PIAA 520 MSR

[Peter Weber]

Matt

I'm toying with the idea of getting a set of 520 MSR lamps when they become available. Maybe you can give me a little more info. I checked the PIAA website and all it basically says there is that they have a multi-surface reflector and a clear, non-fluted lens. Is that the difference compared to the current 520 model?

I would be getting the driving lights. Could they be hooked directly to the high beams without wiring them separately to the battery or would they fry the existing wires? Also, I would want to have them on the high beam switch so they would come when I turn on the high beams. Is that feasable?

TIA

 

[mattadams]

well Peter, you asked the right guy... sortof...
I haven't seen the 520 MSR's yet, although I am anxious to.
The difference you alude to is basically the only difference I know of between the MSR's and the regular ion crystal 520's. Both the driving and fog 520's are "fluted" (the driving have the flutes over the center portion of the lamp only, the fog has the flutes throughout). Both driving and fog both currently have the amberish "ion crystal" lens so it will be bright, but yellow (which I kinda like, but some would prefer clear). Also, for wiring to the high beams, here's how I'd do it... (since hooking to existing wiring would probably fry your wiring)
Hook the 520's up to the battery as you normally would. Connect to relay as you normally would. Then there should be 3 wires heading from the relay to the switch, a ground,a power, and the switch wire itself. Clip the power and the ground and cover them so the wire isn't exposed. Take the "switch" wire and splice it into the hi-beam wire (as i recall, my headlights have three wires going into them, one is obviously ground (it's black), which leaves two. One will be lo-beam and one will be hi-beam. Pick the one that looks more unusual then the other and thats probably the hi-beam (for example, my hi-beam and lo-beam are the same exact color wiring, but the hi-beam has a black stripe going down the side. Before splicing, a voltmeter is a handy tool and will save you time . This way, the PIAA's are getting the power they want, but they still come on with the factory switch!

 

[soupbone]

Matt

I wonder could one just swap the MSR lens with the regular 520 lens? I wonder if theyre the same except the lens. I guess im so hung up on white light and not yellow.. hehe

 

[mattadams]

soupbone, its my understanding that yes, you will be able to just swap out the lenses. Just liker ight now if you want the PIAA 520 fog's and get the drivings, but knwo someone else who has the fog's but has the driving's you can just swap the lenses (ask Ray Lobato and tdavis) . They will have the same dimensions,same wattage and same bulbs.

 

[soupbone]

Well isnt that cool! I was thinking fogs on the manik guard and driving on the roof. Or should it be vice versa? How much is it for a replacement lens anyways?

thanks

 

[mattadams]

fogs lower, driving upper, pretty good rule to follow . It sounds like your thinking of getting the regular fogs then swapping out the lenses? I wouldn't recommend it unless you have someone in mind to swap you for the yellow lenses afterwords... replacement lenses can get to be a bit pricy.

 

[Peter Weber]

Matt

Thanks for the info and installation guide . But you forget you're talking to someone who's never wired up any lights. So when you talk about 'like you normally would' doesn't mean much to me since I don't know what normal is.

But we'll get all that straightened out later. Just be forewarned that if and when I get some lights, I'll be bugging you. But hey, what are friends for.

 

[mattadams]

oh ok, well the PIAA wiring harness makes it super simple, nothing to figure out. You've got the relay, and its got wires coming out of it in three directions. One direction is to the switch, one direction is to the battery, and one direction is to the lights. For the battery side it's pretty simple, two wires, one is white and one is black. White goes to positive, black goes to negative. Then the wires going to the direction of the lights can be hooked up (simple connectors, can't get them backwards as they have special plugs to prevent that). Then there are two wires that head to the switch, one is black, and one is white. Cut the black one at the relay, and cover the end with electrical tape or something so it is not exposed. The other white wire route along to your headlights and splice it into the hi-beam wire. PIAA Includes a 1-piece connector to make this splicing easy and I've found it works quite well.

 

[soupbone]

This place claims to sell em.


http://www.truckperformance.com/featured.brand/?brandname=PIAA

Weird how the new product is less expensive at $187 compared to $193 for the ION crystal. What cha think Matt?

 

[mattadams]

they very well could have been released I have no idea... I hadn't been told they HAD been released, but I hadn't been told they hadn't either, LOL.

 

[mattadams]

well, I just noticed that the PIAA 520 MSR's are on the cover of Four-Wheeler magazine this month,s o apparently they have been released .

 

[soupbone]

Hehe cool! So do they have a review or something? Is the bulb a H3 55w or 85w. Oh and not to get off topic but are the 60XT driving any good? Id like to be like you and have lights on the roof but I like the rectangular look up top.

 

[mattadams]

no they don'th ave a review, they are just mounted on the vehicle thats on the cover. I'll call Monday about pricing on them. As for the 60 XT's, i think there pretty good... we gave away a set of them at Moab, I think Guy won them, i never heard if he got them mounted up or not. By the way, the 520 MSR's are 85 watts.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Since the new 520 is a multi surfice reflector the type, fog/driving, of light beam is determined by the light housing(reflector) and not the lense as in the old 520's.
You could probably put the new lense on an old lamp but who knows what kind of a beam you would get.
Nice try though...

 

[mattadams]

I wasn't necessarily referring to just the lens,but the lens system iself. THis includes not just the lens itself but the bulb and basically everything inside the lamp housing. Basically, the "guts" of the light

 

[Bill Kemp]

OK , Now I got ya....

The lense would also be attached to the reflector and all the lamp body does is hold the reflector/lense.

Ya, don't know why just switching lenses wouldnt work.

 

[soupbone]

remote switches

Matt,

Im thinking about installing the lights on my own but I dont want to drill the firewall to install the switch. Looks pretty straight forward but have you tested the PIAA remote switches? Do they work cool? How much are the switches and the lamp locks?

 

[mattadams]

I had the remote switches when I had my 98 F-150. They were fine, except I still had to go through the firewall because of the way I wanted mine wired (through the radio). They seemed to work pretty consistantly, I don't know what they go for though. I know the lamp locks go for about $27.50 a pair.

 

[leebo]

just watch out for garage openers.

A friend of mine had his turned on a few times by somebodies opener. Other than that he loved them.

 

[soupbone]

Oh my! Id hope that it turns them ON and then OFF! Id hate to have a dead battery in the morning. Im wondering are the light locks really necessary. Anybody ever had their lights stolen? Maybe it depends on where you live.