[Just Rick]

Hi! thought I would start the ball rolling on this one,after having a few private questions asked(which I don't mind)and thought the group or those who are interested would like to join in,obviously some people have viewed my pictures of Bruce and Cyril and have shown great interest in either the nudge bars and or what type of Spotties I have on both vehicles.

First lets hit the subject of the nudge bars,I can't offer information for other states,but here in WA,the Bars I have on my cars even though they were supplied and fitted by the two seperate dealers we got our cars from,they both originated from Parkside towbars,they were the manufacturers of them.
Now one of the comments I got was the asker wanted a little added protection for their vehicle,well I can give you the first hand scoop,they are purely asthetic or useful for holding your spotties,as they offer absolutely no protection for your car,as I can also show you what happens when you hit a kangaroo at 80 kph,so running into anything else wouldn't be much different,I will try to post a picture of my accident,Cyril was not even four days old,if anyone wants to continue this thread we can move onto what you have to look out for if your thinking of fitting a nudge bar and or even spotties.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for that Rick.. Ugly Mongrel in Qld (Terry) has a nudge bar and spotties too (not sure where his came from though) 

[rustynutz]

Pretty sure they came from Supercheap Auto, Daz... 

These look like them.... http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/SCA-Driving-Light-Bar-Universal.aspx?pid=219098#Description

[Just Rick]

I have posted a picture of the damage to Cyril in my gallery,but it hasn't been approved yet

[Shambles]

I have posted a picture of the damage to Cyril in my gallery,but it hasn't been approved yet

That's because you already have an entry in the gallery

You need to edit your entry and just add that pic in (it's a great pic, I have to say )

[baroudeur]

I have posted a picture of the damage to Cyril in my gallery,but it hasn't been approved yet

That's because you already have an entry in the gallery

You need to edit your entry and just add that pic in (it's a great pic, I have to say )

So how do I view the gallery?

[Shambles]

So how do I view the gallery?

It's up top, along the menu bar




Or, if you switched to the club theme, it'd look like this:

[Shambles]

I have posted a picture of the damage to Cyril in my gallery,but it hasn't been approved yet

That's because you already have an entry in the gallery

You need to edit your entry and just add that pic in (it's a great pic, I have to say )

I moved your pic into imgur.com and from there into your description, so it's now in your gallery entry

[Dazzler]

Love the matching pair  I would have cried for a week if that happened to my brand new car (Trish would have cried for a fortnight) 

[Just Rick]

Dazz
I had a tear in my eye.but it wasn't because of the car, I'd dislocated my shoulder,wasn't used to the car,slammed on the brakes and the seat belt locked an I kept heading for the windscreen without my arm or shoulder following.
But I went feral the next day when the woman at the insurance office said the car wasn't covered(long story) but they did fix the car within a fortnight.got the car home the night of the accident,went in told the missus,she only said two words,what when I first told her,when she got out of bed and looked at Cyril,she just uttered one word I won't repeat here and went back to bed

[Doggie 1]

Good thread.
I'd be interested in what spotties you have and how you find them.

[Dazzler]

Rick,

I hit a medium Wallaby in our previous CRDi SLX and also another one in our Current Hybrid...Fortunately in both cases I saw the animal coming and managed to keep it to a glancing blow with only cosmetic damage 

Both happened at dusk on the 3 KM road to our semi rural location .. I am even more careful now   

[Just Rick]

Dazz
Silly thing was I had ordered and paid for a Shuroo and was awaiting it to come down from Qld,I thought a few days without it wouldn't hurt,well I was wrong,best money I ever spent,was those purchases,when we got Bruce as we knew we where travelling I made sure the dealer fitted it once I had made up my own custom brakets,so they would neatly fit inside the nudge bar.

db08
I'll now touch on the spotties I chose and why,since this is why I started this thread,instead of rattling on about hitting things,when we first Got Cyril,I had purchased a set of Narva Extreme Rally HID lights 225mm(9 inch)after converting all my lights on my commodore headlights,spotlights to HID and all tail and park lights to LED,I would not go back to using normal spotties,if I could find a way to convert Bruce and Cyrils headlights to HID without voiding my warranty I would,anyhow the first set of spotties,which subsiquently got ruined when I hit the Roo, they are 45 watt HID runnign 4500K globes,when I first started driving behind these I thought they were brilliant,they are very good,but there are better for the money,because even now I don't think you would get them much under $900-$1000 a pair(mind you I didn't pay that for mine,as I got some fairly good contacts in the trade)set up correctly I am lighting up the road for just under a kilometre and generously lighting the sides of the road and into the bush for just a little under 400 metres in front sides and about 30 metres into the bush for just under the same distance,but because there was not sets within Australia when Cyril got damaged and he was ready to be picked up I opted to fit another set of lights to him untill the replacent Narva's came into stock,I thought outside the box for these ones,got a similar set of lights which are even better than the Narva's,but again the Narva Extreme's are an extremely good light and with the heavy frame around them seem very sturdy,only thing I don't really like about them is the light section is mounted in the metal frame and they are completely rubber mounted so there is a minor amount of light shudder,not that often though only under certain driving conditions,but don't hit a Roo with em like I did it tends to brake all the vulcanised rubber mounts off and even though th lights still work you can't fix them.

