From headlamps to more decorative lighting options, lights are a must-have accessory for your golf carts. Light kits for golf carts fit into one of two categories, namely, non-street legal kits and street-legal kits. How you decide to use your cart for transportation will determine which of the two varieties will be best suited to you and your needs.
Street Legal and Non-Street Legal Lighting Kits
Non-street legal lighting kits for golf carts are generally great for driving around a campsite or around your property, around your community -particularly if your community is a golf cart community.
On the other hand, street-legal options are great for moving around in your cart outside the parameters of campsites and personal property. Much like other on-road vehicles, these light kits make your cart or other electric vehicles road-worthy and fit to be driven on the road and around your neighborhood.
Due to available kits falling into one of the two aforementioned categories, it is important that as you select lights for your cart, you bear in mind how you use your cart on a daily basis. If you need to (or usually do) use your cart for public road travel, then you are likely to need a street-legal kit. Of course, the opposite is true if you only use your cart within the confines of your own property or a private golf cart friendly neighborhood.
LED vs Halogen Bulbs
Once you are clear on the categorization of LED bulbs for carts as street-legal or non-street legal, you can move on to some of the more intricate features that light kits have to offer. Such features include the kinds of bulbs a given kit will present with. As intimated from the title, you have two options when it comes to lighting types -LED or halogen.
LED lights tend to burn brighter, be more energy-efficient, and have a longer lifespan. Of course, the increased energy efficiency is a great feature for the batteries as this means it takes less energy to run these lights.
Halogen bulbs, on the other hand, may prove to be less energy efficient. Consequently, they are likely to place a greater demand on the cart’s battery, causing it to run out of juice faster and have a shorter lifespan. Importantly, halogen light bulbs do use older, established technology that is considered to be a trustworthy “oldie but goodie”.
In addition to considering the pros and cons of each light bulb option, cart owners should consider using voltage reducers alongside your light kit. This is particularly recommended in those instances when 6-volt and 8-volt batteries are being used on your golf cart. In such instances, the voltage reducer will help reduce the power inputted into your lights, thereby reducing the possibility of the batteries burning out. There are many voltage reducers to choose from that can be used well with any chosen light kits.
Light Options for Club Car
If you own a Club Car, then the first thing you need to know is that you can acquire both a non-street or a street-legal light kit depending on your cart usage choices. The most popular Club Car model that you may be using light kits for are the Club Car Precedent. In addition to considering the usage, it is important to know the model and production year of your club car so that you can find the right kit for your model.
For older Club Car models like the DS model, street-legal lights can run you as much as $400 while the non-street varieties can cost you up to $300. As expected, the non-street light kits is more affordable than the street-legal option.
The Club Car Precedent models have a non-street legal light kit that can cost up to $300 and the street-legal kit options can cost an average of up to $390. With the Club Car Precedent, the non-street legal kit also proves to be more affordable than its street-legal counterparts. Importantly, both the non-street and the street-legal options have halogen and LED bulb choices.
Light Options for EZ-GO Carts
As is the case for Club Cars, it is important to know the model and production year of your EZ-GO carts. Again, this is in addition to considering the usage of your car to determine if street-legal and non-street varieties may be more appropriate. Once that is decided then we can look more closely at the light kit options directly.
The two EZ-GO models catered for are EZGO RXV and EZGO TXT (1994 to 2016). For the EZGO TXT, there is the EZGO TXT (1996 to 2014) basic street-legal kit and non-street legal kits. The street-legal kits cost an average of $400 and the available non-street kits cost an average of $250.
For the EZGO RXV, there are the EZGO RXV light bar bumper kits for non-street legal and street-legal use. The non-street legal option costs up to $380 on average and is only available as an LED cart light kit. The street-legal option is also only available as LED light kits and costs up to $500on average.
Light Options Yamaha Carts
After verifying the model and year of your Yamaha golf cart, and your preferred usage modalities, then you are ready to start comparing the available LED and Halogen kits. The main light kits options for Yamaha carts available are the Yamaha Drive/G29 (both non-street legal and street-legal options) and the Yamaha G14-G22 (street-legal and non-street) legal light kit.
The Yamaha Drive (G29) street-legal light kit (LED and Halogen bulbs) averages about $300, while the non-street legal options average about $100. The Yamaha G14-G22 non-street and street-legal light kits are made for the Yamaha G14, G16, G19, and G22 models.
Both the LED and Halogen options of the non-street legal light kit averages up to $300 in cost, and the Yamaha G14-G22 street-legal (LED and Halogen) light kit averages up to $400.
LED Lights Installation Tips
In addition to the options highlighted above, there are many other LED lights and accessories to choose from for your carts. In addition to the standard headlights and backlights, there are also other options for the inside, outside, and underside of your cart. So, be sure to consider all your options in that regard.
Of course, after purchasing your light kit, you will have to install it. Installation is usually relatively easy for most light options that are available, including the ones highlighted in this guide. Furthermore, most light kits come with clear instructions you can follow. Be sure to follow these instructions carefully or get the needed assistance from someone more experienced if that is what it takes to get your LED lights properly installed.
Once installed and working as it should, you would have gotten yet another awesome feature for your cart out of the way. This is particularly true if you go the extra mile and move beyond the options of headlights and backlights. Do it right, and your golf cart may just be the envy of those living within your cart-friendly community.
