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Rakoon
11-09-2012, 10:16 PM
Hi guys,

I'm planning to buy headlights from USA (Left Hand Driver), what's the difference between LHD and RHD headlights?

What adjustment/modification i have to do so it's legal?
sensei_
11-09-2012, 10:24 PM
should be the same *imo*. you may have to adjust the focus on both sides so that they project the beam suitable for RHD. so that you dont blind your fellow motorists.

hope someone can clarify further.
envoytheguy
11-09-2012, 10:35 PM
Sorry to hijack the thread, but on the topic of LHD vs RHD, does it apply to wiper blades? I'm looking to get some cheap from US, but don't know if they're compatible.

Thanks,
DuffyFD
11-09-2012, 10:42 PM
should be the same *imo*. you may have to adjust the focus on both sides so that they project the beam suitable for RHD. so that you dont blind your fellow motorists.

hope someone can clarify further.

Unfortunately their not the same. Reason being is that RHD lights have a beam pattern that goes like this \___ so as not to blind traffic and give better side vision and LHD is like ___/ So using the wrong side lights means you'll blind oncoming traffic alot more, and you'll look like you have hibeams on.

It's illegal but it's not something you'd usually get defected for.
Rakoon
11-09-2012, 10:50 PM
Is the difference that for RHD, the right headlight's beam goes lower than the left side and the LHD is the other way?

The headlights are adjustable for up and down but not left and right.
sensei_
11-09-2012, 10:53 PM
Unfortunately their not the same. Reason being is that RHD lights have a beam pattern that goes like this \___ so as not to blind traffic and give better side vision and LHD is like ___/ So using the wrong side lights means you'll blind oncoming traffic alot more, and you'll look like you have hibeams on.

It's illegal but it's not something you'd usually get defected for.

cheers for letting me know. i thought it was possible to change the beam to fit the proper driving side. maybe i got confused with the up/down adjustments. my bad.
androo
11-09-2012, 11:08 PM
Often, the way in which the beam pattern 'leans' or 'kicks' is controlled by a simple peice of metal cut in such a shape.

LHD will of course be the other way around. The good thing is you can usually just remove these and flip them around (if flat). Bad part is it requires disembly of the housing to get to.
sensei_
11-09-2012, 11:13 PM
how hard would the housing be to remove in order to get to the reflectors?
Rakoon
11-09-2012, 11:19 PM
I got it now, thank you for the explanations.

Is there article or video how to flip the shutter and disambly of the housing?
curtis265
12-09-2012, 12:20 AM
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/484/cutoffj.jpg

There's a few DIY's on flipping the shields around the place, try googling.
DuffyFD
12-09-2012, 08:08 AM
flipping will only work for projector headlights.
sensei_
12-09-2012, 10:13 AM
damn. so those cheap LHD headlights are definitely not for us. unless we want to risk a canary and copping it from other motorist.
androo
12-09-2012, 10:53 AM
As DuffyFD mentioned, flipping the shields will only work on projector style head lights. You are sht out of luck if you get reflectors though. Unless you are going for the look, I would suggest getting projectors anyway. Though please remember that a cheap projector can be much worse than a good reflector. They often concentrate/focus the light in a very select area of the beam instead of spreading it consistently.