[Dazzler]

since this is why I started this thread,instead of rattling on about hitting things

Sorry    (them Bloody Shuroos aren't cheep) 

[Just Rick]

Dazz
  $450-$500 investment to help protect a $22,000-$25,000 investment,sounds pretty cheap to me,I've lost count of how many times they've saved Bruce and Cyril now,having said that they are not a guarantee that you'll never hit anything again,but it gives you a few more seconds to react.since having Bruce I have tapped a Blacklove Wallaby(super quick little buggers)believe me without the Shuroo,it would have been far worse than a scratch behind the nudge bar base,I'd  swear by em and the company is totally up front on their preformance and limitations.Makes people stop and look around before stepping out in front of you to,I can tel ya

[Dazzler]

So obviously you don't think the cheap little plastic things that whistle when you drive are any good?

When I saw the shuroo link I expected it to be them so I got quite a shock when I saw the price, before the picture 

I only do about 60kms on our road at night now and am extremely aware. The other day there were 4 together on or near the road and one jumped out and I managed to stop just in time .. Thank god for ABS (only just missed him) 

[Just Rick]

Dazzn
I have the plastic ones on my Commodore,mind you I have an alloy bull bar on it as well,which tends to cut them into pieces,in the past five years I have lost count how many Roo's
I've hit with that Ol'girl.
It's hard to describe the sound the Shuroo make,but it is not a straight sub sonic whistle like the plastic ones,in the case you had where the animals are on the side of the road,with the Shuroo turned on they move away from the road well before you get to them.I actually see more roo's now than before,only for the fact that your eye is attracted to the movement as they are moving away from you.

[ausi30]

Just wondering 1) if the bars lower your front ground clearance and 2)did you install the lights yourself or go to an auto electrician?
Also has anyone had any experience with led spot/driving lights?. Interested as may be going from Brisbane to adelaide soon coming back thru Broken Hill. And I do so like to see where I am going at night.
Don

[neptune]

while your on Rick....have you tried the FYRLYT spotties....there proported to be better than HID's

[Doggie 1]

Dazzn
I have the plastic ones on my Commodore,mind you I have an alloy bull bar on it as well,which tends to cut them into pieces,in the past five years I have lost count how many Roo's
I've hit with that Ol'girl.
It's hard to describe the sound the Shuroo make,but it is not a straight sub sonic whistle like the plastic ones,in the case you had where the animals are on the side of the road,with the Shuroo turned on they move away from the road well before you get to them.I actually see more roo's now than before,only for the fact that your eye is attracted to the movement as they are moving away from you.

Sounds like grasshopper repellant.

[Just Rick]

2nd gear
when we bought Cyril,I bought the lights made up all the custom polished aluminium brackets,after measuring the nudge bar at the dealers,then when the car was almost ready I went down nd mounted the lights,the dealers organised and auto elec,lets just say I should have done the job myself,the day we went to pick up Cyril we had the run through on the car,I was told everything worked,for the first time I have ever bought a car old or new I never checked anything,it was only a few hours later I found out the spotties didn't  work,the auto elec must of had his apprentice do the job as the wiring was all screwed up took my half a day to re-wire the damned thing,that was after I rang the dealer and blew the crap out of them.
as for the weight of the nudge bar,no they do not effect the ride height of the car,but you do have to be careful parking up against some heigher gutters.
  when we bought Bruce same deal ,except this time I got them to mount the bar,I made up the light bar so all they had to do was mount it on the nudge bar,I only got them to run the wire from the switch through the fire wall and leave all the connecting to myself,if your unsure as to how the cars electrical system works or how to wire up spotties from a skimatic drawing,I would have an Auto Elec do it for you.I haven't had much experience with the LED spotties,we have LED lights on the new 20 tonne fork at work,they to me seem extremely bright to look towards,but for me they lack a little to drive behind at night in out yard,so can't really comment on the preformance of the ones for cars or trucks.

Neptune
  I have  never heard of the Frylyt,there are many many cheap chinese and maylayan imports coming into the country,I had looked at some of these,In my opinion they where poorly made and even though they were HID they were only 35watt and not much better than the old 100watt globes,most modern sets of lights now only  come in a combo set,one pencil,one spread or in sets of euro spreads,all mine on all my cars are all pencils,highly illegal in most states to have both pencil beams, but I prefer a apir of pencils,you can if set up correctly get better throw of light forward.

