So almost everynight by ever driver i get high beamed cuz my head lights r too bright. Gettin mine lowered Monday, just wanna know if anyone has done this and just it really make a difference.

 

Lowered or adjusted?

I get the hibeam-flash only if I have the fogs on as well. Though its clear the fogs are only lighting up the immediate front of the road/car, I bet they think I have dual beams on and flash me.

I flash them back and that is bad (looks like a big white eyeball!).

 

The new max's HID projectors sparkle a lot, and thats why people flash you, unless they understand its because of the HIDs. Either way its pretty annoying. Like the Escalade starburst HIDS.

 

*sigh*...wish I had HID's!

 

they flash b/c they're used to their old dull lights and our lights are just awesome. I flashed too, but mine are in spec. the cutoff is below cars i follow, and oncoming traffic. i've been fipped off following someone already. then the jerk sped off and waited for me to catch him and sat there to turn left for 2 min. til he let me go by. (jealous his old bimmer wasn't as bright)

 

The vertical adjustment is very easy to do yourself with the right tools. There is a phillips screw with a 10mm hex head. Located at the back of the housing. You should be able to slip a small ratchet with a 4" extention in there and make adjustments yourself. Its difficult for the technicians to adjust it properly in a brightly lit shop during the day. I've always ended up adjusting my own headlights on every car I've owned.

I don't get flashed anymore now that I've adjusted it properly. And yes, having the fogs on seems to trigger people to flash you. I think its because they see two lights side by side and figure its gotta be high beams on with the lows. Flashing the highs and having the nice high beams take back the night like a mob of angry lesbians seems to put the oncomign drivers in their place.

CM.

 

Why use the fogs if there is no fog outside?

 

Oh hey I totally agree. Fogs should be used in foggy/rainy coditions. Sometimes I have them on and I forget to shut them off. Then the next evening they're still on.

 

I drive up I-95 every late afternoon/night and the section at the end of NY/beginning of CT is chock-full of bridges over the rivers and streams... tends to get foggy (sometimes) this time of year late at night around those areas, depending on the humidity. It's a pain to turn the fogs off only to turn them back on 2 miles later, so mine are set to on with the auto lights almost 100% of the time now...

But nevertheless... I've noticed that the arc of my headlamps seems to be much higher than in other cars, encompassing things that I usually don't see lit up when driving in the other car. I'm not saying it's a bad thing because it helps, but I guess I can understand why other people think you're flashing them. The brights do look like The Flashlight of God though, so when you high-beam somebody I think their eyeballs melt.

The other night I had the misfortune of having to let the wife drive the Max while I was in front on the other car... she wasn't even following close, but I had a headache by the time I got home -- after an hour of seeing those things in the rearview (and it auto-dims too... I can't imagine what those things look like to a regular mirror ).

The lights are really bright -- and very distinctive... which I like...

 

With your fogs there isn't an ignition cutoff?

 

Mmmm, I think it was meant that there is no "visual" indicator (other than brightness increase on road) and so its easy to shutoff the headlight (twist stalk) with the fog switch set to on. When you turn the headlights on next time, the fogs will also turn on.

With my truck, the fogs area separate switch (lighted and indicative when on). When power is off, they are off too.

I ranted in a previous post about this as a dislike- too easy to leave fog switched on.

Nissan!!!

 

well I can easily notice my nice super bright yellow fogs. I think they're brighter and cover more ground than many headlights. So pretty yellow and bluish white. I love them espcially b/c wet roads practically eliminate the HIDs. everyone sees me coming amd contimue watching as i pass.

 

No its an actually mechanical switch on the stalk. Not an electronically controlled one. So once its set in the "On" position its on untill you physically turn it to "Off".

 

It's very easy for a technican to adjust the level in a bright shop. They should be using an optical aimer, that anazlizes that headlight pattern no matter if it is light or dark.

 

Sure. And they aim it "properly" so the cutoff is about 1/2 a car length in front of your vehicle. There is certainly a larger margin for error before it becomes annoying to oncoming drivers. I'd say mine is set for about 2-3 car lenghts ahead.

