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  • Dr.Midnight

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    Jul 24, 2011
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    I was sitting at a stop light this morning getting ready to turn left on to South bound 37 and this is what I see across the highway. If you have your car decked out in so many LED lights that it looks like a miniature sun, you're starting to wander into douche nozzle territory.

    0BCt3Ex.jpg
     

    1775usmarine

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    Feb 15, 2013
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    This is why I carry a spotlight. Especially when they see you come over the hill 1/4 mile away and don't flip their high beams off till 4ft in front of you.
     

    KJQ6945

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    Aug 5, 2012
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    Like everything else, light technology has vastly improved. I bought a new truck last month, and I have had several people flash their brights at me. I didn't have my brights on.
     

    patience0830

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    Not far from the tree
    Like everything else, light technology has vastly improved. I bought a new truck last month, and I have had several people flash their brights at me. I didn't have my brights on.
    Talked to a 2016 chevy pickup owner yesterday. His LED headlamps are a sealed pod and it is $600 to replace ONE. Only $200 for the front turn signals.:wow:
     

    Dr.Midnight

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    Jul 24, 2011
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    Like everything else, light technology has vastly improved. I bought a new truck last month, and I have had several people flash their brights at me. I didn't have my brights on.

    I'm all for improved technology, and it might not have been too bad if it was just the headlights, but this cat had some sort of light bar across the front of his vehicle. The front of his ride was stupid bright. The picture doesn't come close to doing it justice.
     

    KJQ6945

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    I'm all for improved technology, and it might not have been too bad if it was just the headlights, but this cat had some sort of light bar across the front of his vehicle. The front of his ride was stupid bright. The picture doesn't come close to doing it justice.
    Off road lights belong off road.
     

    thunderchicken

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    Feb 26, 2010
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    Indianapolis
    Off road lights belong off road. But it does seem that in the last couple months I have seen more vehicles using some kind of small LED light bar as extra lighting on the street. I agree it is way too much with oncoming traffic. I saw a pickup a few days ago that had a light bar attached to the front bumper above his winch being used on the street.
    On a similar note, when people swap out a standard headlight bulb with an LED replacement it too can be a problem. When installing an LED replacement bulb there is a procedure to properly re-aim the beams.
    Here in the good ol USA, the DOT reg's require 10% of projected light to shine upward to illuminate/reflect onto street signs. So, since the LED projects with a wider & brighter beam improper adjustment can be a real problem.
     

    ws6guy

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    Feb 10, 2010
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    westside
    Not all new cars come with properly aimed lights. The lights on my wife's Highlander seemed to be aimed at the stars when we got it, we were getting flashed all the time. Several turns down and all is well. Got online for giggles and the highlander forum had a lot of the same complaint.
     

    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    Love it when the local kids with their jacked up, turned up diesel trucks and 100 million candlepower LED light bars drive past the house at night. It's like a combination of a semi driving through the livingroom and the Close Encounters of the Third Kind spaceship landing.:rolleyes:

    There's a time and a place for them. We mounted a 24" LED bar on my daughter's Sequoia last week. She lives in 29 Palms, California and makes frequent trips to Vegas. The road across the Mojave National Preserve, at night, is a whole nother level of dark.
     

    WebSnyper

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    Jul 3, 2010
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    127.0.0.1
    Like everything else, light technology has vastly improved. I bought a new truck last month, and I have had several people flash their brights at me. I didn't have my brights on.

    My wife's new vehicle will auto turn on the brights and auto adjust when it senses other cars, etc. I think they also rotate to illuminate when going around corners. Pretty crazy stuff.
     

    femurphy77

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    Talked to a 2016 chevy pickup owner yesterday. His LED headlamps are a sealed pod and it is $600 to replace ONE. Only $200 for the front turn signals.:wow:

    This! I bought a '17 GMC a few months ago and the LED's coupled with the fact that the headlights are close to 4 feet above the ground I get brights flashed at me regularly at night. I usually ignore it but occasionally I'll flip mine back at them to let them know that they are as dim as they get. For the occasional tool that feels justified in turning his brights on and leaving them on I will return the favor in kind.

    The funny thing about the light bars that everyone seems to be installing is that don't accomplish a whole lot since they are typically pretty poor quality, poorly aimed and little depth. They just look "cool" to the owner of the vehicle so they must be good. Right?
     

    terrehautian

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    3   0   0
    Jan 6, 2012
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    Where ever my GPS says I am
    If I lived in the country or someplace with a lot of deer, I would have a light bar on when possible (not when oncoming traffic).

