hella lights?

[Nemesis Gnat]

so i done the searches, but to no avail... there seems to be absolutely nothing on what im lookin for, so here goes...

ive had my eyes on the rallye 4000 (non-hid) from hella for a while now... they seem like theyd provide all the light i need... and id be happy with them.

but they cost 100 bucks ish per light, then wiring harness... so i was searchin about for deals... and i found the hella 550 and 500. for the sake of my question, assume 550 (the rectangle ones) cause theyre the ones ive found with the best deal... so my question is, i know they wont put out as much light as the 4000s, but are they worth the 60 or 70 bucks?

its a lot of money off, and im all for spending less money, but i dont wanna spend 70 bucks for lights that end up sucking and just sit there as fancy bumper ornaments...

and just so you know, im looking for a driving light mostly for back roads and dirt roads... think like... high mountain pass road, shale drop on the side... or cruisin dirt roads and cant see far enough ahead to avoid a big hole or something, or see if thats a turn ahead... and i hate having to guess if thats a tree or a person or the darkness playing tricks on me

the summarize: will i be happy with the 550s?

 

[TheGr8Doughboy]

My Hella 500's are about as bright as the stock headlights... for the $50 they are ok. I'd drop a little more cash and get something brighter next time through

If you're looking for better light hit up Roundeye's headlight upgrade. I'm hoping Santa will bring me some

http://www.roundeyes.com/Toyota_Headlamps-7_Round_Toyota_Landcruiser_Conversion_Headlamps.html

 

[Nemesis Gnat]

i have the sylvanias... so my stock headlights are already upgraded...

but if you say the 500s arent much better than the headlights... i guess a lil more work is in order...

any other opinions?

also, is it worth considering the 550s as a fog light compliment to fancier lights?

 

[OswaldtheBold]

I have the 550 fogs on both my cruisers. I give them a qualified recommendation. I think they are adequate, but not spectacular. They do a good job in really sloppy weather lighting up the foreground and the sides of the road , which is what they should be used for. They are certainly better than cheapo fog lights from the local auto parts chain stores, which really aren't worth buying for any price. I believe the 500's are brighter than the 550's but I haven't tried them.

As for driving lights, I think your first step should be a headlight upgrade. You'll have the benefit of much better light output all the time, low and high beams. (You can only use the aux driving lamps when there's no other traffic.)
Get the Cibie convex H4 E-code headlamps (and the wiring harness upgrade with the relays) from Daniel Stern Lighting. I have the Hella's now, and I intend to upgrade to Cibie headlamps soon (better beam pattern). You can run the 100 watt high beams and get most of the benefit you'd see from aux driving lights, plus a superb low beam (much brighter and more controlled beam pattern than stock).

My other recommendation is to consider a pencil beam. I find it ideal for lighting up my side of the road on the long straight stretches of I70 we have, without blinding the oncoming traffic on the other side of the Interstate. (Yes, I know at least one Mudder disagrees with me on this one.) It is not a substitute to good headlamps, but it is perfect addition for specific applications.