Can the normal 7" Sealed beam headlight be run with power to both high and low beam? How about when using a 7" Lenz with a H4 [55/60] bulb? Or a higher watt H4 like 55/120? Too much heat or? I realise there would be more amps involved so the necessary wire ga/fuse/relay/ceramic plug etc would be a good idea or are there bulbs that would fit the H4 socket that designed for both beams on at same time?
I'd have to wonder why you would want to run both at the same time unless you are night hunting. I ran 7 inch Cibie H-4 lights in my 48 for a number of years with 55/100 bulbs and they gave great light on low beam that never seemed to bother other drivers and even at over 120 at night you had the road lit up so you could see anything straight ahead of you for a long ways. Most of those Cheap clear lens 7 inch H-4 headlights that they sell on Ebay don't throw good light at all. The ones with the cute little lens in front of the bulb that is supposed to send a beam further down the road melt with 55/100 bulbs. I have run a pair of these (note changed from the bike light I posted before) 7" H6024 6014 H4 CONVEX EURO CONVERSION HEADLIGHTS KIT | eBay in my OT rig and they put out a nice beam on both high and low but don't fit in a lot of headlight buckets like the ones on a 71 Chevy C 10 without a bunch of trimming to clear the rubber cover on the back. That seller is out of Dallas and sells lights made in India that work great for the price he asks.
H6024 65/35 bulbs work great for me with only one filament lit, when properly aimed. They're only ten bucks at walmart, try and see how long they last with both lit. Should be a fun experiment.
Good H4’s with 100 watt highs will show a reflective road sign at almost a mile on a straight dark country road. How much more do you need? Use relays, the load is high and voltage drop makes a big difference. That’s a great price on the ones Mr48 showed, and over in Yakima he’s got plenty of dark roads. Since he says they work, that’s the deal. If you run both on, start out in the daylight. If they fail quick it might get awfully dark in a hurry. I think squirrel just had a similar experience.
That was/is a popular mod on some late-models with 'styled' headlights. It shortens bulb life by a lot.... Also not good for the lamp socket, this can melt them. There's also a school of thought that this reduces how far you can 'see'. The theory is that having the low beam also on with high beam creates a bright 'pool' of light close to you that causes your pupils to contract, letting in less light. With just the high beam on, that being focused further down the road, that allows your pupils to open more, admitting more light and allowing you to see further into the light pattern. I personally believe this to be true as the HID headlights in my DD has no low/high beam, simply a mechanical 'mask' that chops off the top of the light pattern on 'low'. They are not the equal to a properly-aimed halogen set IMO.
also, you would be one of the guys that make me tend to not drive at night anymore. you can see, but the rest of us are blinded
The only problem with those is the cut-off bias isn't right for cars as they're motorcycle-specific. All of these lights have a V-shaped cut-off line on low beam. For cars, the cut-off is rotated slightly (counter-clockwise for left-hand drive countries, clockwise for RHD) to prevent glare for oncoming drivers. Motorcycle lights don't have the rotation so they need to be adjusted 'lower' to prevent the glare, so you don't get quite the same light distance all else being equal. This seller does have the car versions... 7" H6024 6014 H4 CONVEX EURO CONVERSION HEADLIGHTS KIT | eBay for a bit less money if buying two. I've been a huge fan of Cibie headlights since the early '70s (well before they were legal here) but unfortunately Cibie has dropped production of round headlights. Daniel Stern (the long-time Cibie distributor for the US) is now offering a Japanese version he claims is even better, but those are even more expensive. You do need to pay attention to power requirements. If your headlight wiring is up to snuff, a 'legal' 55/60 watt lamp/7" light won't exceed the capabilities of the typical 15 amp circuit breaker inside most light switches. If you move up to an 'off road' lamp of higher wattage, a relay on the high beam side will be needed. For those of you with 4 headlight vehicles, you'll need a relay for high beam. When Detroit switched to 4 lights, they pulled a 'funny'. Rather than upgrading the wiring/switch, they reduced the high-beam wattage to only 35 watts. You still got an improvement in lighting performance, but it was because of the better focusing allowed with a dedicated high-beam lens. The parts house direct-replacement sealed beam Halogens are still only 35w on high beam. Best headlights I ever had was a full set of 4 Cibie 5.25" lights. With legal 55w low/60w high lamps and properly adjusted, those would light road signs out to over a mile.
I got my 7" lenz from Daniel Stern and the brand is Valeo. The cut-off is rotated slightly counter-clockwise for left-hand drive countries, as Crazy Steve said. Left of center the cut off is level, to the right of center the cut off angles up about 15-20°..My 14' Explorer is a level shallow V and seems to have the "Capped" cut off. High beam is pretty much full round and the distance is very good on both..92" F150 seems to have a dual beam bulb [HB5/9007] as there is no cut off and they just seem to get brighter, no up and to the left.
I know an old post but current info to add: BTW, if we're talking about lights (different kinds beyond sealed beams), the new insert bulb kit to use to replace 7" sealed beams is part #81110-60P70 from Toyota. If you look for an online dealer the KIT is a shocking $18-$25, I bought all I needed for my future projects and I can say that the kit is the same one being sold for $80+ other places. I have them on my panel truck, they look stockish and greatly improve lighting/endurance.
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