Lightforce 140s for ON and OFF Road??

[Duner]

I have Hella Rallye 4000s on my truck and they are great for offroad, but using them on road is just going to cause an accident (or a nice fine). So I have been thinking about adding a set of LF140s with a set of wide yellow filters for fog and snow. I live in Central BC, Canada and often get heavy snow and rain so I am not buying these lights for a what if situation. These lights are mainly for semi rural roads, but I would like to be able to use them on the highway aswell. So for my question...

Are these lights too bright to be used for (safely) highway use with HIGH beams? If I added the wide yellow filters would they be too bright for other drivers if I was using them with my LOW beams (in rain, fog or heavy snow)?

I appreciate any input as I don't want to buy these lights and find out they blind other drivers and are going to attract COPs and FINES (like HID conversions should :twak:).

 

[-Virgil-]

Lightforce = Lightfarce; see previous discussions here, here, here, and here. If you need good on-road auxiliary lamps, pick them thoughtfully; most fog lamps are not very useful for what most people think they're going to use them for. Picking out which lights to put on is not the first step in the process. Off road is one thing but in traffic is quite different...define exactly when and where you need/want more light in traffic, and don't forget to specify what it is you're driving (make/model/year) and what kind of headlights it has. Then that helps narrow in on exactly what kind of lamp to go for, and then it's time to pick which specific ones to get.

 

[Duner]

Lightforce = Lightfarce; see previous discussions here, here, here, and here. If you need good on-road auxiliary lamps, pick them thoughtfully; most fog lamps are not very useful for what most people think they're going to use them for. Picking out which lights to put on is not the first step in the process. Off road is one thing but in traffic is quite different...define exactly when and where you need/want more light in traffic, and don't forget to specify what it is you're driving (make/model/year) and what kind of headlights it has. Then that helps narrow in on exactly what kind of lamp to go for, and then it's time to pick which specific ones to get.

I am driving a '94 GM K1500 Yukon... SASed with 6in of lift :D. Since I lifted it and leveled the front and rear suspension the headlights do not aim down far enough, the headlights are aimed below horizontal (to not blind others), but they still leave around 25' infront of the truck that is not lit well.

I am looking for a fog beam mainly for snow (driving around 40km/hr), and I want something that will enable me to see the side of the road and the road directly infront of me better. Now I use my Hellas, which lights EVERYTHING (not ideal) in front of you, but still allows me to see better than the stock headlights because they light the side and directly in front of the truck. Just to be clear I am NOT looking for some lighting enabling me to drive the 80km/hr in heavy snow (that will quickly lead to the ditch or CLIFF :oops:) but something to reduce eye strain. Something that I could use in heavy rain to help see the road lines directly in front of the truck would be a bonus.

For a driving light I am not to picky... Something with 150m distance and covers 5m to the side of the road would be great.

I was thinking lightforce because their beam is so adjustable and not too bright. Can they be adjusted to give light in the right places for snow? That and they can be used as decent driving beams without blinding other drivers and attracting COPs. Now I will just state that these lights are going to be used on rural roads and highways with little traffic and will normally be turned off before seeing oncoming traffic, but sometimes you miss it and briefly shine others (not acceptable with the hellas).

C**P that was long... Again, I appreciate any input you might have.

THANKS!!!

 

[Duner]

I guess I should add the fact that I swapped out the low beams with the "white" and "brighter" ones :banghead:. I would have been much better off replacing them with non color filtered, brighter bulbs. So I have learned my lesson on marketing BULL&#%@, the lights CANNOT be brighter they are ALL limited to 1000 lumens.

 

[VegasF6]

Any sort of high power auxilary driving light should not be used in conjuction with your low beams when there is on coming traffic, same as your high beams. It isn't just about how bright, it is about beam shape, cut-off and glare. Thats why they are called "off road lighting."

I haven't seen too much of the light force lights, but I did know one guy running them on his trophy truck, and I thought they were pretty dang nice actually. I think the clip on filters are pretty cool. But, there certainly are some nay sayers.

 

[-Virgil-]

I think the clip on filters are pretty cool. But, there certainly are some nay sayers.

That's 'cause the job of a lamp and its accessories isn't to be "cool". It's to work.

 

[VegasF6]

That's 'cause the job of a lamp and its accessories isn't to be "cool". It's to work.

Thanks for that broad definition of a lamps job. :poke:
I bow down to your superior knowledge of automobile lamps. And I know you are a purist at heart from having read several other of your threads. But then, for off road the same rules may not apply and what "works" for one may not work for another.

 

[Duner]

I did post but it must have ended up in cyperspace :banghead:.

