Hella Xenon Lights (Driving // Flood // Pencil)

[trd]

Hi everyone,

My NFAB Toyota Tundra Baja 1000 Light Bar is coming in today, and I'm about to order some Hella lights for the light bar. Can you give me some advice on the driving vs flood vs pencil beams? I'm leaning towards the driving lights because the main use will be off-road driving, but I don't know much about the other variations.

Thanks!

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Inspect the N-Fab bar very closely before you do anything that would prevent you from returning it. You should also carefully test fit it before you get too invested in the process. I put an N-fab bar on my Tundra last spring and it is a complete piece of crap. Does not fit, not level and margin in front of the truck is not consistent from right to left. No amount of hogging out the holes provided enough adjustment to get the thing squared up. The tubing bends have slight kinks, so apparently not done on a mandrel bender. Whoever put the parts into the welding fixture did not pay much attention because the parts are slightly out of alignment. A couple of the captive nuts were not even centered over the laser punched holes before welding, so I had to redrill and retap their welded nuts. Huge investment of time because of all the on-off cycles to test the fit. The quality of the welds is very poor, and they should have at least been ground a bit before power coating. There is weld spatter all around the welds that should have been cleaned up. This thing is so bad that I have given up on it and ordered a new custom bar from a local fab shop. When the new bar is ready, the N-Fab bar is going into the dumpster. Looks like it was built by a three-year-old monkey on meth. By the time I realized it was never going to fit, I had already started drilling and tweaking just a little bit here and there. And this is a real N-Fab, not the Smitty-Bilt knockoff. Yes, I called N-Fab and they were shocked that it was not up to snuff, but did not offer a refund or replacement because I had already tried to fit their piece of crap to the truck. Disappointed? Just a little.

 

[trd]

Inspect the N-Fab bar very closely before you do anything that would prevent you from returning it. You should also carefully test fit it before you get too invested in the process. I put an N-fab bar on my Tundra last spring and it is a complete piece of crap. Does not fit, not level and margin in front of the truck is not consistent from right to left. No amount of hogging out the holes provided enough adjustment to get the thing squared up. The tubing bends have slight kinks, so apparently not done on a mandrel bender. Whoever put the parts into the welding fixture did not pay much attention because the parts are slightly out of alignment. A couple of the captive nuts were not even centered over the laser punched holes before welding, so I had to redrill and retap their welded nuts. Huge investment of time because of all the on-off cycles to test the fit. The quality of the welds is very poor, and they should have at least been ground a bit before power coating. There is weld spatter all around the welds that should have been cleaned up. This thing is so bad that I have given up on it and ordered a new custom bar from a local fab shop. When the new bar is ready, the N-Fab bar is going into the dumpster. Looks like it was built by a three-year-old monkey on meth. By the time I realized it was never going to fit, I had already started drilling and tweaking just a little bit here and there. And this is a real N-Fab, not the Smitty-Bilt knockoff. Yes, I called N-Fab and they were shocked that it was not up to snuff, but did not offer a refund or replacement because I had already tried to fit their piece of crap to the truck. Disappointed? Just a little.

Wow. I'm pretty shocked to hear that. That does kind of make me worry actually. I thought it was really strange that they wouldn't allow me to pick it up (I'm local) and they forced me to pay for shipping on a bumper that I could have easily picked up. That alone gave me an uneasy feeling but I will reserve judgement until this afternoon. My bumper is supposed to be delivered this afternoon. I'll report back with pictures if possible.

 

[Hilldweller]

Hi everyone,

My NFAB Toyota Tundra Baja 1000 Light Bar is coming in today, and I'm about to order some Hella lights for the light bar. Can you give me some advice on the driving vs flood vs pencil beams? I'm leaning towards the driving lights because the main use will be off-road driving, but I don't know much about the other variations.

Thanks!

For the bumper?
Are you really going to use them for driving or for wheeling?
HID isn't the best light for driving; has a warm up lag. But these are very good lights: http://www.rallylights.com/hella-rallye-4000xi-xenon-driving-lamps-and-kits-special-pricing.html Driving pattern (you don't want to saturate your foreground with light when you're going fast).