[Just Rick]

Neptune sorry forgot in all the post to say why I bought the lights I did,both sets,all spare parts are readily available for both the Narva and the Hella Rallye 4000,I explained earlier,that Bruce now had the Narva's on him,I have the Rallye 4000's on Cyril,cheaper option than the Narva's,but because you can only get the Rallye's as normal globed spotties you have to convert them,you can get good in house kits now fairly cheap and once converted if you buy the 55watt kit with 8000K globes,they are far more affective than the Narva's,also a good few hundred dollars cheaper.
with my Hella's I get a good 1.1 kilometres throw,turn these babies on and once they get to working temp,it's light daylight for the first eight hundred metres and normal headlights for the remainding 300 metres,but again the main reason I like both sets,they both have good availabilty for spare parts,you don't have to buy a whole new light or set of lights when they do get broken,with cheaper lights and the imported lights if you break a glass or mounting bracket,or even blow a globe,you end up having to buy either a whole new light or set of lights.

[neptune]

Rick have a read of this site

http://fyrlyt.com/#/superior-to-hid/4549967728

and you will find that these 150 w halogen globes put out 5000 lumens , more than the 70w HID globes.....very bright.....

[Just Rick]

yes after I read your post,I found their site,basically it look like a very slick site,very clever advertising,but they are still a holagen globe,I had 150w holagens on my ute,yes put out a lot of light but very yellow,similar to your standard headlights,I'd  really have to use a set to make any comparisens.I'll have to read and look around a lot more before I can make a decission.

[Just Rick]

Neptune
Been doing a lot of reading and comparing,this is one of the reasons I chose HID,for the simple fact that the Frylyt lights as with other 130w/150w and 170w lights,they ARE NOT road legal in any state of Australia,your not allowed to have anything above 100w on a road vehicle(having said that I know there are many many vehicles out there breaking the law)believe me over here,Bruce and Cyril are borderline legal the way I have mine mounted.
  As stated earlier in the piece,I have a friend in Traffic,he's well up to what is legal or not,over here we have many younger and some older blokes that do up their utes,as does many people in other states,they all tend to go round doing the B&S balls,many of these people have the big supposedly roll over bars,none of which I have seen have any functional use other than to hold four or more spotties,my mate in the force loves these blokes and girls he unroadworthies their utes every chance he gets,because over here it is illegall to have any forward facing headlight,loading light or spotlight above the centre line of the factory fitted headlights,so yes there is even a lot of linehual trucks running around which can technically classed as illegal.
   You used to be able to buy aircraft landing lights and fit them to your car,they where absolutely brilliant,but because they are of the higher wattage they where made illegal years ago,anything now over 100 watts is for OFF ROAD use only,this is the market Frylyt is also clearly targeting.
    over here, we have a four wheel drive mob called Ironman,they have a very, very similar light to the Frylyt and are also claiming all the very similar preformances,as I almost bought a pair of these,but I have matched mine against a friends Ironmans,in my opinion I still think mine are better,Ben won't though,as all of us who is going to admit they bought crappy lights,myself I just get rid of them,but the two sets I got I'm very happy with and their staying,plus I know mine are legal for WA roads,mind you the way I have them mounted position wise is barely legal,like the 17year 363 day old drinker.

[Doggie 1]

You're correct re the lights on the roof on utes in W.A. but it's amazing that you still see people doing it. 

[Just Rick]

db08 yes the mate  stickers them,he knows their just going to take the lights off,have the vehicle road worthied and then put them back on,but he says enough stickers and having to go back and forth to licensing to get the stickers off and the amount of money it costs them some of them eventually get the message and leave them off,I was young once and I did all the same things,but now I try to stay within the legal limitations,when we went away last year I did have a couple of runs ins with the law in NSW and Vic about the lights and the way they were mounted,but as I was only passing through there wasn't anything they could do.

[rustynutz]

Been doing a lot of reading and comparing,this is one of the reasons I chose HID,for the simple fact that the Frylyt lights as with other 130w/150w and 170w lights,they ARE NOT road legal in any state of Australia,your not allowed to have anything above 100w on a road vehicle(having said that I know there are many many vehicles out there breaking the law)

Rick, are you sure about that? 
ADRs don't specify the maximum wattage for bulbs used in driving lamps so I'm curious as to what law supposedly makes them illegal...... 

[Just Rick]

rustynutz
  In my employment I am required to take quite a few vehicles over the pits here in WA,each time we take a line haul vehicle or pilot vehicle over for licensing and the vehicle is fitted with spot lights we are always ask what wattage they are,we have been informed that anything over 100w for road use is illegal,this is also how I found out that any added forward facing driving lighting the base of the added light is not to be higher than the centre line of the factory fitted head lights,I do have a friend up here who does licensing inspections,I'll ask him to find this out where the ruling is written,as I'm only passing on what I have been told by vehicle inspectors at Welshpool over the past 10 years as mr average is not allowed to access,vehicle licensing requirement paperwork,believe me I've tried getting into their system,to read the requirements for vehicle licensing here.

[neptune]

Rick, you can find that sort of information at the library in Northbridge........they have all the policing policies books there for your perusal......