Advice on spotlights

[sypher]

Hi all,

looking at installing a couple of spotlights to the D40. I was looking at the Narva Blue Ultima 225.

Should I be looking at a combination or two wide beams? Also are the blue lights legal?

Thanks Shaun

 

[nismo4x4]

if ur gonna spend $300+ in lights have u considered lf 240 blitz?

tinge of blue is legal... in QLD anyway

 

[Old.Tony]

If the shop's selling them "for off-road use only" then you can bet they're not legal for road use, otherwise you should be fine with them.

Narva isn't a bad brand - they may not be up to the standard of Lightforce lights, but they won't be shabby. If those lights appeal to you and your pocket doesn't object then I wouldn't say no.

Plenty of opinion already in these forums on the type of lights to use. Personally I have a spot on the right for distance and a flood on the left for area viewing. I don't have enough light on tight forest trails at night, so I'm looking at running lights as well (we discussed this when we met at The Rock, but needs to be said here too for the other readers' benefit).

Out on the outback highways there was an advantage in having the spot beam, and being able to see a kilometre ahead. If you only intend to do forest and close work, maybe a pair of floods would suit you better. If you angle them out just a little, maybe you'll also cover the ground around the front of the vehicle and resolve the issue I have in the forests where I've got blackness just around those tight bends.

The law states you can have a maximum of 6 lights up front. You could go a pair of high power in a spot/flood mix, and a pair of lower power floods for close range stuff. It all depends on what you want to do. Your alternator could certainly handle it, so there's no need to worry about the electrical side of things.

 

[sypher]

I havent really looked into it a great deal brandwise, as looking at others navaras on the forum a few have had the narvas. $300 I thought was on the cheap side?? I was looking on ebay and found the narvas for $310 with harness etc and the 240 blitz are around $385 with no harness etc.

I virtually know nothing about spotlights.

Thanks for the great info Tony. I think I have some more researching to do!

Shaun

 

[steve99]

I have a pair of these on my D40. They are both spread beam which I converted the HID 4300k 50w H1 and I think they are fantastic.

Rallye 4000 - Hella Spot Lights - Spot Lights - Accessories - Ultimate 4WD

 

[Deejay]

I have a pair of these on my D40. They are both spread beam which I converted the HID 4300k 50w H1 and I think they are fantastic.

Rallye 4000 - Hella Spot Lights - Spot Lights - Accessories - Ultimate 4WD

Here is a +1 for me on the Hella's. Great lights. You only need adjust them the first time, then throw the allen key away as they never go out of adjustment, even after 1000's of corrugated road kms.

Go with the double spread. I have one spread and one pencil and the pencils are too fine a beam for closer stuff. The spreads have a slightly wider beam as well as a pencil like spot in the centre. I'm going to add a second spread to make three Hella 4000's on the front (2 x Spread and 1 x Spot). I originally spaced my lights with this option in mind and will convert mine to HID also. I used 130w inserts in them for this trip and they were amazing.

I swear by them.

DJ

 

[Leprechaun]

If you go offroad, I'd be checking their waterproofing design, As far as I know IPFxs are the only lights that can be submerged.

 

[ants_oz]

Lights are an interesting one.....everyone will tell you the lights they have on their vehicle are the best lights available, or the ones they will recommend.

Having owned 7 4wd's and tried a variety of brands of lights, I will stick with IPF.

 

[WoodyD40]

Go with the double spread. I have one spread and one pencil and the pencils are too fine a beam for closer stuff. The spreads have a slightly wider beam as well as a pencil like spot in the centre.
DJ

I 2nd the above.

i have recently put two x 220 dia XXX brand lights on my car - one broad and one spot.

i am about to purchase a 2nd set of lights, keeping the broad on the front of the car, and then the spots will go up on the roof racks for long range work. I was thinking of also putting a smaller set of broads up on the roof rack for off road use (angled out), but i can always put them on at a later date if i think i really need them.

 

[KraftyPg]

I agree with antz lights are the sort of thing that divide people because everyone thinks theirs are the best. Like antz I've been running driving lights on all manner of vehicles for a long time and while I agree that IPF's are good lights that doesn't mean other brands don't preform as well.

Lights should be chosen by the task you want them to preform not by who says theirs are the best. Lights are not always about who can see the furthest, seeing 3 ks up the road to me is a waste of time, sure the bragging rights are good around the camp fire but I'm more interested in the wildlife that is sitting on the edge of the road 20 meters ahead of me because that's what going to cause potential problems, anything at the end of my long beams could be anywhere by the time I reach it.

