Pickup trucks headlights evaluated

GoPackGo wrote:
Years ago when all US cars had those wonderful sealed beams, I started putting Euro spec Cibie headlights in my vehicles (separate lenses and bulbs). I was astonished at the results. My cars had the 7" round lights. Really lit up the road on low beam - Had a very sharp cutoff. And on high beam I think I could see from one end of the county to the other.

Oh how I remember those days too.

Most of my cars had 7" round lights. First order of the day when I got a car was to put in Cibies or Bosch headlights. Light was awesome. Then I discovered Wipacs. They lit up the road even better. Can't remember for sure but I think they didn't have the deflector in them.
Sure could see good with those things.
I wonder why today's lights are for the most part, so dismal.....
Probably some dumb regulation or something,

GoPackGo wrote:
My cars had the 7" round lights. Really lit up the road on low beam - Had a very sharp cutoff.

Truck-Lite developed a DOT LED headlamp a few years ago, which started out being only for military vehicles. Later on they developed it in a 12 volt application. I have them in my Jeep now.
They are pretty sweet: 7" round headlight

Years ago when all US cars had those wonderful sealed beams, I started putting Euro spec Cibie headlights in my vehicles (separate lenses and bulbs). I was astonished at the results. My cars had the 7" round lights. Really lit up the road on low beam - Had a very sharp cutoff. And on high beam I think I could see from one end of the county to the other. I would actually go out at night and drive country roads just to see how they worked. We are so very far behind Europe on this subject that it's not funny. My '13 F350 is awful.

rickeoni wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
I wish the LEO's would start ticketing those drivers with the colored headlamps! Seems to me that would be a better money maker then a 7 MPH speeding ticket! The law does not allow high powered or colored headlamps and those bulbs are sold with the disclaimer "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY"!

Don

Earlier in this thread you wrote

"All I did was re-adjusted the headlights on my Ram. Parked in front of the garage door at night moved the right headlamp up one inch and the left headlamp half of an inch up. Truck was sitting about 20' from the door.

Now I can see just fine. The other drivers (mostly small cars) are not very happy but that's life. I try and make sure I'm over to the right a little at stop lights, otherwise the poor person in front of me get blinded (again small cars). "


Why are you against others blinding you, but have no problem blinding others?

Did I say anything about the colored headlamps blinding anyone???? Nope I didn't.

The issue with the colored lamps are they produce less light then a regular headlamp. That would be why the are sold for "OFF ROAD USE ONLY". I never said a thing about higher wattage lamps.

Also if you read my post you copied you will see I only moved the drivers side up one half of one inch and the passager side one inch with the truck sitting 20' from my garage door.

The issue is only with small low ridding cars and only seems to afect them when I'm sitting behinde them at a red light or stop sign. I have not noticed that I'm getting flashed anymore then I did before I bumped the lights up.

Don

Or worse H.I.D. pnp kits in a halogen housing.

Driving in the city...lighting isn't that important...street lamps and the other
vehicle headlamps light pretty much everything needed to see...

Out on the road, it is another matter and depends on the terrain & how you drive

Night vision out there needs to have very low ambient as posted above...turn down
your dash lights and everything else inside the vehicle

Folks who re-wire up everything should know that, that is only a good thing when
going slow...if going fast...too much light close by hampers good vision for speed

For lighting up something close only distracts, as if going fast...there is NO TIME
nor will the vehicle react to avoid...lighting up the distance is the way to go and
why turning on low beams and fog lamps NOT the thing to do

The angle of view (eyeball height to the lamp bulb height should have distance.
The closer they are to each other, the less contrasting shadowing to help seeing
what it is...

Towing has way too many have their rear drop more than their fronts...to have
their headlamps pointing too high. Worse with those who have HID's and/or some
other higher wattage lamps.

