Help me pick some lights

chetos · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 1:45 pm

I want to add 2 lights on the front bumper. I've already got the stock driving/fog lights set in the grill. What should I get? My brights work well but there is a 'dead' zone right underneath the light path. I was thinking of Hella 500's or or the FF75. I like the FF75's a little better because they have smaller profile. So do I get a fog light or a driving light? I want something that will make evening off roading easier to see. Will these be legal to run on the highway as well? Thanks. I am kinda dumb in this area.

Gris · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 1:55 pm

my $.02...

I installed 3 sets FF75s under my roof rack. All 3 sets are the driving version.

However...

I was going to use Hella 500s on the front bumper. I like the lights uptop being a bit subdued. The one son the bumper, though, I want to be big and round.

If you are just filling in for the highs and want close lights to illumnate the ground offroad, I'd get fogs. Driving lights are more of a concentrated spotlight that can travel a greater distance, but has a narrow beam. The fogs disperse much quicker, but illuminated a wider area.

IMO, get Hella 500 fogs for the bumper.

JMLoughrey · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:17 pm

If you're going on the bumper definatly go with fogs. The wider range and the ground site is much nicer on a fog light that is mounted low. You'll have a nice field of vision along with having the ground infront of you lite up nicely while off-roading.

I put in driving lights on the bumper of my 03 Freedom edition and it was probably the worst mistake i've ever made, driving lights are very directinalized and i noticed everytime my jeep bounced at all you would see the beam just shoot off into the sky/trees.

gopherbeats · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 5:19 pm

I have Hella 500s on my bumper.
I love them, good illumination.. and the large 6 inch diameter of the Hellas compliment the head lights well.

asgates · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:48 pm

i just installed my hella 500s (driving) a couple of weeks ago. here is the link on this forum.

http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=10083

as long as you aim them properly, they work great.

smitty1938 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:28 pm

I also installed Hella 500 lamps on the bumper and have no compliants.

nickmv · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:30 pm

do any of yall who installed 500's on the bumper have a good writeup I could see?

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:31 pm

nickmv wrote:

do any of yall who installed 500's on the bumper have a good writeup I could see?

Those things are everywhere, search. I made a custon setup and put them on the front of the bumper. If you want the thread Ill find it for ya, ill be gone a couple of days though so it may be awhile.

nickmv · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 10:34 pm

well i searched but i couldnt seem to find any that were in great detail, and each had different ways of mounting them. I like to cover all bases before making any kind of decision. Basically I like to mentally install the whole thing before I even begin to order anything.

Gris · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:01 pm

YAY! 2nd set came in today and I got them installed. 3rd set is on order and should be here before the weekend. EBay is a pain in the but. Getting the FF75s for $35 a set shipped rocks, but you have to wait for the deals instead of getting em all at once.

I need to do some wire trimming too. There is so much slack that it won;t fit inside 3/4" conduit stuff. I think i'm going to snip them down the a more precise length and solder the connectors back on so there isn't as much slack.

asgates · **Posted:** Wed Jul 19, 2006 11:07 pm

nickmv,
this was the link i was given by "corwyyn" that has pics and measurements for drilling into the bumper.

http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2485&highlight=bumper+light

Quote:

Here's a link to a thread over on KJCountry where I posted some pics with dimensions. There are a couple of things I would suggest: 1) make the 1" dimension 1 1/4-1 1/2", it will make aiming the lights easier since they won't hit the grille. 2) use some silicon sealant or paint after you drill but before you mount the lights, especially since you are in an area where things tend to rust more (something we don't noramlly worry about in AZ). 3) Some flat fender washers between the brackets and the plastic will help to keep the plastic from getting scratched.

hope this helps

nickmv · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 12:41 am

yeah i saw that thread, thats the best one ive found so far. Did you actually have to drill into the frame, or just the bumper? The pics dont really show that, or atleast I don't think they do.

nickmv · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 1:34 am

aww heck, take a look at the box art for the 500's. If I can't get this done I'm gonna be embarassed.

UPDATE: I just found out that Hella sadly photoshopped the lights onto the KJ in the packaging. That's sad.

streetKJ · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:24 am

I installed my 500s like that picture. I had to take the front grille off (comes off with 4 screws on the top when you open the hood) and just drill through the grille. Only drawback is that you dont have a lot of sideways angle to aim, since the screw is on the back rather than on the bottom of the light.

Luckily I used to have a pair of Pilot halogen fog lights that we activated by a remote control, so I just swapped the connectors to the Hellas since its also a 55 watt system. Pilot sells the remote control system separately as well, for about $40 at Pep Boys or Autozone. I think its a lot easier than having to hardwire the Hella kit. The only problem is if you want to upgrade to higher wattage bulbs in the future, since the remote system is only rated for 55 watts.

asgates · **Posted:** Thu Jul 20, 2006 7:09 am

i just drilled into the frame. that way the lights have somthing solid to mount to.

KJScott · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 2:16 pm

sorry asgates, I PM'd you about this before I searched your posts, knew somone had to ask about you aux. lights before me!

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:18 pm

Its the bumper thats under the plastic bumper, not the frame. From what I gather, people drill over the holes the towhooks go in. That way they can watch whats going on and get the bolts on.

Here is what I did. Read to the end:

http://www.jeepkj.com/forums/viewtopic. ... ess+method

asgates · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 6:37 pm

i know that "frame" is the incorrect term for it, but i could not find a better term for it that made much sense. sorry about the confusion :lol:

Cacher123 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 04, 2006 8:55 am

I ordered som FF75s & FF50s & have a couple left if anyone needs some. See my seperate post in Items for sale by members if interested.

Help me pick some lights

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