KC All Season 57 series

PIAA 520 Ion Crystal fogs

Being an avid landscape photographer, auxiliary lights were a must-have addition as I take most of my shots around the magic hours of sunrise and sunset, as that's when contrast is minimal enough for film to be able to record successfully. That makes it necessary to be on the way to the area of the photo shoot prior to sunrise or going back to camp after it sets. It can get dark at 12,000' on a shelf road with no moon, and not being able to see everything as lit up as it needs to be might not make for very successful circumstances. So, I added lights—lots of 'em!

Since these lights will always be used on slow trails, I don't have a need for the long range, pencil beam variety.

My configuration is as follows:

The PIAA fogs mounted on the bumper are for lighting up the immediate trail in front, not for fog purposes as we see practically zero of that in Colorado. I chose the amber color as opposed to white to add a little more contrast to the rocks than a white beam would although that advantage, if any, is probably negligible. If one were to use them for fog successfully, they would need to be mounted lower.

The front four rack mounted KC's have the driving lenses, which have a wider and longer beam than OEM high beams. Having four allows them to be aimed to cover a nice spread looking ahead.

The two lateral ones use the fog lenses which provide even illumination to the side and to the front of the vehicle. This allows me to see how much road I have available before that most memorable 1,000' drop!

The rear pair utilize flood lenses which allow for a tall, broad, even illumination for backing up and are also great for setting up camp.

Not many people run KC lights anymore as Hella seems to be the brand of choice for the masses, but I have to say I am quite happy with what I have and prefer the KC light covers over Hella. Come on, you didn't think I wasn't thinking about aesthetics as well when I did this, did ya? All KC products have a 23 year warranty. I can also say that running the trails that I have been on at night, I don't have to worry about that factor as they really turn the trail into day. There are however, a certain few I still would not attempt to run just to keep it on the safe side.

The stock alternator on a 3rd Generation 4Runner ('96-'02) is rated at 75 amps. This is sufficient to run the electrical load I have, although I don't run with the rear lights on unless backing up. The PIAA's are rated at 85 watts apiece and the KC's at 55. That equates to 610 watts or 50.8 amps.

Watts divided by 12 (volt battery) = amps

For a description and pictures of my wiring, click here.

Taken at Oh! Point (12,850') near Engineer Pass out of Ouray. Yes, it was dark going down!

The rear lights make setting up camp a breeze