Legal and aimable Low/high beam low profile.

I've been searching for a few days now and figure it might be easier to post.

I need a low profile, low beam, standalone headlight assembly solution. Ideally I need low/high and turn, but the turn signals can be separate if something interesting arises. My mounting requirements are a depth of no greater than 5". 4" is ideal.

I've found the JW Speaker 9800's and I could make them work but the depth is less than ideal. Is there anything else out there as far as a small on-road legal headlamp assembly that is in a well built sealed housing?
Of course I can get into building housings and whatnot but that's a bit more involved in this project than I want to be.

Please post more info on what you're trying to attain, not just in physical mountability but in night-driving visibility. Do you just need something that meets legal requirements, or do you actually intend to drive at night with these and so you need better than the (very minimal) bare minimum? What kind of conveyance are these to go on? Also, you give a depth dimension...what about width? and height, what does "low profile" mean to you?

I apologize about not being more specific.

As far as visibility: Not much is needed other than lows and highs that are as good or better than sylvania sealed beams. This is for my crawler. My sealed beams are a separate low and high. Finding a spot for those with a small signal somewhere is the last resort and gets into radiator space too much. Keep in mind there is no longer a core support.

Night driving is limited on-road and standard lighting is not needed off-road. All light mounting will come off of tube.

Here are dims I can work with:
5x7 with 4.5" depth max
6" round with 3.5" depth could work.
8"x4" with 4.5" depth Is about the best.

mounting height will range from 34 to 49". Legally I can mount up to 54".

Which sealed beams do you have now? Which shape and which size? If you're not sure of the exact size, what markings do you find on the lens? Do they say "2A1" and "1A1", or "2C1" and "1C1", or "UF" and "LF", or something else?

They are Slyvania H4073's. UF LF is on the lense.

Well, that helps; it means it won't be difficult to best their performance because those LF/UL (150mm x 92mm) sealed beams are just plain lousy.

How about these? They're inexpensive, give reasonably good performance, are well sealed against dirt and water, easy to mount, and easy and cheap to upgrade (replace the HB3 bulbs with HIR1 bulbs)

I've seen alot of the projector modules but it was always my assumption they were designed to be behind protective lenses. That is pretty much how all the OEM guys do it.

Are the lenses durable enough take sticks and tree limbs dragging over them?

Also, is the cutoff on these pretty good without a seperate housing? I don't feel like blinding anybody.

T.Rexford said:

I've seen alot of the projector modules but it was always my assumption they were designed to be behind protective lenses. That is pretty much how all the OEM guys do it.

Are the lenses durable enough take sticks and tree limbs dragging over them?

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They're glass-- something that could break that lens could do a number on the rest of the assembly.

Also, is the cutoff on these pretty good without a seperate housing? I don't feel like blinding anybody.

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They claim it's a "Very Sharp European Style Cutoff", not that a sharp cutoff automatically indicates whether a lamp will blind someone or not. (Note: The cutoff is also determined by the optics behind that lens, not on the outside of the lens.) The light under the cutoff is what will blind them if they get a good look at it. Aim will be extremely critical (and similarly, extremely easy-- the sharp cutoff makes aiming easier).

A super-sharp cutoff is also slightly less pleasant to drive with, because it seemingly plunges everything above that cutoff into darkness.

T.Rexford said:

I've seen alot of the projector modules but it was always my assumption they were designed to be behind protective lenses.

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The ones I linked (and a fair number of others) are definitely NOT for putting within or behind anything else. They are self-contained for use as-is.

Are the lenses durable enough take sticks and tree limbs dragging over them?

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Yes.

Also, is the cutoff on these pretty good without a seperate housing? I don't feel like blinding anybody.

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Yes, the cutoff is sharp on the low beam, but (1) a separate housing wouldn't change that, and (2) a separate housing is specifically counterindicated/not allowed with self-contained projectors, and (3) it is not correct that sharp cutoff = no blinding. That's a function of lamp aim, no matter what the cutoff looks like.

Roger all of that. Thanks guys. I'm going to use them as is, glad to hear separate housing is not needed. I was unaware cutoff on these was behind the lenses. Thanks for clarification.

The overall length is deep but with as small as they are I can work with it no problem.

I understand sharp cutoff does not equal no blinding. With as small as they are I think I can mount them low, which is what I was hoping for. I get alot of benefits from having them low.

T.Rexford said:

I get alot of benefits from having them low.

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Such as?
You can't get the same seeing distance having them mounted too low-- both by having a limited beam reach and by increasing the foreground light.

Perhaps for "crawling" it's not that much of a drawback, but it can still be disadvantageous to have them mounted too low.

The low mount benefit is that they will live a longer life. The higher up they are the more lights I go through after dragging them into granite and other things. Fender skins are consumables as well as core supports. I decided finally to ditch the core support and extend the engine cage forward to take some of its place. Shortened the engine compartment by 4 inches and tubed from the A-Pillar cage tie-ins out to the radiator tubing, which doevenoses the front by 12 inches each side.

On trail these lights won't be used much. I run other close vehicle lighting as well as tire path lighting. In all honesty these low beams may only be used a few times a year. Its more for street legality as trailering up multiple times a day to trail hop is no fun. Nor do I want to load up on the trailer when I can hit good trails 5 miles from my home.

Thanks again for your help.