Most cost effective way of getting ALOT of light output for less money.

I am planning on buying an 05 Dodge Dakota soon. And one of the first things I do is get some type of off-road lights. I was thinking of getting an old halogen light bar and putting 55W HID kits in. Would that work at all? Because I know if you buy the whole housing w/ the HID bulb & ballast its really expensive. So is it possible to just upgrade it with HID bulbs?

I was also thinking of buying 10 P7 LED's, run them parallel, and mount them in a line right bellow the grill. surly I'd get at least 7,000 lumen's of flood out of that right?

I'm up for any suggestions for cheap off road lighting

THANKS :twothumbs

I have seen cheap HID kits on ebay but have not heard anything good about them.

For cheap but acceptable off road lights, look into hella 500. I had run 4 on my truck until going to lightforce lghts

Teax

You can get a 55w HID kit for 50€ shipped from hong kong and it work great.

4000lumens out of each headlight

The beam focus is terrible with HID kits, but if you're just interested in throwing a ton of light vaguely in front of the car for an off-road truck (where obviously distance isn't a huge issue), it sounds like it should work fine.

And, it's something you could bang out on a Saturday afternoon.

LEDs sounds pricey, unreliable, and complicated, unless you already have experience working with high-power LEDs.

RDM Offroad has plenty of cheap HID lighting. I have a pair of HIDx 4" and have tinted the lenses to selective yellow. They are plenty bright and have worked perfectly.
For $109 delivered, hard to beat.

Smurf-

I've done exactly what you speak of several times, they make decent work lights. Make sure the donor lights are sturdily constructed, weatherproof, and have no colored coating on the lens or reflector. Buy an HID kit that's 4300k, no 5000k or 10,000,000,000,000k garbage. 4300k has the most lumens, and the more blue the light, the worse it is for actual seeing. All OEM's use 4300k for a reason.

Lastly, OFF ROAD ONLY. Can't stress that enough.

Edit: I looked at the HDM's. The 6000k bulbs turned me off. If they have 4300k available then great, otherwise I'd pass.

Diesel_Bomber said:

Edit: I looked at the HDM's. The 6000k bulbs turned me off. If they have 4300k available then great, otherwise I'd pass.

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That is the one caveat.

But crikey; $109 delivered... ...you can swap bulbs and still make out okay.

SmurfTacular said:

I am planning on buying an 05 Dodge Dakota soon. And one of the first things I do is get some type of off-road lights. I was thinking of getting an old halogen light bar and putting 55W HID kits in. Would that work at all? Because I know if you buy the whole housing w/ the HID bulb & ballast its really expensive. So is it possible to just upgrade it with HID bulbs?

I was also thinking of buying 10 P7 LED's, run them parallel, and mount them in a line right bellow the grill. surly I'd get at least 7,000 lumen's of flood out of that right?

I'm up for any suggestions for cheap off road lighting

THANKS :twothumbs

Click to expand...

Go forthe bar and fill the housings with the HID kits.

I had those kits in my Jeep SRT8 fog lamps. I went with the 55w over the 35watt. Fortunately the housings were large enough to deal with the extreme heat made by these bulbs.

Its all Chinese junk from 4 manufacturers, relabelled and sold uner 10 million names and websites. I found a kit with super-slim ballats for about $70US. I went for the 4200k after trying the 5000k. Anything higher Kelvin has a unique look which I dont like. Also loses its throw, usability, and doesnt match the factory bulbs.

One thing to note, you may get some FM radio interference.

I have no regrets with them, though many insist the reflectors were not designed to use the light properly. (These might be the same guys that dont like to see D's in a C bra, I dont know..) For me, they lit the road up like the sun in conjuntion with my factory HID's. I'd run mostly with only the fogs on until it was absolutely necessary. No premature bulb burn outs, no flickering, no nothing, just lots of white light.

I just installed the same kit but with 35watt ballasts in my 09 Volvo XC70 (pre-Chinese) to match the factory HID headlamps. Looks and works great in that much smaller lamp housing.

My 09 S550 also has the 35watt kit in the fog lamps, 4200k matches that perfectly too.

Justin13 said:

One thing to note, you may get some FM radio interference.

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...which may well do far more serious things than create static you can hear. See here.

many insist the reflectors were not designed to use the light properly

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That's correct, they weren't and aren't. "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog lamps (any kit, any headlamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. That is a matter of fact, not opinion or "insistence". See here .

I'd run mostly with only the fogs on until it was absolutely necessary.

