Advanced Tutorial for Off-Road Novices (2) Discussion on Tire and Suspension System Modification
Advanced tutorial for off-road beginners (1) How much do you know about the basic parameters of off-road?
Welcome to the third issue of the "Advanced Off-Road Novice" tutorial. This issue will focus on the two topics of off-road vehicle headlights and luggage rack modifications. I hope it can help you increase your knowledge. The importance of lighting in cross-country crossings is self-evident. Good visual penetration will greatly improve driving safety in complex road conditions. The luggage rack also determines how much equipment you can bring, expanding the limitations of the trunk space. , some large items with unconventional sizes are more likely to find a "home".
If you want to have fun off-road, two modifications are essential! Okay, without further ado, let’s get to the point.
Off-road vehicle headlight set modification
The fundamental reason for headlight modification is insufficient brightness and range, especially when the road conditions are very complicated during off-roading, which further amplifies the shortcomings of the original headlights. OEMs follow the principles of sufficiency and cost control when designing headlights, and will not ignore cost for a single performance. This also leaves opportunities for the emergence of auxiliary lights. We rarely see direct modification of the headlights on the front of the car. Instead, we often install auxiliary lights to increase the lighting intensity and achieve the purpose of headlight modification. The headlight modification we mentioned below refers to the installation of auxiliary lights. flashlight.
Headlights can be simply and roughly divided into four types according to different light sources: halogen, xenon, LED, and laser. The cost of the four light sources is also from low to high. Halogen’s lighting effect is also the worst. Currently, the models mass-produced by OEMs , most of them use xenon or LED light sources, and halogen headlights are gradually becoming marginalized.
The installation of auxiliary lights also involves the concept of color temperature. Color temperature can be simply explained as the different colors of light at different temperatures. If the color temperature is too low, it will appear yellow (warm), such as halogen headlights. If the color temperature is too high, it will appear blue. "Too high" or "too low" are not good, and will damage the lighting effect. The most comfortable color temperature range for human eyes is about 5500K-6500K. LED light sources are within this range. When installing auxiliary lights, it is better to refer to the color temperature close to that of fluorescent lamps.
How to modify the auxiliary light? There are a few points to note below.
1. The illumination brightness of the auxiliary light cannot be increased infinitely, which means that the power of the headlight must take into account the endurance of the vehicle's electrical appliances. You cannot increase the brightness uncontrollably by increasing the power, otherwise problems may easily occur. For example: the power of an original halogen headlight is about 60W. If you install four 100-140W halogen headlights on the front of the car, you have to comprehensively consider whether to replace wires, relays and other equipment.
2. It is recommended that the color temperature of the auxiliary light be selected close to the daylight effect, that is, the range of 5000K-6000K is more suitable. While ensuring the lighting effect, long-term driving will not be easy to fatigue.
3. Installation location. I personally recommend that the auxiliary light be installed in a state that can be removed at any time. Tighten the screws when lighting is needed, and remove it at any time when not needed. The installation location can be the bumper under the air intake grille, or it can be installed around the roof rack, or it can be mounted with a suction cup on the hood for ready use, but the wiring of the auxiliary light may be very complicated. It's complicated, so you still need to choose an experienced modification factory when modifying.
4. Pay attention to legal compliance. For example, many off-road vehicle owners will install their auxiliary lights in the gap between the air intake grille and the water tank. The wiring is easy to arrange, and the aesthetic effect is taken into account after hiding, but in this way The modification is illegal. The standards for determining whether modifications are legal are not consistent across regions, and there are many subjective factors. Checking the legal restrictions on headlight modifications before modification will help you enjoy your car better.
Off-road vehicle luggage rack modification
Why do you need to install a luggage rack? Cross-country enthusiasts who like self-driving tours and long-distance travel may know that in some remote areas in northwest, southwest and Inner Mongolia of my country, due to limited conditions along the way, it is very likely that they will not receive ideal support in materials and catering. In addition, in special road conditions such as deserts, swamps, and Gobi, you need to carry 1-2 more spare tires, spare fuel tanks, several rescue tools, etc. These "large equipment" require you to have a luggage rack to further enhance Loading capacity.
There are many unconventional items that need to be loaded, which is one of the reasons why many off-road enthusiasts will list the luggage rack as a must-have option when refitting. We also mentioned above that the spotlight installation hole is reserved on the luggage rack, which can also solve the problem of long distances. The problem of lighting when traveling through time is to kill two birds with one stone.
So, what issues need to be paid attention to during the installation of the luggage rack? Everything has two sides, let’s also discuss some bugs caused by installing luggage racks.
1. Improve fuel consumption. The luggage rack increases the weight of the entire vehicle, and the wind resistance coefficient increases sharply. The overall situation is not friendly to fuel economy. The road conditions faced by off-road vehicles are more complicated, and the fuel consumption itself will not be too low. The luggage rack and the luggage on the luggage rack will The quality of the vehicle is further increased, which is very noteworthy for remote areas where refueling is inconvenient. You need to judge in real time whether the fuel in the tank can support you to complete the crossing.
2. Affect power control performance. From the perspective of off-road vehicle design and aerodynamics, the original factory vehicle did not consider the installation of the luggage rack. The luggage rack has a negative impact on the vehicle weight and wind resistance. At the same time, the luggage rack also increases the center of gravity of the vehicle. These All factors also affect the vehicle's handling performance.
3. The driving noise is increased. The roof rack + luggage greatly increases the wind impact area of the car roof. While the driving resistance is increased, the noise will also be very obvious. The quiet performance of off-road vehicles is not very good. When driving at high speed, the top of the head will be " The whirring noise is not acceptable to every car owner.
4. Luggage racks cause safety hazards. Some people may wonder, what is the relationship between luggage racks and safety? The luggage rack is a modified part, and it involves a strength matching issue when fixing it. Not every luggage rack can provide perfect installation strength, even if it is welded, the continuous bumps on the washboard road will not be merciful to you. . The luggage rack is fixed to the car body, and the luggage is fixed to the luggage rack. Once the safety strength of the luggage rack is not enough or the luggage is not firmly fixed, it is very likely that the entire luggage rack or the luggage will slip, which is very dangerous. If there is not a particularly large amount of luggage that needs to be loaded frequently, it is not recommended to install a luggage rack.
5. The aesthetics of the luggage rack is also a factor that must be considered when refitting. For example, an off-road vehicle that looks like an urban SUV (Isuzu mu-X, Patrol Y62, Toyota Prado, Toyota Land Cruiser, etc.) is equipped with a boxy luggage rack. It is also ugly to install a boxy hardcore off-road vehicle (Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Jeep Wrangler, Toyota LC7 series, etc.) with a "niang pao" style luggage rack commonly used in urban SUVs. Presumably car owners don’t want to attract passers-by to watch because of their unsightly appearance.
Write at the end:
Modification of luggage racks and lights may seem simple, but in fact it is full of "knowledge". Unscientific modifications are not only unhelpful to vehicle performance, but also have certain risks. In fact, small targeted modification projects will bring about qualitative changes in improving a certain performance of your vehicle, but they are not so friendly to the performance of the entire vehicle and have many negative impacts. Again, off-road modification is a double-edged sword. While improving the corresponding performance, there are also areas that you need to adapt to. You must even be prepared to cause safety hazards. It is worth learning from rational modifications based on your own needs.
In the next issue, let’s talk about topics related to air intake system modification. If you are interested in SUV and off-road content, please follow us and we will continue to output high-quality content in this area.
