I want to add a pair of lights to my grille guard. I know many here are big proponents of KC's. Good for them, but alot of ppl near me have them, and I want something different. I know I'll pay more for the Hella's or the PIAA's. I'm dealing with that. Has anyone done much research on either of these? I like the Hella 4000 but they will be at least 250 for the pair and wiring harness. I think I can get the PIAA 520 all told for about 200. I appreciate all of the help. Also I will be putting them on a Polar Bear Grille Guard. I don't know if anyone has used them much, but it was much cheaper than a Manik, but looks about the same.

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'99 F150 SC Lariat 4x4 Deep Wedgewood Blue with Harvest Gold 2-Tone, Medium Prairie Tan Leather (getting seat repaired), all the factory options (minus captain's chairs, 6 disc cd changer, ford tonnuea and push button 4wd) Polar Bear Brush Guard, Ford Factory Steb Bars, Extang Tonnuea Cover, Duracoat Liner with Rubber Mat, Flowmaster 50 series, Superchip, K&N Filter, Airbox Mod and Silencer Removed, 2 Rockford Fosgate 8"'s and a 250 watts RF amp

 

what do you want them for? The Hella 4000's are quite a bit bigger then the PIAA 520's, and possibly a bit brighter too.. I have the 520's on mine, I have noe xperience with teh 4000's so I can't tell you much about em. Ask me ANYTHING about teh 520 though, I'll be able to answer it . By the way, PIAA is coming out with a new lens for teh 520's coming up in January sometime... it is a multi-textured lens that acts as both a fog light and a driving light, looks cool, can't wait to try it out.

 

I found the 4000's to be something that not everyone had. I know they are big too (9"!). Did the 520's come complete? Did you need to get anything else for them? Do you like them? What kind of distance do you get? I'm not looking to go head to head with Mudder or anything like that. I just want a high quality light, that performs as well as it looks. I like the looks of the PIAA's. Tell me all you can Mattbert!

 

ok dnale, I'll tell you everything I can. I only have the fog's so I can't tell you too much about the driving lamps as far as how far they go down the road. I know the fog's are great for lighting up the spread, the imeediate area in front of hte vehicle. I usually use them as a supplement to the headlights while in town, since they don't blind oncoming traffic but light up the area most excellent. if your looking for a really long beam down the road, your best bet may be the PIAA 80 XT as opposed to teh PIAA 520. The 520 is rated at somewhere around 115,000 candlepower as I recall, and the 80 XT is 385,000 candlepower. You pay more for the 80 XT's obviously though. I don't recall ever hearing what the candlepower rating on the Hella 4000's was... The 520's do come with everything, the lights, the covers, the harness including relay and switch), even includes a few screws and zip tires and a wire-tap to use... The 520's come with a pre-assembled wiring harness, easy as hell to to install. Just mount the lights, plug in the wires to the lights, hook up the white wire to the positive battery, the black wire to the negative battery, then take the exposed wire and switch it (hook it up either to your headlights or your radio or whatever), then mount the switch, bring the wires for the switch through the firewall, connect it to the existing connector on the harness, afix the wiring to something so it doesn't get sucked in to the engine, and thats it! By "plug in" it really is just like a plug, no wires to crimp or cut or attach connectors to or anything. If you want it easier you can also buy the remote switch kit which makes it so you don't have to go through the firewall, costs a bit extra though. Lets see what else... warranty, PIAA has a lifetime warranty which covers everything except blunt damage and burnt out bulbs. But you probably won't need to worry about it, I've never heard of a set failing or breaking yet, and a lot of the people I know that have them (including myself) use them hard, and are constantly banging them into rocks and tree branches, etc. I don't know what the installation of the 4000's is like myself but I had a friend tried ot install it and said it sucked... took him like a week and even then he couldn't figure out how to make it dual mode... who knows though, I probably could've figured it out, I'm pretty handy with lights .

 

Mattbert, How much better are they than the factory fogs? I 520's are cheaper than the 4000 by a noticable difference. I haven't found anywhere where it rates the 4000's in terms of candlepower either. How do you have your's wired in? Only on with low's? On with high's? I know there are certain legal restrictions, but I want to be able to use them when I'm off the beaten path and still have the head lights on. I haven't looked into the 80's yet. I thought they are rectangles.... I like the round better. But if I found some one to make me a sweet adapter so I could mount 4 on the front....

 

I don't have much experience with the F-150's OEM fog lights, but I do have experience with the Explorers OEM fog lights and I can say the PIAA's are much, much better... Actually the 80's only come in round... the 40's come in round or rectangle. The 80's are slightly larger then the 520's and higher wattage, and much much brighter. I have my 520's wired in to my stereo (as well as the rest of my lights) so that the lights can be on anytime the vehicle is on, and it doesn't matter if my headlights or brights are on or what. By the way, for more info on my wiring, my lights, all that good stuff, check this out... http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/madams/PIAA/piaas.html. In those pictures the 520's are underneath the winch. The 80 XT's are the ones on the roof and to the right-bottom of the winch. The 80 Rally lights are the big ones next to the headlights.

