Baja Designs Squadron Sport ditch lights driving/combo lens vs. spot lens

Just installed Baja Designs sport ditch lights on my white truck. I have the yellow driving/combo lens and hood glare is bad. Was wondering if a spot lens would help with hood glare because of the tighter beam pattern not reflecting off the hood so much. Thoughts? Angling them more out to the side doesn’t help much. I’m actually thinking of ditching the ditch lights, no pun intended.

 

I have the same lights on a midnight black 3rd gen but with the clear lens and I bought the amber covers and painted the edges flat black and that cut down on the glare quite a bit. Still has glare but not as bad.

 

Spot will always be better but I have the squadron pro combos and I found the glare very manageable. Scooped or flat hood?

 

Flat hood. 2020 TRD OFF-ROAD. Truck was waxed recently and hood is real shiny.

 

Flat hood is likely a good part of the difference i get nothing ontop of the scoop.

 

That's just part of the deal with lights mounted like that (same goes for overhead lights that also reflect off the hood). Darker-colored vehicles (or hoods) will have an easier go of it. Otherwise, the only sure-fire way around this is to mount the lights at the corners of your front bumper.

 

ppf on the hood

 

Should be noted above flat finished ppf does better than a gloss

 

i was going to recommend the matte but its kinda awkward looking unless you use it for a ghost pattern or more than just the panel.

 

You could get a cascadia 4x4 solar panel… they cut down glare. Of course the sun hits the rest of the hood.

 

This route gains the most broverland points. Buddy actually has one works quite well for changing and anti glare

 

Damn… I’ve got a lot of broverland points

 

I wish I had more broverland points. Especially with the truck in stripped down winter mode.

 

The Spot will definitely help minimize the glare but just due to the placement it's unavoidable. I personally switched mine to a spot amber which still glares on the hood but is not as harsh as clear light. Or you can also just move the lights lower.

https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/squadron-light-pod-lens-kit/?sku=668411

Best,

Brahian Herrera| Forum Sales & Support
Email: brahianh@bajadesigns.com | Phone: (760) 560-2252

 

Is it typically better to run spot lenses up high, like ditch lights, and have wider beam patterns down low on the truck?

 

Is no one going to point out that DITCH lights are called DITCH lights cause they are supposed to be pointed towards the DITCH, lol? I've got wide cornering lenses on my BDs, they give a great wide view from shoulder to shoulder pretty much even with my A-pillar. I had missed side trails before when offroad at night before getting these installed. For driving lights, down in the front bumper keeps them from reflecting on your hood. As offroad lights, I think ditch lights are the most important of all. I'm usually not doing high speeds, just slow offroad, and the WIDE view has been indispensable.

 

I understand they are called ditch lights for a reason. I tried aiming them out to the sides but still lots of hood glare. So in effort to make them usable (as far as hood glare), I’m thinking of using a spot pattern for the ditch lights for a distance light, and my fog lights for the wide beam to light up the sides. I’ve heard it’s better to keep the wide beam patterns down low, such as grill or bumper, and spot patterns up high, as in hood or roof area. Any opinions on this?

 

I would say it all lands on intended use. I use mine to widen my high beams at distance for better deer detection on back roads. I have been debating s2's off my roof rack to act as proper "ditch" lights but have yet to bother with it as it already looks like a Christmas tree.
Close ditch far ditch it all still counts