) with both H4 and HB3 headlight adaptors so you can quickly tap into your headlight circuit. Check your vehicle’s bulb type to determine if these harnesses will work for you.
www.lightforce.com
MSRP: Genesis Light (each) - $450 USD
Genesis/Venom Harness - $79 USD Additional Filters (each) - $23 USD
Lightforce is able to manipulate beam patterns and colours through the use of specifically-tuned polycarbonate lenses. This is the yellow combo beam lens.