I want to put a set of driving lights on my OEM bumper. I spend 95% of the time on road and I'm looking for a set of lights that will give me long range plus some spread. I go to Maine a lot and I want lights that will reach down the road but still shoot some light to the sides ahead so I can see if there are any moose or deer lurking on the shoulders. I read the write up by Dragon (Great job Dragon!), and I know that pencil beams won't do it for me. They have the reach but not the spread. Regular "street legal" driving lights probably won't do too much for me either. I already switched my headlight bulbs to PIAA extreme whites, so my high beams are probably as bright as any of the less expensive driving lights.
I know HID lights are bright...but the price on them is hard to swallow. I've been leaning towards either PIAA 520ATPs or Hella Rallye 4000 (the full size ones with the eurobeam). I sent an email to Hella and found out that the compact 4000s do NOT have the eurobeam, just the standard driving beam. I've also been considering the KC Hilites Slimlite Dayliters. The KCs are 130watt, the Hellas 100 watts and the PIAAs 55watts.
I know the PIAAs and the KCs will fit on the stock bumper in the holes provided...but wasn't sure about the full size Hella 4000s.
I searched all over the board and couldn't get an answer to what I'm looking for. I did find a post with night time photos of PIAA 520ATPs which helped somewhat.
Anyway, I figured that with all the members here all three of the lights listed are being used by someone somewhere. Based on your experience which light is going to give me the longest reach and widest spread at the same time?
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2008 Sandstorm 4X4 auto, OF, CQ, C7, RF, Tuffy Center Console, Trail Gear sliders He who dies with the most toys wins........
I installed 4 of the 4" Kragen HID with a sub frame under my OEM bumber and am happy with how steady the are and the brightness. 2 adjusted for left/right and 2 set for longer range.
At the time, last Christmas these were $90 and the 7" were $95. "Sonof40" has the 7" but had to cut into the grill for mounting.Saw them yesterday for $135, maybe they will go on sale again for Christmas.
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The Kragens sound interesting....any suggestions on where to buy them? I found O'Reilly's online, but they only list the 7" model. I don't want to have to cut my grill apart to mount lights.
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2008 Sandstorm 4X4 auto, OF, CQ, C7, RF, Tuffy Center Console, Trail Gear sliders He who dies with the most toys wins........
The only lights I know of that will allow you to truly run multiple beam patterns simultaneously in a single light, are the VisionX 10W Solstice and Reflex series LED lights. They look expensive at first, but when you factor in everything from bulb life to vibration resistance to waterproofness to pure light output, they are a good value. The warranty and customer service is unbeatable too.
The Six and Four inch solstice and the Reflex bar are just multiple 10W lights in one housing. So, you can have different lens patterns on each light. That will allow one single light to produce a flood, euro, and spot beam simultaneously.
I'm going to have two of mine setup with three spot beams on the top, a euro beam in the center, and two flood beams on the two bottom lights. I don't know of any other light that will allow for that kind of versatility. The other two are going to stay in a pure spot configuration as seen above.
Flood lens (on a Solstice Solo pod):
Euro:
Spot:
You could also link up a series of solo pods using the Omni-link system. The pods can link together on all four sides and be mounted from any side. Each light comes with wiring to splice them together if you want to link pods.
Links:
So, you could do something like this:
Here I have two flood lights on each end, and two spots on each side of the center euro. I don't actually run these lights linked. I just put them together to show you.
These lights are far too bright to run if you have oncoming traffic. But, if you are on lightly traveled roads, they are awesome.
Also, because they are LED, there is no ramp up time. You have instant light at the flick of a switch. This is great because you can flash an area and see everything, and then turn them back off before someone comes around the corner or over the hill, etc.. I use my lights every night to check for critters. They are really awesome. Definitely my favorite mods.
The light output is amazing.
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Last edited by Toledo FJ : 11-09-2009 at 10:21 AM.
I like those solo pods ganged up together. They look small enough to fit under the bumper in front of the lower grill. Hmmmm....another light to consider. I'll have to jump on Vision X's website and take a look see.
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2008 Sandstorm 4X4 auto, OF, CQ, C7, RF, Tuffy Center Console, Trail Gear sliders He who dies with the most toys wins........
I have two of these on the stock front bumper using the Toyota mounting kit. They are relatively inexpensive, have long range, good spread, and the black/silver matches the color scheme of the bumper perfectly.
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I like those solo pods ganged up together. They look small enough to fit under the bumper in front of the lower grill. Hmmmm....another light to consider. I'll have to jump on Vision X's website and take a look see.
The Solo pods are great little lights, and the ability to link them up is cool. But unless you have a reason to need to unlink them and use them for other things, like biking, camping, hunting, etc..., I'd just get on of the new Reflex bars they make. It is less expensive than hooking up an equivalent number of pods, and it has the rigidity and durability of a solid housing. Also you don't have to mess with linking all the wires together as you would with an omni-link setup. The pods are only 2 inches and the Reflex bar is 2.5 inches tall and the same depth.
I'd bet a 12 inch reflex bar would be perfect for your needs, and It will outperform any competition. The bar sells for $549 in that size and it contains six 10W lights. I'd do a flood on each end, followed by two euro beams, with two spot beams in the center. To build a link system with pods would cost $720 ($120/pod) and it wouldn't have the advantages of a solid housing.
You might also consider the Xmitter light bars they make using 3W LEDs. You won't be able to mix and match beam patterns with an Xmitter, but they too are extremely bright. I run a 22" Xmitter bar with my solstice lights. Often, I just use my Xmitter and leave the other lights off. In the euro beam, an Xmitter offers great coverage and reach.
There are lots of threads on here where I've posted pics of the lights and their output. If you have difficulty finding them, let me know and I can link you or repost.
This site is actually more up to date with the product line than the homepage. At least the last time I checked.
I had to go over to the shop where my truck is being stripped today. They have another lens out now too. It looks like a cornering lens to me, but the guy at the place said it was some kind of cross between a flood and a euro. I don't know. The beam looks like a cornering beam too. It is too light to take any pics comparing coverage, so I'll snap some tonight. This lens puts out a very different beam compared to the other three. I'll add the fourth lens to the post above when my camera battery recharges.
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