Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 20:48:55 -0500
Reply-To: James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: 91 Westy - SA Grill upgrade?
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuLVcZb2XrcWdJsnxYo07upNz71fYHz9AxFrnTbUWmFdBA@mail.gmail.com>
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Don, thanks for the warning about aiming Euro pattern lights. I can see that the height from the road of the Vanagon headlights could pose an aiming problem, compared to the '83 VW Rabbit that was the last vehicle I 'upfitted' with Euro H4 headlights.
The Truck-Lite headlights mentioned by other posters might address this problem, as most heavy trucks have their headlights high up from the road as well.
In Europe, some vehicles came with manual (or automatic) headlight level adjusters - even cheap cars, like French Citroen 2CVs or Russian Ladas. Sometimes I think that might be a nice feature on our vans.
James
Ottawa, ON
> Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 05:45:26 -0800
> From: dhanson928@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: 91 Westy - SA Grill upgrade?
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
> I have some Hella (I think they are Hella, not Bosch) in the H4 euro
> light pattern in my 84 tin top, with westie interior and rather stock tires
> and wheels, etc. While these are a huge improvement over the standard
> stock round headlights, the angle between the high beam and the low beam is
> slightly wrong for our vanagons....or at least it is in my van.
> I carefully and repeatedly have followed the Stern Lighting website
> lighting aiming instructional video on how to aim your headlights, but
> there seems to be slightly too great an angle between the high and low
> beams....when you have the high beam aimed perfectly, the low beam is
> shining down too close in front of the van...If you aim the low beams
> correctly, the high beams hit too high...miles down the highway or on the
> hills behind the road surface. The beams must be aimed for vehicles with
> a much lower headlight mounting height above the road, or something..
> It's not really a bad fault, the lights not aiming properly, but it is
> irritating to not be able to aim the lights exactly right, to KNOW that
> each beam IS more effective if the lights are aimed for that beam, but the
> other beam is then going to be noticeably wrong.
> So, due to the built-in beam angles, you must slightly and carefully
> compromise the aim to get the lighting at it's best....As I said...a huge
> improvement, the Euro-lights, over the factory lights and well worth the
> slight money but don't waste your time trying to get the aim just
> perfect...it probably won't be possible...
>
> On Sat, Nov 15, 2014 at 9:25 PM, James <jk_eaton@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > We have H6054s in the rectangular grill in our '91, as installed by a
> > previous owner. He/she also put in the necessary buckets, I think out of a
> > Ford pickup, but the fit is loose (the lights need re-aimed regularly, just
> > from road vibration). The H6054 light pattern is poor, and an upgrade is
> > something I intend to do down the road, probably to Hellas or Cibies as
> > sold by Daniel Stern. Had not seen these LED light before - I wonder about
> > their light pattern, especially on low beam?
> >
> > The H6054s don't fit all that well in the rectangular grill - the PO
> > shaved off some of the plastic around them, and still the grill doesn't sit
> > quite flush - more plastic trimming/grinding is needed, and I think the
> > grill pushing on the light frames is one of the reasons the lights go out
> > of aim easily.
> >
> > James
> > '91 Weekender
> >
> > > Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 12:37:43 -0800
> > > From: sailingfc@DSLEXTREME.COM
> > > Subject: Re: 91 Westy - SA Grill upgrade?
> > > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > >
> > > Semi-hijacking this thread.
> > >
> > >
> > http://www.truck-lite.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=92027&langId=-1
> > > (same as)
> > > http://tinyurl.com/lnf79t4
> > >
> > > Has anyone looked into fitting these into the square grill? A bit
> > pricey,
> > > but they probably would be the last headlights you would ever buy.
> > >
> > > -Dick-
> > > 87 Syncro (Blaze)
> > >
> > > On Fri, Nov 14, 2014 at 12:15 PM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@busdepot.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > > I had the same situation w/ a broken round headlight grille &
> > replaced
> > > > it w/ the
> > > > > Euro/SA style grille & lights.
> > > > > I think it looks great, BUT the grille is prone to be broken, which
> > mine
> > > > has,
> > > > > Now I need a new SA grille only, but as far as I can tell, I need to
> > buy
> > > > the whole kit
> > > > > again
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > We don't normally sell the grill separately, but if you originally
> > bought
> > > > the kit from us and need a replacement grill (or other replacement
> > parts),
> > > > shoot me an email and we'll see what we can arrange. (If you bought it
> > > > elsewhere, you may want to ask the seller if they will do the same.)
> > > >
> > > > Ron Salmon
> > > > The Bus Depot, Inc.
> > > > www.busdepot.com
> > > >
> >
> >
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