LED Light Bars | Are they legal in South Africa?

Mic Van Zyl discusses the controversial subject of LED lightbars and general rules when mounting lighting on your overlanding vehicle.

[@schalkburger5732]

I remember that the Nissan X trails rooflights was disconected from factory for South Africa.

[@robertnoon]

Keep the videos coming Mic, always appreciate your input! As a side note I’m looking closely at the 79 Series 2.8L 4 cylinder and if you know why it seems the Ozzie version comes with the LED front headlights but the SA version doesn’t! Plus the dashboard is different…

[@dawoodparuk6944]

Glad you picked that up, many haven't noticed it, the Australian spec with led head lamp has the auto dim/bright, a boon when high way driving

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

It is one of the very few things about Toyota that irks me to the core as a Toyota Vehicle fan. In my experience, Toyota SA always launch a low to mid spec variant of their leisure vehicles at launch date ramping up the "nice to haves" as the model progresses through it's model life. Compare the latest, top of the range Hilux (Legend RS) to the top of the range Hilux when it was launched here in 2015. Our "Ironvan" Hilux (as featured in our overlanding videos) is an early top of the range model from 2018 but, compared to my 2023 GR-S, it is very basic. I suspect the same applies to the "New" LC79.

[@Fergus_Afrique]

It’s also of value to find out what the law is in neighboring countries if you are a traveler to Namibia, Botswana etc.

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Indeed it is always a good idea to find out about all laws when touring through neighboring countries. In my experience, policing on additional vehicle lights is much stricter than in SA but very inconsistent from one traffic official to the next. Very frustrating indeed.

[@DylanHaskin]

Question about lights on the roof - what about work lights - ie to the side or rear of the vehicle ?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

I checked into this some time ago and the info I got was that, according to the law, you can only mount "worklights" to the roof or your roof rack of your vehicle if it is classified as a specialised vehicle (medical, security, construction, mining, etc). Also, you cannot have any white light facing the side or the rear of the vehicle. I have work/camping lights on my own vehicle roofrack. They are small and discreet. I can switch them from the driver seat and its handy when game viewing at night and of course around the camp site. I know they're not legal but they pose no danger in the way I use them which is important. I may well come unstuck at some stage and I will face the consequences. The law is outdated, badly policed and all round frustrating. As a company, we have in the past attempted to engage with the road authorities at national government level about auxiliary vehicle lighting. It was the single most disappointing and frustrating experience I have ever had. Running face first into a brick wall is still better.

[@DylanHaskin]

@@Ironman4x4Africa Thanks for that! Appreciate the feedback

[@troopyinafrica]

So you saying yes people buy light bars BUT you can’t put them on the roof or across the bumper? Where can you use them then?

[@Ironman4x4Africa]

Nope! I definitely didn't say rush out and buy a light bar. The question I was posed in this video is specifically: "Are light bars legal and if not, why do we sell them?" Light bars are not an illegal item. The use of the light bar is governed by the road laws when pertaining to their use on-road. Light bars are used the world over by Overlanders and 4 wheel drivers in other countries where the governments work, the laws are up to date and it all makes sense. Locally we want the same but sadly we do not have that luxury. If you want to mount a light bar to your vehicle and use it on road, I have given you a heads up about what could potentially happen. We have a massive range of auxiliary vehicle lights including light bars. These make up a small portion of our sales of auxiliary vehicle lighting. We see light bars mostly used in non-public road use applications like side-by-side ATV's, mining vehicles, farming vehicles, tractors, combine harvesters, etc. For road use we've fitted light bars to traffic official and emergency response vehicles that are geared to respond to accident etc, especially after dark.

[@troopyinafrica]

@@Ironman4x4Africa Awesome Thanks man. 🤙

[@bradleymarais1914]

First 😊

[@dawoodparuk6944]

Our law enforcement fails to prosecute, murder ,rape, farm attacks but is more concerned about vehicle lighting. Potholes should be given more attention , but then again we are good milking cows

[@BorisEkner]

I won’t comment on the stupidity of no more than 6 spotlights. (But i just did, didn’t i?) I’m from Sweden. In Sweden there are no limits of the number of extra(spot) lights you can add to your vehicle, be it a sedan, SUV, off-roader, truck, or truck & trailer. The only requirement is that you can turn all of your high beams off by the flick of the high/low beam lever. That’s it. Nowadays I live in Central America and I drive a 2022 Jimny. Here the local Suzuki dealer refused to install my extra lights as we do it in Sweden. Here the (stupid) locals install extra lights so they can be used together with low beams! That is dangerously stupid! So i installed my extra lights myself, the Swedish way. Here’s a very short video of the result. kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYDFmoupfN2hbcUsi=9Jj4fj7e0-t77zmm I have the original high beams, 2 original fog lights, 6 extra lights on the roof rack, 4 extras on the bumper, 1 fog lightbar at the front license plate, all at a THEORETICAL value of 48’000 Lumens. (Just for fun I Googled the Lumens value of the sun, it is 30’000-100’000 depending of the weather.) Yes, I have a lot of light in front of my car when I need it. At 1000 meters I have 1 Lux which is enough to read a newspaper. On top of this the ground wires from the relays has a switch in the cabin. Meaning, I can choose what extra lights will turn on together with the original high beams. All this said, know that in the land of the free - no extra spotlights are allowed…! 😂

[@dawoodparuk6944]

Our law enforcement fails to prosecute, murder ,rape, farm attacks but is more concerned about vehicle lighting. Potholes should be given more attention , but then again we are good milking cows

[@dawoodparuk6944]

Our law enforcement fails to prosecute, murder ,rape, farm attacks but is more concerned about vehicle lighting. Potholes should be given more attention , but then again we are good milking cows

[@Burn197]

Especially in Namibia if you are driving foreign plate…. Some officers they interpret law the way they want to suite them.36 lights on front as MIC said😂😂😂😂😂