Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 07:38:13 -0500 (EST)
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: RGOLEN@umassd.edu
Subject: Re: Lighting - HighPower Bulbs
I want to add my $.02 worth on th eJC Whipme bulbs. I, like Dan, put a set
in my EuroVan.....the first one died in two months (Dan you were lucky!;-) )
The other one I just took out the other day. I was having problem with the
low beam on the remaining bulb starting to run dimly....so a couple of times
I jiggled the connector and the light would be ok for a couple of days.
After a week or so, this began to become annoying, so I dug out my remaining
stock bulb and replaced the JC WHipme bulb. WHen I did that I was APPALLED!!
The lowbeam terminal on the bulb was corroded....and caused so much
resistance in the circuit that the terminal on the plug actually heated up
and melted the plastic on the plug.
I feel that these bulbs (made in one of the former iron curtain countries)
like most stuff from JC Whipme are CRAP!!! BEWARE!!
Now on to what you can do for more light. My wife and I used to rally a Golf
GTI, and we had lots of auxiliary lights (driving & fog). This past spring I
mounted a pair of Hella 210 fogs (9" wide and 4" tall) under the front
bumper just ahead of the indentations on the front bumper. Given the fact
that bumper is "flexible", I used some bar stock to reinforce the mounting
areas. The lamps work great!
In a T4 accessory catalogue I received from Norway, VW of Norway sells Hella
1000 driving lights (about 8" in diameter). From the picture, the lamps are
mounted on the bumper. I have a pair of those driving lights, and also run a
bra on my EV. Mounting the bra, shouldn't effect the driving lights.
The Hella's have two mounting brackets...the first one is on the bottom, and
allows the lights to be mounted on the bumper. The second mounting bracket
comes off of the top of the light, and is essentially an adjustable strap.
The strap should mount on the radiator support frame, between the grille and
the hood. The bra on my EV only comes up to the top of the grille, and the
upper mounting staps should sit in the space between the top of the lower
part of the bra and the hood.
I won't have a definitave answer until spring...its too damn cold to mount
the lights!!!
As always, make sure when you mount your lights (fogs or driving) that you
use a relay to draw power from the battery.
BTW, VWUS claims that they do not sell a fog light switch for the EV...but
the fog light switch from a pre-94 Passat is the same switch!!
LIGHT ON!!! .... or was it Right on?
Ric