What I am actually looking for is in the area of the Hella's, the Warn's, and the Koito's. But since Koito's are apparently out of my price range (so out of the question) then it becomes the Warn's or the Hella's.

aowRS, your right about the fitment on the bumper. I need to check the specs to see how much room I will have once mounted. I don't want the lights looking like buck-teeth sticking out of the bumper!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" />

I have been debating ( and jonesin) about the TJM bumpers that a lot of posts have been showing lately. So I am almost to the breaking point of just doing it and getting the bumper installed. That should give me a little more room to play with, I hope. But, I'm not there yet.

Since I already have the Hella fogs mounted in the factory opening in the bumper facia, I sure hate to loose those seeing as they were not cheep. Plus they do make a difference driving at night or during the rain. Good light pattern. Maybe a custom mount in a TJM bumper ???

I think some others on the board here are running the Hella 4000 (or similar models) as well, so I need to give them a look see.

As for the wattage, the 100watt is defintely fine. The thing about the Warn's are they're dual-beam, having two lamp settings which may come in handy. One for wide-light pattern requirements and the other for distance.

Time to hit the Hella and SUVLights websites.

Thanks for everyones input.

Ricochet

aowRS,

I looked at the SUVLights site and the lights were nice but it was not what I was looking for. Good price though.

But, once I finally found the right link on the Hella USA site I now have more questions.

Are your Hella 4000's actually the Hella Rallye 4000's, and if so, how much side-light does your Eurobeams throw off??

I kinda like the Fog-beam pattern for what I need as it seems to throw a wider light pattern as opposed to a longer pattern on the Eurobeam. At least going by the sample pics on thier site it appears to be that way.

I mainly want them for the widest angle I can get but with a decent amount of light out front. If I am out trail-riding (or Bama-lamin as my in-laws in Alabama call it) at night, I am mostly concerned with what I might not see to my sides. Such as that deep drop-off that can eat your vehicle in one bite.

Just curious, before I take the plunge and buy the set. Thanks.

Ricochet

This is Koito USA. You can get every Koito light made, but they're very expensive. From what I know, Koito is the BEST light out there

http://www.mackinindustries.com/koito.html

PIAA just sent me these lights, I have no experience with them, however, I am pretty optimistic. I will let you know how they work out

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by Jason B:
<strong>This is Koito USA. You can get every Koito light made, but they're very expensive. From what I know, Koito is the BEST light out there

http://www.mackinindustries.com/koito.html</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Jason,

I wondered if you might have had a site for those Koito's. Like I said previously, I can't read Japanese and the language translator is not quite my speed.

I still kinda think they are priced out of my range, especially after I did the currency conversion. The Hella's or the Warn's both look like nice units. The Warn's are dual-beam whereas the Hella's are single beam.

I like the idea of having two beam settings so I can switch between distance and wide coverage.

I will hopefully have my mind made up by this weekend so I can get whatever light it is on order.

Thanks again for everyones input. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions .. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />

Ricochet

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">Originally posted by PleaseTurnMeOver:
<strong>PIAA just sent me these lights, I have no experience with them, however, I am pretty optimistic. I will let you know how they work out</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, Helv, Helvetica, Sans">The pattern on those PIAA extreme-white fog units is the main thing I am wanting due to it's nice wide pattern. I think it was 95deg. on the pics from your link?

Anyway, anything additional is just iceing on the cake. If I find that the dual-beam like the Warn fits the bill best then I can get double-duty with one light unit.

Man, these decisions are never easy. I guess it would take all the fun out of modding. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />

Ricochet

Richochet,
Sorry for not responding sooner. The 4000s I have are the Rallye 4000 - Eurobeam. Check my original response to your post for links to Susquehanna Motorsports in PA - that's where I found the best price and service.
As for light output, the Eurobeam is closer to a driving lamp - a nice combination of distance and width. The Cornering lamp appears to be just that - immense amounts of light up close and to the sides, the Pencil beam with through light from one side of the U.S. to the other. And the Fog is a fog. If you are interested in these, give Ken Beard at Susquehanna a call or email him. He sent back long emails to me describing the differences in lighting patterns, and even gave me precise measurements over the phone before I committed.
As for the SUVLights site, I was just making a comment about what another member posted - I'd never heard of that site before.
As for PIAA, I think you'll find many people who will never spend another dime on that stuff. I too once spent way too much money for some PIAA Super Plasma bulbs for my Subaru 2.5 RS that lasted maybe 6 months - and were horrible in the rain. I have looked at PIAA lights and for the life of me can not understand why they charge so much for the lamps - the construction is flimsy compared to the 4000s. IPF, which I think is somehow connected to PIAA, also charges super high prices for their equipment - yet buying $300 off road lights that have a thin aluminum shell and crappy mounting makes no sense to me.
If you're interested, email me and I'll copy some emails to you that I sent to another forum member. He went on to install the 4000s on his '99 4Runner and is happy with the outcome.

Andreas

You can't go wrong with good old Hella 500s.
Very bright.

Or the bigger 4000s like some run.
Lots of output if you have the room to mount them.

Another very good lamp to look at is the ones from Australia called Lightforce.

They get very high praises from what I hear, and a lot of Alaskan drivers swear by them.
You can also rotate the lens like you would a Maglite and change the beam pattern.

They come in 3 sizes.
Todd put some on his '88 awhile back.
Central 4WD by me carries these, and I can attest to the high quality of the construction.

I hope to give mine a good workout early Saturday morning if I can force myself to leave about 4:30 am.
Going to try and get some sunrise pics on Mt. Rainier in this same spot.

Corey

aowRS,

Thanks for the reply. That is what I thought on your Hella 4000's but I wanted to make sure. I did notice what you said about the light pattern. The fog looked like it put out more light to the sides and immediately in front than the cornering beam. I know some might not see this to be a sticking point but if your ever wheeling in the pitch dark of night and in unfamiliar areas (even with those who know the area), the more light to the side the better.

Like I mentioned previously, I don't like suprises such as drop-offs, BIG <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="images/icons/shocked.gif" /> ditches (a near miss), and the likes. Don't get me wrong, even though night wheelin is a bit more risky, it's a whole lot of fun if you practice caution, have good spotters, and of course good lighting.

Corey,

Thanks for your input on the Hella's. I've heard of the Lighforce lamps being mentioned before but never seen them in person, or in print. I'm gonna check em out. I wonder if this adjustable lens on the Lightforce gives you similar coverage options like a dual-beam setup??

I guess it's time to go research some more. Man, with all this work, when I'm done I ought to have a really decent set of lights on my rig. <img border="0" alt="[Shiner]" title="" src="graemlins/shiner.gif" />

Ricochet

Maybe a LITTLE off topic, but I have a set of PIAA's that I took off my Prelude before I sold it, any idea if I could use these? And if so, where should I mount them?

PIAA Website for 1000x Driving Lights

Thanks!

Dan