FYI the vehicle is a ’94 GM K1500 Yukon… SASed with 6in of lift :D. I have upgraded the LOW beams with the Sylvania bulbs (not quite a waste of money, but I wish they did not have a bluish tint). Since I lifted and leveled the suspension the lights leave around 20’ of not so lighted area directly infront of the truck. The lights are aimed as low as they can go and do not blind oncoming traffic, but they are not meant to be positioned so high.

For a fog beam I mainly want something that will perform in heavy snow. I would like something that can light the area directly infront of the truck and of to the side (mainly focus on the road edges to stay in the road). I am not looking for something that will enable me to drive faster in the blowing and falling snow, just something to reduce eye strain. Currently I use my Hellas when the weather goes to :poof:, but these light up everything infront of you and aren’t the best for reducing eye strain. I was wondering if the wide angle filters provided enough cut off to not be too bright for other drivers, but you are probably right that any offroad light should not be used around traffic.

For a driving light I am not too picky… I am looking for something that gives good light out to 200m and provides light about 5m off to the side of the road. I don’t want something that will blind other drivers if I don’t turn them off in time (the Hellas are way too bright and will blind people if they look into them and are asking for an accident or ticket).

The main reason I was thinking about lightforce is because they have the filters and have an adjustable beam. I think they are a very versatile light, but I do not have any experience with them. About HALF of the cars and trucks up north in Ft St John and Ft Nelson are running lightforce lights so they seem to be quite popular up there and in the winter it is dark much longer. LOL… Have you ever seen a MINIVAN with lightforce lights??? I have. Again I do not know if they are up to the hype, but I am just stating what I have seen.

 

[Hilldweller]

The only thing that Lightforce brings to the table is their durability. The rest is posturing and hyperbole.
But they are tough.
Is that worth their premium price or difficulty in replacement bulbs?

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: Lightforce 140s for ON and OFF Road?

That's 'cause the job of a lamp and its accessories isn't to be "cool". It's to work.

Aw, come on. Isn't it "cool" if they work?

 

[Alaric Darconville]

I am driving a '94 GM K1500 Yukon... SASed with 6in of lift :D. Since I lifted it and leveled the front and rear suspension the headlights do not aim down far enough, the headlights are aimed below horizontal (to not blind others), but they still leave around 25' infront of the truck that is not lit well.

At highway speeds, if you didn't see it when it was 26 feet away, it's not going to matter.

 

[-Virgil-]

You'd be much better off spending your money/time/effort swapping off the useless plastic composite headlights (which are junk and produce dim, narrow, badly-focused beams with a ton of upward stray light to glare back at you in rain/fog/snow no matter what bulbs you put in them) and putting in this setup instead. Should be easy and not very expensive to find good used parts. This setup was used with sealed beams from the factory. You could have better seeing even if you were to stay with sealed beams (carefully selected ones, i.e., GE Night Hawk H6054NH) but the main point is that this setup will accept good metal-and-glass European-spec H4 lamps, which (again, if you pick carefully; use Cibie or Bosch) give a much wider, more even, better focused beam with much less stray light. And the lamp size is large enough, especially compared to the tiny junk you have now, that you actually have a fighting chance of seeing where you're going.

The grill shown in the link was produced in numerous variants, with "GMC" lettering or Chevrolet emblem, with paint or with chrome, etc.

To find the parts you need, if you don't see them locally, use http://www.car-part.com (searchable used auto parts all across North America).

Search on 1998 Chevrolet Suburban 1500, then grille, then pick your option ("Sealed beam"). Results are presented in descending price order. Page through and find something nice, preferably including marker lights and such (listed as "With Lights").

Doing this swap and putting in good lights with relays will do a much better, more complete, more usable job than any auxiliary lamp can do of fixing the nighttime seeing problem completely, and it'll obviate the perceived need for fog lamps.

 

[Duner]

At highway speeds, if you didn't see it when it was 26 feet away, it's not going to matter.

Yes I do agree with you there, but when the weather goes to :poof:, you are lucky to be going 40km/h ON a highway, but in also would nice to be able to see road lanes (not lines when covered in snow) just infront of the truck to see where you are, in crappy conditions (snow covered roads).

 

[TorchBoy]

25 feet per second is just over 27 km/h. To be able to see, recognise and react to something in those 25 feet you would likely have to be doing less than half that speed (thus giving yourself a couple of seconds). 13 km/h is quite slow really.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Scheinwerfermann has the right idea. I certainly thought of this with my 1993 and later 1996 Suburbans. They had the "upscale" plastic modular lights. I find it interesting that in the 1990's, GM's "cheap" Work Truck and most basic models actually had the better lights, good old standard 200mm rectangular lights that could easily be changed out for good Cibie, Bosch or Hella rectangular H4 headlights. For a few years, the "sporty" version of those trucks also used the basic headlight and grille arrangement, just painted in body color.