If it's just for wheeling and you want stinkloads of light but not the most remarkable focus, get the cheap HIDs:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella-rallye-4000xi-xenon-driving-lamps-and-kits-special-pricing.html
http://www.rallylights.com/optilux-4-hid-driving-lamp-kits-and-single-lamps.html

 

[trd]

For the bumper?
Are you really going to use them for driving or for wheeling?
HID isn't the best light for driving; has a warm up lag. But these are very good lights: http://www.rallylights.com/hella-rallye-4000xi-xenon-driving-lamps-and-kits-special-pricing.html Driving pattern (you don't want to saturate your foreground with light when you're going fast).

If it's just for wheeling and you want stinkloads of light but not the most remarkable focus, get the cheap HIDs:
http://www.rallylights.com/hella-rallye-4000xi-xenon-driving-lamps-and-kits-special-pricing.html
http://www.rallylights.com/optilux-4-hid-driving-lamp-kits-and-single-lamps.html

Well I have some property that I can use them at when I'm out, it's not fast driving but it's off-road in pitch black. I just plan to use them for whatever it is any off-road type light is used for. I don't plan on using them on the road while driving.

I'm not sure about your comments at the end, they are the lights that Toyota used in the Baja race. I think they were going pretty fast, off-road... correct me if I'm wrong I'm not trying to be offensive.

Thanks!

 

[Ducky's Dad]

The lights on that Toyota look like Hella Rally 4000 HIDs. I don't have any of those but I do have four Rally 4000 halogens on another truck and I like them. I mounted the pair of long range lights in the center and a pair of Euro beams outboard to throw some light to the sides of the road/trail. On Hella's halogen 4000s they seem to control the beam pattern with the lens design and all other parts are interchangeable, so you could just swap lenses to change the lighting setup (I think). A friend had the 4000 HIDs on his truck and he liked them, but he's not a car guy so his opinion is questionable. Note that Hella also offers a 4000 Compact, you probably don't want those. I have HIDs on other vehicles and they do take some time to warm up, basically useless until they get up to temp.

On my truck with the Rally 4000 halogens, I added a Vision-X 30" LED light bar that does flood the foreground but it throws an incredible amount of light. I use it mostly when I am lost in the boonies and trying to find landmarks. The Hellas definitely throw the light farther than the LED, but they are more focused.

 

[trd]

The lights on that Toyota look like Hella Rally 4000 HIDs. I don't have any of those but I do have four Rally 4000 halogens on another truck and I like them. I mounted the pair of long range lights in the center and a pair of Euro beams outboard to throw some light to the sides of the road/trail. On Hella's halogen 4000s they seem to control the beam pattern with the lens design and all other parts are interchangeable, so you could just swap lenses to change the lighting setup (I think). A friend had the 4000 HIDs on his truck and he liked them, but he's not a car guy so his opinion is questionable. Note that Hella also offers a 4000 Compact, you probably don't want those. I have HIDs on other vehicles and they do take some time to warm up, basically useless until they get up to temp.

On my truck with the Rally 4000 halogens, I added a Vision-X 30" LED light bar that does flood the foreground but it throws an incredible amount of light. I use it mostly when I am lost in the boonies and trying to find landmarks. The Hellas definitely throw the light farther than the LED, but they are more focused.

Thanks for the insight. I'm most likely going to get the Ralleye 4000i Driving Beam.

 

[kojackJKU]

If you are going with 4 lights like the Toyota get two pencils in the center and two driving or euro beams on the outsides. Probably the best HID setup right there. And I use mine on the highway connected to my high beam trigger and the warm up time is about 2 seconds, no big deal. You still have your high beam lights. Its not like you flick on your driving lights and it's pitch black for a few seconds or anything. I don't mind it at all.

Pencil beams put a narrow beam of light right up the road, and the driving beams spread it out a bit more. The euro beams have even a wider beam of light. I just picked up a 2003 F150 for a work/expo truck, I am putting two pencils and two euros on it. TONS of light then for every type of driving. That being said, I have 2 hella 500 driving beams with 55w HID installed and they are REALLY good.

 

[trd]

thanks for the feedback kojack

 

[Hilldweller]

The lights on that Toyota look like Hella Rally 4000 HIDs. I don't have any of those but I do have four Rally 4000 halogens on another truck and I like them. I mounted the pair of long range lights in the center and a pair of Euro beams outboard to throw some light to the sides of the road/trail. On Hella's halogen 4000s they seem to control the beam pattern with the lens design and all other parts are interchangeable, so you could just swap lenses to change the lighting setup (I think). A friend had the 4000 HIDs on his truck and he liked them, but he's not a car guy so his opinion is questionable. Note that Hella also offers a 4000 Compact, you probably don't want those. I have HIDs on other vehicles and they do take some time to warm up, basically useless until they get up to temp.
....

