Front end and Lights on a DD.

[kojackJKU]

I think rallylights are the only place you can get them. Great guys to deal with over there too! and price on them are pretty good. Much better than my truck lites for sure....and insanely better than the JW overpriced.

 

[rich1833]

They say the Hella 500 works with Hid's but what about the Hella 700?

 

[kojackJKU]

700 is not as good as it is a FF reflector. Same with the 500FF. They do scatter light more than the 500 with the driving housing and reflector. I cannot find a light that is as good as the 500 with hid for the money....anywhere.

 

[rich1833]

I was looking around the enterwebs and came across a build that used LEDs and lots of them but the photo of the light output shows a very nice full color in front of the vehicle. I don't know that I want or need that many lights on my jeep but it sure would make for better night wheeling. (Not that I get to do that much of it). I like the look of the bigger7" light near the windshield. But the might block your view some.

He is running a Aurora 50" D-series combo beam light bar, 2x 7" Aurora D-series combo beam lights, Aurora 10" dual row light bar and 2x Rigid Dually 2x2 flood beam lights.

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I was looking it the Aurora Lights and came a crossed the owner of this jeep and he seems to have made a Video of the light. I like the lights but they are a little pricey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOc_bqnSyPk

 

[kojackJKU]

My friend has 4 aroura cubes on the front of his rig, he says there better than rigids of the same size. As I mentioned earlier, My other buddy has 2 rigid bars on his F150 and my converted hellas outshine them by a large margin.

 

[rich1833]

I've looked at so many lights I'm going in circles. I like the look of jeeps with all the different lights and I need more light, but don't know how much light I need yet. I want to start with upgrading the headlights first then I'm not sure. Here is where I leaning as of right now. I like the bigger lights 7''-9''.

Headlights
-Hella "Super 7" = $67.93 plus $15.00 for bulbs


Lights on bumper
-Hella Rally 4000 (8.75") driving beam @ 100w halogen = $186.98
-Hella 500 (6.41") $55.24 plus $59.99 35w (HID) 6000k = $115.23
-Hella 700 (7.32") $71.39 plus $59.99 35w (HID) 6000k = $131.38
-Aurora 7"(8.46") round Combination beam @ 96 Watt, 8800 Lumens @ 6000k = $529.98


Lights on lower windshield plus $30.00 brackets
-Hella Rally 4000 (8.75) Pencil beam @ 100w halogen = $219.44
-Aurora 7"(8.46") round Spot beam @ 96 Watt, 8800 Lumens @ 6000k = $529.98
-Hella 700 (7.32") $71.39 plus $59.99 35w (HID) 6000k = $131.38


Light bar above windshield plus $100.00 brackets
-Nite Lites 50'' LED light bar 300 WATT CREE, 21,000 LUMEN @ 6000K (Local Company) = $350.00
-Aurora 50" Dual row LED light bar 300 WATT CREE, 24,000 Lumens @ 6000k = 476.99

 

[kojackJKU]

Save yourself a bunch of money, and headaches, Get the super 7s, and the 4000s with 55w 4300K HID installed in them. All these led bars, lights etc will not be as bright as just two of those lights. Trust me you will have MORE THAN ENOUGH light with that combo. Really, you will have more than enough using the 500s with 55w 4300k HID. Remember to use 4300K, no stupid blue color like the 6000k or LEDs. Take the lumens rating with a huge grain of salt. My friend who has the F150, his bars are rated at 9000 each. He has the 20" e series spot and a 20" e series combo. My 2 500s go down the road farther than both of those lights, his light up a bit wider, but you really don't need more light than 4 lanes plus ditches wide. that's what my light do. I am so impressed with the little 500s with the 55w HID in them that I have had this combo since 2009 and carried it over 3 vehicles.

 

[comptiger5000]

Not really... A 3500°K LED chip costs about 90¢ where a 6000K chip would be around 80¢ (and no changes whatsoever within the light itself or in it's manufacturing are required for a light to be able to use either one). In a light that uses let's say 40 LED chips, that's about a $4 difference. Not exactly a big premium, even on a cheapo chinese LED bar. Light manufacturers for whatever reason are stuck on very high CCT numbers for their lights. Only reason I can fathom is that it's for marketing purposes (a higher # is always better, right??), because such color light, especially from a LED source, is close to worthless for the human eye to use effectively at night.

Color temperature IS NOT the same as color rendering. Go do a little research on color rendering index and come back. Yes, the lower color temp (less blue) lights will be easier on the eyes, but that doesn't mean they show colors well. Look at a sodium vapor street lamp. They have a very low (yellowish) color temp, but they render colors horribly. It's very close to seeing in monochrome. A halogen is at the other end of the spectrum as being pretty much the benchmark for good color rendering.

 

[kojackJKU]

Oh, I agree, there is a sweet spot. 4300k HID lights of higher wattage give a very good rendering actually. very close to halogen...the reason I use them. but they are quite a bunch brighter. My truck lites are on the bluer end of the spectrum for sure. Anything in the 6000k range is effing horrid, selective yellow is great in adverse weather. and for everything else there is Halogen/4300k HID. Both of those are very close to each other. One good thing about the wavelength of the hid light is that **** gets really reflected back at you....include huge animals eyes in the woods. Another plus for HID.

