Whelen ION's as driving lights?

PJH

Member
May 23, 2010
500
CO Springs&West PointNY
I haven't seen at night, but has anyone tried ION's in white as auxillary/driving lights?

Chief was thinking of getting a pair to place on the push bumper and a lower cost alternative than LED bars, Pioneers etc on a Westin Push bumper
 

PJH

Member
May 23, 2010
500
CO Springs&West PointNY
Yeah he was thinking of short range "i.e. Deer eyeball spotters" than lightning up a football field. 

Ions were thought of as they would fit in the Westin lightguides on the push bumper
 

Sparky_911

Supporting Donor
May 15, 2013
2,648
Central Illinois
If interested I have a couple threads on ELB about the SNM EFLOOD 4200 that dcarrfire45 is talking about....put a pair on our HMMWV...

I think Ions wouldn't work that great, bright but no throw.  Maybe a pair of Feniex T6/T3 in white??  They would probably fit in the Westin holes.  Pretty sure FEVER still has some that have the different optics.  Or maybe a pair of Feniex Titan XTs??
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
I haven't seen at night, but has anyone tried ION's in white as auxillary/driving lights?

Chief was thinking of getting a pair to place on the push bumper and a lower cost alternative than LED bars, Pioneers etc on a Westin Push bumper

I'm not a fan of using warning lightheads as steady burn scene lights, because most of them are not designed/intended for that purpose & are not particularly bright as a flood replacement.  On the other hand, there are actual flood lights (generally with the appropriate optics, diodes, & heat sink) that will serve the illumination purpose better.

If you're looking for something that fits in an area with limited space, the SOS ghost spot light version puts out ~200 lumens for some very basic, limited lighting.  However, I'd hands down rather get a pair of SNM's e-series flood lights (their equivalents of the pioneer micro lights start at about $50 each and put out WAY more illumination than the ghost spot light)
 

maleko

Member
Aug 26, 2012
76
East coast
I'm not a fan of using warning lightheads as steady burn scene lights, because most of them are not designed/intended for that purpose & are not particularly bright as a flood replacement.  On the other hand, there are actual flood lights (generally with the appropriate optics, diodes, & heat sink) that will serve the illumination purpose better.

If you're looking for something that fits in an area with limited space, the SOS ghost spot light version puts out ~200 lumens for some very basic, limited lighting.  However, I'd hands down rather get a pair of SNM's e-series flood lights (their equivalents of the pioneer micro lights start at about $50 each and put out WAY more illumination than the ghost spot light)

I may be mis understanding you...

but did you say the strobesnmore lights are equal to Whelens Mico Pioneers?....

there is nothing Strobesnmore sells that's even close to the pioneers.   

Please clarify?
 

Carlos SpicyWeiner

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 3, 2012
5,233
Lakeland, Florida
They are not equivalent to the pioneer. They are just the standard imported work lights everyone sells. But then again they are also. It equal in price and much more reasonable than the pioneer
 

pdk9

Member
May 26, 2010
3,834
New York & Florida
I may be mis understanding you...

but did you say the strobesnmore lights are equal to Whelens Mico Pioneers?....

there is nothing Strobesnmore sells that's even close to the pioneers.   

Please clarify?

I did not say they are equal to the micro pioneers.  I implied that SNM has some lights in their product line that are roughly the same ballpark size as the micro pioneers and are thus the SNM counterpart/equivalent of (closest thing in their product line to) the micro pioneers.

There is no doubt that the whelen product is a higher quality product, but the SNM $50 E-series flood lights are more than capable of doing the job here and more within the budget of most vollies.  Yes they are made overseas, as are AWL lights, but SNM and AWL products overall have pretty solid reputations here, hence why I recommended the SNM alternative to the micro pioneer
 
Last edited by a moderator:

PJH

Member
May 23, 2010
500
CO Springs&West PointNY
Since this went a different direction (the replies) I was just looking for supplemental driving lights for the boss, that can be integrated in the Westin light channel on the push bumper. He wants a clean look, otherwise this would be easier :)
 

kitn1mcc

Member
May 24, 2010
2,566
Old lyme ct
The Ion V throws off some good light .  i have two mounted on the lower section of my fleet rack and they light up the whole bed
 

CPSS

Member
Aug 1, 2013
54
Clifton Park, NY
All real driving lights or fog lights have a sharp cutoff of the upper beam spread to not "blind" oncoming drivers. Warning lights do not. This would be a real distraction, not to mention a liability issue.
 

suburbazine

New Member
Jun 24, 2015
1
Baton Rouge, LA
I've used white Ions, they won't reflect on deer eyes at any useful distance (yellow will get a weak reflection). A quality LED lighting bar would be a better choice for deer avoidance, something like a Phantom Sun.
 

SNOW SYSTEMS

Member
Sep 26, 2010
173
Illinois
All real driving lights or fog lights have a sharp cutoff of the upper beam spread to not "blind" oncoming drivers. Warning lights do not. This would be a real distraction, not to mention a liability issue.

Agreed. If its not DOT approved for street use, don't use it. Same with strobes n more flood lights and micro pioneers. Those are for supplemental scene lighting. I purchased a set of rigid industries DOT approved fog lights with rigid industries fog light mounting brackets. Very bright but they have a very sharp cutoff line vertically. Any other lights will blind oncoming drivers.
 

Storm4200

Member
Nov 2, 2011
2,912
NJ
What about Feniex Titans? Same size as an ION or T6 with a 20° optic spread. They should fit right in the Westin bar.
 

Carlos SpicyWeiner

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 3, 2012
5,233
Lakeland, Florida
What about Feniex Titans? Same size as an ION or T6 with a 20° optic spread. They should fit right in the Westin bar.
They only make one lighthead now. It is the standard cobra lighthead. Not the "spot" version they used to have.
 

Storm4200

Member
Nov 2, 2011
2,912
NJ
Hmm...interesting. how do you think they would do here?
 

Carlos SpicyWeiner

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 3, 2012
5,233
Lakeland, Florida
probably better than the ion.... but I wouldn't count on two of them alone for it.
 

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