off road light housing

[thethePete]

Effective lighting is more useful than excessive lighting... Find a housing with a good beam pattern that puts the light where you need it, that will serve you better than trying to just use a 'bigger hammer' approach and finding the brightest cheap lights you can. If you want light way down range, find a good spot pattern, if you want fog lights for inclement weather, get fogs. If you want ditch/cornering lights, get something with a wide/driving beam. Floods are floods, they don't put much light downrange, they just make everything nearby bright.

Hella, Cibie, PIAA, there are a few quality manufacturers out there (just remember, Hella makes OEM lights for nearly EVERYONE); some cost more than others, I find Hella to be cheap and available everywhere you look. Cibie sounds affordable too, but I've never had much luck finding their stuff on the shelf somewhere.

Also keep in mind when considering retrofitting; these lenses were designed with a specific focal point for the light to be centered at, not all bulbs keep the light they produce in that spot and moving even a bit can have drastic effects on the light output of a given reflector. You can see this in practice when you drive past a car that has a headlight bulb incorrectly mounted/installed, it looks like one is pointed at the sky, or has a high-beam on, and the other looks proper. It makes more of an impact on the quality and usefulness of the light output than the intensity of the bulb.

 

[kojackJKU]

That's why I said to use the hella 500 driving beam housing, it works great with HID. Nice beam pattern and awesomely bright. No, not all lights take HID great, but the 500 does. as does a few other Hella products. If they didn't I would have ditch them years ago. They actually work much better than the optilux 4" HID or any of the Chinese HID lights that are supposedly designed for the HID bulb. Plus, you are not driving towards others with the Hellas on.

 

[punisher1130]

I like the hella but being $65 for a pair, I would hate to mess them up while doing the conversion. I don't plan on being as bright as that video that was just a response to using the air craft lights, I would be happy at half that brightness. So am I to assume using fogs and spots are a better combo than using floods and spots?

 

[kojackJKU]

Nah, you would not mess them up. its easy. and some HID bulbs just fit inside. Its worth the extra money for the hellas, trust me. With the hellas, You get all the light you need for clear weather from 2 lights. up close lighting, Long distance light and everything in between. Those 2 are all you need. Then if you drive in rain, snow, fog a lot, then a set of fog lights are in order, I have a set of hella 450s in selective yellow. plus I have yellow halogens put in my stock fogs. both those together make for nice light in crap weather. I do not run my brights with fogs at anytime. I don't need to.

With spending the little extra on hella housings, you get proper light output for what you are looking to do, plus quality equipment.

 

[punisher1130]

I was looking at those, is there any real difference in the 500 and the 500ff? I saw a video on the both, and like you said they do have a good throat for close up and out far with the stock bulbs, but in the video I cant see a difference between the 2. Its ironic you mention not using the bright's, I had the crazy idea of when I get the projector headlights for the truck I was going to tap into the bright switch for the off road lights since the high beam bulbs are dim compared to the projector hid bulb ( doing research to make sure nothing burns up of course).

 

[thethePete]

FF has no fresnels in the lens and a slightly different reflector, that's about the only significant difference. They are otherwise the same light.

 

[kojackJKU]

Yes, the FF does NOT take HID well, and has a wonky beam pattern. the 500 driving light is much better. I have my 500s to turn on with the high beam switch....you need to use a relay setup and cannot just pull power to the lights from the high beam wires. Its easy.


The FF light is a totally different lens, reflector etc. The only thing they share with the 500 driving beams are the rear housing. Same goes for the 500 fog, totally different light again, and shares the same housing.

 

[Hilldweller]

Effective lighting is more useful than excessive lighting... Find a housing with a good beam pattern that puts the light where you need it, that will serve you better than trying to just use a 'bigger hammer' approach and finding the brightest cheap lights you can. If you want light way down range, find a good spot pattern, if you want fog lights for inclement weather, get fogs. If you want ditch/cornering lights, get something with a wide/driving beam. Floods are floods, they don't put much light downrange, they just make everything nearby bright.

Hella, Cibie, PIAA, there are a few quality manufacturers out there (just remember, Hella makes OEM lights for nearly EVERYONE); some cost more than others, I find Hella to be cheap and available everywhere you look. Cibie sounds affordable too, but I've never had much luck finding their stuff on the shelf somewhere.

Also keep in mind when considering retrofitting; these lenses were designed with a specific focal point for the light to be centered at, not all bulbs keep the light they produce in that spot and moving even a bit can have drastic effects on the light output of a given reflector. You can see this in practice when you drive past a car that has a headlight bulb incorrectly mounted/installed, it looks like one is pointed at the sky, or has a high-beam on, and the other looks proper. It makes more of an impact on the quality and usefulness of the light output than the intensity of the bulb.

Everything you're saying is true (except for including PIAA in that group...)

OP, look at Hella's 4000 series. It's been my go-to recommendation for offroad lighting for years.
Not expensive, on the shelf or online all the time. Great pattern of light.
For driving lights (supplemental highbeams), I like the Rallye 4000 Eurobeam.

The way I test lights is easy and effective. Easy to duplicate for others too.