 

[4x4junkie]

Color temperature IS NOT the same as color rendering. Go do a little research on color rendering index and come back. Yes, the lower color temp (less blue) lights will be easier on the eyes, but that doesn't mean they show colors well. Look at a sodium vapor street lamp. They have a very low (yellowish) color temp, but they render colors horribly. It's very close to seeing in monochrome. A halogen is at the other end of the spectrum as being pretty much the benchmark for good color rendering.

Umm, I never said color temp was the same as color rendering, so I've no need to go anywhere, but thanks anyway.

Since it seems you're unaware, it's pretty much a given that lower CCT LEDs will have better CRI figures than equivalent higher CCT ones (along with far less intense blue light energy output, the main cause for LED light glare). Sorry I didn't make that clear for you.

 

[kojackJKU]

Not just LED light glare. HID in the same color temp are Effing horrible too!

 

[brianjwilson]

Agreed, and what they are trying to replicate with the FREAKIN STUPID BLUE color is the flicker of color back when only the expensive cars had HID in projectors. At the end of the light beam with projector lighting, you get a color effect, like a rainbow. Most of these projectors toss out blue/purple colors. Very annoying, some like the JW speaker projecter beams put out BROWN of all colors. Not as annoying but damn, its weird having a big brown blob at the end of your light beam. Now, the "marketing team" of pretty well all light producers jumped on this "color wagon". You started getting 6000K lights popping up from everyone. Even the reputable manufacturers were jumping onboard. Blue coated lights are everywhere....and JUNK. I have truck lites, they are BRIGHT. get them in inclement weather however, and their range is gone. Last night I was on the highway to get my son at his girlfriends house and it was overcast and a little rain, the distance I usually get from them was gone. It was very dark. I am taking them out, and swapping back to halogen with my HID Hella driving lights to get back some of my bad weather range. My hella 450 yellow fogs help there, but I really noticed it last night. That's another reason LED fog lights don't work either. They are just too "blue" no matter what brand etc. Everyone complains about the JK fog light in the bumper. Mine work great, I swapped out the incandescent bulbs and added a set of yellow halogen 35w instead of the stock 27w. They do exactly what they are supposed to, light the forground so you can see the road in crappy weather.

Like I said, I would go with the super 7, full harness etc from rallylights. They will be the best bang for the buck. Add in a set of hella 500s with HID conversion will get you distance on the trail etc, and if you can fit, a set of hella fog lights of some sort to take care of bad weather driving. Even the small sized lights from hella are very very good. All bases are covered for about the price of a set of truck lites.

A few posts back you loved your truck lites, now they suck? Make up your mind.

Personally I think anyone who likes the output of the truck lites needs their heads checked. They have a really thin Vertical beam, and very blocky output. In addition to some very distracting "hot spots". The output is nearly purple which, as noted, sucks in inclement weather or wet asphalt.

On my JK I had truck lite head lights and JW speaker FOG lights.

Here is the truck lite output.


Here they are with the JW speaker fog lights also on, which are brighter, wider and have a much "taller" and fuller beam with a better cutoff. Honestly I would run something like these fog lights with stock head lights before wasting money on truck lites.


JW speaker fogs on their own.


Hard to tell from the picture but the JW speaker light output is also much whiter, while the truck lite is more blue/purple. The JW speakers showed up WAY better in inclement weather.


I think there was some mention of the JW speaker head lights having a narrow beam at one point. The only pictures I have seen online that point that direction was a wide angle picture over the hood. I haven't compared in person. But they are definitely expensive! Still I would never spend the money on another set of truck lites, they just aren't worth the cost in my opinion.

 

[kojackJKU]

A few posts back you loved your truck lites, now they suck? Make up your mind.

Personally I think anyone who likes the output of the truck lites needs their heads checked. They have a really thin Vertical beam, and very blocky output. In addition to some very distracting "hot spots". The output is nearly purple which, as noted, sucks in inclement weather or wet asphalt.

On my JK I had truck lite head lights and JW speaker FOG lights.

Here is the truck lite output.


Here they are with the JW speaker fog lights also on, which are brighter, wider and have a much "taller" and fuller beam with a better cutoff. Honestly I would run something like these fog lights with stock head lights before wasting money on truck lites.


JW speaker fogs on their own.


Hard to tell from the picture but the JW speaker light output is also much whiter, while the truck lite is more blue/purple. The JW speakers showed up WAY better in inclement weather.


I think there was some mention of the JW speaker head lights having a narrow beam at one point. The only pictures I have seen online that point that direction was a wide angle picture over the hood. I haven't compared in person. But they are definitely expensive! Still I would never spend the money on another set of truck lites, they just aren't worth the cost in my opinion.

NO.

I never said my truck lites suck...>they are freakin awesome for 90 % of driving conditions, in adverse weather, they are not. Simple. halogen lights get the nod for snow/fog/rain. Simple. I would never spend a **** load more money for JW when their not as good as truck lites. high beam from the truck lites is ridiculous! I am willing to loose some output for a headlight that does not ice over and decrease all output because of snow and not having enough heat to melt snow. Simple.

Don't forget the **** brown artifacts that come from the JW as well...

 

[rich1833]

Brianjwilson good looking Jeep.

I went ahead and ordered the Hella Super 7. Im still doing more research on the other lights.

 

[rich1833]

Check out the Hella 4000 Beams over on my build thread.