Headlamp bulbs, night driving etc.

[BongoBongo123]

I got rid of a car that was terrible at night for a few reasons, worst of all a terrible old windscreen and very weak headlights.

I do not do much driving at night but start to feel the front lights on the Bongo are somewhat under poweerd I have had OSRAM H4 Nightbreakers (Halogen) in for about 4 years now. Supposedly 30pct extra power/focus than regular bulbs. I feel the Bongo's lights are somewhat under powered now. Especially in modern times when many street lights (even on motorways) are off an you are driving in the pitch black.

A modern car comes past and I am thankful for their immense clear white beam lighting up the road ahead.

So I wonder about options ?

First of all if you drive at night I can 100pct recommend an eye supplement for you. Blueberry eyebright, Swedish blueberry, they make a BIG difference to me at nigth, take them an hour before driving. And I heard a story that our WW2 bombers ate these before night bombing runs to sharpen targets up. So it has backing too.

That aside first port of call will be to grind my slightly cloudy headlights lenses (they still go through MOT ok) down and rebuff them up using my 3M kit (at some time)

But is there any better bulbs that I can put in and do halogens lose their brightness over time? (I have 1 set of brand new H4's and can put those in if halogens do go stale after time.) A worthwhile topic I think.

Any input appreciated to brighten the road ahead.

[g8dhe]

You may well find that cleaning the lenses makes a significant difference, but the plastic lenses of some later units are not of the best quality and you will find that you need to repeat the process a couple of times a year.

The HID lights are better than the H4 filament lamps, even using the Night Breaker style, however they need the specific housing units and they don't appear to fit the older style mountings without modification. However they still suffer the degradation of the plastic and need cleaning regularly.

However the laws/regulations relating to lights is part of the problem, they haven't kept up with modern lighting standards and there doesn't appear to be pressure on the rules to change. The problem is that the lamps are limited to the electrical power demand of 55 Watts, modern lamps are much more efficient in converting the electrical power to light output and also the colour of the light is different hence the apparent increased light power output. Myself I find that the whiter/blue light that is created is a lot more dazzling than the older lights with a yellower light colour.

The other factor of course is our own eyesight! Everyone is different, what with cataracts, astigmatism and coloured glasses all create different effects!

[BongoBongo123]

Thanks G8, absolutely agree that the dazzle is truly terrible at night especially country lanes even after oncoming drivers drop their full beam. Was doing a drive in darkness to airport recently with mist and whilst I was thinking Bongo is much better than old car (Bongo has a relatively new screen of about 5 years old, an old windscreen can be a horror at night time.)

I also flip the internal mirror very often as especiall the high riding luxury jeep lights seems to be bruning a hole in the back of your head almost.

I will do all my basics. Lenses, windscreen wiper rubbers and replace bulbs. I think I have had them in 5 years or so but really do not do much
night driving. I bet there is less than 100 hours on them since they have been in.

I did try the wipes on the lenses but they are 100pct a waste of money. Also tried rubbing compound and toothbrush they helped very very slightly to remove top layer discolouring but did not do much. They now need doing properly and I will try and schedule it during winter if I can.

I have a very old Bongo 95 (Almost 30 years old on 01 June 2024 !!!) I think the headlamps are due a proper grind down, a 30th birthday treat..... and buffer back up job on them. This will most likely get things back to acceptable.

Anti glare coating on specs is not expensive and works wonders for night driving. I never gets specs without that.

[g8dhe]

I use the G3 compound ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/Farecla-Compou ... 01B85H1A2/ ) now for a couple of years and it works really well, I have also just ordered today a UV spray coating and will report back in due course. In the past I have used the UV solutions provided in the kits and wasn't impressed at all either when applying it or in its effectiveness!

[Northern Bongolow]

I went to the opticians to get a standard test when I was starting to notice the brighter modern lights were hurting my eyes, I was surprised to find I needed both eyes cataract removing, having had that done, I find the brighter lights are still as bad, but an awful lot clearer lol.

[Laz]

I find the standard halogen lights on my '95 Bongo okay so I don't know if this is an issue with them but I think it worth testing for a voltage drop at the bulbs.

I've got a VW Corrado and they have notoriously poor headlamps. A common mod is to fit a live feed direct from the battery to the headlamps through a relay which is switched by the factory loom. It's as simple as wiring in extra driving lamps and costs no more than a fancy set of halogen bulbs.

[BongoBongo123]

Sorry to hear that Northern, I rather hope not to have cateracts at my age ! I also tried rubbing compound. Maybe I should have 1 more go
with that before I do a grind down. Do a proper good going over on 1 lamp a day, not both on same day.

Interested in your UV product G8. (Don't tell me the one you got with the buffing kits looked a LOT like water, literally ran off the lamp the second you put it on and you really did feel like you had literally rubbed water on the lens ?) That is what I recall.(Rubbish !)

The odd thing is they don't look horrendous they, it is more a peeling glaze kind of look rather than frosting. And they go through the MOT.

Maybe it is just that new cars throw out 3 x the light with LED's and I have beam envy !

The Blueberry Eyebright really make a difference to overall night driving clairty and details. I was suprised.

[BongoBongo123]

I bought a set of drill style polishing pads of various grades and a woolen one to give the compound one last go before any full grind downs. The drill will take the pain out of the job, iffy shoulder at the mo, so that will be most welcome !

[g8dhe]

Be careful when using a drill, its very easy to create a hotspot and being plastic lenses they then soften or even melt if you push to hard or don't keep it moving!

[Bongolian]

Being a cheapskate.. I used some Solvol Autosol I had lying about in the garage on my headlights, it worked really well.
I applied it using the same old toothbrush I use when applying it to the alloy on my motorsickle (no not the wife’s).
I then made a buffer attachment out of a few old rags and polished it off with my drill.
Made a noticeable difference to both headlight clarity and performance.
My Bongo does also have spot lights fitted, while they’re nothing special there are plenty available out there these days, inc snazzy LED ones which look like they’d work better than a grittier lorry for de-icing purposes.!
Anybody tried those.?
Some AliPay jobbies get decent reviews

[BongoBongo123]

Be careful when using a drill, its very easy to create a hotspot and being plastic lenses they then soften or even melt if you push to hard or don't keep it moving!

Thanks, good advice I shall keep it moving and go easy as well.

(PS I have been a fool and reported your post in error looking for quote button )

Ian will suss it !