boogielander
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thanks brother!
holla at me next time you come out west. we can see if we can make a trip!
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Boogielander Build
- Thread starter boogielander
- Start date
holla at me next time you come out west. we can see if we can make a trip!
boogielander
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east coast is on my list to visit too.
perhaps when I make the move out to TN or somewhere that'll be easier!
boogielander
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So I sold the LP6s with Dark Dunes bumper bracket to a customer/ shop friend, and upgraded from LP6 to LP9.
The primary reason for me to upgrade was actually not the lights themselves, but the brackets. Previously, I had Dark Dunes brackets on and they worked fine for on-pavement driving, but wobbles too much for offroad use especially with heavier lights like LP6 and larger. I always had plans to reinforce those or swapped them out, but BD wanted $300 for the brackets alone, and I didn't have time to mess with making reinforcement pieces.
So, when my customer wanted to copy my build, I just sold mine to him and paid additional $200 out of my pocket to upgrade. Win, Win, and Win!
LP9 Low Beam Only (head lights off):
LP9 High and Low Beams (head lights off):
LP9 High and Low with XL Racers (head lights off)
Now, do I think it's worth the $1600 MSRP? Yes it is! The brackets are sturdy and definitely not the build quality and construction of those cheap knock-offs that can be found on internet. The preloaded support and the main brackets are made with thick metals and therefore, sturdy. These brackets blew the last ones out of water by miles!
How does the output compare? Honestly, these are bright. BUT I can't say how much brighter because I had amber lenses on the LP6 and went with clear lenses this time around. Amber lenses reduce output by about 15%, so in addition to color temperature, amber is less stressful to the eyes. Because of that, I can't really say how much in comparison.
Why amber lens? Well, usually I run tail gunner in the convoy since I'm one of the few fully equipped trucks in our group (with comms, lights, and most importantly, trail map), so I am usually dealing with a lot of dust kicked up by vehicles in front. Amber penetrates through dust, snow, rain, fog, etc a lot better than white, so I went with amber on LP6s. This time around, since I'll be soloing this time for the big trip and will not be eating dust, I figured white will help me see further at night (well, IF I have to drive after dark, that is). For my tail gunner duty, I also have a pair of amber covers that I can just throw on when needed, making these a true dual-color, switch-on-the-fly solution.
These are driving combo lens pattern. When mounting lights, the location of lights dictates which pattern lenses should be used. Here is a cheat sheet:
Lowest: fog lights - SAE Fog to retain on-pavement usability
Bumper or below bumper - Driving Combo - to touch close and mid distance, while spot pattern included gives you a glimpse of what's further down ahead.
A-Pillar - Wide Cornering if used as ditch lights to spread the output more
or
Spot/ Racer spot to touch distances way further ahead.
*Never mount spots on bumpers or down low, because your output spread is limited and you won't be able to see as far.
Finally, comparing to my friend's Diode Dynamics SS5 Pro, these are similar in output but cost ~$200 more per light. HOWEVER, I've got a customer whose SS5 overheated and burned down the wiring harness, so there's that.
The primary reason for me to upgrade was actually not the lights themselves, but the brackets. Previously, I had Dark Dunes brackets on and they worked fine for on-pavement driving, but wobbles too much for offroad use especially with heavier lights like LP6 and larger. I always had plans to reinforce those or swapped them out, but BD wanted $300 for the brackets alone, and I didn't have time to mess with making reinforcement pieces.
So, when my customer wanted to copy my build, I just sold mine to him and paid additional $200 out of my pocket to upgrade. Win, Win, and Win!
LP9 Low Beam Only (head lights off):
LP9 High and Low Beams (head lights off):
LP9 High and Low with XL Racers (head lights off)
Now, do I think it's worth the $1600 MSRP? Yes it is! The brackets are sturdy and definitely not the build quality and construction of those cheap knock-offs that can be found on internet. The preloaded support and the main brackets are made with thick metals and therefore, sturdy. These brackets blew the last ones out of water by miles!
How does the output compare? Honestly, these are bright. BUT I can't say how much brighter because I had amber lenses on the LP6 and went with clear lenses this time around. Amber lenses reduce output by about 15%, so in addition to color temperature, amber is less stressful to the eyes. Because of that, I can't really say how much in comparison.
Why amber lens? Well, usually I run tail gunner in the convoy since I'm one of the few fully equipped trucks in our group (with comms, lights, and most importantly, trail map), so I am usually dealing with a lot of dust kicked up by vehicles in front. Amber penetrates through dust, snow, rain, fog, etc a lot better than white, so I went with amber on LP6s. This time around, since I'll be soloing this time for the big trip and will not be eating dust, I figured white will help me see further at night (well, IF I have to drive after dark, that is). For my tail gunner duty, I also have a pair of amber covers that I can just throw on when needed, making these a true dual-color, switch-on-the-fly solution.
These are driving combo lens pattern. When mounting lights, the location of lights dictates which pattern lenses should be used. Here is a cheat sheet:
Lowest: fog lights - SAE Fog to retain on-pavement usability
Bumper or below bumper - Driving Combo - to touch close and mid distance, while spot pattern included gives you a glimpse of what's further down ahead.
A-Pillar - Wide Cornering if used as ditch lights to spread the output more
or
Spot/ Racer spot to touch distances way further ahead.
*Never mount spots on bumpers or down low, because your output spread is limited and you won't be able to see as far.
Finally, comparing to my friend's Diode Dynamics SS5 Pro, these are similar in output but cost ~$200 more per light. HOWEVER, I've got a customer whose SS5 overheated and burned down the wiring harness, so there's that.
boogielander
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Checked "Camping at the edge of the cliff at Grand Canyon North" off my bucket list this Memorial Day Weekend.
