Nuclear lights showed up today

[rdickinson]

Canada Post showed up wanting 88$ duty. I will run them up to the truck tomorrow, should be installed in a couple of days. I have never been able to get a definitive answer on difference b/w regular Volvo and the HID lights so we will run the truck out on the dark unlit road and pace off the distance each lights up and see what the difference is.

 

Am I correct that adding fog lights will not make much difference with the HID headlights installed?

[Hewhoknowslittle]

Canada Post showed up wanting 88$ duty. I will run them up to the truck tomorrow, should be installed in a couple of days. I have never been able to get a definitive answer on difference b/w regular Volvo and the HID lights so we will run the truck out on the dark unlit road and pace off the distance each lights up and see what the difference is.

 

Am I correct that adding fog lights will not make much difference with the HID headlights installed?

 

I have the Nuclear lights on my 99 610, you will see such a difference that you won't believe your eyes!!

And you do not need fog lights, I drove in the fog last week and the lights cut through it just fine.

 

Roger

[RickS]

Roger,

Was that the total amount payable to Canada Post or just Duty?

[rdickinson]

Total payable was $83.46

GST, federal --------30.63

PST Provincial------42.88

Handling costs--------9.46

 

 

Doesn't add up, I was ripped off by the Government.

 

No duty charged.

 

Hewhoknowslittle....is there an echo here??

[RickS]

Canada post is usually charging $9.95 handling these days. The GST looks right. Don't usually see PST here in Alberta. Also, I'm sure that you were charged some freight on the light bill. I think you will really enjoy how bright those lights will be. The factory lights are not that great.

[Jack Mayer]

Canada Post showed up wanting 88$ duty. I will run them up to the truck tomorrow, should be installed in a couple of days. I have never been able to get a definitive answer on difference b/w regular Volvo and the HID lights so we will run the truck out on the dark unlit road and pace off the distance each lights up and see what the difference is.

 

Am I correct that adding fog lights will not make much difference with the HID headlights installed?

Gregg has a video that clearly shows the differences. It is remarkable. LINK

 

These headlights are the way to go IMO. I'm swapping out my total housing/lens for the new ones at the HDT Rally. Might as well do a total upgrade.

 

The only thing I have not seen is a comparison to the LED lights. But by specs these should be close, although the color will be different.

 

These lights should be on all Gen 2 trucks if you do not have LEDs. Period. Gregg puts them on all his trucks now. There is a reason for that - it is a safety item.

[RickS]

Jack,

I know that Gregg is a little busy right now but he has my truck in his yard with the LED lights and I'm sure trucks outfitted with the Dixon lights. Maybe a YouTube video needs to be done.

[Jack Mayer]

That is a good idea Rick....I'll email him.

[whatsnext]

Jack,

I know that Gregg is a little busy right now but he has my truck in his yard with the LED lights and I'm sure trucks outfitted with the Dixon lights. Maybe a YouTube video needs to be done.

They did a comparison of the three light sets at the HDT Rally last year. The standard Volvo paled in comparison to the two other systems (LED & Dixon).

From what I remembered, the LED's had a little wider dispersion pattern whereas the Dixon pattern was a little longer/further down the road. Both were close.

The difference was amazing.

[Nuke-E]

We did compare the three set-ups. Unfortunately, I didn't walk forward far enough to get Gene's truck out of the frame on the bi-xenon lights, so at first glance they look a little on the dim side. But if you look close, there are two trees and a building behind them that give you a feel for what gets lit up (click the picture to see the image full-size). The halogen high beams actually do better distance lighting than the LEDs, but at the expense of a very narrow beam pattern.

 

The halogen housings on the stock truck were about a year old, so likely quite a bit better than most of the ones out there. We had checked/adjusted aim on all three trucks, and the images below are straight from the camera (no editing), with the three trucks parked side-by-side.

 

[rdickinson]

I am tired of looking beyond where the lights light up. On long trips I often drive into the night.

 

I hope these do the job.

 

It will be interesting to measure the difference.

[Jack Mayer]

For the difference in price the answer is kinda obvious...at least to me. On a retrofit it is Xenon. If I bought a new truck I'd spec the LED of course.

[Refuzn-To-Grow-Up]

For the difference in price the answer is kinda obvious...at least to me. On a retrofit it is Xenon. If I bought a new truck I'd spec the LED of course.

Speaking of LED lights, the off road guys use LED light bars. I was thinking of adding one of these light bars, but I cannot find one that is "street legal" (whatever that means).

 

Has anyone looked into these LED light bars? They come in all sizes and shapes.

