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Is it possible to adjust the aim on the fog lights?
- Thread starter Steve W.
- Start date
BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
2017 RT-S. Recently replaced the stock bulbs with Lamonster's offering. They LOOK great, but they shine on the road about 30 feet in front of the bike. Is there any way to re-aim them where they might do some good?ray:
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I think that's where the FOG lights are supposed to focus .... Have you ever put your car's High beams on in the fog .... total white out ..... I don't think they are adjustable ..... jmho .... good luck .... mike :thumbup:
High beams have nothing to do with this issue. I agree that it's total white-out. There are times that LOW beams are total white-out, too, which is why I don't agree with the Federal regulations about when fog lights should come on. I agree with the priniciple (fog lights are available only when low beams are on), but I believe the intent there is to not be able to run with fog lights ONLY, leaving the rest of the car dark. I have wired both of our cars so fog lights are available when the MARKER lights are on, so there are lights visible all around the car.
HOWEVER, ... since there is no option to turn the headlights off on a Spyder, the "fog" lights are pretty much used as extra conspicuity lights on the front and sometimes as "ditch fillers". But because they hit the ground only 30 feet ahead, they are useless for that. In fact, because they are pointed so far down, they are somewhat hard to see from the front, too, making them pretty useless for THAT.
I am pleased that all the lights now match color (LED vs halogen), but other than that, it was a complete waste of time and money.
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(Expen$ive) Aftermarket light are one way to go, but for right now, I would settle for getting the existing lights to point where they should.
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BLUEKNIGHT911
Sadly Passed Oct 2024 - RIP
IMHO the Fog lights you have offer little more light than what your headlights produce, they have much less wattage .... after it's dark out, take a thick blanket and cover just your headlights. ..... as you will see re-aiming your headlights isn't going to do much if anything ..... Mike :thumbup:
A few things here that might apply, Steve....
Firstly, BK911 is right, if you ever want to use your 'Fog lights' as FOG lights, you really need to keep their aim down low & close in front!! Anything aimed much more than noticeably DOWN from where the light source is, which is pretty much where you describe them, will cause that 'white-out' he described when you're actually riding in fog and when you need that 'low & close' light spread most!! :lecturef_smilie: I know this because here in Australia (where we get the Aus/EU spec lights, which have LOW BEAM where you get Fogs, except they are of necessity, aimed marginally higher - but only marginally mind you!! Cos that's ALL they can do!!
) whenever I get to ride in the fairly frequent fogs & low cloud mists we get here in the Hills quite often during Autumn & Winter, or when I get to ride in the bloody pea-soupers that we get more than just a few times each year, but not quite so often as the lighter fogs, the bloody low beam lights are aimed too high to be useful as fog lights, but they're already aimed so low that they're pretty much useless as low beam lights if you're not riding in brightly lit up suburbia!! And their maximum adjust UP really isn't much better for lighting up the road & verges in front at hwy speeds whenever you hafta drop off Hi-beam!! :gaah: So the OE Spec lights that we get fitted in that bottom position where you get to fit Fog lights are basically useless as both Low Beam lights AND as Fog lights! :banghead:
However, that leads us to the next thing that MIGHT help you a bit.... we do actually get a Low Beam adjuster on our Aus/EU spec Spyders, so maybe if you check out the parts diagrams you'll be able to see if our Low Beam adjusters will fit on your fog lights; altho I suspect that to make this work, you might need to get a pair of our adjustable Low Beam light assemblies AS WELL as a pair of the adjusters, because if I read the diagrams right, your 'Fog Light' assemblies don't appear to be adjustable in the same way our 'Low Beam' assemblies are?! :dontknow: At the 'turn here to adjust' end, the adjustment fittings for our low beam lights present as a knurled brass fitting that mounts in what I think is the 'other' hole just next to where your Hi Beam adjusters are - we've got a pair of those brass fittings on either side, one each for each side of the Hi beam lights (in the upper assemblies where you get both hi & low) and one each for each of the lower positions where you can get/fit fog lights. So they might work for you, but it could be a bit expensive if you hafta buy the whole light assembly too! :shocked:
And finally, I've found that raising &/or lowering the ride height using the ACS is a band-aid method for quickly adjusting the aim of those low beam lights!! More air in the RT Ltd air bag lifts the rear of the Spyder & points the beams down more, better for driving in fog; while dropping the pressure in the air bag drops the rear and raises the aim so that the beam becomes ALMOST helpful when I hafta dip my lights for on-coming traffic out in the sticks!! Maybe you could try that?!
hyea:
When it comes to improving our Aus/EU spec low & fog lights beyond their pitiful & virtually useless output, I'm still playing with swapping the headlight globes and wiring the low beams into the upper assemblies so that I've got a worthwhile beam for both Hi & Low; which will also free up the lower assembly so I can fit a true lower wattage spread beam short reach Fog light that I can use when I need it..... but I'm also playing with twin filament hi/low a/mkt lights mounted above the mirrors! Isn't it all fun?!? :thumbup:
:cheers:
Firstly, BK911 is right, if you ever want to use your 'Fog lights' as FOG lights, you really need to keep their aim down low & close in front!! Anything aimed much more than noticeably DOWN from where the light source is, which is pretty much where you describe them, will cause that 'white-out' he described when you're actually riding in fog and when you need that 'low & close' light spread most!! :lecturef_smilie: I know this because here in Australia (where we get the Aus/EU spec lights, which have LOW BEAM where you get Fogs, except they are of necessity, aimed marginally higher - but only marginally mind you!! Cos that's ALL they can do!!
