More lights for night driving

i had the same prob and i found a set at auto zone they are call silver stars i bought the same set for my other truck at orilleys they are great

 

There is legal limit for HID how high they may be from road surface. As I remember something about 0.5-0.75 m, anyway headlamps are to be not higher then average car driver's eyes.

 

My current truck is an antique and won't be getting the conversion. It's more of a general interest in the technology for me.

Not saying I won't ever buy another truck though. So for the sake of argument and if you need specifics, how would it be accomplished for a Pete 359, 379, or KW W900?

 

Pete 359/379 KW900 - as I remeber round headlamps like in Century Class. There are two ways. Additional 90 mm hella HID in bumper ore Mercedes Gelentwagen headlamps (low beam - HID, High beam - H7 Halogen)

 

The round lights the Aussie's use are lightforce brand lights. The guys in Alaska use them too. $$$

Light placement is critical for effectiveness on any vehicle, but a truck brings a unique problem. The driver sits so much higher than a car that what works for them ain't so good on a truck. I had 4 headlights, 2 fog, and 2 driving lights on my Western Star. I realized that I was having huge problems seeing things at night in this truck so I set out to change that.

I put converter lenses in for the headlights with good bulbs. The new bulbs were 85watts on low and 95 on high. Old ones were 55/60. Had to set the beams down a little because all of a sudden I was blinding people on low. This truck has 4 headlights, that means you can use a high beam only bulb. Since I had the lows at 85/95 I went to a straight 130 for the highs. Stock high beam was 60 watt. Full power on high with the stock bulbs was 240 watts. The upgraded version was 450 watts. I did tweak the right high beam a little to the right side as a ditchsweeper for deer or moose.

The fog lights were center mounted at the same level as the headlights. I used PIAA 520 in Ion crystal fog with 55 watt bulbs that are equal to 85 watt bulbs. Nothing is great in heavy fog but these kicked butt.

The driving lights were also PIAA but those were rectanglar housings that are now discontinued. I upgraded the bulbs to a straight 135 watt bulb. These were mounted under the bumper at the same width as the headlights. Where these really did great was in snow. Turn off the headlights and the foglights and use just those. You still saw the falling snow but the reflected light was diminished so much that lake effect snow in Cleveland looked like a light dusting. My regular headlights were freezing over but the driving lights were shining brightly and I could really see well.

I recommend the PIAA stuff but know that they are pricey. They also have a lifetime replacement warranty on the glass lenses. Most dealers never stock the lens so you have to order it, I did several times, from a dealer I didn't buy the lights from. Good lights really are a get what you pay for thing.

Being able to see at night or in bad weather, whats it really worth to you? I spent a lot of time on 2 lane roads in the upper midwest and eastern canada and new england. I know most drivers out drive the effective range their headlights all the time. It took me some time effort and money to get my truck to the point that I wasn't doing that.