I always go out to a dark sideroad in the country and do my aiming. Making sure I have a full tank of gas so the back end will be sitting as low as possible, which would raise the headlights up to their maximum height. Also make sure the road is level, since a slight incline either way will effect the results. Since the 6th gen has a nicely defined horizontal cutoff its easy to see where you are aiming them as you change the setting. Sometimes a piece of cardboard to cover up the side you're not aiming makes it easier.

Remember that the drivers side beam should be aimed lower than the passengers side. Its the drivers side that is critical to oncoming drivers. You'll know when you've got it right, when people stop flashing you. I have it happen on rare occasions now, not quite once a month.

CM.

...and yes I am a freak about my headlights being aimed properly. For me its worth the time and effort.

 

I was just driving in the rain (not very often here in Cali) and my yellow Piaa fogs worjk quite nicely, as NIsmo said the rain pretty much eliminates the HID's. I have noticed people behind me in a Max and the lights do sparkle quite a bit, oh well not often is there a Max BEHIND me anyways!!!

 

Interesting thread. As others here, I have also noticed the light cast on the low beam setting on my car has a very clearly defined top edge. Unfortunately, on level ground, that top edge is cutting right thru the inside rear view mirror on most of the cars I follow.

That is not acceptable to me. I will be using CanadianMoFo's method to correct this. Only a very small correction will be necessary; perhaps on only one headlight. I have adjusted headlights on many cars over the years, and found it is necessary to block one while adjusting the other. Cardboard works well for this.

Thanks for the info, CMF.



edit - I tape a large piece of cardboard or paper across on the front wall of the garage, back the car about two to three car lengths away, block each headlight in turn with cardboard, mark the top of each low beam's illumination area, then study the results. You may wish to compare them with the diagram in the driver's manual, but that isn't necessary.

The top of the left beam should be slightly lower than the top of the right beam. If it isn't, then the left beam is all that needs adjusting. If it is, then both beams should be slightly adjusted.

I would only lower them far enough to move the top of the low beam pattern down one inch, then drive with that setting for awhile. If necessary, further adjustments can be made later.

I am aware there are those who will vehemently disapprove of my method. I will be the first to say this is far from a true headlight adjustment. It totally ignores the important lateral adjustments. But it accomplishes what I want done in this case.

 

I'm sorry. Are you guys saying that HID lights don't work that well in the rain? Why would this be the case?

 

No, what we are saying is that with any headlight HID or not, they tend to get washed out on any wet surface (as far as visual beam projection). The fogs, especially the bright yellows like myself and NismoMax80 have just help out in those conditions rather well.

 

I'm actually goin to raise the driver side up a little bit. I hate the fact that I can see that the beam on that side IS lower than the passenger side. On certain angles, it looks like a complete step.....

 

it has to be like that so you don't blind on coming traffic. pass and if they see you're a striaght line, they may hassle you.

if you want a line, lower the pass side bulb.

 

Thats the pattern that the beams should have! NismoMax80 is right. Raising the driver side so there is a straight horizontal line will put the drivers side light into the eyes of oncoming drivers for sure!

 

lol I'll have to see

 

Funny thing happened to me last night. I was following a cop from 1 township over last night(I don't know why he was in my town) and he was getting pissed at my HID's. I was driving north on 611 where I live(45 mph zone) and he kept slowing down to get me to pass him. He started going 25 and I just sat behind him waiting. Finally he turned into a Wawa.

 

don't think i would pass a cop either, no matter how fast. you'd be just asking for him to pull you over. once i was on a highway with a long 50 mph turn. cop behind me tailgating even though right lane was empty. came out of turn and she gives me the look of death (i know she wanted to flip me off). at 18, I figured I'm not speeding up or anything . now i guess she couldn't pass me on the turn ( law).

 

If the right lane was empty, why weren't YOU in it?

 

I know, but it's hard to explain, it occured after a fork in the highway (split by a mountain) going left, and you're supposed to stay in the outside lane to your turn. IIRC, there was construction (was 6 years ago), like always in PA. And this turn merges with another highway coming from the right.

 

I can agree with what Viguera said. Those lights are a little too high. On the way to a meet, there was a 6th gen who was blinding the hell out of me throughout the whole time.

 

I really don't think the cop could have pulled me over. As I stated above, the cop was out of the township they were employed in. Basically, they were out of their jurisdiction. I could've passed him, but I knew I was pissing him off.