Pickup trucks headlights evaluated

BenK wrote:
DOT still does not have a good spec requirement yet...

Best are still E-Code and have been putting them on my vehicles since the 70's...but
the new free form headlights are tough to find E-Code...why my Sub doesn't have
E-Code lamps

Haven't seen any LED E-Code yet, but am sure they are out there and/or coming

Never liked HID. To welders out there...think of a plasma cutter...that
is what HID headlamps are...a tiny plasma arc inside a bulb

Too high in K and not enough color. Washes out the image

The biggie for me is their strike voltage...that can be +20,000 volts and why
there is special wiring...that the transformer is mounted away from the very
front of the vehicle...emergency responders are taught to avoid them...

That strike voltage is nothing compared to the output of your electronic ignition module for gassers. Some are over 100kv.

This helps me when driving dark back roads.

Turn off fog lights, turn off screens on GPS and cellular telephone. Turn dash lights to minimum... Why? This:

Less ambient light increases pupil dilation. Bigger pupils means more light for the eyes.

DOT still does not have a good spec requirement yet...

Best are still E-Code and have been putting them on my vehicles since the 70's...but
the new free form headlights are tough to find E-Code...why my Sub doesn't have
E-Code lamps

Haven't seen any LED E-Code yet, but am sure they are out there and/or coming

Never liked HID. To welders out there...think of a plasma cutter...that
is what HID headlamps are...a tiny plasma arc inside a bulb

Too high in K and not enough color. Washes out the image

The biggie for me is their strike voltage...that can be +20,000 volts and why
there is special wiring...that the transformer is mounted away from the very
front of the vehicle...emergency responders are taught to avoid them...

The 2014+ CTS has amazing lights. I found the 2016 Suburban LTZ to have great lights. The 2017 Envision had lights that made many people turn on their highbeams and not turn them off when I flashed that I did not have mine on. My Express is adequate. My 2001 Venture got replacements, a wiring harness, and direct connection to the battery.

thomasmnile wrote:

Must be Florida sun and if the vehicle is parked outside all the time. My '05 Ram I've 'restored' 3 times since owning it, goes right back to fogged within a year. Toyota, which used to be pretty good (wife's 16 year old Camry is just starting to fog) is not as good as once was if the headlights on my daughter's '04 Corolla is any indication. Raging case of 'cataracts'; I've given up on them, even after using the 3M restoration kit, which is probably as good as any on the market.

You need to apply a new clear coat. They're continuously hazing over, and hazed over in the first place, because the original clear coat is gone. After you strip off the haze, you have to protect the surface underneath or it will eventually haze over again. You can try with all kinds of waxes and polishes, but they'll eventually wash off. A can of non yellowing, UV resistant clear gloss spray paint is all that you need. Something that will bond to plastic. Rust-oleum's American Accents works well.

SouthpawHD wrote:
What I find odd is that 2016 GMC HD trucks come standard with HID lights, but the 2016 Chevys do not. Why not make them standard on all of them?

The 2016 GM half-tons have HIDs on all (or at least most) trucks. The new HIDs are fantastic from what I have read, despite what the article said.

Those HID's are reflected in the up-charge you pay for the GMC logo. Chevrolet was and is a working mans car line. They are at the bottom of the GM pecking order.

Don

ktmrfs wrote:

thomasmnile wrote:
Light intensity aside, millions to the supplier that can manufacture a polycarbonate lenses that doesn't start clouding over a couple a years after you purchase ANY new vehicle.

NOT ANY!!!! For example the polycarbonate lense on our 04 Silverado are as clear as new. And the polycarbonate lenses on my 97 Mercedes E-420 is also clear as new.

But I've seen other makes/models that turn yellow and cloud up after a few years.

If you maintain your vehicle and wash and wax it and this includes the headlamps you will not have any yellowing. My 04 was sold with the stock headlamps with zero yellowing at 153,000 miles and being 10 years old.

Instead of having low beam the manufacturers could put vertical polarizing lenses on the headlights and then have horizontal polarizing windshields on their vehicles. Then they could focus on intensity but then again if the future is camera and Gps guidance with radar monitoring the road ahead the need for good lighting will soon be something of the past.

JIMNLIN wrote:

You have projector beam headlights. They are supposed to be like that so you don't blind oncoming drivers as much.
If you raise the housings up, you will get people flashing you because your light be be very bright in their eyes.

I meet other new model trucks on our county and rural state 2 lane highways that aren't very level. As the trucks front goes up momentarily their low beams are bright....and when the trucks front back goes down their lights look normal or very dim depending on angle of the truck. The affect at a distance looks like their flashing their head lights.

I know what you are saying.

And Im just saying it is what it is. If you adjust the housings higher to raise the cutoff, you will blind others and they will flash you because you are blinding them.

I have HID projectors in one of my vehicles. They are excellent, but have a very sharp cutoff line. The line you describe as not liking is the cutoff.


I personally think almost all headlights are way better than years past. But the downfall is, others lights are brighter as well and their lights restrict our pupils and makes our own lights appear dimmer in traffic. Also our own brighter lights reflecting off of large road signs, such as exit signs, reflect so much light it restricts our pupils as well.

You have projector beam headlights. They are supposed to be like that so you don't blind oncoming drivers as much.
If you raise the housings up, you will get people flashing you because your light be be very bright in their eyes.

I meet other new model trucks on our county and rural state 2 lane highways that aren't very level. As the trucks front goes up momentarily their low beams are bright....and when the trucks front back goes down their lights look normal or very dim depending on angle of the truck. The affect at a distance looks like their flashing their head lights.