Add to that, very poor DOT lighting specifications. Scatter is way too much vs
E-Code, which has almost no scatter. Someone mentioned that, that cut off is too
much...well...that is a a GOOD thing for on coming vehicles. If you need to see
above that cutoff...you are going too fast for those conditions

Here is what a good E-Code beam looks like with almost no scatter


Good E-Code beam


Here is what a not so good E-Code beam looks like. Notice the scatter above
the cutoff...that will get into the eyes of oncoming



Here is a DOT beam and notice the scatter above their attempt of a cutoff



This is a HOW2 aim E-Code lamps. Traditional E-Code on the left and the 'z' version
on the right


Another HOW2 aim your headlamps

transamz9 wrote:

rickeoni wrote:
High beams are brighter in halogen bulbs because the reflector is different and the bulb usually has no cap paint, but the low beam and high beam bulbs have the same wattage, usually 55 watts. In projector style of headlights there is a flap that moves to allow more of the light to escape the lens, but uses only one bulb. If it is a H.I.D. bulb it is usually driven by a 35 watt ballast. As to the coloured bulbs, if you add a film to a halogen bulb too fool the eye into making it look whiter it actually lowers the lumens, resulting in a lower light output. H.I.D. bulbs are rated on the Kelvin scale with 4300K being the brightest and is what most O.E. manufacturers use. Once again as you go up the Kelvin scale to get to the bluer colours you lose light output.

One of biggest problems with aftermarket products now is the pnp

H.I.D. kits on the market. These illegal kits scatter light everywhere because a halogen reflector bowl is not designed to focus the light of an H.I.D. bulb. The second problem is people with misaligned headlights, how many cars on the road today have on headlight aimed too high? You can always spot the ones that Marty Feldman aimed.

if you feel the need to fill in the dead spot in front of the vehicle when driving turn on the fog lights. While this actually makes your night vision worse, it fools the brain into thinking that it is brighter.

My 2013 Ram came factory with 55 watt low beams and 65 watt high beam halogen bulbs as do most two bulb systems.;)

I stand corrected on the wattage issue, but if you look at pictures of the bulbs you will notice the biggest difference is the black cap on the tips of the low beam bulb vs the lack of it on the high beam bulb, unless you have a HIR bulb which is a whole different technology again.

trail-explorer wrote:

rickeoni wrote:

if you feel the need to fill in the dead spot in front of the vehicle when driving turn on the fog lights.

I have a pair of these fog lights and they are the best fog lights I have ever had. DOT Legal LED fog light

He is right. It's a proven fact that driving with fog lights on makes your night vision worse. The brightness up close from your fogs restrict your pupils.
So while you can see better what you are about to hit, you see worse down the road on how to avoid it in the first place.

rickeoni wrote:

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
I wish the LEO's would start ticketing those drivers with the colored headlamps! Seems to me that would be a better money maker then a 7 MPH speeding ticket! The law does not allow high powered or colored headlamps and those bulbs are sold with the disclaimer "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY"!

Don

Earlier in this thread you wrote

"All I did was re-adjusted the headlights on my Ram. Parked in front of the garage door at night moved the right headlamp up one inch and the left headlamp half of an inch up. Truck was sitting about 20' from the door.

Now I can see just fine. The other drivers (mostly small cars) are not very happy but that's life. I try and make sure I'm over to the right a little at stop lights, otherwise the poor person in front of me get blinded (again small cars). "


Why are you against others blinding you, but have no problem blinding others?

X2.
Do as I say, not as I do.......lol

rickeoni wrote:
High beams are brighter in halogen bulbs because the reflector is different and the bulb usually has no cap paint, but the low beam and high beam bulbs have the same wattage, usually 55 watts. In projector style of headlights there is a flap that moves to allow more of the light to escape the lens, but uses only one bulb. If it is a H.I.D. bulb it is usually driven by a 35 watt ballast. As to the coloured bulbs, if you add a film to a halogen bulb too fool the eye into making it look whiter it actually lowers the lumens, resulting in a lower light output. H.I.D. bulbs are rated on the Kelvin scale with 4300K being the brightest and is what most O.E. manufacturers use. Once again as you go up the Kelvin scale to get to the bluer colours you lose light output.

One of biggest problems with aftermarket products now is the pnp H.I.D. kits on the market. These illegal kits scatter light everywhere because a halogen reflector bowl is not designed to focus the light of an H.I.D. bulb. The second problem is people with misaligned headlights, how many cars on the road today have on headlight aimed too high? You can always spot the ones that Marty Feldman aimed.

if you feel the need to fill in the dead spot in front of the vehicle when driving turn on the fog lights. While this actually makes your night vision worse, it fools the brain into thinking that it is brighter.

My 2013 Ram came factory with 55 watt low beams and 65 watt high beam halogen bulbs as do most two bulb systems.;)