3rd Gen HID vs LED vs Halogen H11 projector headlights

Enforcement of lighting laws would be beneficial, most of the vehicles that are the issue are not within the MVA and would fail Vehicle Inspection.

My father was an inspector at the Inspection facility at BCIT until it closed down. The building then converted to an Aircare Station. Now I am not sure what it is used for.

 

I very much agree with all said about aiming and inspections, but I will also throw this out there for consideration - and if I am off base on this, I please would like to know.

I have 33" tires and a lift. I had the work done through a local overlanding shop / Toyota dealership a few years back. When I went for my first night drive, my visibility was outright dangerous. It was really scary since my trip to my location was during the day and then had to drive home through some very dark and windy roads known for deer.

So, I did want any normal person would do, I DM'd @crashnburn80. He shared this with me on how to aim headlights (and fogs):

https://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

Using that against a wall at 25 ft, I could tell my headlights were aimed about 8" too low!

Turns out, the dealer thought to lower the aim to make up for the lift, which is actually commendable. However, they aimed my headlights in the spot they would for a non lifted truck against an aiming board like 4 to 8 feet away.

My local inspection place has a similar board. I took it there too in my diagnosing before any adjustment or re-aiming. They said I was right on, just like the dealer thought, since my hot spots were in the "recommended" area on the board.

Luckily, it was very easy for me to re-aim. However, that would make my headlights way out of compliance on my local inspection board. Unless, however, the inspection folks knew what proper aim was for a lifted tuck or just dont give a sh!t.

To the very point that should be better out there, I think it's the latter. The first time I got an inspection, I didn't say anything just to see what they would say. Nothing other than ask for my credit card and a shinny new sticker.

BTW - and not that this is the test out there - I have never been flashed by an oncoming car with my lows on over the span of about 3 years. Again, not the true test, and people may be numb to all the crazy headlights out there, but I do take some comfort in that. For context, I run H9s in my low beams.

Last point - big thanks to @crashnburn80 - as always. That said, I hope I got this right.

 

Lifted and lowered vehicles are another issue when is comes to headlights. In B.C., there are regulations that give a minimum and maximum height to the headlight. I am sure this measurement is the same across North America. Aiming is irrelevant when the headlight doesn't meet MVA criteria to begin with. This is why these new fullsize trucks with the huge front grilles and massive front light displays have the headlight low in the assembly. For a lifted vehicles, a relocated headlight may be necessary to comply with the MVA.

 

good to know. 1.37m = about 54 inches and if I recall, my headlights are at around 48 inches. So, that could be good to know since lifting to add 33's is pretty popular for the Tacoma.

 

I don't think my state (RI) checks the aim during inspection, only that the headlights work. The center of the headlight must be between 24" - 54". I'm sure they don't check that either. Vehicles under 9000lbs can't have a lift higher than 4", yet many of the larger pickups around here easily exceed that and still pass inspection.

 

I remember those days and they also checked if you had mounted proper snow tires, depending on what month your inspection was

 

And I swear, even corner stores here in the Fraser Valley are selling LED bulbs and every other dick has installed them them on their vehicles blinding drivers on the road

 

Somehow I missed this. In the UK in 2021 they legalized replacement LED headlight bulbs for vehicles manufactured before April 1986.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...mot-special-notice-01-21-headlamp-conversions

 

Wow. Seems like a misstep. At least theyre requiring them to pass the aim test. Am I right in saying their MOT shops use a real beamsetter to check aim? This may be "allowing" conversions, even though most will still fail.

 

Long read
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-ins...ectors-and-electrical-equipment#section-4-1-2

 

It does seem like not a good direction. The April 1986 requirement also seems arbitrary. So they are legal in some cars but not others and possibly the exact same car could fall on both sides, manufactured the same year but in different months. I’d speculate that was targeting sealed beam lamps, but uncertain.

 

Targeting sealed beams certainly makes sense. DOT Legal LED conversions on sealed beam headlights can really make a difference.

The company I work for, did a campaign a few years back, replacing all the sealed beam halogens to JW Speaker LED lamps on the older fleet vehicles. They were a huge improvement, although problematic at first. So many burned out drivers. We were replacing them regularly because they start putting out a yellowish orange light or flicker badly. The newer generation lights are much better.

 

This language makes it sound like they are talking about replacement LEDs in halogen assemblies vs replacement LED assemblies.

"Existing halogen headlamp units should not be converted to be used with high intensity discharge (HID) or light emitting diode (LED) bulbs."

"From 22 March 2021, we’re changing these rules so that not all motorcycles and vehicles will fail the MOT test if their halogen headlamp units have been converted to be used with HID or LED bulbs."

 

If that is the case, that doesn't make sense. Really would have to see how it gets worded in the official books. It does say 'converted', and I would interpret that as modified, not just having a bulbs throw into a stock housing.

 

What mounts did you use for your lights? I’m trying to put something like this together and have only found the nfab bar.

 

The Defunct Mobtown-made front recovery bar which was modified for me when I ordered it with tabs to mount lights not D-ring shackle mounts.

 

Anyone else heard of this? Never heard of this technology before.


These Are The World’s First Visible And Infrared Laser Headlights For Cars

 

There is no required vehicle testing here so no inforcement on vehicle modification

 

I’m stuck on these led matrix headlights I just found out existed.
The video looks like it was filmed with a potato, and brights/fog don’t mix but it makes for a really good demonstration of their functionality
https://giant.gfycat.com/JadedThickCob

 

Yep, discussed a few times in the thread and actually posted in post #6. Matrix LED lights were just approved for use in the US in 2022, they have been used in Europe for a while (not sure why I listed 2019 4 years ago in the quote). Many vehicles already have them installed, but need a software update to enable their functionality. My Tesla has matrix headlights, I hope to see an over-the-air update pushed to enable the matrix function.

Separately sort-of in having OEM laser headlights and available IR lights (though not from the factory). But I've not heard of them together in an OEM unit. Interesting ideas. It would be interesting if the IR could work better in differing conditions, for example I've had my Tesla camera's blinded from oncoming glare on a wet road where the sun comes out directly ahead of you. It was blinding to me the driver as well, so I tried to put the car in autopilot, only for the car to tell me it couldn't see either. Probably wouldn't be an issue for an IR camera. Would be interesting too it the IR lights kept snow at bay of the headlights.