PIAA 520's...

Ok, I want to get some of these lights. I know Matt Adams has them, you will probably see this and read it, so here are the questions. Can they be mounted on the stock bumper? I will try to pull it out as far as it goes. And, I found them at carparts.com for somehting around $211 for the black. Does this include everything? All the wiring and stuff?? Are they hard to wire up? I am sure they aren;t for you[matt[ because you hae like 3 or 4 sets. But how are they wired? I am also thiking of getting the PIAA replacement 9004's for my explorer also since I wasn't lucky enough to win a pair. Do these go for $70? Also, is it a really noticeable difference? Are they street legal?? I will be buying these from carparts.com for a total of $198 with shipping, with the coupon.

 

[mattadams]

no sweat. I hope you'll be able to find a good spot to mount em. ANd if you can't take em to a fabs hop or a four-wheeling shop or something and tell em to weld some light tabs on to your bumper. Ever certain exhaust places would probably be willing to give it a try . Hope they wouk good for you.

I'm planning on taking a bunch of before/after pics. I'm also putting PIAA's superwhite H3 bulbs in my existing PIAA 80 XT driving lights, so I'm doing before/afters of that as well. I'll add pictures of hiding wires in the ceiling and pictures of the different switches to the list . I have the switches PIAA supplied with each set. Check out this review here... http://www.off-road.com/isuzu/PIAA.html there is an image of the switches that I think still come with the 520's. Mine looks approximately like those but different slightly (has a light indicating green or red - light is off or on). The switch for some of the other ones (like the 80 XT's) looks different, but I'll take some pictures to show you. I now have two different kinds of switches - the kind that comes with the 520s (the type in that picture) and the other kind that only mounts horizontally hanging from somethign, such as teh bottom of the dash. http://www.off-road.com/hummer/products/piaa/80pro.html <--theres a picture of the switch there, though its incredibly small. WHen I put on the PIAA 80 Racing lights, I'll have one more type of PIAA switch - a dual mode switch (the 80 racing have a low beam and a hi beam!) I also plan on playing with the switches a bit while doing my massive reinstall project. What I mean is trying to hook up one switch to two sets, etc. I'll let you know how that goes as well.

AT one point I considered getting some aftermarket switches for the lights but after doing some research found they were not as reliable, and PIAA's certainly flow better, look better, and of course come with the lifetime warranty.

 

[rock883]

Well, if I need a tab welded to the bumper, I can just do it myself at work. I learned how to at school, and at work they have an arc welder, so I could do it there if I could get there after school before they close up. Thanks for the pics. If the one for the 520's is like the one in the pic, I think it doesn't look all that bad, and I think it does look better than the hella green switch. Thanks for the links and all, can't wait to get these things, whats taking you so long carparts.com!!! Well, I am gonna go and try out my explorer off-road today if I can get a hold of some of my friends.

 

[mattadams]

Rock - do me a favor though and try everything you can to get it to fit on the bumper without welding, and then send me detailed pictures of the install. It'd be great to say "see, it does fit on a stock explorer bumper!!!" I have no doubt it will, but lets watch and see!

 

[rock883]

Well, Matt, I got them today, unexpectidly (spelled wrong). My brother came down with a package, and I looked at the label and it said carparts.com...Opened it up and voila, there they were, the 520's and the 9004's. But I went out, and I took all the wiring apart, put the lamps on, ran the wire for the switch through the firewall, then ran the other wires, and put the power and ground on the battery terminals. You know those little lights that show whwn 4x4 is on, parking brake is on, and all that good stuff?? I put the switch right below them and ran the wires under the dash trim, I didn't have to take it out or anything, it just kinda gave way and I pushed it back. The lights look awesome, I just have to wait till tonight to test them out and aim them. I am gonna take some before and after pics of the superwhites, and take a pic of the switch location. I like the swithc actually, it looks pretty cool. Thanks for talkin with me . Oh, they didn't come with a sticker, wanna mail me one? Do you want me to send you a stamp or somethin, or are you gonna send me one for free?? I would like a small one. E-mail me for my address, and if I need to send you soe money or somethin, tell me, so I can give you my address.

 

[mattadams]

I told you they were easy man! Can't wait to see the before/after pics! E-mail me with your address I'll get you some stickers.

 

[mattadams]

Geez I just was reading through and I realized I never responded to the question about how many watts the stock headlight was. The stock headlight is 45w/65w. Don't think driving lights that are 140 watts will be twice as bright as your brights, because the wattage doesn't always work like that. My PIAA 80 XT's are 120 watts each and shine for way further then my brights, and much brighter as well. It's dependant upon the design of the lamp/wiring/relays, etc. The PIAA Superwhites use the existing 45w/65w wiring and relays to product a light that is equal to 85/110 watt lights.

 

[rock883]

Hey Matt, I just read your other post, and yes they fit easily on the stock bumper. I bet if the bumper wasn't out all the way they would still go on just fine, I put them almost right on the curve of the bumper and there is a good inch, inch and a half behind them.