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Improper use of improper lights...very foolish.

they lit the road up like the sun

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Shame on you for endangering roadway safety, which is what you are doing whether or not you choose to acknowledge it.

I really don't understand HID foglights, or why anyone would want them.

There's a reason no car comes with them. Flooding the foreground is a terrible idea. It makes you think "wow, look how bright my headlights are" when you can't see more than 50 feet in front of the car.

Justin13 said:

For me, they lit the road up like the sun

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Why were you using these on a road?

Wow, thanks for all the quick reply's everyone! lovecpf

Diesel_Bomber said:

Smurf-

I've done exactly what you speak of several times, they make decent work lights. Make sure the donor lights are sturdily constructed, weatherproof, and have no colored coating on the lens or reflector. Buy an HID kit that's 4300k, no 5000k or 10,000,000,000,000k garbage. 4300k has the most lumens, and the more blue the light, the worse it is for actual seeing. All OEM's use 4300k for a reason.

Lastly, OFF ROAD ONLY. Can't stress that enough.

Edit: I looked at the HDM's. The 6000k bulbs turned me off. If they have 4300k available then great, otherwise I'd pass.

Click to expand...

You seem to be a veteran of off road lighting. I have a question. When Im about to buy HID ballast's and bulb kits, it asks for what type of bulb you want (not the color temperature). Witch type of bulb would I choose if I'm installing them into halogen light housing?

Scheinwerfermann said:

...which may well do far more serious things than create static you can hear. See here.



That's correct, they weren't and aren't. "HID kits" in halogen-bulb headlamps or fog lamps (any kit, any headlamp, any vehicle) do not work safely or effectively, which is why they are illegal. That is a matter of fact, not opinion or "insistence". See here .



Improper use of improper lights...very foolish.



Shame on you for endangering roadway safety, which is what you are doing whether or not you choose to acknowledge it.

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:candle: you need to lighten up (pun intended)


:lolsign:

SmurfTacular said:

you need to lighten up

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You need to grow up if you have a hard time understanding that lighting equipment used on public roadways are safety devices that have to work properly -- they are not playtoys.

Scheinwerfermann said:

You need to grow up if you have a hard time understanding that lighting equipment used on public roadways are safety devices that have to work properly -- they are not playtoys.

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just yanking you chain man. I take that seriously also, I really do. I don't plan on driving down PCH with 300 watts of HID in everyones face. Mostly be using this for Dirtbiking in Corona and Barstow, and occasionally Big Bear.

Whatever the stock halogen bulb type is for the housings you're using is the HID "type" kit you'll need. H3 halogen bulb = H3 HID kit. 4300k is the only bulb that OEM's use, any higher color temperature produces less light and significantly worse usability.

I must stress the point once again, OFF ROAD ONLY.

SmurfTacular said:

Wow, thanks for all the quick reply's everyone! lovecpf





You seem to be a veteran of off road lighting. I have a question. When Im about to buy HID ballast's and bulb kits, it asks for what type of bulb you want (not the color temperature). Witch type of bulb would I choose if I'm installing them into halogen light housing?









:candle: you need to lighten up (pun intended)


:lolsign:

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No, He's right in what he says, whether you like it or not.

Scheinwerfermann said:

You need to grow up if you have a hard time understanding that lighting equipment used on public roadways are safety devices that have to work properly -- they are not playtoys.

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Right again.

tay said:

I really don't understand HID foglights, or why anyone would want them.

There's a reason no car comes with them. Flooding the foreground is a terrible idea. It makes you think "wow, look how bright my headlights are" when you can't see more than 50 feet in front of the car.

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This is so true...I don't understand there thinking (or the lack there of).
If they really want there fog lights to be effective, use selective yellow lights!

Lightdoctor said:

This is so true...I don't understand there thinking (or the lack there of).
If they really want there fog lights to be effective, use selective yellow lights!

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Or tint your cheap HIDs to selective yellow...

It was pretty foggy yesterday and today on my commute in; there's a good stretch of narrow/hilly dirt road that I like to take. It's a 20-30 mph thing with streams and deer and rabbits, etc. No streetlights, of course.
In 2 years I've only encountered 4 oncoming vehicles; great place to use yellow HIDs.

tay said:

I really don't understand HID foglights, or why anyone would want them.

There's a reason no car comes with them. Flooding the foreground is a terrible idea. It makes you think "wow, look how bright my headlights are" when you can't see more than 50 feet in front of the car.

Click to expand...

HID fog lights aren't fog lights. They're "hey look at me!" bling. Same idea as spinner wheels; just useless garbage.