Anyway to run high and low beams at the same time?

[cp2295]

So when I hold the switch back I notice my lights are way brighter than just having in either regular or high beam position. I assume it's got both beams going, so I was wondering if there was anyway to wire a switch in instead of having to hold the wiper switch back.

 

[--weezl--]

there's many ways, but it's a good way to kill your bulbs in a hurry. the glass isn't meant to be heated that hot, it's called a "pass" flash, it's designed to be used for less than 1 second at a time, use of longer than that will SIGNIFICANTLY reduce the life of the bulb, I would imagine that if you were to use that all the time, you're probably going to reduce it by something like 95%, which means that for every second you hold that on, you will take 20 seconds off the life of the bulb. This damage will be exponential for longer durations, so at 4 seconds, it's going to be something like 10 minutes of use gone for every second on... make sense? basically, there's a reason they don't just put that as your highbeam.

if you aren't putting out enough light, you might want to think about a) getting your eyes checked, b) making sure your headlight lenses are perfectly clear, if they are yellowed out, that will cause a huge decrease in light output, or c) putting on some driving lights...

 

[Earl43P]

http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/uploads/hi-lo_1.bmp

You need to upgrade at least the ground at each headlamp, or you'll melt the wiring.

 

[James86]

I just upgraded the bulbs. I can get about 6 yrs out of the "Silverstar Ultra" bulbs, and I had my headlights adjusted after all my suspension work. Otherwise, I did put driving lights on, but more because I seem the be about the only Ranger I've seen without factory foglights. They sell polishing kits for headlights by 3M that work really well if you don't feel like springing for new housings.

Edit: I take that back... I see form your avatar you don't either lol...

 

[--weezl--]

The 3m kid is expensive for what you get, if you're going to polish them, use toothpaste and a wet cloth

 

[cp2295]

Yeah no my lights are bright I just thought it would be good for night time forest rides but I'll just buy some fog lights, didn't realize it would screw the lights up

 

[--weezl--]

not fog lights, driving lights, there is a difference...

I can totally understand why you would want to, it's just not a good idea long term...

 

[cp2295]

Yeah okay so driving lights then? Are those brighter than fogs?

 

[--weezl--]

typically yes, they are also focused much differently, best read is this link to ebay, which explains the differences.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/What-s-the-...ghts-and-Fog-Lights-/10000000177633614/g.html

my favorite lights (bang for your buck) are the IPF 968 lights, they run around $200, but are HELLA bright, and have a multi reflector, so they work as both a spot and a flood, so you get lots of light all around in the first 20 feet, then a nice long beam straight ahead, they come with i think 55 and 100w bulbs

 

[--weezl--]

I should add to my last post that the 100W bulbs put out a LOT of power, I had this 3m coating on the lenses (they are glass) the coating protects the glass from breaking with a rock getting thrown at it, the lights got coated in mud on a night run, and by the time I got back to the road, the heat from the bulbs (which couldn't get out) and the light hitting the dark coloured mud, had turned the 3m coating to a big char in the center, about 2" across...