Offroad Light Questions

I've been looking at offroad lights a fair amount... there certainly are a lot of options out there. I'm having a tough time determining the beam types and angles from each of these options. I have found a generic picture depicting how the KC Daylighters compare to stock lights, but I haven't seen anything for the Hellas.

I would like to have quite a bit longer range out of some offroad lighting, and it's tough to distinguish the differences between all of the available options.

Also, there are many different wattage ratings out there as well. Am I to believe that 130w daylighters are quite a lot brighter than 55w Hellas? It looks like a lot of you guys are going with Hellas, but they are much lower wattage and seem more expensive. I must be missing something...

 

Well what are you willing to spend on the lights? I got Hellas, Mine are the 4000 series with HID's converted in them.

 

If you can afford it, I'd say spend the extra money and get you a pair, or four Light Force striker 170. They are extremely light, very strong, and have a wide array of lenses that can be used to change the beam pattern to your specific situation. I installed a pair last week on a Jeep. The owner took it out that weekend to west Texas and had nothing but praise for them.

 

^^
Here's a cell phone pic... His lights are definitely a lot brighter in person..

 

That's a fair question.

I can find a set of 130w daylighters for $110-$120 for the kit. I don't mind spending more, but only if they get dramatically better. If a set is going to cost me $240, I'd like to be able to read some comparisons that show the cheaper lights to be insufficient.

 

Those are 2 hella 4000 pencil with Hids on my truck.

Thanks 05prerunner.

 

The three basic beam types are fog, driving, and pencil beam.

KC daylighters are going be be pencil beam type lights. Useful for seeing way down the road for high speed travel, desert pre-running, etc. I have not had daylighters, but I did have a set of Blazer brand lights that are just a rip off of the kcs. I was not happy with them, not nearly enough light up close. It was basically a bright ball of light way off in the distance.

Fog lights give a low, wide beam that does not shine far into the distance.

Driving lights give a long reaching beam, but not as far as a pencil beam. The advantage is the wider spread. This type of beam is what I prefer. I have owned Hella 500 driving lights which worked great for a supplement to my factory high beams, but were not really powerful enough for higher speed off road travel. I have also owned Pro Comp 130s which are more of a "euro beam". They are almost a cross between fog (wide) and driving (longer range than high beams).

I'm sure others will chime in with their experiences. IMHO, the only place for daylighters is for very high speeds in the desert or on straight roads.

Edit: If I remember right, the 8 inch round 130's only cost me 40 bucks per light and I made my own wiring harness. Probably around 100 bucks for the pair once installed. The difference was staggering compared to the 100watt daylighter knock offs. My buddy had four of them on the roof of his Grand Cherokee and they were awesome for hauling ass in the Oceano Dunes.

 

Thank you, this is very useful information for me.

Can anyone comment on the bulb wattage / brightness questions?

I do like the looks of the Hella Black Magic Rallye 1000s. They are only a 55w bulb, so I'm not sure what to expect.

 

I would look into doing a Hella 500 or Hella 700 hid conversion. Alot of people have done it and are happy with the results. the 500 cost 60 a pair at walmart. and the 700 are around 80 a pair on Amazon. Hid kits are around 40 bucks for a pair of 35Watts. or 50 bucks for 55 watts off of DDMtuning.com

If you like the KC lights, I believe those can be converted as well.

You can also convert the hella black magics to hids with some work involved.

 

again, useful info... thanks a lot, fellas.

I am still debating between light bar or behind the grill for the lights, so compactness might become an issue.

HIDs are a good idea, but I kind of expect to be blown away with some dedicated offroad lights. Is it reasonable to assume that the Rallye 1000s would be considerably brighter than my stock Tacoma lights? I'm kind of going out on a limb here, I don't know anyone local with offroad lights, so I'm just feeding off of your experiences.

 

Well my hellas were 100 watts. did the Hid conversion to them it became 35 watts. and about 2x brighter. how many watts are the hella 1000. Most likely they will be brighter.

Kragen sells hids offroad lamps for about 120 a piexe, you will get mixed answer on here about them. PrerunnerSeth mounted his behind his grill. http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/51127-kragen-hid-lights-grill.html

 

I think the Hella 1000's were the earlier version of the current 4000's. Not sure if you can still buy them.

The hella 500s were an excellent supplement to my factory high beams on my Dodge Dakota. I don't know that they were significantly brighter, but the beam pattern put a lot more light down the road.

The 500 series is Hella's cheapest light I believe. You would probably find the 4000's to be "significantly brighter", but I have not seen them in person.

I think the wattage is less important than the reflector and lens design. I have upgraded bulbs in Hella 500s from 55 to 100 and not seen much difference. I have also changed Pro comp 130's from 130 to 100 watts to try and save the amp draw on my alternator, again not much difference.

The higher tech, more expensive lights may be more efficient and get you more output with a smaller size, I don't know. I have always gone after bang-for-the-buck, and from what I have seen, a larger mid-priced light seems to work the best.

 

Can anyone compare beam pattern in the Hella lights? I'm somewhat interested in converting a set to HID, but I don't want to buy the 500s if the beam pattern is nowhere near as good as the 1000s (for example)

 

I have three Hella 500's behind the grill. I guess the output will depend on what kind of grill you have. The three I have are ok but I'm not completely happy. I will be converting them to HID soon.

 

I hope to be able to mount my lights this weekend. I bought Vision X 8500's, which are 35w HIDs and 9" in diameter. Of the 3 lights, 2 are Euro beam and the center one is a spot/pencil beam. The guy at Vision X (the owner actually....), said the 35w HIDs are about the same light as 300w Halogens.

The real nice thing about HIDs is the low amp draw for the amount of light produced. A 130w halogen is going to need nearly 11 amps, or 33 amps for 3 lights producing 390w of light. The HIDs will provide over double the amount of light, but only draw 10 amps.

The drawback is that Vision X 8500's are about $400 each.....

http://www.visionxusa.com/HID-8500/c3_13/index.html?osCsid=c6055d180561fafa96a7817fcecba196

 

Hella Rellye 500 Black Magic vs. Lightforce Striker 170s. I am debating between these two for behind the grill. I really like the rep and durability that I have read about Lightforce, however the black magics are just as praised it seems and the fact that they are a little darker and less visible through my grill is a + for me. Any info on pros and cons of either would be greatly appreciated. will size comparison be an issue? Brightness, range, light pattern? same install? Anything else a noob to lighting may not know!

 

If you are mounting them behind the grill the light forces won't fit back there. The 500 will for sure

 

I have some hella 700 55w with the HID conversion and those suckers are the furthest reaching light i have ever seen. I was using KC lights before i got these. I also have a rigid LED light bar and those are very good lights also. They both blow my old KC lights out of the water.


EDIT: here is a picture, its a bad picture but the lights are great.


EDIT EDIT: just saw this is a thread revival

 

those are not the ones shown with the elusive elements light bar? and on some trucks on here?

 

damn, that is far. both pro and con, too many flippin options!! i've got nothing but time though, keep on searching..