Posted: 9/7/2005 9:11:30 PM EDT
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no we're not talking boobies here! How bright are the brights suppose to be? Last night while driving through a particularly rough area of the Columbia gorge [winding and dark] I had a trucker in front of me flip on this beam of light from the side of his truck that nearly blinded me. He kept flicking his high beams to insinuate that I had mine on. I flicked my lights to show him that mine were not on high and he turned off the mack side light. Just about caused a wreck! My car is a 1995 Olds Cutlass. The lights are stock for the car. I can't imagine they being brighter than standard. Patty |
I was driving East. The gorge is a cut through our largest mountain range. I was on an uphill stretch. The difficult part of the pass is that is so darn dark and there are some sharp curves. I have no idea what the alignment is. They are halogens. Patty |
Anothing thing to note... if there was no traffic on the road and you two met head on, your eyes are adjusted to darkness pretty well. In those conditions, even normal headlights look too bright. Happens all the freakin time on Route 45 in Alabama/Mississippi. Halogens tend to be entirely too bright, especially for eyes adjusted to the dark or used to looking at normal lights. I know your pain. I drive a Chevy Silverado. People think I have my high-beams on all the time. You should see them when I actually do show them the highs, or the fog lights. They learn quick. |
Too bad you couldn't get a tag....thats very dangerous/stupid for a trucker to be doing. |
What is a tag? Boy no kidding. I nearly slammed into the side rail. It was just west of Cascade Locks. Patty |
License plate number...tag. |
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My car is level. I had it realigned last month and new tires on it. I don't think things roll around unless I'm going up a hill. I really wasn't doing anything wrong. My car's headlights aren't those bright bright lights. There are some beams that are so fricken bright they blind you. They're bright but not that bright. He was just being an asshat. Patty yes no way to get liscense plate as his light blinded me. |
An engine that overheats for no apparent reason? 
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what sort of draw does that pull off your battery? |
I'm sorry DoubleFeed. Life just isn't fair is it? Patty
Off topic. That is a hell of a lot of dog food. Only time I used to buy that much was when I was housing 4 english mastiffs. The poor kid at the local pet supermart thought I was lying when I said that lasted about 3 weeks if I was lucky. Geoff |
No he was being a jerk. What he did nearly caused an accident which could have been fatal. Considering the fatality would have been me, I was rather peeved about it to say the least. Gander I raise and train hunting dogs. I have 12 German Shorthaired Pointers at my house right now. 180 pounds is about a month supply. Patty |
Rules of the road states it is never legal to flash your brights at an oncoming vehicle. You can flash them on and off, but even that is illegal to signal "clear to pass", as that is "directing traffic". I believe standard headlights are 45 watt low, 55 watt high. I've seen some standard bulbs go up to 65 watt. You can buy aftermarket replacement bulbs up to 100 watt, and for H4, even up to 140 watt. (really nice if you are driving in the country at night) Old 4-headlight GM vehicles (like my '69 Chevelle) had metal dishes the headlights would fit in. With very little modifications, KC Daylighter bulbs will fit. My dad's '65 Impala currently has 12.0V aircraft landing lights. They are a tad brighter, as they are being overdriven on a 13.8v system. |
With the weight of the dog food in your trunk, maybe your low beams were blinding him. Headlights are adjustable and if yours are adjusted a little high when empty then they'll blind someone with a load in the trunk. Or maybe he felt you were to close IE tailgating him and he was saying back off. The 2 things that bug me the most when driving my big rig truck are tailgaters and bright lights in my mirrors. If you want to check the adjustment of your headlights, park facing a flat surface like a wall or garage door 25 feet away with your lights on. Each low beam should be centered side to side and slightly below the height of the mounting point of the light. |
I just reread your post. You said you were a car lenght be hind him. That's way to close. I'll bet he was saying "Get the F*** off my A$$"! Come On people stop tailgating big trucks. |
It was an interstate I was in the pass lane, he was in the slow lane. I've drove my fair share of trucks [not pick ups] I know how to deal with trucks. However it may be true my lights were shinning into his mirrors weird because of the weight of the food in the trunk. Regardless considering the terrain and road conditions that man driving that truck took a lot of risk with my life. I nearly ran into the gaurd rail because of being blinded. If he would have caused me to wreck and die do you think he would have felt justified? Patty |
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And I've nearly wrecked a truck because of people's lights in my mirrors blinded me enough I was seeing white spots and couldn't see the road in front of me. I don't turn my load lights on for this, but maybe you just caught that driver at a bad time. We don't know how many other people had already blinded him that night and he was fed up with it. I'm not picking on you, Patty. But to everyone here that reads this. Don't tailgate big trucks; don't sit next to or just behind big trucks. If you're going to pass us then do it. I want the area next to my truck clear in case I have to avoid something or someone in the road. Don't take my "out" away from me. If I move left to let you on the freeway then return the courtesy and let me back in the slow lane. If I have my turn signal on, don't dive into that hole as I may not see you and that could ruin both our day. Yes there are a$$hat truck drivers and I don't like them anymore than you do. |
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well considering the terrain - it was a stupid thing to do. I was passing him and was accellerating as quickly as I could. I was going Patty |
Assuming those are each 55 watt halogen bulbs, they'll draw 27.5 amps total, when all on.  If they're 100w, double that....... Maybe a little less, if the right size wiring isn't used, due to the added resistance/heat. Hope he got a big ass alternator and a good safe wiring job with some relays and FUSES on them suckers. Can you say electrical fire, boys and girls ?
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They are 55w lights each, and are hooked up through 3, 30 amp relays on three seperate circuits with a 15 amp fuse each, on 10 gauge wiring. and yes I am running a 105 amp alternator. and no it does not over heat. And they are great for night fishing, just pull up to the edge of the water front and flip a switch. But you better have alot of bug spray !
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So do you use them for hunting deer, too? 
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