Do ralley style auxillary headlights shine in wide beam or straight ?
I want to install ralley head lights below the regular headlights to produce a wide beam on the ground.
i've installed both flood and spot type auxiliary lighting on my own and co-workers automobiles. sometimes both flood and spot on the same vehicle.
the answer to your question is that it depends upon the design of the particular lights you intend to install. some are designed to put out a flood pattern, others a spot pattern.
in my experience, most do NOT produce as tight a spot as i desired (i want the extra light primarily directly in front of my vehicles so as NOT to blind on-coming traffic). the exception, and to date my favorite aftermarket lights happen to be a very inexpensive light which still possess decent quality and actually feel a bit more robust than some PIAA's i've also installed on vehicles.
the lights that i'm referring to are $70 a pair He-Beam HB401's. they are PROJECTOR style auxiliary "spots". the reflector is designed for throwing light forward while attempting to minimize spill. in this regard they do that better than $300 PIAAs i've purchased and installed.
the HB401's are quite good at projecting the light in front of my vehicles with no apparent blinding effect to on-coming traffic (based upon the lack of drivers flashing their "highs" at me to remind me to turn-off my driving lights). in other words, they don't seem to be objectionable to on-coming drivers if one set of spots is left on (when the road is straight or curving left). when the road curves right and an on-coming car is position to receive the "spots", i turn them off.
i've purchased them at my local Speed Shop, but that was in the neighborhood of 10yr ago or so.
the 55W He-Beam HB401's wiring harness, relay, fuse, and lights are all designed properly to accept [non-street legal] upgrade bulbs up to ~110W (though 100W bulbs are easier to come by).
EDIT:
if you upgrade the bulbs in any set of lights, 100W H3 bulbs have a short life if left on in WARM/HOT weather when the car is stationary. air flow over the lights is important to keep them cool and get maximum life from the bulbs. 85W H3 upgrade bulbs are much more forgiving in this regard. i used mine at 0230-0330 commuting for 20min on a lonely stretch of highway through a forested area with a lot of deer sighted (both still living and road-kill - spotted six dead in one night's commute spotted, with four dead spotted several times and of course, lesser numbers more frequently), and many nights/mornings NO other CARS sighted at all. you must, however, turn-off any lights with upgrade bulbs on right-hand curves or if non-projector type auxiliary lights are installed, or on-coming traffic may be temporarily blinded. i normally switched mine off whenever on-coming traffic (which frequently there was none during the commute) was present.
