rsherrard

I'm looking for strong white lights (to hang on a Westin Bull Bar)... does anyone have expereince using the PIAA 520 SMR or maybe the 80 Pro Series? Any other suggestions?

Rob

LJRoy

I have a set of PIAA 80 Pro XT's on my Ram. Work well, good light. Still on the original bulbs with about 90-95K miles on them.

Downside - difficult to precisely aim since the only way to adjust is to loosen the main mounting bolt, shift the light, then tighten while holding light in place.

The Hella 4000 series has "real" adjusters. I'd look at either the 4000 or 4000 compact models. I would have gone with these but at the time I did this there weren't any decent lightbars out. I put my lights right on the bumper - and to do that you need some pretty slim (depth-wise) lights so the hood has clearance to open.

ATM2754

KC Hilites, best light on the market, had them on an old toyota for years, lifetime warranty (within reason).

Festus

A bunch of folks around the oilpatch up here are starting to run Lightforce lights. Right from transport trucks to pickups. I'm staring to see them everywhere. I have no personal experience with them however.

2003Summit

Try BOSCH driving lights.

I used the rectangular ones based on the H3 bulb and I mounted them in the open slot behind the bumper on my ''03. They work quite well, solid quality and are not over the top price wise ($100 CAD /pair: Canadian Tire or Parts Source). They are all plastic housing/glass lens construction so nothing to rust or discolor. I searched long and hard looking at many of the more expensive lights before settling on these – plus much research on the web on bulbs (months of it). I believe many brands seriously over price for what you get. Colored bulbs actually reduce light output by filtering out some or much of the visible light. Some brands than go ahead and upgrade the wattage to make more light which can melt your housing or wires (plus it can be illegal in many areas). (I hate to poo poo but PIIA does this) So a combination of higher wattage and a colored bulb likely does not mean a lot more usable light (it may look cool though). For some added light you can always replace the stock BOSCH bulbs with some Sylvania Silver Stars which are very effective and echnomical. If you haven't already, upgraded your stock lamps to Silver Stars.

Also, the bigger the reflector size the more light – this is the most defining feature of a lamp and far overrides anything else (other than maybe a sophisticated projector lamp or HID). A 5-3/4" round lamp based on the good old H1 bulb is about good and effective as it gets (notice this config is almost exclusively used in rally night racing). The only reason more round 5-3/4" lamps are not made or seen is because most vehicles can’t mount them. The entire industry tries to make tricky little lamps to fit in small places or look cool. My single H1 lamp on my ‘78 Yamaha motorbike (upgrade to Silver Star) yields far more light than any other vehicle I have. Reflector size rules as long as it has a quality alignment.

rsherrard

Would you say the 80 Pro's are a lot brighter than the 520's?

Rob

ptgarcia

Hella Rallye 4000's are my light of choice.

coobie

I have the PIAA pro 80 xt series I have been very happy with them,very good quality IMHO.coobie.

CUM4X4MINS

Ask my buddy Atlantic4x4 he has some SMR's on his

rsherrard

Coobie...

Will a PIAA rock guard cover them ok?

Rob

coobie

I have a 3m product on mine called stoneguard.No breaks or chips yet.coobie