Quote:
Originally Posted by 2000mc
Hey Alaric, do you know if there are any aftermarket led units with a beam pattern similar to low beam headlights and suitable for highway use?
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Pricey, but
these in the right hand traffic low beam (#0549211) would fit the bill. Aim them as you would a low beam, wire them to turn off when you activate the high beams. Mount them so the lamp center is exactly at, or below, the lamp center of your existing low beams (but not TOO low, they lose their usefulness when too low). Be careful not to block view of your turn signals and front position lights.
They're useful for when the traffic is too dense for high beams, but moving too fast to just use a single set of low beams (for most cars, 50mph is the limit you can really see effectively on low beams, and 45 is a more realistic figure).
I have Hella XLs on my Previa (they're halogen) and have made driving on the interstate a lot less nervewracking, because their HB2-based headlamps have a rather mediocre low beam.
[There are worse lamps out there (at least they're not the HB1 (9004)), but their lenses have lost some of their clarity and the reflectors are probably shot (despite LOOKING great).] The problem with interstate driving is often you have cars approaching from the other direction, or traveling in your direction in front of you, close enough to where high beams will be dangerously glaring-- but they'll also be far enough away to where you're overdriving your low beams' useful range if you're also going at interstate speeds. The auxiliary lows give you the extra seeing distance (not because they're pointed out farther, but because they're putting out more light in the same pattern) you need to go 65mph+.
It's a shame that SAE J582 was canceled without replacement, because the auxiliary low beam is
much more useful than fog lamps for most drivers, and possibly more useful than auxiliary high beams for most drivers.