Vw t5 brighter headlight options!!

[HBrown]

Hey guys have a 2014 vw lwb transporter, just wondering what headlights people have fitted to theres to make it brighter? Would love a LED LIGHT BAR and LOW and HIGH beam HID headlights as I was thinking that would get it as bright as it could go. Where have people fitted LED LIGHT BARS?? I dont want a nudge bar and would love it to fit snug and out of the way. And also what is a good quality brand of HID?? I race motorcross and do heaps of driving on back country roads very late at night after racing and compared to my old 2010 sprinter van which had HID headlights. The VW is terrible!! Any pictures or thoughts would be appreciated cheers guys!

[Sunny43.5]

Hi Hayden check ours I fitted the Cree Light bar so bright wish I had one last year on my work van . I was coming back from Cherbourg and a damn deer stepped out in front of me in the dark nearly s*&&t myself . The T5 like yours can be done its a bit harder than the early model because they changed the front section .

Normal high beam

With Cree the trees in the distance are many hundred metres away .

[SGG]

Hello Sunny43.5

Might be interested in this for my 2007 T5.

What spec (wattage etc) light do you have ?
How much was it and how long did it take to install ?
Is it legal to drive around in the burbs with normal beam on ?

Thanks

[Sunny43.5]

Hi SSG the light bar is only activated when the high beam is on , believe me if you were to have the light bar on with normal lights you would find yourself on the receiving end of an angry mob of blinded drivers !! . This is the one we have on both our T5s the early T5 is easier to fit as the grill is different on the later T5.1 19 6" Inch 126W Cree LED Work Lamp Combo BAR Light Truck Boat Offroad 4WD Lamp | eBay It takes around two hours to fit wiring is easy just fit a 40amp relay and connect to the high beam trigger wire and that's it .

[SGG]

....only activated when the high beam is on , believe me if you were to have the light bar on with normal lights you would find yourself on the receiving end of an angry mob of blinded drivers !! . ....

I see said the blind man .... its only a hi beam set up.

I misread your post .... however like yourself I too am unimpressed with the factory hi beam set up on the our T5 in country driving so the above might be just the trick.

So you reckon this is easier to fit in our 2007 T5 (where the grill slot is about 22 inches wide) which is narrower than the above slot in your pic ?

[Sunny43.5]

Correct SGG the early T5 has a better opening with less vertical braces so it fits with minimum cutting I,ll post a pic of my work van 2004 T5 it shows the light in place .

[SGG]

Correct SGG the early T5 has a better opening with less vertical braces so it fits with minimum cutting I,ll post a pic of my work van 2004 T5 it shows the light in place .

Great ..thanks

[SGG]

Great ..thanks

...........

[Sunny43.5]

T5 older model .

Newer T5.1

Older close up

Newer close up you can see the difference in the opening the light is slightly back inwards .

[SGG]

Thanks mate .... I'm sold ... I am interested in this
18W 36W 54W 90W 126W 234W Cree LED Work Light BAR Driving Offroad Lamp 4X4WD CAR | eBay

The 126W spot/flood combo ... is that the combo (spot/flood) to get or should I just get a flood one ?

[Sunny43.5]

Yes that's the one .

[Sadie]

Hi SSG the light bar is only activated when the high beam is on , believe me if you were to have the light bar on with normal lights you would find yourself on the receiving end of an angry mob of blinded drivers !! . This is the one we have on both our T5s the early T5 is easier to fit as the grill is different on the later T5.1 19 6" Inch 126W Cree LED Work Lamp Combo BAR Light Truck Boat Offroad 4WD Lamp | eBay It takes around two hours to fit wiring is easy just fit a 40amp relay and connect to the high beam trigger wire and that's it .

Hi Sunny43.5.. Did you have to cut the plastic grill to make the light fit into that space on the early T5?

[Sunny43.5]

Yes you have to cut out a part of the opening but as I said the early T5 before 2010/ 11 , was easier to do .you will have to remove the front bumper to get access for mounting its the only way .

[aSimpleLife]

I apologise for yet again asking your advice Sunny43.5 but you post so much useful information I can't help myself.
Am about to buy one of these 20" 126W Cree light bars for my T5.1
I can see the cuts in the plastic that are needed and think I understand the wiring.
But with the T5.1 does the front bumper have to be removed?
And does this light bar attach to the existing front bumper metal frame?
No other bits I need to get?

[Sunny43.5]

Hi again no problems with info first the wiring is easy the light comes with a heavy duty "extension " lead you run this up behind the grill and then into the battery box one wire to earth then use a40amp relay and use a trigger wire from the high beam to activate the relay which then directs power from the battery straight to the bar . Now mounting I just got under mine to see as I cannot remember the exact details , from what I can see you cut the 3 vertical bars but leave about 10mm at the top of each one , then there are 2 horizontal bars again I cut and left about 10mm at each end . I would have to remove the whole bar to give exact details as I did mine about 5 years ago . There is a metal bar just below the place where the light fits so you could make up some custom brackets to locate it on that . I have a hunch I screwed a couple of screws into the each end of the bar to correspond with the horizontal bars of the grill This would have held the bar in position horizontally and then I may have used some more screws to go down through the vertical ones from the top to hold it securely . I am really sorry I cant be more precise as when I did it I just used my ability to see the best way and it worked . Hindsight is a wonderful thing I should have taken photos during fitting NOT after HA HA . Just make sure you measure the bar so as to only cut the bits necessary this makes it a nice tight fit rather than cutting too much . Now if you look at the third photo down out of the four I posted that's my T5 you can see the two horizontal remains of those bars the bottom of the light bar is basically sitting on the lower part of the opening . There is no need to worry if its tilted as the light beam goes in all directions . I am dying to park on a dark road and quickly flick the high beam light to see the reaction as it looks like a speed camera flash going off !