Headlights: Firing both high & low beams at the same time?
 

Apparently on old cars, high beams just turned on the high beams, in addition to the low beams. On newer cars, it toggles between them.

Is there a way to get both high beams & low beams running at the same time on a S4 (1988)? I went for a drive tonight on some dark forest roads, and the high beams are nice, but they don't do a wonderful job of lighting the road - they shoot above it. Low beams work well for lighting the road, but they don't get the sides as well (watching for animals & such).

I'd like to rearrange things so that the high beams just "add on" to the low beams, and run all 4 filaments. Any ideas? I can dig out wiring diagrams & such if needed, but I figured I'd ask first.

-=Russ=-

upgarde ur lights

yeah no kidding. get fog lights. trust me if you run high and low beams at the same time you will over heat the bulb and BOOB been there done that

How does one add fog lights that don't blind oncoming traffic? Alternately, I suppose I could just not use them when there's traffic, like a responsible citizen.

I really have a problem with fog lights, because I drive a bus, and they blind me even sitting 6-8' up.

-=Russ=-

Just wire you auxilary driving lights relay off the high beam feed.

Just to let you know, Upgrading the lights would probably be the best bet.. I know in PA that it is illegal to have the fog lights on with the high beams.. Actually, you cannot have any light projectors on with the high beams except for running lights. You also can have no more than 4 non-high beam projectors on, I.e., you can't have two sets of fog lights in addition to your low-beams on...

Of course, undercar neons are highly illegal here, too...


PA sucks.

What would a good option for upgrading the lights be? I'm rapidly running out of money to spend (well, I did that long ago, but I'm running out of credit card room), but I do a lot of night driving (if at all possible I drive at night).

-=Russ=-

FWIW, the high beams and low beams are on at the same time (when you turn on the high beams) on both my '94 Volvo 850 turbo and my dad's '99 VW Cabrio. However on my mom's '00 Toyota Sienna minivan as well as our previous '96 Chevy Cavalier the low beams turn off when the high beams turned on. The Volvo, VW, and Chevy all have separate high beam bulbs. So I doubt it's a legality issue. It is illegal in many states to have high beams and fogs on at the same time.

Maybe you could wire them up to both go on when the highs are on, and then add little cooling vents and fans like from a computer shop.

On a budget?
Go to Wal-Mart & get som 6054HO's in a twin pack for <$18.
The highs are the standard DOT 65 watts, but the lows are 65 also (not 35 or 50).
I'm on the lows most of the time due to traffic, so the brighter lows are a big help.

I may do that. If I just swap out the lights, will I have to re-aim them? I've only replaced lights on cars where the bulb is separate.

-=Russ=-