    I get flashed occasionally in my 2016 equinox. When I’m behind cars, my beams cut off evenly right at the license plate (when on trunk of a car) so I know they’re not misaimed. I came across a Lincoln MKZ suv last night that either had brights on or bright as the sun lighting on it. I’m all for visibility but that Lincoln was too much.
     

    bwframe

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    Feb 11, 2008
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    Btown Rural
    Maybe folks are putting light bars on to "fight back" at the obnoxious blinding bright stock low beams of today?

    Being blinded by oncoming lights is just that. It doesn't matter whether it is supposedly the low beams or not. No one should be expected to drive when they cannot see the road.:dunno:
     

    eric001

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    9   0   0
    Apr 3, 2011
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    Indianapolis
    One trick to try to convince folks you're not running on brights is to run your driving lights as well. At least on the vehicles I've driven, hitting the brights disables the driving lights, and it's fairly easy to figure out on oncoming traffic. Only rarely have I had to let someone know I wasn't on brights this way. I'm sure they appreciated getting my actual brights right in their faces.

    And I thought sure there was state law of some kind limiting the number of lights and height of lights, etc. on the front of the vehicle that summed up to "keep offroad lights OFF when you're on the road" kind of thing??? Or is that more like what you'd hear in a LGS about the lifetime LTCH going away soon?
     

    femurphy77

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    Maybe folks are putting light bars on to "fight back" at the obnoxious blinding bright stock low beams of today?

    Being blinded by oncoming lights is just that. It doesn't matter whether it is supposedly the low beams or not. No one should be expected to drive when they cannot see the road.:dunno:

    So the solution is to have two vehicles approaching each other with blinded drivers.


    Got it.


    :n00b:
     

    femurphy77

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    Mar 5, 2009
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    S.E. of disorder
    One trick to try to convince folks you're not running on brights is to run your driving lights as well. At least on the vehicles I've driven, hitting the brights disables the driving lights, and it's fairly easy to figure out on oncoming traffic. Only rarely have I had to let someone know I wasn't on brights this way. I'm sure they appreciated getting my actual brights right in their faces.

    And I thought sure there was state law of some kind limiting the number of lights and height of lights, etc. on the front of the vehicle that summed up to "keep offroad lights OFF when you're on the road" kind of thing??? Or is that more like what you'd hear in a LGS about the lifetime LTCH going away soon?

    Vehicle codes are pretty specific but the days of pulling people over and checking bumper heights etc are probably long gone except in small town America where the local gendarmerie have nothing better to do. Hell the practice of pouring coal violates several federal codes and nothing seems to be done about that!
     

    Ziggidy

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    May 7, 2018
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    Ziggidyville
    Vehicle codes are pretty specific but the days of pulling people over and checking bumper heights etc are probably long gone except in small town America where the local gendarmerie have nothing better to do. Hell the practice of pouring coal violates several federal codes and nothing seems to be done about that!

    We are all feeling the painful birthing of a lawless society......
     

    Areoflyer09

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    14   0   0
    Feb 28, 2017
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    Indianapolis
    Not all new cars come with properly aimed lights. The lights on my wife's Highlander seemed to be aimed at the stars when we got it, we were getting flashed all the time. Several turns down and all is well. Got online for giggles and the highlander forum had a lot of the same complaint.

    This is true for a lot of new vehicles. I don’t know if the headlight alignment is supposed to be done at the factory or upon delivery at the dealer, but someone dropped the ball.

    It ranks right up there with poorly designed reflector housings, aftermarket super bright bulbs, people that think they never need to re-aign bulbs after changing them and the antiquated headlight regulations in the US. Seriously, it’s been like 50 years since we updated those regulations.

    If you find yourself being flashed often, please do a courtesy check that your lights are aimed correctly. It’s not a difficult task. https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/a257/how-to-adjust-lights/
     

    jkaetz

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    3   0   0
    Jan 20, 2009
    1,953
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    Indianapolis
    This isn't really an LED problem or a new problem. This is an idiot problem. I have seen the off road led light bars attached to many a truck. They just wire them in with their headlights and commence driving down the road. My expectation is that they are more for show than for function. They are also likely clueless that they are more of a hazard than they are a help but hey they look cool. :rolleyes:

    I've been thus far unimpressed by retrofit LED "bulbs" for headlight usage. They can work for side markers and signals but they will cost more than the $5 that most people spend. Factory LED isn't too big of a problem though some brake lights could be toned down a bit at night. And the flashing brake light thing that has been trending also needs to go. I don't need to see your little brake light flash every time you move forward a few inches. If they really want to make an enhancement to brake lights, they should start varying the brightness with the pressure on the brake. More pressure = more brightness.


    We are all feeling the painful birthing of a lawless society......
    The Law has been overwhelmed by stupid laws. Doesn't anyone remember the second Robocop movie?
     
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