Sport activity light question(s)

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sfeather11
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Sport activity light question(s)

Post by sfeather11 »

Hey all,
1) Anyone know what Hella model/series # the upper sport activity lights are? I'm finishing up a mini restoration of my ride and am painting the original lights. I want to get new light covers for them. Unfortunately The OEM covers were brittle and broke when I gently tried taking them off...

2) Anyone ever use oem lights regularly? Mine have been sitting in the garage for years now. and when I removed the covers they were quite foggy inside. I'm still trying to figure out how to clean inside them...

Any help or input appreciated... Peace!
Scott
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Guacamole
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by Guacamole »

Hella 500s look suspiciously similar.
http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/ ... ving-lamp/

EDIT: after browsing some forums, it looks like the Hella 500 series can't be taken apart to clean the lens without braking either the lens or the reflector (may be wrong, I don't have the sport lights or hellas so I can't see if this is true). That said, there is a complete Hella light kit for sale pretty cheap on amazon. You may be able to just switch out the light housing without completely redoing the wiring.
https://www.amazon.com/HELLA-005750952- ... B001TWD5KU
Last edited by Guacamole on Thu Oct 26, 2017 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tonys123
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Re: RE: Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by tonys123 »

Guacamole wrote:Hella 500s look suspiciously similar.
http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/ ... ving-lamp/
Anyone know where to get the subaru roof light

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Guacamole
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by Guacamole »

Subaru doesn't make them anymore, nor do they have any in a warehouse somewhere (I checked, lol). You'll have to buy third-party & DIY wiring. Don't worry, it's not that difficult though.
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w.rohr
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by w.rohr »

I had a pair of 500s on my big truck and they are much nicer then the stock, so if you already have the brackets and wiring in place it would take about 15 mins to swap out stock for new. I would recommend heat seal butt connectors to make it super easy, you can get them on amazon cheep.
sfeather11
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by sfeather11 »

Hey all,
Thanks for the good info. After seeing the pics, I've determined that these OEM lights are totally the same as the Hella 500s. The housings and brackets painted up real nice and other than the cloudiness in the lens, they look brand new again. I've got an idea on how to clean the fog out of the lens. I can get inside through the hole where the bulb goes. Was going to try pouring a little water inside and add something mildly abrasive to swish around. I might try that later today, order some generic covers and call this little project complete. If that doesnt work, I'll just pick up a set on Amazon for $50 and move on with life...

Peace! Scott [smilie=666.gif]
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by SpencerKG »

I know this is a year old thread, but for anyone reading with the same problem as sfeather11 here's a possible solution.
As mentioned in the last post you can access the inside by removing the lamp (bulb) and pouring water in. Use bar keepers friend. I would 2:1 ratio of water to BKF. Should be kind of thick. Just whirl that around for a little, and slowly add more and more water, swirling around every time. Pour it out, rinse, and if you can try waxing the inside? May be difficult. I know some people clear coat the inside. I don't actually own the Sport Activity lights nor the Hella 500's, but I've used BKF plenty of times.
Good luck to anyone viewing this in the future! :D
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by walfredo »

I am running Hella 500FF lights on my Baja on the OEM roof rack with the lights mounted to roof rack clips. They look identical to the Sport Activity Lights.

I ran the wiring through my roof rack, down into the drive side cabin underneath the ceiling liner and down through the A pillar and into the engine bay. I used a water proof electrical plug positioned where the wiring comes out of the cabin/roof rack so I can take the lights off but retain the wiring when I need to put on the ski or kayak rack.

For the switch, I decided to discard the Hella switch and just re-purpose the cargo light switch (next to the cruise) into the switch for the Hella's for a more OEM look. The Hella relay is using the same ground as my high beams so the Hella's switch on when I have the cargo switch light activated AND high beams on (subarus uses the ground and not the positive wire to switch our lights on and off - I was confused at first). I cut the wire running back to the cargo light so that is no longer active whatsoever (I dont miss it). The added bonus is that I get the dash light which tells me if the Hella's are active with my high beams or not. This way if I dont want my Hella's coming on with the high beams I can just not activate the cargo light switch and they stay off.

Sidebar - In hindsight I would run thicker wiring and do 100W bulbs in the Hella's. The 55W bulbs are ok, and definitely help improve light coverage, but I would like a tad more power.
BajaTim
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by BajaTim »

www.subarupartsamerica.com is showing Sport Activity Lights in stock for $305.95...


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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by BajaTim »

www.parts.com as well...


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BajaTim
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by BajaTim »

Question: Can we use (is it a good idea?) the Subaru Sport Activity Light wiring to supply power to non-OE roof mounted lights - I was thinking some of the newer LED Spot lights for minimal
power draw (fewer potential problems)?

Related question: Using the Sport Activity Light wiring - can we wire into the rear cargo bed lamp wiring so that we can use the cargo lamp switch (I have a 2005 U.S. AT Turbo so the switch is to left of steering wheel next to cruise control & fog lamp switches) to avoid having to engage the e-brake? I would have no problem illuminating the rear cargo area while using the roof lights and could replace the rear cargo bulb with an LED to further reduce draw.

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Tim


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kamesama980
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by kamesama980 »

BajaTim wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 12:35 pm Question: Can we use (is it a good idea?) the Subaru Sport Activity Light wiring to supply power to non-OE roof mounted lights - I was thinking some of the newer LED Spot lights for minimal
power draw (fewer potential problems)?

Related question: Using the Sport Activity Light wiring - can we wire into the rear cargo bed lamp wiring so that we can use the cargo lamp switch (I have a 2005 U.S. AT Turbo so the switch is to left of steering wheel next to cruise control & fog lamp switches) to avoid having to engage the e-brake? I would have no problem illuminating the rear cargo area while using the roof lights and could replace the rear cargo bulb with an LED to further reduce draw.
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Tim
Subaru would say "That's not covered under the warranty" but the warranty expired a decade ago anyway. As long as you don't exceed the current the fuse and wire is rated for you're good to go on both counts.
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BajaTim
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by BajaTim »

Forgot to say “thanks”!


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ZUBAJA
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Re: Sport activity light question(s)

Post by ZUBAJA »

Depending on your choice of "sport lights", my preference - and plan when I get around to installing mine, will be a separate fuse, powering a Bosch type relay, and the "stock" switch / wiring being used to activate the relay. Dennis
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