Put the vehicle in the right lane of a two lane road. Measure dead ahead 25 feet where you adjust the headlights. Take a measurement there with a light meter; that's the 25' raw LUX test.
Then set a cone on each side of the road at 25 yards, 50 yards, 75 yards, and 100 yards. Take a measurement at each.
You'd be surprised at how well you can see down the road with as little as 5 LUX if you don't have your foreground over-saturated with light (constricts your pupil).
The best performer I ever tested was a pair of HID offroad lights ---- they actually blew past the scale I had set for my meter at 100 yards, over 2000 LUX. Insane. Badly focused light though and not good for the road. Great for offroad.
But my favorite, the 4000 Rallye Euro with a 100w bulb, shot over 100 LUX at 100 yards and it was fairly consistent across the entire end of the range. No significant hot-spots, no significant dark spots. Just a great spread of light.

The Hella 500s had a respectable amount of light front and center but it tapered to less than 15% of that to the sides. Same for their H4 headlights. The 700 FF did better but not as well as the 4000.

Regarding light patterns when hitting a wall, they don't matter if the wall isn't where the light's focal point is. Like an LCD projector, they're simply not in focus there and not designed to light that wall at that distance.

 

[thethePete]

Yeah I hate PIAA too but they're everywhere.

When I had my 500s I ran 4, two ffs down range and 2 Fresneled versions at the ditches. Filled out the sides nicely and tons of light down range.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[kojackJKU]

Everything you're saying is true (except for including PIAA in that group...)

OP, look at Hella's 4000 series. It's been my go-to recommendation for offroad lighting for years.
Not expensive, on the shelf or online all the time. Great pattern of light.
For driving lights (supplemental highbeams), I like the Rallye 4000 Eurobeam.

The way I test lights is easy and effective. Easy to duplicate for others too.

Put the vehicle in the right lane of a two lane road. Measure dead ahead 25 feet where you adjust the headlights. Take a measurement there with a light meter; that's the 25' raw LUX test.
Then set a cone on each side of the road at 25 yards, 50 yards, 75 yards, and 100 yards. Take a measurement at each.
You'd be surprised at how well you can see down the road with as little as 5 LUX if you don't have your foreground over-saturated with light (constricts your pupil).
The best performer I ever tested was a pair of HID offroad lights ---- they actually blew past the scale I had set for my meter at 100 yards, over 2000 LUX. Insane. Badly focused light though and not good for the road. Great for offroad.
But my favorite, the 4000 Rallye Euro with a 100w bulb, shot over 100 LUX at 100 yards and it was fairly consistent across the entire end of the range. No significant hot-spots, no significant dark spots. Just a great spread of light.

The Hella 500s had a respectable amount of light front and center but it tapered to less than 15% of that to the sides. Same for their H4 headlights. The 700 FF did better but not as well as the 4000.

Regarding light patterns when hitting a wall, they don't matter if the wall isn't where the light's focal point is. Like an LCD projector, they're simply not in focus there and not designed to light that wall at that distance.

Those FF dark spots in the beam as I showed on the wall, are visible down range as well....They are not there with the 500s, and obviously do not hinder light output. The light output with HID in the 500 are MUCH greater than even the 130w halogen in them. they put more light down the road, and to the sides as well with HID installed in them....I know this for a FACT. YOUR EYES DON"T LIE. IF you can see more with the lights on, it means there is more light going there.

NONE of these lights should be on ON road. I would beat you with a tire iron if you never turned off any driving light while coming at me. That would not happen as My HID would rip your retinas out as I drive toward you more than those silly LEDS. I do not drive with the HID on, towards other drivers...that's just DUMB. however, on the highway in the night time here, there are very few vehicles on the road after dark, so the more light I have the better. Triggered with HIGH BEAM, ITs just a flick of the stalk and my HID are off. The warm up times are very quick and as soon as I hit the button they are bright.

 

[punisher1130]

Those FF dark spots in the beam as I showed on the wall, are visible down range as well....They are not there with the 500s, and obviously do not hinder light output. The light output with HID in the 500 are MUCH greater than even the 130w halogen in them. they put more light down the road, and to the sides as well with HID installed in them....I know this for a FACT. YOUR EYES DON"T LIE. IF you can see more with the lights on, it means there is more light going there.

NONE of these lights should be on ON road. I would beat you with a tire iron if you never turned off any driving light while coming at me. That would not happen as My HID would rip your retinas out as I drive toward you more than those silly LEDS. I do not drive with the HID on, towards other drivers...that's just DUMB. however, on the highway in the night time here, there are very few vehicles on the road after dark, so the more light I have the better. Triggered with HIGH BEAM, ITs just a flick of the stalk and my HID are off. The warm up times are very quick and as soon as I hit the button they are bright.

:iagree:

 

[thethePete]

I don't think anyone is talking about using them against oncoming traffic except you. Do you leave your high beams on when you drive toward someone?

FFs have those spots because of the type of reflector they use and lack of fresnels. The regular 500s have fresnels so they do not have the spotting. Not rocket surgery.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[punisher1130]

I was agreeing with it being bs when people have there high beams or led's on when they should be off.

 

[thethePete]

Sorry "you" was referring to Kojak. I should've been more specific.

 

[kojackJKU]

I don't think anyone is talking about using them against oncoming traffic except you. Do you leave your high beams on when you drive toward someone?

FFs have those spots because of the type of reflector they use and lack of fresnels. The regular 500s have fresnels so they do not have the spotting. Not rocket surgery.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Mr. Expert keeps comparing on and off road, meaning running them on road with traffic coming....because whats the difference otherwise. That's what I am stating. It is a silly argument to say that my lights are good for off road, but useless on road? That is a silly statement if you turn them OFF with oncoming traffic. As for the 500 comment......well DUH! I know that, and its exactly why they do not take HID retrofitting well. Thank you for proving me correct! I know WHY, I am stating why NOT to use them!