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Headlights angled down and WAY too dim

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 1:52 am
by Colorado Coach
So I just purchased an ‘88 Okanagan and drove her home on a whirlwind 1400 mile trip a couple weekends ago. A buddy flew out with me to help with the drive, and after the test drive from the airport and signing over the title, we left the seller’s home around 11pm on night one. It soon became apparent that the headlights were angled too far down.

We adjusted them upwards with a Phillips head as best we could in the dark, but they were still too dim to be considered safe in my opinion, especially late at night on with deer and other wildlife on the roads a real possibility. We actually ended up driving the rest of the way home with the high beams on anytime the sun was down! (Of the thousands of oncoming vehicles we passed, not a single one flashed us, so I could tell the angle was still down far enough to not blind anyone.)

I don’t particularly want to drive with my brights on for the rest of the time I own this baby, (which will be for a long time to come, I hope) so I guess my question is: Does anyone have a good headlight replacement suggestion? Do you think I can get away with just replacing the bulbs to something more modern & powerful, or would I need to look for two entirely new headlamp assemblies? (I don’t think we adjusted the lights ALL the way up on that first night; there’s probably more room to bring them up. After we realized how dim they were on the backroads leading away from the seller’s house, we just switched to the high beams and stuck with those the rest of the trip.)

Any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated, especially if you can provide some details about particular bulbs you think work the best.

Thanks!

Re: Headlights angled down and WAY too dim

Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2021 7:32 am
by skater
Halogens dim over time, so you might be fine with any old replacement that you can find. Mine has high output halogens on that I put in years and years ago, but I have no idea whether they're still available.

There are also LED options, but I'm not sure whether they follow the legal light pattern (i.e., not blinding other drivers).

You might also want to check the voltage going to the headlights, make sure there's not something causing low voltage. But I'll bet it's just that the bulbs in it are old and need to be replaced.