Your halogen set-up is good, DD. Aim the pencils cross-eyeed for best effect; have them cross at about 50-75 yards.

Well I have some property that I can use them at when I'm out, it's not fast driving but it's off-road in pitch black. I just plan to use them for whatever it is any off-road type light is used for. I don't plan on using them on the road while driving.

I'm not sure about your comments at the end, they are the lights that Toyota used in the Baja race. I think they were going pretty fast, off-road... correct me if I'm wrong I'm not trying to be offensive.

Thanks!

When you're going fast you don't want your foreground saturated with light. It will look nice to you and you'll think you see well ----- but you'll be fighting human physiology. Your pupils constrict in response to that and you can't see as far.
Like DD's Hella set-up, you want lights that focus downfield, let your pupils dilate. A good HID will do that, not a converted halogen to HID. Hella makes some good ones; their Compact 4000 HID is good but their Compact 4000 halogen isn't as good.

Maybe you could mix/match? Two halogen Eurobeams that are tied to your highbeams for use on and off road and two HID spots or floods for use only offroad? HID floodlights are Godlights but limit a users speed (unless the driver uses lots of them. but that's a races scenario and another story).

 

[kojackJKU]

A converted HID setup will so do exactly what you said depending on what globes you use. My 500 does NOT saturate the foreground, have hot spots or anything of the sort. Mine work great and put out awesome light to drive with. Coming from nighttime driving experience of course, not sitting in a parking lot with a meter.

 

[sargeek]

A couple of suggestions:
If you are only getting two lights:
Option A - "Corner Beam" Vehicle Left, "Euro-Beam" Driving Light. Vehicle Right. - This is a popular down under and gives you best of both worlds. Wire with a relay to activate with your brights. I would wire independently so you can have one or the other or both come on.
Option B - dual "Euro-Beam" Driving Lights. - both wired to activate with High Beams ( I usually but double throw, center off switch ( ON, OFF, ON with brights)
I find that most users do not have the need for the Pencil Beam lights. They do not drive fast enough off road to need the long distance range of the lights. The range is some 5,000 feet, and the majority of the time off road I am focused on the next 20' of trail, not 5000'. And the driving light will take care of most graded forest service road traveling 40-60 mph.

If you are putting multiple sets - then I would start with:
1) Dedicated "Fog" lights to use on road in inclement weather - wired to run with parking lights or low beams, off with brights - mounted low to the ground and as wide a possible.
2) Cornering Beam - All purpose flood light for trail use - wired to run with high beams ( This is the work horse of auxiliary lights, great for rock crawling, looking for & setting up campsites) bumper height, and wide.
3) Driving Lights - All purpose long range light - wired to run with high beams (Great to keep from hitting deer on the road, Not technically legal for use on the road, but well worth in the underpopulated areas.
4) Pencil Beams - Super long range lights, for high speed runs when you are over-driving your driving lights, tight focused beam that reaches super far. Again, most people would not need this light (Baja, and racers would use them.) Mount as high on the vehicle as practical to get the additional distance they can throw.

I think you would be happy with a combination of the cornering beams & euro beam driving lights.

 

[LexusAllTerrain]

I have a pair of Hella 4000i and are very bright, I also have a 20" led combo light bar. I use the lightbar for desert slow speed and the Hellas for long range on long stretches of road!

 

[Hilldweller]

I have a pair of Hella 4000i and are very bright, I also have a 20" led combo light bar. I use the lightbar for desert slow speed and the Hellas for long range on long stretches of road!

That's a good Rx.

 

[Stitebunny]

I agree with sargeek.
I have the rallye 4000 hid pencil beams because I got them for a sweet deal! And as cool as they are, you just don't need them for "normal" driving or off-roading. High speed straights for miles and miles? Yes. They are very impressive for that type of use.
I paired them with a set of ff1000 hid driving beams for a good combo.
I would go with a set of driving or euros and some fogs if you have fog in your area or cornering beams for most occasions. That would give you a good all around setup I think.