On Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:30:06 -1000, Rick Frazier
wrote:

Ignoramus18262 wrote:
I had several really bad experiences with driving backwards, with a
trailer, in low to no light conditions or in the rain. (one was when
picking up thet Bliss punch). It is a big hazard and it is ****ing
frustrating.

So, I want to know what you would recommend for a source of light that
is practical to use. A handheld spotlight, something that can be
mounted on roof temporarily, etc.

thanks

i
I used to tow a lot, and back in my misspent youth, I had a "light bar"
on my pickup (looked like a roll bar, but no structural strength to
speak of). With a couple of off road type lights facing forward, and
three facing backward at slight angles from straiht back (for backing
up, or otherwise harassing the a**hole the just has to tailgate at
relatively high speed and just won't back off in the middle of the night
way out in the wilderness on the interstate), the illumination to the
rear was quite sufficient for just about anything, including backing a
variety of trailers, both low (flatbed) and tall, fully enclosed units
with a race car inside.

Of course, it'd be quite illegal to display a white light (of any decent
candlepower rating) toward the rear on a street or highway, and I
certainly wouldn't do so now, but once you're out of traffic and
actually trying to back a trailer down a narrow alley and into a garage,
the lighting is really helpful.

The additional drag of the light bar and off-road lights does come with
a cost (besides the initial monetary outlay), in that the gas mileage
drops by about 10-15% due to the additonal drag of the lights sticking
up in the airstream. I never really noticed the difference while
towing, but empty, it did lower mileage somewhat... Finally got smarter
and set up the light bar with a mount that plugged into the stake
pockets, with a decent (hefty) connector for the electrical, so it could
be installed or removed in under 5 minutes. Got back the gas mileage,
and it didn't look like I was trying to be a pretend Baja Cruiser when I
didn't need the lights for towing/backing...

The front mounted lights would light up a freeway sized sign about a
mile and a quarter out if the terrain was flat enough... Of course, this
only worked in the dead of night with no oncoming traffic, because the
lights would have been blinding even to the oncoming traffic of a
divided freeway.... I can't remember the exact candlepower of the
lights, but without a 70+ amp alternator, you couldn't run them long
without draining the battery significantly... Sort of reminds me of the
car that had a pair of aircraft landing lights behind the grille. It
did pretty well on high speed late night runs down the interstate too.
Man, it's really a miracle any of us survived those days, when we ran
tubes in non-speed rated tires, and somehow got away with it...

Perhaps something on a smaller scale would work for the occasional
baking situation.. like a couple of mag-mounted lights and some heavy
cable to a serious power connector. (What I ran needed a
contactor-rated relay, as the typical light/horn relay of the day would
cook in relative short order).

--Good Luck
Like the big "instant sun" Hella lamp we had on the front of the R12
we rallyed back in the late seventies. That thing was something like
6X10 inches and 2 million? candlepower. Swith it on, and the sun came
up!! It was OK at speed but would seriously discharge the battery at
idle.

--
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