Headlight Battle: IPF v. Round eyes

[Volcano cruiser]

Ok I,m officially tired of squinting at night to try and see with my stock sealed beams supplied by the thin stock wire. I,m going to get replacement beams. From what I have read lot,s of folks here have had good results with the IPF replacement headlight wire harness. The bulbs are now universal, pick a wattage and plug and play. As I read up on the replacement headlamps there are some differences. The Roundeyes lamps have these features that I like:

" Die-cast aluminum housing with a complex multi surface reflector that produces a wider beam pattern
- Unbreakable clear polycarbonate lens
- Gortex® breather allows heat to escape while keeping moisture out of the lamp assembly
- Lamp assembly can handle off-road bulbs up to 130 watts"

The IPF lamps are:
"These H-4 headlamps replace your factory headlight with a double coated lens 3/8" hardened polished glass for extreme strength against rocks and chips and against high heat situations. The lens is prism and column cut."

So Roundeyes, polycarbonate lenses with multisurface reflector versus IPF glass lenses with the multisurface on the lens not the reflector, bulbs can go up to 170 watts.

What is your experience with either replacement lamp? I´m curious about possible fogging over time of the poly carb Round eye lenses versus breakage of the IPF glass lenses.

For the Round eyes folks, if you are running the IPF harness is it truly plug and play with the Round eye lamps?

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[bikersmurf]

I've been Quite happy with the pair of Hella headlamps I picked up at a wreckers 17 years ago. Cost me $20 for the lights and $20-30 for wire and relays. Not plug and play but well worth the effort. The H-4 bulbs are available in a range of wattages my preference is the 55/100 watt. Although, the 55/60 standard bulbs are 10x better than what you're using.


I'm sure either of the ones you're looking at will be good if you can't find old school ones.

 

[ckrustware0045]

I have the Roundeyes, IPF harness, and "Offroad Only" 100/50 watts bulbs. I have never been signaled by passing motoristss that they are too bright. The total install was extremely simple. The harness was a plug and play and had easy to read instructions. I wish I would have got the 130 watt bulbs just for extra light. The 100 watts are very capable though. I got the harness from here, TPI4x4. It was the best price I could find.

 

[fjdaveinoz]

I sell the IPF ones here in Australia, they are overpriced (as is most ipf stuff compared to other lights on the market locally)
I bought some cheap Hella brand H4 Semi Sealed Lens and reflectors, and fitted them with a nite stalker HID conversion kit.
If you dont want to go to that expence (about $300 AUD) Narva have some really good H4 globes at the moment. Blue Power.
I fitted some in my 80 series and they are amazing.. Not sure if you can get them in the states.

Dave

 

[pappy]

I'm running the straight-up Round-eyes. They rock.

 

[Pighead]

I love my Round eyes...plus, aren't they a supporting 'Mud vendor?

 

[fj40dave]

Roundeyes all the way.

 

[PhrogsPhorever]

I like my Roundeyes. I started off replacing my OEM lamps when one burnt out with the Hella sealed beam lamps, better than the OEM.

I went with the Roundeyes to have the flexibility to swap bulbs out without having to tear down the whole headlamp bucket assembly. Love 'em

 

[Radd Cruisers]

I've used them all... and the best beam pattern are clearly the Hella lights.

"Round Eye" - lights are okay, but not great. Beam pattern is not very crisp, and when compared to the Hella are definitely not in the same league. But, they look cool.

IPF - nothing to write home about, but a good light.

Bosch - don't last as long as the Hellas and are not quite as good quality.

These are all H4 type lamps, not sealed beams.

~John

 

[Volcano cruiser]

I've used them all... and the best beam pattern are clearly the Hella lights.

"Round Eye" - lights are okay, but not great. Beam pattern is not very crisp, and when compared to the Hella are definitely not in the same league. But, they look cool.

IPF - nothing to write home about, but a good light.

Bosch - don't last as long as the Hellas and are not quite as good quality.

These are all H4 type lamps, not sealed beams.

~John

John,
I´m already a fan of Hella driving lights, I run four of their off road lights. I have to confess that I didn´t even think of them as a possibility for headlight replacement. Why do the Round eyes "look cool" compared to the Hellas?
Thanks,
John

 

[3pacer]

I've had Round Eyes with the stock wiring harness for a while, they're MUCH better than stock. they might be better with bigger wires, just don't know

 

[Fast Eddy]

I've used them all... and the best beam pattern are clearly the Hella lights.

I agree 100%. Mine are Euro-style, non DOT (no alignment bumps) with 55/60w standard bulbs. The beam pattern has a crispy flat top that can be adjusted to fall just below the mirrors of a vehicle some distance ahead.

Instead of high-power beams in the std headlamps with upgraded harness, I run three Hella driving lights (also with stock 55w bulbs) that come on via relay connected to the high-beam circuit.

I always enjoyed high-powered lights, but I enjoy not getting pulled over more.

 

[bsevans]

I have been running the Hella with replaceable Halogen bulbs and a plug and play Painless headlight harness (Summit Racing) with waterproof relays. I have street legal bulbs and they are very bright, especially the high beams. I've had this setup for over 7 years and am very satisfied with the setup. I personally would buy the same setup again if I was doing another Landcruiser.

 

[JohnnyC]

I picked up a set of hella copies about 15 years ago....they work great and are cheap

one of the only things i've ever bought from JCwhitney

 

[missipboy]

i've been running the roundeyes with 130w bulbs with stock wiring. i don't see why anyone would ever need more light. stupid easy install.

my only comparison would be the 35 year old stockers.

 

[brooklyn]

Round Eyes

Installed the round eyes and updated the wiring harness and added relays. Nice and bright and I would recommend the install.

 

[Volcano cruiser]

Installed the round eyes and updated the wiring harness and added relays. Nice and bright and I would recommend the install.

Which updated headlight conversion harness did you use , IPF or Painless?

 

[Radd Cruisers]

John,
I´m already a fan of Hella driving lights, I run four of their off road lights. I have to confess that I didn´t even think of them as a possibility for headlight replacement. Why do the Round eyes "look cool" compared to the Hellas?
Thanks,
John

Hella uses a fluted lens to focus the light and Round Eyes use a shaped reflector and smooth lens. The shaped reflector looks really cool.

Any H4 type replacement headlamp is going to be light years ahead of a sealed beam.

For some reason, I think the H4 replacement lights have been an issue in the US - DOT probably. In any case, they are far superior to stock.

Upgrade wiring kits are also a bonus - less voltage drop.


~John

 

[piecemeal]

what's the part number for the painless relay kit and/or the IPF relay kit?

 

[bikersmurf]

I've been Quite happy with the pair of Hella headlamps I picked up at a wreckers 17 years ago. Cost me $20 for the lights and $20-30 for wire and relays. Not plug and play but well worth the effort. The H-4 bulbs are available in a range of wattages my preference is the 55/100 watt. Although, the 55/60 standard bulbs are 10x better than what you're using.


I'm sure either of the ones you're looking at will be good if you can't find old school ones.

It looks like these I've been running are a Euro Style light... they have a straight line light pattern which can be precisely aligned.

I'm running them with Brand name 30 amp relays purchased from the local big rig shop for about $3 each and wire also purchased locally. I've found headlight switches rated for 30 amps tend to die prematurely.

I would highly recommend not running them off the factory wiring.