Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2003 10:26:03 -0400
Reply-To: "Walker, Phil" <Phil.Walker@BROOKS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "Walker, Phil" <Phil.Walker@BROOKS.COM>
Subject: Re: Extra Headlight Question + Driving Lights?
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Joel,
Thanks for the information. This is good stuff...I hope you don't mind but I
forwarded it to the list for future reference.
I wonder, what is a better solution: getting a set of auxiliary lows (like
the Hella XL's) or going with the E code rectangular. Has anyone done both
and has a comparison opinion?
-Phil
-----Original Message-----
From: Joel Walker [mailto:jwalker17@earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 7:27 AM
To: Walker, Phil
Subject: Re: Extra Headlight Question + Driving Lights?
> (Big $$$), I was wondering the possibility of mounting some
Hellas on/above
> the front bumper that would be connected to the low beams. Is
there any
> reason why this would not be possible or legal? I would think
it would be
> just like have fog lights. I'm not a lighting expert, but I
would imagine
> you can buy extra lights with whatever pattern you want.
Offroad truck guys
> have lights mounted all over the place. Has anyone done this?
you can get two types for extra light on low beams ...
- fog lights (low, wide beam) ... bosch, hella, cibie, and others
make these.
- auxilliary lights (low, wide, but more like low beam headlights
than fog lights). hella makes these.
then you have a choice of style. there are round ones, square
ones, rectangular ones, and those dufus 'projector' ones that you
see on all the cars with big wheels and wings on the back. :) as
far as i can see, you're much better off with a name brand, like
Hella or Cibie (i don't like Bosch lights ... tried some and they
had a very weird pattern ... just a thin line of light) and
choose either round or rectangular.
i really really like my Cibie Oscar Plus fog lights. but they are
huge .. 7 inches in diameter. :) same size as the 80-85 round
headlights on the vanagons. but they put out light in a low wide
beam that goes out about 600 feet. really. and they go way out to
the sides, much more than normal low beam headlights. Hella makes
some good ones, too, that are not as big and do almost as well.
and are probably a lot cheaper. the cibie's aren't exactly cheap.
:(
but you want to mount them on TOP of your bumper ... don't even
think about putting them under the bumper. i lost two sets of fog
lights before i finally figured out it wasn't gonna work. be sure
you do not block the airflow to the radiator, too. i put mine
between the radiator lower grill and the turn signals.
be SURE to wire the fog/aux lights up with a relay!!!
> Another question: When people refer to driving lights are they
talking about
> the highs, the lows, or something different? I've heard this
term but never
> really paid enough attention to the context to understand the
meaning.
driving lights, traditionally, are for looooong distance seeing
down a straight road. so they would be used only with high beam
headlights. they are mounted as high as you can get them on the
vehicle ... for off roading, this is on top of the jeep or
whatever. higher means you can see farther. driving lights have a
very narrow but powerful beam ... they are intended usually to
light up only the lane you are in, but for maybe 2000 or 3000
feet. i have some on one bus that are rated at 6000 feet.
useless. yeah, you can actually see the next mile marker on the
interstate, when i have them on, but they are so bright that
there is never any place to use them ... too much traffic on the
roads. now, if i ever go down to baja california at night, i'm
ready! ;)
what is legal is fog lights come on with low beams and go off
with high beams; driving lights come on with high beams and go
off with low beams.
what i did was to wire the fog lights into the parking lights
(instead of the low beams). that way, if it's really rainy or
foggy, i can turn on only the parking lights and fog lights
(separate switch) and i can see a lot better ... not nearly as
much glare coming back into the windshield. this is very helpful
in dense fog or blowing snow (learned that in chicago!). but if i
turn on the low beams, then the fog lights will stay on when i go
to high beams, and technically, this isn't legal. so i have to be
careful to turn the fog lights off if i go to high beams. but i
figured, if i need high beams, i don't need the fog lights
anyway. :)
good luck!
joel
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