Cure for night blindness

[Gnarvan]

I decided to get rid of the Hella 500FF fog lights and upgrade to something brighter. I may regret that decision on nights when there's fog. Foggy nights don't happen as much as regular night driving so I did the swap. I replaced the 500FF Fogs with Hella 4000ci HID internal ballast lights.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=4272

The HID's put out a heck of a lot more light and use 35% of the wattage of the 100W fogs.

Let there be LIGHT!

Side by side light comparison picture


Look at all the purdy red rings

[twogone]

'ja git the optional stone shield... at 5 large per I'd be too dang worried
They look like good gear! Available in black v red?
Keep us informed on performance, please

[BIGVANS]

Awesome!

[Ultrasport12]

They look great...Don't catch anything on fire...

Did you replace all five?

Maybe you could have kept two of the fogs for side fill and for foggy and snowy nights.

...Jamie

[Gnarvan]

The $tone $hields are a no brainer. Yep, got em on all 5. Can't wait for the drive home tonight. I'll probably take the long way home on old Evergreen Hwy so I can dial in the aim.

I had the two fogs for fill in lights. They didn't work that well as fill in lights. The 3 big lights overpowered most of the light from the 500FF's. My plan is to aim the 2 4000ci's low and outside to get the side of the road. Then have the 3 4000's aimed straight down the middle a little higher for long distance coverage.

I'll try and get some night pictures posted soon.

[Skywagon]

Nice lights- Are they a direct bolt-in? Can you install and remove the rock shields without removing the lights?
Bill

[Gnarvan]

The lights bolt to the bumper via a 10 mm bolt on the bottom of the light. Hella offers a locking nut gizmo which makes them hard to steal. They call the anti theft thing a tuff nut. The Rallye 4000i Hid and the Rallye 4000i compact HID are Hellas's top of the line off road race light. They are super stout and easy to adjust. The ballast is built inside the light so you don't need to mount it separately.

http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=3695

The stone shields do pop on and off. I haven't tried to remove the shield on the smaller 4000ci's while they are installed in the bumper holes but it should be manageable. The glass on the lens and the inside of the shields need to be cleaned once in a while so you don't loose any light due to dirt blocking the lens.

I did stop last night on the way home from work and got some pictures of the beam patterns. I'll post them latter this morning once the caffeine kicks in.

[BroncoHauler]

I had the stone shields mounted on my Hellas. Just be careful not to turn the lights on when your rig is not moving for a length of time. I once accidentally turned on the Hellas in the bumper, and when someone let me know about it maybe 30 minutes later, the built up heat between the Hella and the stone shield had lightly scorched the stone shield.


Herb

[Gnarvan]

Beam patterns of Hella lights on the front of Gnarvan

I have replaced the stock headlights with Hella 200MM Rectangular E-code Hi-Lo conversion headlamps with a 100W high beam and a 55W lowbeam bulb


Hella E-code conversion headlamps
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=744

Hella 4000i Compact HID lights 6.69" diameter
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=4272

Hella 4000i HID lights 8.75" diameter
http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=4271

The pictures were taken with the front of the van 14' away from a wall. There was a slight grade up to the wall. My left headlight needs to be adjusted down just a smidge. It also looks like I can seperate the beam on the 3 4000i lights a little. It looks like there is to much overlap. I may also be able to lower the 4000i compacts a little so they are just a little under the bigger lights. This should improve the coverage a little over the current adjustment.

Hella E-code low beam pattern


Hella E-code high beam pattern


Hella 4000i Compact HID pattern


Hella 4000i HID pattern


Hella 4000i HID and Hella 4000i compact HID pattern


On road low beam only...the ring of light you see on the right side is from the camera flash


On road high beam....the ring of light you see on the right side is from the camera flash


On road high beams and both sets of HID's

[Dango]

Not bright enough. You need 4 more up top. Holy s--t Batman.