Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can I get some reccommendations for some good hunting lights, either off-road or fog lights that can be mounted in front of the grill? Preferably in the $300-400 range.

Aaron I would reccomend the IPF 968/868. They are 100w hybrid lights. That is what I have and they work great.
Here is a review on a tacoma http://tacomaterritory.com/wiki/index.php/IPF_968_Driving/Fog_Lamps

If you are looking at putting out that much money go with the Light Force. Unbreakable, Ajustable (spot to flood). Plus throw in one of there spotlights.
http://www.lightforce.com/

not sure on the legality of them in TX while on paved, or unpaved, road, but KC slimlites titanium. They have a 130watt H3 ice blue halogen bulb and there's 3 different versions to choose from: driving, long range, and fog. They come in a pair per pack and run around $170-200. For 3-400 you could go PIAAs but I don't know much on those. I just know they are pricey!

AAron, you may want to check the legality of anything over 55 watts. Most states only allow 55's. I have 55 watt Hella lights and they are bright enough.
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Steve W.

I have searched the traffic laws, and there is no law on the wattage that I can find. You can only have two auxillary lights on at a time though, even that is somewhat mistated in the law (law basiccally states you can have two fogs, two driving etc). Ask chrish, we have talked about it looked it up, but he did get a ticket. As I said I run 100w combo driving/fog lights. AS Stated in other posts, I have passed ALOT of DPS officers this weekend looking fopr reasons to pull you over. AS long as I am courteous and turn them off I have yet to have a problem.

Aaron, I have PIAA fog lights that are wired by themselves so I can control them. I also rig my brights to run at the same time as my regular lights. (it is easy on an older honda).

Last year it was like a wall of lights coming at ya on the road. As far as legality I can say this. Most of the time if you turn them off when you see another car you will be fine. It is normally (and I say normally) the folks that don't dim or turn there lights off that get in trouble.

PIAA's are expensive but worth it.

Take Care,

Steven

Hella 500 series DRIVING lights 62 bucks at walmart. Work very well and are very bright if you would like to stay at 55watts.

is enough times 2 and a hella lot cheaper to replace. Warning of state laws of most states, it is unlawful to drive with add on off road lights with brights on. Therefore no dealer, licensed mechanic will knowingly hook them up that way. Big deal ! Get a toggle switch/rocker switch and hook them up to your hot wire or better yet directly to the battery with in-line fuse of course. I know of only one person to get a ticket for using off road lamps with high beams and yes, it was on 118 where he refused to turn them off at the big hill outside Alpine where he flamed a DPS unit.
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I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......

Thank you all for your reccommendations so far. I am thinking of going with the Hella Raylle 4000 series, they are like $250-300 for a pair $100 for installation. My next question is do you think I should go with the fog lights, driving lights or euro lights? What are euro lights? Do you think the fog lights would be better because they would light up a broader area and I could always drive a little slower to compensate for distance? Or do the driving lights cover the whole road anyway?
Rob I have not seen the combo lights and that is very intriguing too, I am going to ask about those when I go to the shop.

I like the driving lights that shoot far ahead. The regular headlight beam does enough for the close-up for me.
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Steve W.

My next question is do you think I should go with the fog lights, driving lights or euro lights? What are euro lights?

Euro lights are the yellow fog lights - useless for roadhunting.

Do you think the fog lights would be better because they would light up a broader area and I could always drive a little slower to compensate for distance? Or do the driving lights cover the whole road anyway?

I much prefer having a set of fog lights on the car, but it really depends on the vehicle. With some vehicles, the headlights put out a wide beam but it doesn't penetrate very far. Other vehicles (like my truck) put out plenty of power (distance) but they are high enough that you don't throw light up close. That's why I like having fog lights to light up the road under the high beams. And fog lights help the most when they are mounted as low as possible.

The other beauty of foglights is that you don't have to dim them when other cars approach, so you can keep hunting as other vehicles pass.

There are a couple of legal issues.

As Rob said, I have been pulled over twice (never ticketed though) for driving with 6 lights burning (two pairs of fogs with my low beams). I wasn't road hunting either time. In Texas at least, you can only have 4 lights burning.

Also, as someone pointed out, there are rules about fog lights. In most states, fog lights can't be on when the high beams are on (ooops, mine are - my bad!).

There is also maximum height that fog lights can be mounted (mine are actually about 1 inch too high, but I haven't run into any LE with metersticks yet).

I have the standard fog lights which came with my Tundra (on with low beams only) and an accessory set of PIAA 60XTs on my brush guard. This year I replaced the 5 year old PIAA bulbs in the fog lamps (and my headlamps) with Sylvania Silverstars and man does it make a diffence!

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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

They put a lot more light out... only draw back is the white light looks brighter to oncoming traffic. So I have a bunch of people that ask me what my high beams look like.

Lance

Thanks for all your suggestions. My brights do not work because the switch is out. New switches cost $270. Since my brights suck to begin with I decided to spend a little more and get the offroad lights.
I found out the law here says driving lights must be installed to come on only when the brights are on. Fog lights have no such regulation so my only legal choice appears to be the fog lights unless I also want to spend the $270 to get the brights fixed. I am just gonna go with the fog lights. Thanks again.