IPF 968 vs. Rigid duallys vs. ?? - a little help!

[stioc]

In the sub-200 range what do you guys recommend for off-road (or dark highway) driving? I know the Hella 4000s are quite popular but they're a bit more spendy. The IPF 968s (also?) have a dual reflector allowing for both fog and driving functionality.

The Rigid Duallys are in the same price range as the 968s. They're also much smaller and have little power draw. I just don't know about their range and coverage. I believe they come in spot and flood and if so I don't know which pattern I need?

My current setup is:

- Philips Xtreme bulbs in the stock headlights. This made a huge difference! (see pics below). Thanks Hilldweller for the suggestion.

- Candlepower yellow euro-bulbs in the factory fog lights. This also made a slight improvement in the coverage but the throw is very short, maybe 10ft in front but a bit more lateral coverage than the head lights.

- I have a set of new Hella 500FF "fogs" that I bought (hoping for a wider spread to about 50feet) without doing a lot of research (dope!) and I'm thinking I should probably just skip them and go with something like the IPF968s on the bumper or (and?) Rigids on the a-pillar or the roof-rack?

Stock low beam:

Philips Xtreme low beam:

 

[4x4junkie]

I don't have personal experience with the IPFs however I would go with them over the LEDs in a heartbeat (especially if range is important).
LEDs such as the Duallys might cover close-in fairly well but the blue-tinted light doesn't have much throw distance, and getting brighter ones just makes more glare (for me anyway).

Halogen lights on the other hand put out far more light in the spectrum our eyes are most responsive to, so you should be able to see a lot better with them. (same goes for <4500K HIDs)

 

[stioc]

Thanks for weighing in on it. The thing is though unless I'm desert racing even at washboard speeds I think a broader spectrum but medium throw light would be preferrable. The last time when I unexpectedly found myself following the other two trucks in our group in front of me in the pitch darkness I realized a few things. One I had to keep a fair distance behind them because of the amount of dust that was getting kicked up it was unbelievable and quite blinding. Two, my fog lights despite a very short throw were helping me see dips and ditches much better than the headlights were. However, I was doing about 50mph to smooth out the washboard and the throw from the fog was way too short and a last minute twist of the steering wheel could easily put me right into the side berm. So I think I need a flood sort of light that throws about 50-70ft and then a light that's like a spot light to help me peer into the black wall beyond the headlights for curves or a broken down truck or glowing eyes etc.

I was hoping for some more input but I guess not too many people have done comparisons in the sub $200 range. As of right now I'm leaning towards the IPF 968s and then Rigid Duallys in a flood pattern later on.

 

[4x4junkie]

Nothing has a broader-spectrum than halogen. Most of the LED products currently offered are about the narrowest you can get, much of their light power is concentrated into a sharp peak at ~450nm (pretty much the worst part of the spectrum for our eyes to see any detail with).

Looking at the IPF's description (dual-beam pattern), it sounds like they're exactly what you're after.

Note that the lower your lights are mounted, the better they will cut through dust & fog (likely why your fogs were working better), however lower lights also don't throw a beam quite as far as when they are on the bumper or at headlight-level (good to have two or more pairs of lights mounted at different levels for this reason).

 

[stioc]

You bring up good points regarding both the mounting location and the beam patterns. Here's what I've read and heard on Candlepower and the Interweb:

1. Don't use fogs and long range lights simultaneously because your pupils will constrict from the fogs and will make it harder to see down the road - I never knew but does make sense when you think about it! But if that's true is IPF 968s the correct light that sort of does both?

2. Mounting location for offroad use should be higher to see the undulated path. Lights mounted lower can hide large holes and trenches?

Unfortunately, my options for mounting the lights are limited, unless they're smaller Dually type lights they look like Mickey Mouse ears on the roof rack :sombrero:

Oh those are the Hella 500FF fogs- I figured I have them why not try them

 

[88Xj]

Careful with the smaller led pods and such that'd you'd probably use in say a snow storm....mine frosted over. Lens would reach a steady temp around 37-38* at the poly lens. Snow would melt slightly and turn to ice and literally frost the lens rendering them useless. I went back to a halogen fog light that I'm liable to use often. I upgraded them to 100 watt bulbs in the 3000k range. My led pods also had yellow lens and showed in the 3000k range.

