Offroad lights and MPG

those light bars on the top of the windshield haveto be terrible for noise. we had a safari rack on our wrangler for about two week but the windnoise was so bad and the gas mileage took a hit. i figure windshield mounted light bars are very similar to that


i like those air flow tests people do, like the one you posted. that is really interesting to me

I wonder what it would be for the light to be on the front bumper loop / bull bar .....

The truck is a giant sail as it is
MPG and wind noise is all going to depend on what you add and and how high or far out it comes off the truck. A couple ditch lights...no issue. A full boar overlanding rig set up off the bed...maybe some MPG and noise??

Soooo…having a square light bar on your roof DOESN’T improve fuel economy like everyone has been telling me!!!!!?????

I am going to have some choice words with Rigid Industries.

Kaliqo said:

Was doing a little research and wondered how much add-on lights could affect fuel economy and stumbled on this tidbit. Figured I'd share it with you all as it's very nicely done in a good scientific manner.

LED Light Bar Aerodynamics Behind Truck Cab - A Family Adventure Blog

Some screens:
View attachment 371279

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My upper bar whistles pretty good, but the two front bars and two pods, plus the side-mounted light bars on the roof rack, are pretty quiet overall. Why so many, mall-queen style? No. It gets very dark in the backwoods in Maine at night, and Moose eyeballs don't reflect external light sources; like deer, cats and foxes do.
BTW my biggest MPG hit was Load Range E tires, they definitely don't spin up as fast as the old LTs that were on her before. 235/85r16 General Grabbers now, 265/75r16 Michelin Defenders before.

I wouldn't worry about it unless you are working on an engineering assignment.

Point the lights backwards and get the added thust of the photons.

The Penultimate Frontier said:

Point the lights backwards and get the added thrust of the photons.

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Ludicrous Speed !!!

IAm_Not_Lost said:

Soooo…having a square light bar on your roof DOESN’T improve fuel economy like everyone has been telling me!!!!!?????

I am going to have some choice words with Rigid Industries.

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All you have to do is add a couple cow magnets to the power and ground and you’ll be fine.