PIAA 580's or Warn Lights??

[Alan06SUT]

OK, Im getting the warn light bar and want to know opinions, pros/cons of each type of light. I already did a search and found liitle on comaring the two. Also it seems like the way to go is two driving lights on the outsides and two spot lights on the inside. Is that a good set up why/why not. I just want good light for driving on dark roads, and for setting up camp or working on **** at night. Thanks in advance.

[Alan06SUT]

OK, Im getting the warn light bar and want to know opinions, pros/cons of each type of light. I already did a search and found liitle on comaring the two. Also it seems like the way to go is two driving lights on the outsides and two spot lights on the inside. Is that a good set up why/why not. I just want good light for driving on dark roads, and for setting up camp or working on **** at night. Thanks in advance.

[ree]

Like Phil, I prefer the look of the PIAAs.

Functionally, I can't comment yet. I just got mine today and still have to mount them. I also can't comment on the Warn lights...never used or seen them in action.

But, I would think that for setting up camp and work at night, the fog lights would be more useful than the driving and spots/pencils. But with the grill on an unlifted H2 about 40" above ground, I don't think the fogs can function very well as fogs on the light bar.

I sort of had the same goals as you, but until I get a location for a third pair of lights, I'm going to try fogs and driving on the light bar. If that doesn't pan out, I'll get some spots/pencils for the light bar and probably move the fogs up on the roof somehow. I should be able to add some more useful comments on this setup by next week.

I'll add that the PIAA stock switch has to go. It's not real pretty. This isn't a big deal as I want to hack the wiring and hook the lights to the ignition switched SEO ACCY circuit (see other posts). I've seen pictures of the Warn switches mounted in the H2 and the style is tolerable (again search for the other posts). So if ease of integration is a concern consider this.

[Alan06SUT]

Thanks for the replies. I am leaning to the 580's. As for the switches, I remeber seeing someones h2 with them up in the overhead console. It looked looked almost stock. They were round rockers w/ a light to indicate "on". Are those the PIAA ones?

[Beastmaster]

PIAA switches that come with most light kits are oval with a pushbutton. They are lit so that it's indicating whether they are on or off.

[rodster]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Alan06SUT:
Thanks for the replies. I am leaning to the 580's. As for the switches, I remeber seeing someones h2 with them up in the overhead console. It looked looked almost stock. They were round rockers w/ a light to indicate "on". Are those the PIAA ones? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The PIAA switches are different than what you've seen. Found this pic online; that's the switch.




The round rocker switches with the "on" LED look good. Got mine at Radio Shack.

[ree]

Yes, the ones rodster posted are the ones that come with the light.

FYI,
Here's a thread that has a lot of ideas and links out to other threads for other switches and mounting techniques that'll probably give you some good ideas.

If you plan to mount the switch on the overhead console, PhilD scanned the factory light bar instructions ages ago (see here) and they contain some steps that may explain how to route wires up there.

[Navigator]

I have the 580's 2 pencil and 3 foods. Sandra from Gobi got me 3 switches that match the factory H2 switch. I probably have the PIAA switches somewhere if some one needs them.

[ROX]

PIAA 580's on the roof rack. 2 fogs on outside, 2 drivers inside. I aimed them at the top of the hi-beams and so far am really happy with them. I love the Xtreme white light. Its very bright. The wide fog lights aimed out allow me to see around dark corners at night easier than with hi-beams. It's pretty cool how well it works. I almost wish I could try pencil beams in the middle, instead of drivers, to see how much farther the light goes in front of the vehicle, but I might put those on the brush guard. Overall, its a happy setup.

I mounted the Radio Shack switches like the ones in the photo above, and left enough room in between for a tilt-o-meter.

[ree]

Alan06SUT,
I just got my 580's installed and tested them out for the first time tonight at night. I went with two fogs on the outside of the warn bar and two drivers in the middle.

They are nice and bright. The color is much whiter than the stock headlamps. I can't tell if it has a blue tint like others have suggested as there's just too much brilliantly white snow here to tell for sure.

I got the lights on e-bay. One was last model year and the other the current model year. There was a design change in the black covers. The newer ones are glossier. I emailed PIAA and they are sending me a second set of the new glossier ones free of charge. Great deal, PIAA was very generous about this.

I haven't fine tuned the aim, but my rough mounting of the drivers happened to put them both nearly overlapping at the center of the hotspots about 200 feet away and they don't seem to bleed too much off to the sides. So I might put off doing pencils for a while. I haven't tried it out on the highway much yet, though.

My camera's getting repaired due to a faulty Sony CCD, so I haven't taken any pictures of the light patterns, but I plan to once I get it back.

I haven't yet replaced the stock PIAA switches. I found some DC rated mini rockers small enough so I think I can put two of them side-by-side into the "blank" below the rear washer switch instead of using the larger, round radio shack style rockers that most people have used (picts on next posts).

Stylewise, they're a departure from the dash style, but I think they'll fit okay. I found them here for about $4.50 a piece (follow the second link in the body for "mini rocker switches.") I take the plunge tomorrow to hack up my switch assemby and find out if this'll work for sure.

[ree]

American Technology's mini rocker switch available at v-sales.com.

[ree]

American Technology's mini rocker dimensions and schematics.

[JamesT]

WARNS see for a picture http://elcova.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/2606011751/m/3...971086941#6971086941

[ree]

For those curious about switch alternatives, I finally mounted the mini rockers I described above under the rear wiper switch.

Because they are rectangular, I drew cutouts on the black plastic using pencil, roughed out the holes with a dremel, and then very slowly and carefully used an xacto knife to carve out to the edges of my cutout drawings. I had to hack a lot of the wiper switch frame out in order to fit these because they're deep and they're two of them, but I got it to fit.

Below's the finished product. It certainly doesn't match the H2's dash styling, but they're compact and in a convenient single location rather than having two of the larger switches overhead or slopped on the dash or worse, spread between that blank and the one under the tow button in the center console.


BTW, I still plan to get some night shots of the light pattern...after it warms up a bit.

[alldunn]

I went with 4 Warn SDB-160 Dual Beam Spot Lights on the front using the Warn light bar. I pretty much copied James on the Switch install, but can't find a pic. I am very impressed with the Warn lights, but like others here can't comment on other brands becasue I haven't used them. Here is a recent day shot.

[JamesT]

Looks great! Good choice.

[ree]

And here's a poser pic of the PIAA 580s. I really like the way they line up with the headlights when viewed from the front.

[Alan06SUT]

I ordered the PIAA's and warn bar from trail duty. They said they cant get any more warn light bars until jan 18 so they are sending me one with minor blemishes for $20. I thought that was more than fair, Im sure it wont be that beat up as they get good feedback from people here.