[Phil D]

You'll never find a light bar that's "street legal" (DOT certified), Jim, because they all exceed the maximum lighting output standards for on-highway motor vehicles. That's why somewhere in every piece of literature promoting them and on every box that contains one, it will say somewhere "FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY" -- even though they know that people will throw them on their trucks and use them, probably that same evening, as they tool around town on the streets and highways. It's not unlike the depression-era yeast kits that were sold that had a list on the packaging of what NOT to add the contents to because of the possibility that "an illegal alcoholic beverage might result".

 

I saw some d***head driving around down here a couple of evenings ago in his relatively new half ton GMC with a 30" or so LED light bar mounted just below the grille, blazing brightly. Worse yet, the ridiculously high lift kit that he'd stuck under that GMC put the excessive output of that light bar right at eye level for the oncoming motorists -- which, at that particular moment, was me. What I wouldn't have given to have had some kind of "magic button" to push that would have blown out every diode in that high-dollar light bar right there on the spot!

[rdickinson]

The guy who is doing the work on my truck has an unused lightbar, 12000 lumens I think. As I mentioned earlier the game plan is to take the truck out on a dark unlit road and compare the distance lit by the old and new lights. If it would be helpful, we could take out this lightbar and try out out as well.

 

Where would you think of mounting it? Bumper ht?

[Refuzn-To-Grow-Up]

The guy who is doing the work on my truck has an unused lightbar, 12000 lumens I think. As I mentioned earlier the game plan is to take the truck out on a dark unlit road and compare the distance lit by the old and new lights. If it would be helpful, we could take out this lightbar and try out out as well.

 

Where would you think of mounting it? Bumper ht?

I was thinking about mounting it on the front bumper.

[Refuzn-To-Grow-Up]

You'll never find a light bar that's "street legal" (DOT certified), Jim, because they all exceed the maximum lighting output standards for on-highway motor vehicles.

That explains why I could not find a street legal LED bar. I guess that is a DAAAH moment for me. I have lots of them.

[rdickinson]

I thought about it, where else could it go? Roof mount lights are a pain in snow and poor visibility anyway.

[Nuke-E]

There is no federal standard for auxiliary lights--fog lights, driving lights, etc.--except that they can't interfere with other required lights. A center-mounted light bar as referenced here would definitely be seen as interfering (interfering with the role of two light locations identifying a vehicle and its approximate size at a distance, and reducing the visibility of turn signals and marker/ID lights), as might any light significantly brighter at a given point than a headlight. But there aren't any specific federal standards for light output from any of this stuff, or for how to mount/aim them.

 

Of course, no light (or any other piece of regulated safety equipment) is approved or certified by DOT/NHTSA. The manufacturer self-certifies (based on either their own or independent testing) that the lights comply with applicable standards. NHTSA has also made it very clear that if a product is intended or could be used on a motor vehicle, it must comply with any applicable parts of the FMVSS to be offered for sale--in other words, saying something is for show/off-road use, or not "street legal" isn't an acceptable reason for not meeting the standard. In general, if you see references to "DOT", "SAE", or "NHTSA" approval/certification, or "for off-road/show use only", that's a light that doesn't belong on a highway-going vehicle. What you should be looking for is a statement that the item meets (or complies with) the applicable standards, or identifying marks on the product itself (the letters "DOT" being the most common).

 

Keep in mind also that in many (most??) places, there are laws that limit the number of lights--generally to 4 (some 2, but that would be irrelevant given that FMVSS108 specifically allows 4 headlight systems), and there's generally some statute/ordinance in place regarding "glaring" light (again pre-empted for headlights, but there's no pre-emption for auxiliary lights). In many cases, these laws are "fix-it" tickets, which don't necessarily carry a big monetary penalty but require proof of removal of the prohibited device--often requiring an appearance in court, inspection by a local police officer or inspection station, or something along those lines. That means you're going back to wherever it was you got the ticket, which isn't likely to be the nicest spot to stop on the trip.

[RickW]

 

The halogen housings on the stock truck were about a year old, so likely quite a bit better than most of the ones out there. We had checked/adjusted aim on all three trucks, and the images below are straight from the camera (no editing), with the three trucks parked side-by-side.

 

 

That was my truck with the new halogen. I actually replaced a little over 2 years ago. My original lenses were so bad I did not feel they were worth refurbishing.

 

I did replace my lights with David's kit. I had to move the truck in the dark for the first time last weekend. I was not on the road just here on the property but was very happy with the light output. I even had both the Volvo fog lights and auxiliary lights on and like the output from David's lights better.