Battling head light glare in our beloved Subarus

[GregSplett]

Got my eyes checked yesterday.nothing major.

After I recover from shooting my load at the garden show in Seattle today[Wifey loves yard art] I am going to replace the window and headlights .Oem all the way .
This summer the car is going to get the outback shocks and a flat green paint job.I think the big white hood has something to do with it.

 

[libarata]

I dunno. I have a maroon hood that I keep full of dust and dirt. The glare factor keeps me home after dark.

 

[kmlacroix]

Keep the inside of the front windshield clean and the glare will be reduced.

 

[oscar the grouch]

A good clean window is essential but even in my FJ I get a lot of glare these days.....

#1 Problem - Dumb-a@@ people doing LED or HID bulb conversions on cars/trucks that were not designed for them. As a side note. HID conversions on cars/trucks that didn't come with them from the factory is illegal on a federal level.

#2 Problem - Lifted trucks and SUV's that didn't get the headlights adjusted post lift.

#3 Problem - The "Fast and the Furious" crowd. We have a local guy (one of many driving Honda's, Hyundai's, Subbies etc with modded lights) with an STI who has Rigid style lights in the grill, a 50W HID conversion in the headlights and a Rigid style single row bar in the lower grill opening. You want to talk about glare.................

I have a pair of yellow shooting glasses on the dash that I wear in town or at dusk to help with this...

YMMV RON

allow me to hit a couple of these points.

I have LED head lights in my Lifted vehicle. It is the proper setup with a nice clean cut off.
I personally aimed them according to the factory spec.
I still get flashed occasionally by the lowriders of the world.
I did everything right and chances are you still count me in this ************** category.
Which is fine. I know my lights arent too bright and are well within the legal definitions.
you drive a short vehicle. Get used to it. but dont lump everyone that has done a lighting upgrade into one category.

 

[libarata]

Aimed factory spec to the vehicle pre-lift?

 

[oscar the grouch]

post lift. part of the lift is that it levels the vehicle too. which means the front gets lifted more than the rear. This is when a reaim becomes necessary.

ive ran thru every lighting upgrade except hid in factory housings (just plain stupid) and wrote a bunch of how toos and pro cons for each.
Ive even gone the next step and purchased the european spec adjusters for my Jeep (us spec only comes with vertical adjustment) and angled my driver light more towards the middle of the road to alleviate the impact on low riders.

 

[libarata]

Ah, those round jeep lights, no matter the set-up have some pretty bad casting. Those, and Toyota lights are my largest bane. What kind of LEDs are you running?

 

[oscar the grouch]

Peterson 701C. they have been the oem for semis and other large trucks for years and are american made. recently KC started badging them and reselling them. Great light and in use on rigs with lights much higher than mine.

 

[libarata]

I have been looking at Petersons for my Forester. I can not quite make the jump on something that costs half of my cars value. But, if the chance every arrives, hell yeah.

 

[oscar the grouch]

i picked mine up for 400 shipped with anti flicker harnesses. for tj the run 350 ish. my brother runs trucklites and i prefer the petersons. less artifacts.

 

[GregSplett]

Just for the record I do not blame the oncoming vehicle whether truck or car or bicycle with a head lamp,they are all pretty much the same.It is a suby thing.

 

[libarata]

I like Petersons. I doubt a round lamp would fit in my provided spaces, so I get to stare at the squarish ones and try to figure it out for when I have a windfall of cash haha. I REALLY want to see the LED lamps in person, because I know the stock jeep lights are candles at best.

 

[oscar the grouch]

it is night and day difference literally. after riding in my jeep several friends have upgraded too.

 

[Hondaslayer]

Dashboard is a big part of the glare. Older Subarus like yours (and my 95) have fairly shiny dashboards that reflect up onto the glass from the inside. Think of it like those stupid helmet lights in SciFi shows. Instead of being on the outside where they can help, they're on the inside so you can see the actors face. All that light close to your eyes tends to "blind" you to things that are further out.

Solutions:
1 Dash mat. Not sure it anybody offers one, but try JC Whitless for weird old stuff like that.
2: Dash Flocking. Remember your Masters of the Universe purple panther that had "real" fur? That's what a flocked dash is like. All those little hairs service to diffuse the light so it does not go back onto the dash board. Works very well, but is kind of spendy.
3: Keep a dusty dashboard. It's like a poor mans flocking :lol: Not as good, but a hell of a lot cheaper.

 

[GregSplett]

Dashboard is a big part of the glare. Older Subarus like yours (and my 95) have fairly shiny dashboards that reflect up onto the glass from the inside. Think of it like those stupid helmet lights in SciFi shows. Instead of being on the outside where they can help, they're on the inside so you can see the actors face. All that light close to your eyes tends to "blind" you to things that are further out.

Solutions:
1 Dash mat. Not sure it anybody offers one, but try JC Whitless for weird old stuff like that.
2: Dash Flocking. Remember your Masters of the Universe purple panther that had "real" fur? That's what a flocked dash is like. All those little hairs service to diffuse the light so it does not go back onto the dash board. Works very well, but is kind of spendy.
3: Keep a dusty dashboard. It's like a poor mans flocking :lol: Not as good, but a hell of a lot cheaper.

Google shows them everywhere!

I do not know if I can put one of those in my car.I just do not like them.No real reason,They just bug me.

Eddit
;After taking a trip yesterday I see what you mean.Just the glare from the sun would leave an image of the dash especially the dome over the instrument cluster.Definately part of the problem.I think I see a dash mat in my future.


I got out of the garden show very easy this year.I already have a 12x12 garden shed full of yard art and I think she is starting to see the light.Anyways I am going to get the window replaced this week.

Now I need to figure out what I am going to do about head lights.New baskets for sure from there I do not know.