From looking at my 1996 Suburban (transfer case let go at just over 260,000 miles, and divorce leaves me no budget to fix it at this time, even though the 454 engine is fine), I can tell you that those plastic lights WILL eventually degrade.

I miss my 1993 'burban. I bought a turbo diesel front bumper, and mounted rectangular driving lights inside the bumper openings. Too bad I let that (undamaged) bumper go after my wife totalled the rig in a slow rollover.

 

[Duner]

Switching the grill is not a bad idea, but I don't have much time to time to switch the grill (work 6+ days a week these days). It is much easier to throw on a set of aftermarket lights (plus I have already wired the truck for 2 sets of lights when I did the first set). I am not looking for the ultimate performance in lighting (for on or offroad) I am just looking for a quick and easy solution that works.

I have the 6.5TD (yes kind of an odd combination) so I have the bumpers with holes and are used for cooling, but make it easier to wire lights, bolt stuff onto the bumper, etc.

Scheinwerfermann has the right idea. I certainly thought of this with my 1993 and later 1996 Suburbans. They had the "upscale" plastic modular lights. I find it interesting that in the 1990's, GM's "cheap" Work Truck and most basic models actually had the better lights, good old standard 200mm rectangular lights that could easily be changed out for good Cibie, Bosch or Hella rectangular H4 headlights. For a few years, the "sporty" version of those trucks also used the basic headlight and grille arrangement, just painted in body color.

From looking at my 1996 Suburban (transfer case let go at just over 260,000 miles, and divorce leaves me no budget to fix it at this time, even though the 454 engine is fine), I can tell you that those plastic lights WILL eventually degrade.

I miss my 1993 'burban. I bought a turbo diesel front bumper, and mounted rectangular driving lights inside the bumper openings. Too bad I let that (undamaged) bumper go after my wife totalled the rig in a slow rollover.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Driving lights that were on my Saab 99 Turbo years ago, then on a '77 Ford F250 -- and are still there, while it sits in the shop awaiting completion of an engine swap -- would be a pretty good choice for you:

Cibie series 190 Oscar+ H2 driving lights. They're about 7½" diameter, not too thick front to rear, and put out a pretty good driving beam.

 

[-Virgil-]

Switching the grill is not a bad idea, but I don't have much time to time to switch the grill (work 6+ days a week these days). It is much easier to throw on a set of aftermarket lights

True but much harder to find something that will work safely, effectively, and legally in traffic/with low beams. Driving lamps (aux high beams) are easy, but totally incompatible with traffic/low beams. Not impossible, just harder. In your position I think I'd pick up a pair of these housings (also available in silver-gray paint instead of chrome under p/n 64011; also available from Truck-Lite or Signal-State as #652H silver-gray, #653H chrome, or #657H black). It's an empty heavy-duty housing that will accept a whole bunch of different beam units. Stern had some really nice Hella H1 low beam units that fit them, a few years ago (don't know if he still does; ask him). There are good fog beams that fit, there are good spot beams that fit, there are good driving beams that fit...if your preferences or needs change, you can swap out just the beam unit.

 

[irsa76]

GM-Holden imported the Suburban here in 1997-98 and used seperate rectangle headlights in the stock housings, they look like Camaro units. There was also a number of the similar shape trucks imported for Ambulance conversions that used quad Hella 5 3/4" round headlights, includeing projector low beam! These used modified GMC grilles.

Didn't Hella do an Aux LOW beam light at one stage? As for fog lights, Australia doesn't get much fog. Lightforce do not make good foglights, the fact one of their demo cars has IPF foglights in the bullbar is rather funny.
I'd run Hella or Cibie if possible.

 

[-Virgil-]

GM-Holden imported the Suburban here in 1997-98 and used seperate rectangle headlights in the stock housings, they look like Camaro units.

They're not. The '93-'97 Camaro used 50mm x 135mm sealed beams. These lamps are 92mm x 150mm (still too small). The export versions like you show got quad H4s. Reflectors by Bosch, lenses by Guide. The low beams are only low beams, and the high beams are only high beams, and only two wires run to each lamp, despite the H4 bulb containing two filaments.

There was also a number of the similar shape trucks imported for Ambulance conversions that used quad Hella 5 3/4" round headlights, includeing projector low beam! These used modified GMC grilles.

Wild, hadn't seen that one before. The parts (brackets, etc.) available at a GM-Holden dealer? There is an E-code version of the 1-piece aero composite headlamp for these trucks, right-hand traffic only, though. Made by Arteb in Brazil (who also make the E-code taillights for these trucks, with amber turn, red brake/tail, and white reverse functions).

Didn't Hella do an Aux LOW beam light at one stage?

Yes, based on the 550 fog lamp.