The main factor anyone should have when using driving lights is to drive to the conditions in front of you, just because you've got all that light in front of you doesn't mean that 100 zone is always a 100 zone. One handy hint to remember is that a kangaroo can't jump backwards, if you see a roo facing the road there is a better than average chance that roo is going in front of you however anticipating that moves gets harder the faster you are moving towards it.

 

[Dave]

I am happy with my Narva's that have been converted to HID but I have never heard a bad word said about Hella Ralley 4000's.

Dave.

 

[Leprechaun]

I have a pair of IPFxs (spot and spread) and a pair of Cibie spreads on the front of my truck. Every time I do a few rivers crossings the Cibie's end up fogged up.
Use to have Hella's on the rally car, they were pretty good but the lenses would periodically pop out. Or perhaps it was the sudden stop into the trees that caused that??

 

[Dave]

Yeah I think hitting a tree is a reasonable reason as to why they would pop out.

Dave.

 

[ants_oz]

Best lamp I have ever owned for spread beam pattern was Cibie Oscar SC cornering lamp. Note the SC - not a standard Oscar, and not a Super Oscar. The cornering lamp in the SC is not the most common lamp in the range - they are not the "driving" lamp, and are not often stocked. But a fantastic pattern of light spread for Aus highways. All in a nice compact lamp package. My only complaint with them - as with a lot of lamps - was the ingress of dust and moisture in the scrub. Hence why I now use the IPF XS lights. No problems thus far even if they don't exhibit as good a spread pattern as the Oscar SC cornering lamp, by remaining clean inside the lens they should retain their light output longer. Time will tell I guess. But on my 4th set of IPF's over the years - been happy with all of them.

Wasn't happy with the longevity of Narva's - had a set of 175 size and my personal belief is they were cheaper for a reason. They didn't stand up to the rigours of off road work.

Hella - haven't used them so won't comment.

Lightforce - haven't used them so won't comment. Only comment I will make is that I personally know of 4 people who have had their lightforce lamps stolen - simply unscrewed and taken away leaving the post assembly on the bullbar....thanks very much....even took the globes....

Cibie - have used Oscar SC (VERY impressed with the quality of light distribution) and Super Oscars years ago. Must admit - I think the Super Oscars were a good light in their day, but technology seems to have passed them by....better lights out there for the money these days.

The interesting thing I find with lights however......the number of vehicles around with more and more lights fitted to the front end, when a decent PAIR of lights will do the job - drive within the limits of the vehicle - that includes the output of the lighting system. If you can't see, then slow down.

 

[KraftyPg]

Once upon a time all we used to fit was Hella's they were good, they lasted and other than Narva they were about the only ones on the market.

The'77 F100 which may get rebuilt this summer had a set of 175mm Hella's on it for as long as I can remember and apart from the odd globe blowing in the last 27 years they've always worked and worked well, they are a bit second hand now but I doubt any light would survive what they saw.

We had initial problems with 175 Narva's on cars, like antz said they appear to destruct themselves in rougher conditions and most of the conditions we used them under were country roads not offroad. Those problems seem to stop happening mid to late 90's though, seems they improved their build quality after that and we never had problems with them on cars from then on.

On the trucks however the Narva 225's always held up well, the bullbars could have been a firmer mount because although the trucks were traveling the same country roads the only time we ever had to replace the 225's was after hitting roos or cows.

I'm happy with my IPF's, I wouldn't change them and they do what I expect them too but had I not been lazy and got them fitted at the showroom I probably wouldn't have chosen them given that my experience has always been with Hellas and Narvas and neither have really let me down.

 

[Leprechaun]

Another thing I forgot about was the option of fitting a stabilizing bracket, If you do heaps of high speed gravel roads, the vibration causes the lights to flicker, very annoying.

 

[sypher]

Thanks for the replys and sharing your thoughts and experiences. I will keep looking into it and hopefully work out how to connect them up. I will have to wait until I can pay the tax bill I am expecting next week, so will have plenty of time to do some more research

Shaun

 

[sypher]

I have decided on the lightforce 240 Blitz. They dont come with a wiring harness. Should I be looking at a lightforce harness or another brand? I read somewhere on the forums that somebody wasnt happy with the lightforce harness. Should I also look at getting the anti theft nuts? At $35 a set, wouldnt there be a cheaper option?

Thanks for all the advice

Shaun