So here's the dilemma. We've just about finished the bid on a new engine, and I'm considering adding some additional front warning to help out. The rig will be a Sutphen, and thus have the standard stainless steel twin housings with the twin 600 series. The lightbar is also maxed out in red with 4 white's mixed in. Here are my thoughts, and I'd look for some suggestions or other ideas.
1. Replace 1 600 each side with a Powerarc.
2. Add additional lighting below and inboard of the headlights. (I've seen 600's there before, but I think I'd prefer 900's, larger footprint powerarc's?)
3. Add 2 900's on the front bumper outside of the center slotted section. (I feel this may be too low though.)
I'd like the groups thoughts on what direction I should head. I've attached a pic of our 2011 that this new one should mirror.
Thanks!
It's funny you brought this up, b/c we're a Pierce dept but Sutphen is increasing it's presence in south Florida....I've been thinking of different ways to add front lighting to a potential sutphen spec b/c I don't like how Sutphen's signature pairs of 600s are at the far left and right sides of the truck (which leaves a big gap in the center/grill area
IMO). I'm also a big fan of mixing technologies up front, so this is what I have come with (in the event that I have to spec sutphen instead of Pierce):
--2 red 600s as the outer lights with 2 red powerarcs as the inner lights in the stainless housing. They're directly above the high beams (which offers plenty of clear and may wash out the red unless all 4 grill lights are red)
IMO.
--LED
HLF
--Mount the Q-siren on the front bumper and put a Rotoray in the center of the grill (where the Q typically is mounted on Sutphens. Depending on whether or not you have an extended front bumper, you can either have the Q mounted on top of the bumper or recessed in the bumper
--chevrons on front bumper
Other thoughts I figured I'd throw in:
--I'm against having any forward-facing lights mounted on the front bumper (primarily since they're prone to damage from fender benders or couplings on bumper-mounted lines as they're deployed, and b/c I find them too low to be effective)
--an alternative option to my beloved roto-ray is to have a mini freedom on a shelf bracket between the grill and windshield (Syracuse has this on their Sutphen Rescue). I like the idea but personally think it looks ugly as shit, so I would also consider replacing the roto-ray idea above with either a surface mount mini freedom ( normal or rotabeam lightheads in it) or a pair of surface mount powerarcs/rotabeams in the center of the grill. If you go, with either the powerarcs or rotabeams in the center of the grill, then I'd have both lightheads in the stainless housing be 600s.
--double up on the intersection lighting...most depts only have a 600 on either the side of the stainless housing or he side of the bumper, but I'd honestly have 1 in each area (1 set to a fast pattern and 1 set to a slower pattern and synced with the rest of the side warning to have an optimal mix for grabbing attention) for a total of 2 intersection lights
--if you have an LED floodlight right above the windshield, I would save money and leave the 2 center inboards on the freedom (directly above it) empty. We have 1 dual pioneer center-mounted above the windshield that flashes whenever the vehicle is in drive and that sucker is so damn bright that it washes out the entire center of the freedom lightbar at night. Most of us aren't like Mount Horeb and have endless amounts of $ in the blinkies and noisemaker budget, so that is one area to trim the fat without sacrificing any output
