I am looking to put driving lights on my 1998 Explorer. I was considering Hella 500 as they seem to be highly recommended on the explorer forum. What makes somes Piaa lights cost $300 and some Walmart lights cost $50? Is there that much difference in their light out put and quality? Is the extra money a worthwile investment to spring for the Piaa's? What are people here using?
Driving lights
- Thread starter Bumper
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yep, there is an enourmous difference in quality between cheap lights and good quality ones.
I consider Lightforce some of the best, especially in light output vs power.
Here they are the brand of choice for most interstate trucks and off roaders.
I always use top shelf lights like Cibie, and my next lights will be Lightforce 240 Blitz.
Rick.
I consider Lightforce some of the best, especially in light output vs power.
Here they are the brand of choice for most interstate trucks and off roaders.
I always use top shelf lights like Cibie, and my next lights will be Lightforce 240 Blitz.
Rick.
Lightforce are good. I like KC's - excellent no-questions asked 23 year warranty, even including a burned bulb.
Whatever you use, be sure to use a good quality relay - don't run that amperage draw through the switch. That will also help keep those bright lights brighter.
Whatever you use, be sure to use a good quality relay - don't run that amperage draw through the switch. That will also help keep those bright lights brighter.
I would say, rather, that there is an enormous difference in quality between low and high quality lights. And the price of the lights does not neccessarily reflect their quality.
Most of the very high priced lights are high quality.
Quite a lot of the low and mid-priced lights are low quality.
Some low-priced lights are top-quality, some high priced lights are poor quality (KC Daylighters, and Jeep OEM foglights are two respective examples).
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I don't know which you were referring to poor or decent, but the OEM Wrangler fog lights provide good "berm to berm" visibility and have been about the best "OEM" light I've ever had. Naturally I haven't had many upscale vehicles to compare them to. They're great for my middle-aged night vision in rain and snow ..and, yes, even fog.
When I drove for a living (nuke med courier service) I owned a 79 VW Rabbit diesel. I spent a fortune (at the time) for the, then illegal, Cibie halogen headlamps fixtures and put on two 100 watt rectangular driving lights and two 100 watt fog lamps (both 6x8 if IIRC). I had the driving lights tapped directly into the hot wire for the high beams (probably not the wisest move in hindsight = no problems other than the idle lowering when I "flashed" at a standstill). It provided almost daylight conditions in front of the car and you could see any reflective surface to the horizon (elevation was your only limit). People who forgot to turn down their highbeams had a little bit of a shock with probably a few blue dots in their vision for a bit after letting them know about it. Not really very nice now that I think about it ..but then I was a somewhat angry young man on a mission and had little tolerance for ignorance behind the wheel at the time. Now that I'm more "flawed", I have a bit more charity for the faults of others. The view of the interior of their cars was a fiendish bonus in my mania of that time.
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