 

If you are wanting an off-road type light then I would go with the 150 watt Daylighter, this is what I have ten of (actually they are 165 watt, but there is really no big difference) it's a good light, and everybody knows how bright they are so I wont go into that. But KC just came out with a new line of lights, and one of those lights is the Slim Light. Here is some info:

We've created a new slim housing that utilizes the same Lens / Reflector as our famous Daylighter, coated it with our unique new Titanium Look finish and added a new 130 Watt Super Bright H-3 Halogen bulb.

These lights feature a strong two-axis mounting system and because of their thin profile, the new lights fit where many other lights won't. Additionally included, is a new high-impact plastic Stone Guard that simply snaps onto the lights and stays firmly in place and gives the lights a bold new appearance.

Currently these lights are only available with a Long-Range lens, but in the near future, we will be introducing both Fog and Driving versions.

Titanium SlimLites Feature:
All Steel 6" round SlimLite housing with new high-impact plastic Stone Guard

Optical quality Glass Lens for maximum Clarity and Light Projection

130 Watt H-3 Super Bright Halogen Bulb

Precision Polished and Focused Reflectors

Pair Pack Systems include 2 Lights with stone guards, complete installation kit with illuminated
Switch, 40 amp Relay, and Pre-terminated Wiring Harness

Single SlimLite package includes one light with stone guard



I'm thinkin about getting some of these, and mounting them as back up lights. I saw these in person at the SEMA show a week ago in Vegas, they are very bright and pretty white.

Another new light that is out is the Titanium 6" round light, that uses the Daylighter housing. It is also 130 watts.



Good luck in whatever you choose.

[This message has been edited by mudder (edited 11-13-2000).]

 

Mudder, Those new one's look pretty nice. I haven't seen them yet. I basically have to get them online, since there aren't any reasonably priced 4x4 shops in the Richmond vicinity.
I want something I can use, if I just wanted something to stick on the truck, I'd get some Blazer's from WalMart!

 

Yeah, I hate those Walmart, Pepboys, Autozone, etc....lights. I wonder why people even buy them. I know they are cheap, but cheap is right. Oh well. Good luck in your light purchase, whether it be PIAA or KC, either way, you are gettin a good quality light.

 

The set under the KC's are the Pro 80 XT's.



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Patrick aka Mudder or MR.Daylighter of Arlington Texas (D/FW), member of the Texas Chapter club DAYLIGHTER edition F150 ®, Black 98 S/S S/C F150 4x4 0RP 5.4 V8 3.55ls, Ramsey Pro 8000 hidden winch, Grizzly roll bar, Superwhite Bulbs, 2 Baja back up lights, 2 KC 57 Series 5x7 100 watt long range lights, 10 165 watt KC Daylighters, 4 chrome, 2 Stainless, 4 black ( with 12 KC's, I come alive at night), Manik grill guard, Westin step bars, Rhino Taillight guards, Magnum bug shield, Sonic aluminum treadplate 36" tool box, Flowmaster 40 series dual exhaust, Airaid High Flow system, Edelbrock IAS shocks, 285/75/16 BFG AT/S KO, American Racing Baja wheels, personalized plates, Cobra CB radio with 3' whip antenna, Escort Laser/Radar detector, Nokia cell phone, a Mobil Speed Pass on the back window, a F150 Online sticker, and a DAYLIGHTER sticker on the front windshield, and yes, I also have been infected with the infamous door crack. More to come for the Daylighter: JBA headers, superchip, 2 more Daylighters, 2 100 watt KC's, and a Lighted Ford tailgate logo. If you would like to see pics, email me at mudder46@hotmail.com
Also the Moderator of the Ford Trucks vs. GM trucks and Ford trucks forum over on fordvschevy.com so check it out.
Check out the Toughest SOB in the WWF crush the Rock's Lincoln: http://www.amta.net/files/sc-2.avi
OH HELL YEAH!

2 BRT 4U "Go ahead, flash your brights at me, see what will happen."

Got light?
It's a KC thing.....you wouldn't understand.

See all my pics at my zing.com site: http://www.zing.com/album/?id=4294059243



[This message has been edited by mudder (edited 11-13-2000).]

 

hey mudder, whos F150 is that? That logo on the back quarter panel/tonneau cover is bitchin!

 

That is bigEd's. It's a 3 1/2" decal, really looks good on there.

 

Mattbert, are the 520's the one's that are giving off the yellow light on your garage door? What's the deal with the ion something or other?

Mudder, I'll ask just because I like to be informed, but from what you've read, what KC would you recommend?

 

yes, the 520's are the ones showing off the yellow light on the garage door. It's ion crystal technology or something like that... I like it because as you can tell I also have the 80 XT fog's up front, and in snow and fog the 520's, which aren't as big or as bright, actually cut through the snow or fog to show where you are driving. The 80 XT fog's are white and pretty bright, but in true snow (like blizzardy snow) they don't help as much as the 520 fogs do.

 

in my F-150 my first set of lights was Hella 550's, I considered those to be an extremely crap lighting product, and they still beat the pants off those blazer brands . i see them all the time in wal-mart and pep boys (hey I like to wander around these places, see what they all have for sale that kind of thing), and I am just amazed at some of these things they sell. True if you never need your lights, why not buy a $10 set of fog lights... but the things come with like 22 guage wiring, a lens that'll break during installation, no relays, and your lucky if you get a switch! Ah well, live and learn. I agree, KC or PIAA, either way your getting a good light.