Couple Hella 500 questions

Does anyone leave the rock guards OFF 24/7. my xj is a dd with about 4" of lift and i would like to use the 500's every night, but I dont want to crack the lenses.

Also, as long as i aim them correctly, I won't be blinding any oncoming drivers, will i? Mounted in front of the grill.

Has anyone done the hella 500 HID conversion. I want to do it and use the 500 HID's whenever i use my regular headlights, but again, i don't want to blind oncoming drivers.

I left the rock guards off all the time. Never cracked the lenses....well, until that benz got in the way! I had mine mounted on the stock bumper and an ARB. The ARB wouldn't let them aim high enough to blind anyone and I got a few people flashing their lights at me when I forgot to turn them off! Check Bajahid.com for HID's.

It may be illegal to run with offroad lights on the road in your state. Check your local legislation or ask a cop - usually they're quite a bit more friendly when you ask beforehand than if you get stopped I believe some states even require you to put the covers on when on-road.

Myself, I keep my cheap ($50 for the pair on ebay) chinese offroad lights aimed properly, and follow hi-beam rules while using them. I got pulled over by a cop a while ago (who was doing a speed trap, but I wasn't speeding) when he noticed one of my headlights was out, he said nothing about my offroad lights. That was in VT just off i89, we were the only two cars on the road late at night.

I have three on my bumper with 100W bulbs. I have them aimed to help with high beams. I dont belive you could get away with running them as lowbeam helpers.

I never had the rock guards on mine for three years with no problems.

I run mine all the time on the road, work third shift and use the backroads quite a bit. Never got much grief about not having covers, but have not run into a copper at night with them on either.