Do Auxilliary/Driving Lights Get Stolen Here?

northernfist, Jul 2, 5:06pm
Do you auxilliary/driving lights get stolen here just like in other countries? I am thinking of installing driving lights accompanied by my main beams and am just concerned whether or not they are an item of interest to the clumsy. Cheers.

kazbanz, Jul 2, 5:10pm
depends on where in the country you park at night

northernfist, Jul 2, 5:24pm
So it's still a concern and people do steal them?

I might reconsider installing a good pair on mine. I have mates overseas who do not put good lights anymore because their good ones always get stolen and that's the reason they put in cheap, cheap ones. Cheers.

msigg, Jul 2, 5:36pm
No, Not as much as 30 Years ago. They will be ok.

poppy62, Jul 2, 5:39pm
I'd say No they don't get stolen . because it would cost too much (for the thief) to have them rewired at an Auto Sparky. The other fact is that you don't see any for sale at "Cash Converters" or Mr Money.

stevo2, Jul 2, 7:30pm
I've had a pair of Hellas (about $300) on my vans since 2013 and had never even considered the fact that someone may pinch them. Very happy to have them on when traveling to the family bach at night time. They aren't much use if all of your night travel is around busy roads because you wont get a chance to use high beam.

sw20, Jul 2, 8:34pm
Not fashionable anymore. Tossers these days just drive with their fog lights on when it's clear.

pauldw, Jul 2, 10:25pm
Fog lights would only be useful if they made a difference at the far reach of dipped beam. More light close to the car is too late, you can't react in time.

s_nz, Jul 2, 11:53pm
I wouldn't be too concerned. They don't command much money on the used market these day's.

The combination of much better factory fitted lights, more traffic on the roads (I can't use high beams much these days), makes it much harder to justify fitting them.

These days, the main lighting upgrades you see are daytime lights, and LED light-bars on 4x4 (mostly for better spread of light rather than the distance).

If you are worried, you could use security bolts, or just put upgraded high beam bulbs in.

desmodave, Jul 3, 1:58am
But but TM have there own police team in place so that does not happen :-) . Well how come all id tags have been removed and your not providing any info as to why . The amount of dud chainsaws ive seen them try sell is a laugh .

northernfist, Jul 3, 10:45am
I have good factory low-beam HIDs on mine that throw light at a good distance. The HIDs stay on when I turn on the high beam and that may have been giving me a sharp difference in luminosity as the HIDs are way stronger.

I can put on an LED bar as a work light but I can only use that when I am off-road. I am looking at putting halogen Hellas for good CRI.

Good point on the upgraded bulbs. In fact, I wish to do the harness upgrade first, see the difference and then do the bulb upgrade. Cheers.

flossy64, Jul 3, 1:19pm
Parked my ute outside stockcars in Palmy one night and came out to find the lightbar had been levered off my bumper and nicked. Must have trashed it swinging on it because the mounts ripped out of the back of the bar and were on the ground

northernfist, Jul 3, 2:24pm
So they still nick them. Is the light bar a branded one?

2sheddies, Jul 3, 2:49pm
Shows you their level of intelligence doesn't it. So they got it off, and rendered it next to useless in the process. Well done.

flossy64, Jul 3, 4:33pm
Yeah it was a Big Red. Not hugely expensive but annoying none the less. Ive recently replaced it with a pair of 9" spotlights and a smaller lightbar on a magnetic mount that can be stashed in the ute. I will be more careful where I park in the future. It was Targa rally on my road that day and I was busy watching and snuck out between stages. Got there late and could not park in the stadium itself. Heaps of other cars around mine, doubt I was only one targeted

flossy64, Jul 3, 4:35pm
Was one redeeming thought of it all. That and the fact they didnt pull the wiring all the way through to the loom and bugger that, cut it off not far before the waterproof plug

northernfist, Jul 3, 8:32pm
I guess some people are just like that no matter what.

vtecintegra, Jul 4, 6:45am
Much more likely to have your window broken and all the change nicked from your cup holders.

On a tangent apparently you can pop the main headlights out of the Porsche SUVs without any tools which means they're a common theft target in eastern europe

northernfist, Jul 4, 11:17am
65W on the high beam - Are those bulbs 9011s or HIR1s?

Thanks for the links. I overlooked that selective yellow Toyota driving lights.

The harness I was talking about was just about the removal of voltage drop to maximise the voltage going through the bulbs by using the old-school technique of adding relays. I did that on my old 1996 Toyota with a standard 60/55W H4 bulb and there was night-and-day difference before and after. Those were just the standard long-life bulbs. I added a +30 after that and the +30 was very significant vs without the relay harness.

s_nz, Jul 6, 1:44pm
9005 I think (I haven't checked the physical car, just done an internet search). Car is a Lexus RX400h with HID projection low beam lights.

Interesting regarding the difference that the wiring harness makes.

bill-robinson, Jul 6, 2:19pm
normally, thieves will detatch the driving lights and steal the car

northernfist, Jul 13, 6:15pm
Oh OK. It may be Hellas then as their 9005s are at 65 watts. I may have a look at that brand, as well.

I think I may still have the long life bulbs in mine which run cooler at a lower wattage. Newer halogens bulbs seem to perform brighter and whiter with clear lenses giving 99 to 100 CRI. Cheers.