Lights in cabs

[ChevronB19]

(I am not a truck driver).

Often see trucks with illuminated emblems in the cab, usually with the name of the manufacturer. Don’t these hurt night vision?

Also, in addition to these, some trucks have an enormous amount of aftermarket lights front and rear on the tractor unit. Do these need additional batteries or an upgraded alternator?

Sorry, am just curious (and a bit bored today)!

[anonymous-user]

Interested in replies to this. I see lots of lorries on the m90 that look like the fecking Coca Cola truck lol.

Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 30th March 13:54

[normalbloke]

I’m a newbie to the industry, and cannot get on with any interior lights on at night, even the factory fitted green or red interior cab lights for night illumination. I also cannot comprehend why anyone would choose to nail the cheap interior tat that obscure any window. Things like dash tables( well documented case of a cyclist killed by a driver whose vision was obscured by one) additional curtains,tassels,wind deflectors etc etc. It’s been an interesting eye opener coming into this industry!

[Ussrcossack]

In a polite way so of these "trophies" will appeal to a certain type.

EE drivers
Travelling Community
Certain trades ie tipper driver cement truck driver bin lorry

I'm NOT saying all these people have these traits or that the traits are negative either, before I get roasted

[ChevronB19]

OP here, just to reassure people I’m not criticising taste, I’m just genuinely interested about whether additional batteries etc are needed, although I’d imagine that with the advent of leds the current loading would be a lot less.

[One Amp Andy]

No additional batteries are needed. My lad runs all this ste on one of our trucks. Not my cup of tea but hey ho! Our trucks have fridge/freezers, microwaves, tellies, and in his case an X box too. As long as you keep an eye on the voltage when parked up, nothing causes a problem really. The boys truck looks like Blackpool fking seafront at night.

[sherman]

ChevronB19 said:

OP here, just to reassure people I’m not criticising taste, I’m just genuinely interested about whether additional batteries etc are needed, although I’d imagine that with the advent of leds the current loading would be a lot less.

I would assume a truck battery/ lesuire battery can cope with a few strings of fairy lights even in a fancy plaque shape.
The bigger trucks have enough power to run TVs, microwaves etc when parked over night and the trucks are going to do enough mileage during working hours to charge th battery back up.

[AF1]

I used to drive a lot in my spare time for a bit of pocket money. The company I used to work for ran a lot of custom trucks with lights all over etc. I absolutely couldn’t stand a light board in the cab, the reflection off the screen. For me they really played havoc with my night vision.

[normalbloke]

AF1 said:

I used to drive a lot in my spare time for a bit of pocket money. The company I used to work for ran a lot of custom trucks with lights all over etc. I absolutely couldn’t stand a light board in the cab, the reflection off the screen. For me they really played havoc with my night vision.

Exactly this, I can’t even stand a sheet of white A4 on the dash,

[and31]

Ussrcossack said:

In a polite way so of these "trophies" will appeal to a certain type.

EE drivers
Travelling Community
Certain trades ie tipper driver cement truck driver bin lorry

I'm NOT saying all these people have these traits or that the traits are negative either, before I get roasted

In my opinion it’s almost always a top line/globetrotter/super space artic with these trashy things lit up in the sleeper compartment.

[exelero]

and31 said:

Ussrcossack said:

In a polite way so of these "trophies" will appeal to a certain type.

EE drivers
Travelling Community
Certain trades ie tipper driver cement truck driver bin lorry

I'm NOT saying all these people have these traits or that the traits are negative either, before I get roasted

In my opinion it’s almost always a top line/globetrotter/super space artic with these trashy things lit up in the sleeper compartment.

Guys, no need to go full flip-flop on this one. The majority of what I see are all English plates with a big V8 in the window.


To the question, this has come up on different forums and the guys said that if you set it at the right angle it doesn’t glare. Gotta show the V8 tho innit fam
I sometimes turn the factory fitted red light on but not always, depends on my mood really.

[and31]

Well I can definitely say I’ve never seen a bin lorry/conrete mixer with one.definitely not with a V8 one!!
All joking aside,I can think of nothing worse the lights in the cab at night.I don’t even like the instrument cluster to be bright.
I would much prefer blue or green dials at night instead of orange though-much easier on the eye as far as I’m concerned.

Edited by and31 on Monday 5th April 03:39

[smifffymoto]

Red interior light was an absolute must when I drove at night. I couldn’t risk spilling my coffee.

[exelero]

smifffymoto said:

Red interior light was an absolute must when I drove at night. I couldn’t risk spilling my coffee.

That is very important

[s p a c e m a n]

Well if you listen to Steve Allen in the morning you'll know that interior light boards are so that the doggers can identify eachother

[944 Man]

ChevronB19 said:

Often see trucks with illuminated emblems in the cab, usually with the name of the manufacturer. Don’t these hurt night vision?

No, you can't see any of the nonsense reflected in the windscreen. If there is too much light in the cab it will become an issue, in the same way that an overly bright courtesy light in a car can be. That takes a lot though and many vehicles have perma-on night illumination anyway. Volvos have a red light and my new Mercedes had difficult to deactivate green LED illumination that made the whole cab look and feel like Grotbags's front room.

Edited by 944 Man on Thursday 8th April 18:38

[Chris32345]

ChevronB19 said:

(I am not a truck driver).

Often see trucks with illuminated emblems in the cab, usually with the name of the manufacturer. Don’t these hurt night vision?

Also, in addition to these, some trucks have an enormous amount of aftermarket lights front and rear on the tractor unit. Do these need additional batteries or an upgraded alternator?

Sorry, am just curious (and a bit bored today)!

Given how the truck engine often runs things such as a compressor for a fridge unit a few extra more then likely led light there's day's is a tiny ammount of extra draw