Which lights would be best for night driving?

[Snal]

I'm looking into the hella 500FFs and the 700FFs. I wanna use them as my regular driving lights at night so I'm putting them on the front. which would be best? I wanna get 4 so should I just get a set of each?

 

[6.2]

Uh, kinda illegal to use Offroad lights as full time driving lights....

 

[James86]

Uh, kinda illegal to use Offroad lights as full time driving lights....

If the package doesn't say "Off Road Use Only," or if it does say "DOT Approved" you can probably get away with it. I never got pulled over for my hellas on the Cherokee, nor for the lights in the grille on my Ranger, and I've passed more than a few cops in the last 6-7 years. Just, for God's sake, make sure they're AIMED correctly so nobody gets blinded. I'd suggest making sure you're using the appropriate housing/reflecter for your application, and pay attention to mounting height. I mounted mine so that they help like extra lowbeams for when I'm using my high beams, but they also cast light to the sides fairly well, which has helped me spot more than a few deer getting ready to run across the road.

 

[Snal]

they say for rural night driving. I'm gonna put on on the bumper in the front. Which lights did you have? on their site it looks like the 700 are pretty broad and the 500's are more of a high beam type light.

 

[killj0y]

you mean like on the road? Probably not a good idea man. Whats wrong with your headlights? I have mine rigged up with my high beams so they come on at the same time, but on low beam they stay off so i don't get into any trouble with the law.

 

[Snal]

my headlights are crap. I got em as cheap as I could off ebay so they're dim as can be and they always fall out of aim. I don't want off road lights. I'm slowly building a runner and I'm gonna run rigid light bars below the bumper and over the windshield.

 

[RangerSVT]

Uh, kinda illegal to use Offroad lights as full time driving lights....

FYI, if they are mounted on a rollbar or lightbar above the cab, they are considered (by law enforcement) as offroading lights and are illegal to use on the road. If they are mounted on the bumper, brush guard, or similar at or below bumper height they are considered driving lights and are legal to use on the road, no matter how bright they are or what they say on the box...

SVT

 

[adsm08]

you mean like on the road? Probably not a good idea man. Whats wrong with your headlights? I have mine rigged up with my high beams so they come on at the same time, but on low beam they stay off so i don't get into any trouble with the law.

Yup, stay out of PA with that setup. I'm pretty sure our DOT is gonna say you have them backwards.

my headlights are crap. I got em as cheap as I could off ebay so they're dim as can be and they always fall out of aim.

Ok, so what was wrong with the factory lights?

 

[--weezl--]

if you turn them off when vehicles are coming at you, which you should regardless of brand, i highly doubt you will get in trouble for using them...

canadian law, driving lights must turn off when the high beams are turned off, and fog lights must turn off when the high beams are turned on, that is the biggest difference between them

 

[6.2]

FYI, if they are mounted on a rollbar or lightbar above the cab, they are considered (by law enforcement) as offroading lights and are illegal to use on the road. If they are mounted on the bumper, brush guard, or similar at or below bumper height they are considered driving lights and are legal to use on the road, no matter how bright they are or what they say on the box...

SVT

I highly doubt this
But maybe that's how it is where you live.

 

[--weezl--]

oh yeah, just because it doesn't say "for offroad use" on the box, that doesn't mean shit... it has to say "street legal" or DOT approved for you to be able to use it... ignorance is no excuse for the law

 

[Snal]

Back to my original question. 700ff lights seem like they're more broad than focused like low beams on a car, according to the beam pattern shown on their site. Does anyone have experience with these lights or are we gonna argue about what the box says

 

[Snal]

http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/default/auxiliary-lamps/halogen-lamps/

Check out what I mean by the beam pattern

 

[--weezl--]

i don't know where you've been, but if it's on this site, and we have the option, we'll just argue about what it says on the box... i would suggest not giving us the option...

i would suggest something like the ipf 968's they have a dual reflector setup, so half of the light is flooded out, the other half is projected down range

 

[daniel3507]

What color is the box? The color of the box is going to be one of the more important issues here. Also, what shape is the box?

Also from my understanding just because it says DOT does not mean its street legal. If your headlights are that had I would seriously consider replacing them first and add off road lights later. Regardless of beam pattern the most important thing is aiming them properly. I would worry a wider beam would be too blinding to on coming drivers but that could also be an issue with driving beams.
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