OD beacons trk/trl

The Oasis truck stop, exit 53 on 10 in Alabama. Bought a set of strobes for the trailer with a set of 200 lb magnets. Very bright and they give that 80 beats per minute and the 360 degree flash that some of the pickier states require.

Picked up the permanently mounted stuff from Speed Tech Lights, ( I believe it's exit 220, off i35 , south of Austin). 48 inch light bar on top of the cab, 2 ft bar on the inside of windshield, bottom of dash( no glare...in fact you can't see it until you get out of the truck. Talk about bright! They reflect off the signs even in broad daylight.

 

made me laugh

 

I run Whelen products, I'm going to look into the STL lights. I bought some TIR 3 lights form a guy once and thought they were Whelens, they weren't(He was a Whelen distributor) when I go them, I hooked them about and they were about 1/3 as bright, they got sent back.

I hate these videos that show the lights in the dark, of course they are going to be bright, I want to see them in the daylight. My TIR6 Slimlighters are bright as hell.

 

Bought my first one off Ebay for $220 shipped. Good price for a 48 inch bar, but it wasnt bright. You know how when you go into some of the scales and they give you the bypass arrow, THEN they realize youre oversized? All of a sudden they switch arrows again, and you have to make evasive maneuvers.

Story Time:

On a Saturday early afternoon, I pull into the westbound i-20 scale at Vicksburg. The sign says that you have to weigh your wagon and them come inside. I sit on the scale and wait. And wait. And wait. I finally get out of the truck and go inside. Theres this little fat girl working the scales and shes fast asleep. I laughed, walked out and start grabbing gears. If I was a scalemaster and I needed a nap, I would have closed the scale.

 

Ziegler (Cat dealer) has the tall LED beacons for under $100 each. Worth every penny IMHO.
I found out by accident when I delivered there a while back, and rapidly bought 2 of them...

Martin

 

Has anyone ever had DOT trouble for using strobes instead of the 360 degree revolving light?

 

Had one of our guys get ticketed for the built in trailer beacons in Tennessee about a year ago. Said the lights have to be 360 degree. All of the permits I've pulled recently accept strobes and LEDs, but they have to be visible in the daytime from___________ (cant remember the farthest distance...drawing a blank).

From what Ive seen, Tennessee, Florida and Colorado are usually the pickiest about trailer beacons. They accept my strobes and so thats good enough for me.

 

Its not so much the type of bulb etc, but the 360 degree visibility, that they want to see IMHO.
I have certainly never been bothered about the type of light it is, so long as it is visible.
I have often wondered about the trailer mounted ones for being totally legal. Never ran them so no direct experience with them. I pull the same trailer all the time, so my LED's are permanently mounted to the back, with a plug to connect when I want them running.

Martin