Does anyone have any concerns with running the 9" off road lights in front of the grill of the cruiser? Would the 6" light be safer or less likely to overheat the motor etc.
extra lights (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter NorCalSam
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I run two lightforce 240's 
(over 9" and some other lights) and I live in Mexico-- My temp gauge has never made it to the half mark This is with lots of slow wheeling.... The light is worth it...you should also purchase the HIR bulbs for your stock lights they make a ton of difference
(over 9" and some other lights) and I live in Mexico-- My temp gauge has never made it to the half mark This is with lots of slow wheeling.... The light is worth it...you should also purchase the HIR bulbs for your stock lights they make a ton of difference 
With Gringo on this - both items. You simply have to experience a set of full sized lights such as his, or my Hellas to understand that no amount of microlight trickery will cause them to even vaguely equate to a larger light. That's marketing hype and cute ad diagrams showing cutaways and light bouncing all around. Square inches of reflector surface equates directly with output down the road.
As for heat, I've had a set of full size Hella 3000s on the 93 since new and lots of heavy towing on hot days - 9" diameter housings. Doubt you could detect their presence with a digital heat guage. If you spend much time on backroads where you can use real lights, don't hesitate. Mine have more than paid for themselves in several near misses with deer and elk that were even at the edges of my HIRs and aux lamps which a stock setup would not have detected.
Simple to mount, also. Just drill holes right through the steel bumper top that leaves clearance for the back of the light to clear the grille.
I have Hella 4000s on the 97, but actually like the pattern on the older 3000s on our 93 (these are both fog patterns/white bulbs) as they are not quite as precise a cutoff. I find the super clean cutoff of the newer FF 4000s slightly distracting for long term use, but that's a personal choice and all the current crop are like that. I've also literally NEVER heard a bad word about the LightForce arsenal.
DougM
As for heat, I've had a set of full size Hella 3000s on the 93 since new and lots of heavy towing on hot days - 9" diameter housings. Doubt you could detect their presence with a digital heat guage. If you spend much time on backroads where you can use real lights, don't hesitate. Mine have more than paid for themselves in several near misses with deer and elk that were even at the edges of my HIRs and aux lamps which a stock setup would not have detected.
Simple to mount, also. Just drill holes right through the steel bumper top that leaves clearance for the back of the light to clear the grille.
I have Hella 4000s on the 97, but actually like the pattern on the older 3000s on our 93 (these are both fog patterns/white bulbs) as they are not quite as precise a cutoff. I find the super clean cutoff of the newer FF 4000s slightly distracting for long term use, but that's a personal choice and all the current crop are like that. I've also literally NEVER heard a bad word about the LightForce arsenal.
DougM
Just to add to Dougs comments, he is absolutely correct about reflector size. The larger the reflector the more efficient the light. Also keep in mind that Hella stuff varies a bit in quality. Any lamps that are the 1000 series or above are top quality, the 500 series, optilux, and other low end Hella stuff is crap. If I were to run large lamps on the truck, it would be Hella's or Cibies.
I don't like them as well as Lightforce but I have PIAA on my rig 9" and they are nice. Especially on the backroads where critters are always popping up. Never experienced any heating issues either.
NorCalDoug
problems solved daily...
My lightforce 240s are pretty close to 10 inches.
No problems yet regarding engine heat due to the lights being up there.
I wouldn't sweat it.
My lights came in VERY handy on the Rubicon a couple weeks ago when some of us took part in an "unscheduled" night run. It gets EXTREMELY dark out there More light = Good.
No problems yet regarding engine heat due to the lights being up there.
I wouldn't sweat it.
My lights came in VERY handy on the Rubicon a couple weeks ago when some of us took part in an "unscheduled" night run. It gets EXTREMELY dark out there
More light = Good.
I've run the 4000's since I bought the truck. No problems here.
I used to run the Lightforce 240's, now I have the IPF Jo1's, absoulutly love them. About six inches and fit perfectly on my ARB.
I too am running Hella 4000 series (or whatever they call them now) fog lights on my truck. No problems with air flow. I have mine mounted as far out as I can from the grill area, but not to the point where they cause problems with the headlights. If you mounted them directly in front of the grill, you might have a bigger problem - maybe?
I have been very happy with the quality of the Hellas. Good quality construction and have done well in my salt + snow + rain environment. Light ouput is very good although I still feel that mine may be angled down a bit too much (the bumper mount sort of tilts down) - I am using a shim at the front of the mount, but it may need more (ie I think that my lights could likely cover an additional 25' in front of the truck and still maintain the proper cut-off).
You should buy the clear protectors if you want to save yourself a big replacement expense.
Cheers, Hugh
I have been very happy with the quality of the Hellas. Good quality construction and have done well in my salt + snow + rain environment. Light ouput is very good although I still feel that mine may be angled down a bit too much (the bumper mount sort of tilts down) - I am using a shim at the front of the mount, but it may need more (ie I think that my lights could likely cover an additional 25' in front of the truck and still maintain the proper cut-off).
You should buy the clear protectors if you want to save yourself a big replacement expense.
Cheers, Hugh
Hugh,
I had the same situation with mounting my 4000s on the 97. After I trial fitted them, I realized the lamps would be at their absolute highest adjustment to get down the road, so I used a hammer to tap/bend the area. Just a few hits gave plenty of degrees of upward movement. The mount covered the area I bent. It's simply the downward slope of the bumper stop. I tried shims, but they seemed to creep out as I tightened, so out came the BFH.
I forgot to mention the 4000s were mounted on a full size Montero/Pajero I had, which covered 45,000 miles. They still look new. Love 'em.
DougM
I had the same situation with mounting my 4000s on the 97. After I trial fitted them, I realized the lamps would be at their absolute highest adjustment to get down the road, so I used a hammer to tap/bend the area. Just a few hits gave plenty of degrees of upward movement. The mount covered the area I bent. It's simply the downward slope of the bumper stop. I tried shims, but they seemed to creep out as I tightened, so out came the BFH.
I forgot to mention the 4000s were mounted on a full size Montero/Pajero I had, which covered 45,000 miles. They still look new. Love 'em.
DougM
By adding extra light means more current output, don’t you guys concern to replace the current alternator with the hi output one. Or does is it really necessary?
cary said:
And they are using them again.... at least Subaru is.
PIAA
I, too, like IPF's, Cibie's, and Hella's. But would like to try the Lightforce 240's if I got a chance, especially in HID.
Cibie
IPF
These are all in Japanese, but thought they might be cool to look at anyway, even if you don't read Japanese. Also, there are models that are listed there that are not available in N. America and vise versa. If you can find same lights in the US, chances are that they are priced cheaper there, too.
Anyway, good luck!
Mot
