What's the Best Off Road Lighting for the buck?

[hi_c]

What's the best off-road lighting kit for the cheapest dollar? I already owned a set of Wal-Mart "off-road" crap that died in 8 months and you can't replace just the bulb. I found some Hella 500 series for $69 for the kit which includes 2 lamps, wiring, 2 covers and a switch. They are only 55watts though. KC has the next cheapest kit at $99 for the Daylighters. What do you like?

C

 

[bryanjeep]

I like the KC daylighters, I think best for the buck but I never did see Hella's in action.

 

[jeepfan555]

In my opinion I would go with the hella's, I have had the KC's on my first jeep and now the hella 500's on my new jeep, and i am much happier with the cheaper hella's.

 

[laneiac]

I have the KC 130watt slimlites. Awesome light for $115.

 

[Craig]

I used to have the chrome KC's on my old truck. KC guarantees the lights for something like 25 years but mine started to rust after a month. I live next to the ocean so we get a lot of salt in the air here. The lights worked good but if you do decide to get KC's, get the stainless ones if you don't want to keep going back for warranty replacements. I now have the Explorer Pro Comps 130W Stainless on my jeep and they work great. At the time I purchased these, they were the best bang for your buck. Another good brand that I don't know what prices are like is IPF which is made by ARB.

 

[95yj]

Full Doors

check out the pro comps from 4 wheel parts i got a pr and a wiring kit for around 80.00 $

 

[Nymisus]

I just ordered the 150 watt KC daylight kit...anyone installed these on a warn bumper before?? I have 2 holes for lights but have never wired anything before...also, do I need to get another battery setup?? I plan on getting 2 safari lights for my windshield soon....any tips would help

 

[west747]

best bang for the buck when it comes to lights are the high beams :lol: :lol:

 

[hi_c]

good one, West. I guess I should have said auxillary lighting. I live by the ocean as well and things here rust quicker than a steel horse product. So stainless is definitely the way to go... but what about a plastic housing? hmmmm?

C

 

[K-Phat]

I just put a set of KC Daylighters on my windsheild not to long ago. They are the 150wat and they light it up like crazy. Not all that hard to wire in either. Only bad thing is that they heat up so much that they start to melt the light grill guards :?

 

[ecor]

Oil Filter upgrade

The hella 500 is by far our most popular light. Like you said it is 55w with a plastic housing and sells for $69. Our next most popular is the pro comp 130W 6" stainless steel light. They are much brighter and seem to work well. We are in the snow belt and have a lot of winter salt on the road and have nobody complaining about them. The set with the wire harness sells for $105. The KC's I had a lot of problems with rust on and stopped sellling them for a while. I think the product went down hill since they started selling them at K-mart ( tried to make them cheaper)

Hope this helps

 

[jps4jeep]

I have two sets of hella 500's on the front of my YJ my only gripe, and it is a small on, In extreme cold, those covers just crack and fall apart if you touch them, but again this is like -20 degrees and after about 3 years of use. I have had mine for almost 5 years, got lucky and picked em up for $45 a pair at a local auto supply store that was having this huge sale. I had KC 135's and they get awfully hot! I cracked on lens after submerging a real hot lens into cold water on a wheeling trip! But this was also soooo long ago, they probably have improved since!

Johnny

PS I think you can see them in my avatar

 

[BakedAlaskan]

My experience is big bright beams on the front hardly get used. They never are aimed were you need them and most of the time someone is in front of you on the trail making the use a mute point. A Hand held spot light for when you need a look around is awesome. Then some lighting for all around you.

One of my favorite lights is the rubber housing round tractor lights you find at Napa. They come with a 35 watt flood bulb and are great for under the chassis lights. They also have 100 watt aviation spots bulbs that fit the housings. Plus amber flood, and many other combonations. The floods are great for reverse lights, left and right, or rock climbing type set ups. Tuff as nails and cheapola!! $12-$16.

They also draw very little amps so a 15amp toggle switch is all you need per pair.

 

[JeredYJ]

Yeah, a friend of mine has four KC's that are pumping like a million candlepower each -he even upgraded his alternator to accomodate... yet I have NEVER seen them used. I suggest going with the cheapies and spending money on stuff to keep from gettin' stuck.

 

[Tug-n-pull]

Rear Drive Shaft U-Joint Yoke Size

Buy used lights on eBay. I have a real problem paying full price for any thing. You can get a good set of KC's with rust all ready on them real cheep there. Don't forget the to add a good back up light say 150 watts shotgun pattern to spread out back there. I really like to see where I am going even in reverse. I for one do get plenty of use from my add on lighting. They can be aimed and kept in line if you put a little effort into them and mount them where they do not hit thing up front when rolling thru the woods. tug