Alignment of Focused Beam LED

T

Thearne3

Member
Greetings all!

Santa brought me a pair of the Logolite focused beam LEDs and I’m confused re alignment. In the May/June Restorer, the authors set the top of the LOW beam to the line specified in the Ford Bulletins (39.5” for a 30/31). The Bulletins specify the HIGH beam to this level. They properly aligned the original bulbs to the HIGH beam mark and left that alignment for the LEDs, but since the focused beam LEDs do not rely on the reflector, they aligned the headlights as described above.

My question is “Why?” Why not align the focused beam using the HIGH? The test (Figure 11) confirms their alignment. It seems to me that this setting would be blinding for oncoming drivers, most of whom will have eye level less than 40” above the pavement. The test of modern headlights show the low beam topping out at less than 2’.

I did a few searches, but found nothing on this topic…sorry if it’s been covered!
 
I really don't have an answer for you but it seemed to me my Logo lights were adjusted too high. What I did is pull the car out on a level street and adjust them to where I thought they looked the best on low beam without blinding anyone coming at me. I didn't take any measurements.
 
I didn't measure mine, either. I used my garage door as my basic target, then took a drive. I had my wife (driving another vehicle) simulate an oncoming vehicle to check that I wasn't shining into the other driver's eyes. I absolutely love the illumination of the road that I get with my focused LED's. I switched from sealed beam headlights which were not a whole lot better than driving with a flashlight.
 
I parked my modern car next to the Model A facing the garage door at about 30 feet out. I adjusted the low beam of the Model A so that the cut-off line of the beam matched that of the modern car.
 
Horses led by humans have no problem with 39.5"; Miatas and Maseratis probably do. Use your best judgment.
 
Thanks for the replies...

Since the low vs high is no longer a function of the geometry of the headlamp/reflector, I think the group wisdom is correct: make the low beam the 'focus' of the adjustment, balancing illumination with consideration of oncoming traffic. It's just a fact of life that there is high variation in sitting position (think Ferarri vs Mack truck) on modern roads. Any relatively low vehicle is going to be blinded by a higher set of lights as they get within 30 or 40'.

For me, setting the high beam as per the Bulletins yields road illumination in low beam only about 25 feet ahead - too short for safety. My current setting is a 'hair' down from dead level. This is higher than what some have measured for stock lights (1/2 bubble), but lower than the Restorer article (5 deg up). I hope to corral a friend to make a final adjustment, but so far so good.
 
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