Light junkies, look here...

[asteffes]

Ok, folks, I have a pair of Hella Rallye 4000 eurobeams with 100 watt H1 bulbs on my bumper now. I'm not impressed. They're really not much better in terms of light output than my old Hella 500s, which were sort of a joke after I upgraded my headlamp bulbs to 80/100 watt Hella bulbs. The 2005+ Tacomas have excellent headlamps, and they're really quite excellent with brighter bulbs. I never get flashed and I've tested the setup with friends who say they are no worse than the xenon lights in the typical BMW or Audi.

Anyway, I'm wondering what better alternatives there are out there. I'm not interested in going HID/xenon, as they're expensive, making them targets for thieves, and I don't care for the color temperature they produce.

Having tried Hella 500 driving and Hella Rallye 4000 eurobeam lamps, I can say that their light pattern tends to have a hotspot in the center and a bunch of rather wasted light around it, with a dark circle between the two. Nothing like the wonderfully even, broad pattern I get from my stock headlamps which lack that dark area.

I have a set of IPF 968s I'm going to try. Everyone who uses them seems to like them.

How are the Warn lights? They're pricey but I notice they use H4 bulbs which have got to be much better than the typical H1 or H3 bulbs in most other lamps. This allows Warn to offer high and lo-beam settings, which I think is a great feature. But is it worth $400 for a set of lamps? If the work, perhaps it is.

I'm just feeling let down by Hella products. Perhaps my expectations were too high, or I don't have enough lights mounted on my truck (I don't want to mount lights on the roof, so please don't suggest it. ) Are the Warn or other IPF lights better? How about PIAA?

What are you guys using and how are they working out?

 

[Grim Reaper]

You are the second person I have heard make that comment about the 4000 Euro.

I have a set of Ralley 1000's on my tow rig and they are nothing short of amazing. I love bombing down dark back roads with them on.

I bought them second hand so I am not positive but I think mine are the pencil beam. I thought the 4000 replaced the old 1000's. The "Black Magic" looks suspiciously like the 1000. I have have been tempted to buy a set for my trail rig so I could find out.

 

[slooowr6]

I've 80/85 Hellas in my 06 Taco and you are right the stock headlight is great. With high watt bulb in if the beam pattern is perfect, broad and no hot spot. Maybe try pencil beam? My cheap, I don't expect much of it though, Daystar is pencil beam I think. It compliments the head lamp it lights up the road ahead with enough spill and distance.

 

[mountainpete]

Try the IPF 968's with the 100 watt bulbs. I am still impressed with their peformance. I'll actually be surprised if you don't decide to just keep them.

 

[adventureduo]

I bought my HELLA 500's knowing they weren't all that bright. I left the 55watt bulbs int them. The way i set my rig up is.. i'm not doing anything high speed, so i don't need to throw light out 1/2 a mile or anything. If i was a desert race truck, it would be different.

My rack HELLA's are for slow moving technical trail action.. i have them turned outward a bit. The new HID's are for long dirt roads.. i think it's a good combo.

I've owned IPF's before and they worked great as well. I think with lighting you get what you pay for. Also, if you have HELLA 4000's you might want to look into converting them over to HID. You can do this way cheaper than buying a whole new light.

 

[cshontz]

You MAY want to look into IPF 900XS (round) or 800XS (rectangle). Also available in HID if I'm not mistaken, although the HID version isn't rated as submersible. I'm running the 800XS and I was impressed when I first turned them on. Good quality and performance for the dollar.

I've also run Hella 500 series which I regard as disposable lights, IPF Super Rally S9614B which has a really nice aluminum, slimline construction, and IPF 868/968 which I was also pleased with.

One of my 868 housings started to rust, which I wasn't happy about but it didn't affect performance (at that point), and I'm sure it would've been replaced under warranty.

Here's the Super Rally S9614B that I had on my TJ. I also had them on my Disco for a short time. I was really happy with these.

 

[adventureduo]

Hot pocket comparison photo?:hehe:

 

[asteffes]

I've owned IPF's before and they worked great as well. I think with lighting you get what you pay for. Also, if you have HELLA 4000's you might want to look into converting them over to HID. You can do this way cheaper than buying a whole new light.

I thought so, too, except the Hella 4000s are the most expensive lights I've used but they are not the best. I'll try the 968s. I think they have more technology in the reflector design than the Hellas but definitely not as fancy a mounting system. One drawback I see to the IPFs is that they do not include or offer clear rock shields to protect the lamps while they are on. It's all-or-nothing with the opaque white covers. This is a big deal if you're running expensive lamps.

