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Woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I started playing the truck-what-if game....
I wondered what my headlights would look like if I did away with the highbeams and instead used that spot as additional lowbeam lighting. In theory, I'd first have to replace the highbeam bulbs with something that didn't blind people. Then I'd cut the highbeam's power source and tap them into the existing lowbeam power. So when I turned my headlights on, I'd essentially have two lowbeam bulbs within each lamp. Since I'm sleep deprived (and never use my highbeams) I haven't given much thought regarding the downfalls on a mod like this. But on a positive note- besides improving vision at night, it would definitely create a pretty badass look. With the help of photoshop, this is what it might look like. See pic below.
Its the reflector more than the bulb that points the light up and down the road. You'd still be blinding people if you had them on all the time
Remedying that issue would be next. But let's assume I CAN make them non blinding--- would this mod be as simple as cutting the highbeam power and subsequently tapping them into the lowbeam?
Should be that easy. Another thing to keep in mind, is that if you use your fogs regularly then that is technically not allowed since you would have 6 front facing lights as opposed to the approved 4. (this is just getting technical - not sure how many people have ever had an issue because of this).
Since its the reflector that directs the light - even if you got a dimmer bulb, then you would still be putting glare in people's eyes. I think your money would be better spent on an HID retrofit. If you do that - then the top reflector (now that it has an HID projector) will serve as both hi and low, which would leave the lower high beam reflector open for what ever.
I did a retrofit and right now my lower high beam reflector just has a dummy LED bulb in it - so it comes on when i flip on my brights but doesnt really add any brightness (Since the HIDs are so much brighter). But....this would give you a few more options to play with since all of your lighting needs would be taken care of (brighter headlights and still have functional brights) and then you could come up with whatever idea for the lower reflector.
The biggest issue I see if that you could not pass vehicle inspection (assuming your state has them) as one of the requirements of most state inspections is the high beam.
Should be that easy. Another thing to keep in mind, is that if you use your fogs regularly then that is technically not allowed since you would have 6 front facing lights as opposed to the approved 4. (this is just getting technical - not sure how many people have ever had an issue because of this).
Check local/state laws on this one. Here in Texas we can have up to three pairs of lights...unless they changed that recently.
The biggest issue I see if that you could not pass vehicle inspection (assuming your state has them) as one of the requirements of most state inspections is the high beam.
Check local/state laws on this one. Here in Texas we can have up to three pairs of lights...unless they changed that recently.
No inspection here in South Carolina. But I'm originally from
NewJersey, and vehicle inspection was no joke up there. I don't think I passed one time lol.
Yes you could cut into the low beams and use that, however, you'll be drawing power for 4 lights on a circuit that's designed for 2. Your best bet would be to use a relay that's triggered by the low beam power, or a separate switch, and draws power from an aux circuit, or directly from the battery.
Like others have said though, it's the reflector that shapes the output. That would be your limiting factor. If you're going to go through the trouble of putting in a projector retrofit into the housing though, then you might as well just add some extra lights on your bumper like some Hella Micro DE's. They're small projectors in housings that could probably fit in the eco hole and have a nice cutoff pattern.
Although I don't know if I care for this idea due to the glare and it probably would be more difficult for other drivers to see you signal lights, why not just use the power to the high beams if you are modifying the light/reflector. Sure you would have the blue high beam light on in the dash when you had your four low-beams on but you wouldn't have any issues with providing enough power, wouldn't have to cut/modify your harness and if you decided 'today is a day I only want two low beams' then you just switch the other two off.
FMVSS 108, which states (in S10.15.1): "A replaceable bulb headlighting system (...) must provide in total not more than two upper beams and two lower beams and must incorporate not more than two replaceable light sources in each headlamp."
So by having 4 total low beam headlights, you would be out of compliance. I will have to admit though, having all 4 lights on with the 15+ headlamps looks pretty cool.
Headlight Mod Idea