) whenever I get to ride in the fairly frequent fogs & low cloud mists we get here in the Hills quite often during Autumn & Winter, or when I get to ride in the bloody pea-soupers that we get more than just a few times each year, but not quite so often as the lighter fogs, the bloody low beam lights are aimed too high to be useful as fog lights, but they're already aimed so low that they're pretty much useless as low beam lights if you're not riding in brightly lit up suburbia!! And their maximum adjust UP really isn't much better for lighting up the road & verges in front at hwy speeds whenever you hafta drop off Hi-beam!! :gaah: So the OE Spec lights that we get fitted in that bottom position where you get to fit Fog lights are basically useless as both Low Beam lights AND as Fog lights! :banghead:However, that leads us to the next thing that MIGHT help you a bit.... we do actually get a Low Beam adjuster on our Aus/EU spec Spyders, so maybe if you check out the parts diagrams you'll be able to see if our Low Beam adjusters will fit on your fog lights; altho I suspect that to make this work, you might need to get a pair of our adjustable Low Beam light assemblies AS WELL as a pair of the adjusters, because if I read the diagrams right, your 'Fog Light' assemblies don't appear to be adjustable in the same way our 'Low Beam' assemblies are?! :dontknow: At the 'turn here to adjust' end, the adjustment fittings for our low beam lights present as a knurled brass fitting that mounts in what I think is the 'other' hole just next to where your Hi Beam adjusters are - we've got a pair of those brass fittings on either side, one each for each side of the Hi beam lights (in the upper assemblies where you get both hi & low) and one each for each of the lower positions where you can get/fit fog lights. So they might work for you, but it could be a bit expensive if you hafta buy the whole light assembly too! :shocked:
And finally, I've found that raising &/or lowering the ride height using the ACS is a band-aid method for quickly adjusting the aim of those low beam lights!! More air in the RT Ltd air bag lifts the rear of the Spyder & points the beams down more, better for driving in fog; while dropping the pressure in the air bag drops the rear and raises the aim so that the beam becomes ALMOST helpful when I hafta dip my lights for on-coming traffic out in the sticks!! Maybe you could try that?!
hyea:When it comes to improving our Aus/EU spec low & fog lights beyond their pitiful & virtually useless output, I'm still playing with swapping the headlight globes and wiring the low beams into the upper assemblies so that I've got a worthwhile beam for both Hi & Low; which will also free up the lower assembly so I can fit a true lower wattage spread beam short reach Fog light that I can use when I need it..... but I'm also playing with twin filament hi/low a/mkt lights mounted above the mirrors! Isn't it all fun?!? :thumbup:
:cheers:
Peter, I get where you are coming from, but it still doesn't help much. I'll comment to the snips below.
Fog lights work on two principles: 1. a sharp cut-off at the top to limit their upward shine. 2. Physical placement considerably lower than your eye level.
If you held a "proper" fog light just below your face and projected it into fog, the glare (white-out) would be just as bad a high beams. Lower that light to your waist or your knees, you would see considerably better. Try the same thing with a high beam (that also shines upward from center), you would have a hard time seeing, because the upward-shining light reflects back into your eyes.
The driving manual suggests that you should be able to stop within the projection distance of your lights. Adding in reaction time and braking time, and allowing for about 2 seconds, that means that I should not be going faster than 15 feet per second, or a whopping 10 miles per hour. Of course, that is probably a reasonable speed for dense fog, but let's face it, if the fog is THAT thick, I won't be in it in the first place.
All I am trying to do is to find a way to shim the bulb in the housing, shim the housing, or whatever it takes (without spending too much money) to get the lights to point farther down the road.
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I know all about the white-out effect. That happens not only in fog, but in snow, which I get where I live. I also used to be a professional truck driver many decades ago, so I have a few more miles behind the wheel than the average person.
Fog lights work on two principles: 1. a sharp cut-off at the top to limit their upward shine. 2. Physical placement considerably lower than your eye level.
If you held a "proper" fog light just below your face and projected it into fog, the glare (white-out) would be just as bad a high beams. Lower that light to your waist or your knees, you would see considerably better. Try the same thing with a high beam (that also shines upward from center), you would have a hard time seeing, because the upward-shining light reflects back into your eyes.
We only have one adjuster on each side, it is for the headlight assembly. It does its job nicely. It would be nice to have one on the fog lights, too, I will have to see how many thousands of dollars would be necessary to adapt. OK, it might not be thousands, but I'll bet that it will be several hundred.
I agree that changing the ride height will fine-tune the light projection. However, I am currently running the height in the middle position and the lights hit about 30 feet in front. Lowering the suspension to the bottom puts it out to about 40 feet.And finally, I've found that raising &/or lowering the ride height using the ACS is a band-aid method for quickly adjusting the aim of those low beam lights!! More air in the RT Ltd air bag lifts the rear of the Spyder & points the beams down more, better for driving in fog; while dropping the pressure in the air bag drops the rear and raises the aim so that the beam becomes ALMOST helpful when I hafta dip my lights for on-coming traffic out in the sticks!! Maybe you could try that?!
The driving manual suggests that you should be able to stop within the projection distance of your lights. Adding in reaction time and braking time, and allowing for about 2 seconds, that means that I should not be going faster than 15 feet per second, or a whopping 10 miles per hour. Of course, that is probably a reasonable speed for dense fog, but let's face it, if the fog is THAT thick, I won't be in it in the first place.
All I am trying to do is to find a way to shim the bulb in the housing, shim the housing, or whatever it takes (without spending too much money) to get the lights to point farther down the road.
.
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