 

[flyingwil]

LightForce

I honestly recomend LightForce lights.
http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/Sierra_Expeditions_Light_Force_Flyer.pdf
No need to worry about using 1 light for this condition and this set for this condition. The reflector housing is similar to a mag-light. By twisting the housing you can easily adjust the light beam. If that is not enough flexability you can add filers to the lights allowing you to change the beam pattern.

You can read the recent review of the Light Comparison by kind courtesy of 4WD Monthly magazine here: www.sierraexpeditions.com/light_comparison.pdf

Right out of the box you can feel how light the lights are. Normally lightweight is not representative of high quality, and durable goods. This is not the case for the LF lights. Here is the LF Durability Video Demonstration:
http://www.sierraexpeditions.com/LFTOUGH.MPG

 

[slomatt]

I thought so, too, except the Hella 4000s are the most expensive lights I've used but they are not the best. I'll try the 968s. I think they have more technology in the reflector design than the Hellas but definitely not as fancy a mounting system. One drawback I see to the IPFs is that they do not include or offer clear rock shields to protect the lamps while they are on. It's all-or-nothing with the opaque white covers. This is a big deal if you're running expensive lamps.

Greetings. There are clear covers available for the IPF 968s, they are about $21 for the pair at the following site:
http://www.northridge4x4.com/proddetail.php?prod=IPF-968

I've been running a pair of the 968's with the 55w bulbs (street legal) for a few years and have been very happy with them. The dual reflector throws enough light to be useful both when rock crawling and when driving at higher speeds. When compared to a friend's 130w pencil beam lights I find the IPFs to put out more "usable" light, in fact that friend has now switched over to 968s as well.

There are some mounting pics at the following link if anybody is interested.
http://www.blankwhitepage.com/gallery/zj_lightbarlights

- Matt

Edit: Here are some more links for the covers.
http://www.amazon.com/IPF-Clear-Lig...5?ie=UTF8&s=automotive&qid=1174422117&sr=1-18
http://www.safari4x4.com/vendors/ipf.htm

 

[Nullifier]

I think lenses are more influential then bulbs. the IPF 900xs in an amazing light and it is only 65w. It out performs 10w light all the time in tets because of the lense.

 

[asteffes]

I think you're probably right about the lenses being more important than the bulbs. Reflector design is probably a close second, follwed by bulb type. Bulb type would definitely influence the reflector design, though.

Anyway, I'm very curious about the Warn lights because they use H4 bulbs, which are common to the headlamps in my truck. I always have a stock of 80/100 watt H4 bulbs around for the Tacoma, and could easily use the same ones in the Warn lamps. I'm just finding the pricetag hard to swallow, and I have no first-hand experience with them. Anyone here run the Warn lamps?

The LightForce lamps look promising, but I don't like the way they look so much. I know, function over form, right?

 

[slooowr6]

I think you're probably right about the lenses being more important than the bulbs. Reflector design is probably a close second, follwed by bulb type. Bulb type would definitely influence the reflector design, though.

Anyway, I'm very curious about the Warn lights because they use H4 bulbs, which are common to the headlamps in my truck. I always have a stock of 80/100 watt H4 bulbs around for the Tacoma, and could easily use the same ones in the Warn lamps. I'm just finding the pricetag hard to swallow, and I have no first-hand experience with them. Anyone here run the Warn lamps?

The LightForce lamps look promising, but I don't like the way they look so much. I know, function over form, right?

LightForce has one thing that's unique to it is they have different color cover. It's very tempting to put a set on mine for fog, rain and snow condition.....

 

[Nullifier]

althoguh i have not bought them for my rig i have been in a few that run the light force. from what i have seen they seem to wrk really well. one d90 i was in had 4 of the 240 series up top with yellow lens covers. it was better then day time!

I am planing on puting 140 series with yellow fog covers in my front bumper and am trying to decide for lights up top. once the cab swap is done. I plan on a folding light bar but am torn between the lightforce and the ipf 900xs.

down here in ecuador the lights i see the most are light force and super sport on trucks.

 

[asteffes]

So I have the IPF 968s mounted with 100 watt H3 bulbs installed. My initial impression is that they are, indeed, more effective than the Hella Rallye 4000 eurobeam lamps with 100 watt H1 bulbs installed. They do not, however, appear as durabable as the Hellas. I think there is no arguing that the clear lens and multi-faceted reflectors are far more efficient than fluted glass lenses.

I received an email from the folks at rallylights.com regarding the new Hella eurobeams with multi-faceted reflectors and clear lenses. They said Hella claims 40% more usable light (who knows how they measured this) with the new reflector/lens combination. They are not, however, releasing these parts to retrofit existing lamps yet (they know all the fluted eurobeam owners will want them!) so I'm going to hold-off on trying them until I can just convert my existing 4000s (or not, if the IPFs continue to impress me.)