I still have led reverse , or side/camping/rock lights, as well as a bar on my roof. But for a aux/fog light that your liable to use often, I think halogen fit the role better. I've had hid, halogen, tons of different led brands, styles, ect. Then again snow may not ever be an issue for you. 1 trip to yellow stone this winter showed me what I needed even though I live in the desert!

 

[daddyusmaximus]

Can't say on the others, but I have 4 Rigid Duallys (flood) on the bumper of my truck and I love the hell out of them. They are very bright and reach way out there. Far enough for me, I don't travel Baja at 90+ mph in my Super Duty. The snow story is a good point. Last snow storm we had was heavy wet snow. The kind that sticks... especially when splashed up on the highway. Snow built up in front of my LEDs, because they didn't put out enough heat to melt it. I only had to wipe them off once during a 2 hr drive in heavy wet snow... but my headlights were glazed over too, and they put out heat. Sorry, I have no photos, but I can say if you have them, and turn them on, you'll be amazed.

 

[4x4junkie]

You bring up good points regarding both the mounting location and the beam patterns. Here's what I've read and heard on Candlepower and the Interweb:

1. Don't use fogs and long range lights simultaneously because your pupils will constrict from the fogs and will make it harder to see down the road - I never knew but does make sense when you think about it! But if that's true is IPF 968s the correct light that sort of does both?

2. Mounting location for offroad use should be higher to see the undulated path. Lights mounted lower can hide large holes and trenches?

#1 is true, though the IPFs don't look like "long range" lights to me, they're described as a combo driving/fog lamp (spot lamps or 'pencil beams' are long range lights you probably would not want to use fogs in conjunction with).

Within reason, lower mounted lights shouldn't hide any road surface detail (in fact it can help accentuate it in most cases). Overhead lights on the other hand do tend to mask surface detail. I wouldn't suggest mounting anything except maybe long-range spot beams overhead.


FWIW, I have a set of Hella 550 fogs. I like them. Though I think they may be down a little lower to the ground than where you have yours, which is probably better for a fog-pattern light. The IPFs I think would work great there on the bumper though.

 

[stioc]

Makes sense, thanks for the response and help. I started a thread on candlepower but like here didn't get much response. So as always I'm happy to take the road less traveled with a calculated risk.

Actually I ordered the IPF 968s this morning

 

[bnoland]

I just mounted 4 Rigid Dully D2s with driving beam pattern on the roof rack of my WK. So far they seem great. Awesome light coverage. No use with them other than aiming them since I just wired and aimed them last night.

 

[seanpistol]

This is an interesting little writeup I came across the other day of HID vs LED lighting. It seems like LED wins all rounds, but is just slightly short on distance thrown.

http://www.socaltundras.com/Forums/showthread.php?6632-LED-vs-HID-Lighting

 

[soonenough]

Here's another good article/editorial from ARB comparing incandescent and HID lighting. I realize that isn't what this thread was originally about, but the article raises some good points about mixing different types of lighting, which I'm assuming would apply to mixing LED and incandescent just as much as it applies to mixing HID and incandescent.
http://www.arb.com.au/getting-started/ask-arb/general/060 HID lighting vs halogen lighting.php

 

[4x4junkie]

This is an interesting little writeup I came across the other day of HID vs LED lighting. It seems like LED wins all rounds, but is just slightly short on distance thrown.

http://www.socaltundras.com/Forums/showthread.php?6632-LED-vs-HID-Lighting

That looks like nothing more than a vendor attempting to drum up sales of LEDs. It's extremely one-sided, and minimizes the differences in throw distance, which HID & halogen are both FAR superior to current LED offerings which typically have 5000-6500°K CCT emitters.

 

[scramfan01]

I think you are correct in leaning toward the IPF 968's, and just using the Rigid Duallys for a flood pattern. I also considered the two. I ended up going with the Rigid Duallys (flood beam). They are very bright, but they shine very high even when the main focus is centered. Which is awesome when used in the woods, and no one is in front of you. Also, the light doesn't go out very far. They would be great paired with some long range beams. If I was just going with one pair for now, I would have gone with the IPF 968's.

 

[stioc]

I guess I should update this thread since I already got the IPFs. I haven't really tested them in the pitch dark but they seem to be pretty good lights for what I need- at least compared to the fog pattern of my Hella 500FFs. The IPF housing is also quite a bit deeper/rounder than the Hellas.

Different optics, IPF 968 left, Hella 500FF right:

With rock guards: