Headlights

[Karl V]

Posting this here as it seems driving at night is a Nomad thing. Do a search for spotlight dazzle or spotlight aerodynamics and you'll see the uselessness of spotlights, except for looking cool, which is why I have 4! If you don't have 4, you're missing the point.

Anywho, this thread is about the main 'dipped beam'.

Didn't take me long to see a marked difference in visability at night between my BMW X3 and the Nomad.

In the X3, I could see well at night. In the Nomad, I could not. I assumed at first that in the BMW I was all 'meh' and in the Nomad I was laughing hysterically. But then I applied some science (after the adrenaline wore off).

I tried this - https://haynes.com/en-gb/tips-tutorials ... -emergency

It looked like my dipped beam was way off. The left light (on mine) was apparently camera shy and was looking down a foot or so in front. Right light was at least looking up, but too far to the right.

Anywho, I removed the light surrounds, followed the 'rough guide' above and found my favourite Phillips screwdriver.

My results were very much hit and miss. They are better, but I'm sure I'll kill a fox soon (no suspension pun intended).

My question then... Do I need to pay an MOT station to properly align my lights? Halfords will do it for £15 per light. Probably on a Saturday by a YTS employee - https://www.halfordsautocentres.com/car ... -alignment

MOT stations seem to have light diagnostic equipment that will properly sort this stuff out. If I do, what is the dipped beam % rating for a Nomad? It's becoming a bit of a head scratcher - https://mattersoftesting.blog.gov.uk/th ... -changing/

It's a dichotomy! My wife doesn't want me here at night. Yet I cannot leave for fear of killing a fox. The nights are also getting longer. Pretty sure this won't end well. For the fox, wife or the Nomad...

[autobackup]

Karl

I would concur that there appears to be liitle attention paid to headlight alignment by the factory

My rebuilt Atom came out of the factory in June with both mainbeam headlights particularly badly misaligned.

Left mainbeam was focussed at about 3-4m in front of the car on the road ahead and the right mainbeam was focussed high, wide & to the right!

That said the dipped beams were not too bad!

[Trigger]

Coming back from Europe the other week I ended up driving in the dark for the first time as I got to within 20 miles from home....the dipped beams were focused some 2-3 m in front of the car so pretty useless. The full spot lights on main beam do create a lot of reflection into the windscreen BUT as it lights up the county as well I didnt mind !!

I am planning at some stage to do a lights adjustment - I am not gonna take it anywhere to get it done though as they are so unique and I just want them to shine light on the road - and I think I can do that.

[Karl V]

So 15 minutes and a fiver later, I'm back from a visit to my local MOT garage.

I explained that I tweaked the lights myself with the '12 feet from the garage wall' method and wanted a proper check up.

Their initial diagnosis was that the lights were 'bang on', which surprised me given the less than scientific approach. Didn't stop them spending another 10 minutes adjusting them "a gnat's cock". Probably so they can say they've worked on a Nomad...

So what have I learnt???

May be best to have a check of your headlight alignment - especially if you don't normally drive after sunset. The first time I needed mine, I was quite shocked at the set-up.

Also seems the '12 feet from a wall approach' is probably good enough just as a check / rough alignment approach.

Now to go and find me some foxes...

IMG_20181010_115306601.jpg (3.49 MiB) Viewed 1096 times

[Karl V]

P.s. I did giggle when they asked me to turn on the main beam, staring straight at the front of the car.

They just shrugged at the roof light blare and said 'yeah, thats enough thanks. You can turn them off now'.

[Trigger]

Your car looks too clean.

[Karl V]

We can fix that next Saturday.

[Trigger]

Thats the hope.....

[dunny]

Hi
I took a fancy to a pair of Laser R8 spotlamps so i got some and the very nice chaps in the workshop at Ariel wired them in for me.The first effect of the affor mentioned lamps was to save them the bother of getting a sun tan! I also find that i dont get a problem with running over a fox or anything that is foolish enough to step out in front of me because on high beam they seem to spontaneously combust .This is also a problem because when you turn them off you cant see a bloody thing.
helpfully yours ,
Dunny.

[phil4]

when you turn them off you cant see a bloody thing.

[Karl V]

Laser R8 spotlamps

What is this trickery of which you speak Dunny?

I've seen recent FB post of Kesla lights
- https ://www.facebook.com/groups/ariel.club/perm ... 114366342/

Are you running something similar?

Karl.

[dunny]

Hi Karl,
They are LED R8 bar spots with daytime running lights as used by M Sport and the likes.Not cheap but very very good.Check out www.lazerlamps.com With a "z" not an "s" as in my previous lackadaisical correspondence.

[t_kelly94]

Dunny, have you got a picture of how they look?

I'm contemplating either a couple of spots or a long light bar across the top of the whole car...

[dunny]

Hi t,
yep i will sort out a pic when i get around to washing all the bugs off! The units are about 360mm wide and the fixings work in just fine with Ariels lighting bar.I had them wired thru a switch but the daytime running lights do just that and overall give the car a slightly quizzical look. They are not cheap at around £490 apiece but they have a 3year warranty and a 50,000hr lifespan.You can get cheaper ones[i was speaking to a chap at the midsummer bash and he had some that he had bought in America for about £40] but as in all things you get what you pay for.For your info as you are probably going to get carried away with mods;Mud uk does RAM mounts that fit on to the bar running under you dash,Nippy NormansBMW motorcycle accessories[think waterproof] and i got my spots from Devon 4x4. Resist the urge to drill holes in your and car and get some warm wet weather gear your going to need it! If you havent got the handbook for your car yet get on to Henry.It is very good. Overload!! Your going to have a great time!
Cheers,
Dunny.

[Karl V]

This is all good stuff!

As you may know, I was obsessed with the car's wiring for the lights when I first got it - i.e. the DRL part of the roof lights only came on with the sidelights; and the lighting circuits are constantly live. Which meant that during the day, I was often parking up and forgetting to switch off the sidelights. Some minor modifications later and the DRL rings are now always on when the ignition is live; and off when you kill the engine - regardless of the side / dipped / main beams.

But...

Reading a bit more into the lights Dunny has, it seems there is a different between Daytime Running Lights and Position lights.

It looks like the factory roof lights have position lights, not DRL.

Position lights are not as intense and can be used at night whereas DRLs are high intensity and must turn off when when dipped beam is on.

The aftermarket lights mentioned above seem very sophisticated with DRLs and seem to handle this (assuming the correct wiring is in place).

So if anyone is looking for roofbar lights with a DRL feature, I suspect that some extra wiring may be needed. The factory roof lights have inputs for sidelight and main beam. I'm guessing there'd need to be another feed for constant live (which it sounds like Dunny has tackled).

I'm also unsure if the DRLs should turn off with sidelights coming on, or dipped beam coming on. Do your DRLs turn off Dunny? If so, it is with lights or dipped beam? Or do you do that manually through the same switch?

Interesting topic though. I'd love to see some these cars up close.

Great work chaps!