Drive in was an easy 60 miles of high speed dirt road followed by 10 miles of bumpy road. It actually put the platform I built to elevate my fridge to test. Glad nothing shook loose though lol
Interesting thing is I visited the South side a year ago for the exact same weekend.
Some big changes made within a year!
boogielander
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Today (8/4) marked the first day of my 2 months long, once-in-a-life-time journey to Deadhorse, AK and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT.
Going to the end of the road in Continental North America has been an ongoing dream of me. As previously mentioned in the beginning of my build thread, my goal was to do this trip in 2023 but got delayed. That delay actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I had more time to put more delicate finishing touches (LP6 became LP9, BD Squadron became XL Racer), purchase the GFC, and build TWO separate electrical systems for overlanding use.
This is not only a trip of lifetime, but also the ultimate test to see if my build theory can stand up to the real world abuse for 2 months.
To be honest, as I type this up at campsite, part of me really want to turn around and go home. I don't know if I can do this by myself, but at the same time, I am also excited on what's going to happen in the next 2 months.
Stay tuned.
Going to the end of the road in Continental North America has been an ongoing dream of me. As previously mentioned in the beginning of my build thread, my goal was to do this trip in 2023 but got delayed. That delay actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as I had more time to put more delicate finishing touches (LP6 became LP9, BD Squadron became XL Racer), purchase the GFC, and build TWO separate electrical systems for overlanding use.
This is not only a trip of lifetime, but also the ultimate test to see if my build theory can stand up to the real world abuse for 2 months.
To be honest, as I type this up at campsite, part of me really want to turn around and go home. I don't know if I can do this by myself, but at the same time, I am also excited on what's going to happen in the next 2 months.
Stay tuned.
1BADRAMLIMITED
Ram Guru
Sounds like a great 1st day my man. Im rooting for you, you can do this ! Please continue to share this awesome trip with the forum, i have no doubt from seeing your attention to detail and knowledge displayed here your rig is more than ready for this adventure.
I'm imagine having Marty along would've made for more stops, but would've also been welcomed company on your long journey!
Enjoy your adventure, and make tons of new friends and memories!
boogielander
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thank you!
boogielander
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oh yes! i thought about borrowing Marty for the trip but with the new pet regulation/ paperwork at the border i decided not to ask.
new rules sound so much more complicated
boogielander
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Day 2 of the trip:
Left Carson City, NV in the AM and took 395 north.
This is the lowest gas price I've seen this trip so far
Open road
First casualty of the trip. I have no idea how or when this happened.
Drove through Lassen NF with the wild fire going on.
It cleared up when I left Lassen NF and entered Shasta NF.
I tried to look for a spot to take photo of Shasta but couldn't find a spot with the composition I was looking for: long straight road with tall pine trees on both sides leading to Shasta in the distance. Only spots I found were on heavily travelled roadway.
So this is the only shot of Shasta I got.
Dirt therapy while looking for the spot that I can get the composition I want.
Campsite for the night in Southern Oregon.
Few reflections today:
1. I kinda messed up this morning by leaving campground too late, and miscalculated the driving time needed and overestimated my resistance to random distractions. I should've left CG 2 hours earlier. I got to tonight's CG at almost 9PM, so I picked up some McDonald's on the way in.
2. Today's drive time was over 8hrs long, with one flagged section. Same as yesterday, but today's flagged section took longer.
3. I am getting used to doing this, and am looking forward to the following nights.
4. I entered OR at about 5PM. So far OR has been great. People are friendly, food's quite cheap, and no sales tax! That's a weird experience but i can get used to this.
5. Electrical systems are working great. The Ecoflow's supplying power for Starlink and the run time has been extended to 30+ hours after I turned off the self-heating/ snow-melt function. It's drawing between 30-50w depending on if the actuator/ dishy motor is turning. The camper LIFEPO4, running camper lights up and downstairs, and laptop for the past 3 hours still has 22 hours of run time left. This is confidence boosting as I have no doubt with the 400w of solar on the roof I will have no problem when establishing base camp mode.
Left Carson City, NV in the AM and took 395 north.
This is the lowest gas price I've seen this trip so far
Open road
First casualty of the trip. I have no idea how or when this happened.
Drove through Lassen NF with the wild fire going on.
It cleared up when I left Lassen NF and entered Shasta NF.
I tried to look for a spot to take photo of Shasta but couldn't find a spot with the composition I was looking for: long straight road with tall pine trees on both sides leading to Shasta in the distance. Only spots I found were on heavily travelled roadway.
So this is the only shot of Shasta I got.
Dirt therapy while looking for the spot that I can get the composition I want.
Campsite for the night in Southern Oregon.
Few reflections today:
1. I kinda messed up this morning by leaving campground too late, and miscalculated the driving time needed and overestimated my resistance to random distractions. I should've left CG 2 hours earlier. I got to tonight's CG at almost 9PM, so I picked up some McDonald's on the way in.
2. Today's drive time was over 8hrs long, with one flagged section. Same as yesterday, but today's flagged section took longer.
3. I am getting used to doing this, and am looking forward to the following nights.
4. I entered OR at about 5PM. So far OR has been great. People are friendly, food's quite cheap, and no sales tax! That's a weird experience but i can get used to this.
5. Electrical systems are working great. The Ecoflow's supplying power for Starlink and the run time has been extended to 30+ hours after I turned off the self-heating/ snow-melt function. It's drawing between 30-50w depending on if the actuator/ dishy motor is turning. The camper LIFEPO4, running camper lights up and downstairs, and laptop for the past 3 hours still has 22 hours of run time left. This is confidence boosting as I have no doubt with the 400w of solar on the roof I will have no problem when establishing base camp mode.
