Lighting!!! for newbies

coreys88burban

Adventurer
Just wanted to get your guys knowlage on lighting!

I know I want to light up my front so along with my windshield visor im gettin some LMCtruck LED 5 pc. Roof Marker/clearence lights.

Also getting a Carr Rota Bar on the roof and want to mount 4 or 5 round lights on that. I know they have 5 holes on them but has anyone use the Carr roof light bars and know if 5 of the 6" round will fit? should i put Offroad/Driving lamps on the roof or fogs? i was thinking 5 hella 500 driving lamps should be good budget combo for less than $400 total?

Also looking at a local CL add for a Military Brush guard off a k5 and was thinking either 4 square KC 26 series with amber lens's OR 2 (one set) of Hella FF75's ???

wondering what lights are complete **** and i should stay away from? what are great budget lights (even if i didnt mention them above)? should fogs be on the bumper or roof? driving lights on roof or bumper?
 

angusdevil

Adventurer
Hella 500's are a total pile of.... you'd be better off getting the cheapy harbor freight lights than those. The big reason everyone likes the 500's is that they are pretty slim and fit in all those tight spaces but they leave A LOT to be desired in light output and beam pattern. And really, those HF lights aren't all that bad, especially for the price.

These are all examples of budget lights and once you get into mid-price-range lights, there are many more options. Surfing CL, you can come across plenty of good deals. I score Hella 4000's all the time for $50 here in PHX and they're a pretty good mid-price-range light.
 

Rexsname

Explorer
In my opinion....it is better to get ONE good quality light (cough Checker HIDs cough) than a whole rack of crappy ones. Fog lights belong as low as practicable.


REX
 

Hill Bill E.

Oath Keeper
X2 on the fog lights being mounted as low as practible. They are designed to shoot under the fog.

HID's are nice, but are still pricey. I really like the KC DayLighters I have.

I think 4 lights are more than adequate for forward facing lights, 2 driving and 2 spots will cover all your needs for night driving.


If your out with a group, you may be better off investing in some 'rock lights', as using bright roof or bumper lights, tends to blind the guy in front of you.

And rock lights light up where your tires are going, making it easier to drive.

Unless you're gonna run the Baja! Then you'll want some bright lights!:coffeedrink:
 

AxeAngel

Expedition Leader
Hella 500's are a total pile of.... you'd be better off getting the cheapy harbor freight lights than those.

I hate my Hella 500s.

I love late night driving, so need a good amount of lighting up front, I currently run 2 sets(4 lights) of HIDs up front, a set of yellow fog lights as well non HID(stick to yellow to cut through fog, white and blue are awful in true fog), and a set of bright lights that are not HIDs.

For when i want to find a needle in a haystack I have a roof mounted lightbar with an additional 4 forward facing HIDs.

-Sam
 

BlackWidow

Observer
I just mounted these lights on my truck about a month and a half ago They were cheap and are not all that bad for the price I plan on getting a HID kit off ebay and converting the two center lights. I have heard great things about the checker HID lights. I plan on getting a few of those latter.

2010-10-23_17-48-05_385.jpg

2010-10-23_17-47-53_234.jpg


I got them from this ebay store http://stores.ebay.com/Snappylights great service to and there is some good info to read about.

One thing i did not see mentioned is wiring when you wire up all these lights use relays to wire them up. If you knew that already maybe it will help someone who didn't.

Mike G
 

TurboChris

Adventurer
I have 4 KC Daylighters up top and am pretty happy with them...I have them wired separately...inside two and outside two...with different placement...so I can light it up close or at a distance...combined with my HID headlights...it's pretty impressive.
 

java

Expedition Leader
oriely/checker HIDs are great. i have them, but they are very deep. one of mine isnt doing so great anymore, doesnt allways ignite and is visibly less brite than the other.

that being said im still happy with them, especially for the price. they put out ton of useable light
 

shovelbill

Observer
this setup worked for me.....didn't use the daylighters much though. i liked the 220's just fine and the Unity light got more use than them all.

scan0018.jpg
 

93BLAZER

Explorer
In my opinion....it is better to get ONE good quality light (cough Checker HIDs cough) than a whole rack of crappy ones. Fog lights belong as low as practicable.
REX


I hear ya on the Checker HIDs but... i got four a couple of years back and have NO problems. Great light.

I used to have some KC day lighters, but they drew 55 watts. I think that these checker lights only pull 3 watts.

Much clearer, whiter light.

At 120 a pop, a good quality light. WARN is selling basically the same light for $460.00 a pop.
 

TurboChris

Adventurer
3 watts sounds wayyy too low...I thought it was more like 35-40 watts?


I hear ya on the Checker HIDs but... i got four a couple of years back and have NO problems. Great light.

I used to have some KC day lighters, but they drew 55 watts. I think that these checker lights only pull 3 watts.

Much clearer, whiter light.

At 120 a pop, a good quality light. WARN is selling basically the same light for $460.00 a pop.
 

Caduceus

Adventurer
HIDs tend to be 35W as a rule. There are some 55W HID's, but I'm pretty sure the O'reilly/Checker/Kragen/HIDx lights you're speaking of are 35W.

Are they really that good? Or "good enough?" I've seen on some of the Toyota forums that they break with serious use.
 

shovelbill

Observer
Frenchie.......very well written and completey explained what i wanted to write but didn't. i'll add one thing.........roof mounted lights, racks and tires on a road vehicles just helps to kill fuel economy too.
when i was younger i followed the trends also, cost me lots of money i didn't have....still don't, but now (old age:() i also KNOW what i want and NEED my equipment to do. if i don't, i'll do research or ask opinions of people that do what i do......good thread here
 
Hella's suck?

Hmm... I live in bakersfield, where the tule fog, is the worst fog I have ever seen. (I lived in england for 2 years.. the fog there was weak compared to bakersfield fog)

the fog season here is horrible. I'm talking less than 10 feet visibility at times..

I had a pair of Hella 500 fog lights on my jeep, they were amazing in the fog. they increased my visibility by at least 10x. and they were white lights.

my headlights were upgraded from stock to some Delta light conversions. those were a great improvement over stock, but the addition of the fog lights was vey dramatic.
I later added a pair of the driving lights, those, left a bit to be desired, but I think that was because I was expecting massive amounts of light everywhere.. but it just put light out far, with my standard beams and fog lights I could see just about everything you could want to see.

I have a few friends that run Hella 500's with the 100 watt bulbs in them. They say its a HUGE upgrade among the prerunner crowd they run with. apparently it makes quite a difference over the 55w bulbs, and the relays handle the extra power just fine. all they do is put the new bulbs in.

I never tried it as i got rid of my jeep, and left the lights, but once I get some Hellas on my 4runner I may do it.

YMMV
 

Forum statistics

Threads
188,360
Messages
2,903,740
Members
230,227
Latest member
banshee01

Members online

Top