A couple of questions about the Hella 500s. I want to get my son some lights for his truck (and yes, he will be MUCH more appreciative than that other db!) for Christmas.

1. Are the Hella 500s any good? They are almost half the cost of KC daylighters and other Hella lights.

2. What is the difference between the 500s and the 500FF? I looked at the Hella websight but can't seem to find and difference.

3. Does anyone have a detail, drawing, or cad file of their light tabs? I would like to try and fab some as it looks pretty straight forward, but all the pics I find only show the tab above the bumber. I can't see any of the bends in it.

Thanks, Sam

 

Hella has good lights, if i hadn't found my Dick Cepek's ($115 for four) on ebay, they would have been my second choice.
Whatever this freeform technology is, thats the difference.
What are you going to mount the lights on? rollbar? Bullbar? i have a great detail of my brackets for my rollbar, could probably snap a picture if you want.

 

500 are more like pencil beams and 500ffs are more like fogs if i remember correctly. the only difference i see is 500ff has a clear lens and the 500s have reflector looking things that bend the light (the reason i think these are the pencil beams)..
i have 3 hella 500 ffs and 2 500s on my roof rack and i love them, money well spent.
as far as tabs and mounting where do you think he will want to mount them?

 

I just did Hellas, they are bright enough for me. When I was buying them, i compared them to the FF's and all the specs were the same so I just got the regular Hellas.

 

55w wasn't enough for me. 130 FTW.

 

You've got that backwards. The standard lenses that are more clear, throw the light straight ahead in more of a spot type of beam. The lenses with the ridges in them scatter the light into more of a fog type of beam. I've got the 700FF models and they're a straight (spot/driving) beam. I had the rippled 500 series and the beam was much wider and didn't project near the same distance because the light was spread out.

Hella Headlight and Auxiliary Lamp Beam Patterns


GB :)

 

He wants to mount them above the bumber. I know underdog sells the bar and everything, but I can't get it before Christams. It really doesn't look all that difficult to do. My biggest issue is time. Maybe the tabs-light bar won't happen for Christmas.

What about this - four lights across the front like 500-500FF-500FF-500?

Sam

 

Heres my set up,

500FF,500,500,500FF



Full 180 coverage up front lol

 

That's the setup he's after. I showed him a picture of your truck and he really liked it.

Are the 500FFs angled out and the 500s tipped down?

 

I've got the 500 Black Magics and they seem to work great so far. I'd like a higher wattage bulb, though.

 

I just found the How to make light tabs! The only thing I can't see is just what exactly the tabs are bolted to? Are they bolted to the bumber bracket?

 

If you look closely at the pic posted in this thread, you'll see the ends of his bar meet up with the ends of the dip in the bumper. Look straight down behind that and it becomes apparent which bolts you'll use.

In my old setup I had four mounted the exact same way.




GB :)

 

yeah up until 05 the rangers had a 2 bolts on the bumper (right where the bumpers dips to a valley in the front) that didnt really do anything except make it easy do but on driving lamps

 

Well it looks simple enough. Hopefully I can get it done this weekend.

Thanks for all of the help.

 

No they are both angled straight but the 500's have a slight pitch to both sides.





Hope that helps

 

Thanks for the info. We'll be lit up for Christmas!