clewis7951

This is a great thread....very informative. Thanks Rickyj for making some great points and doing the research.
I find that being able to see clearly at night warrants the risk of possibly being illegal. I will do my best to make sure the light is not blinding others....but first and foremost I need to be able to see!

rickyj

This is far off topic, but you do realize that there are actually bad cops don't you? In the last couple years here in Colorado we have had Arvada which had to fire 7 and arrest 3 (or more, they locked lips after the first round) "police officers" for blatantly illegal conduct. Not only had they been breaking into peoples homes (jury trial verdict) they decided to assault a man they had handcuffed and lie about it. There was a State Trooper in his PATROL CAR that got pulled over around 9AM on the interstate at speed and blew a 0.18 or so, and his punishment was unusually light - not harsh. Denver police officers have been involved in several videotaped beatings they lied about. Not all cops are bad, but they certainly exist.

And police officers do not have an obligation to respond or protect, this has been hashed out again and again in areas such as the Supreme Court of the United States. They have no (criminal at least) liability for even the most absurd situations they allow.

But to the first issue, that is what I want to know. IS it illegal? Being "fairly certain" isn't enough.

rickyj

You are welcome, and thanks for the thanks.

rickyj

I think the term "bad cop" is a potentially misleading one because it encompasses people who have no business wearing a badge as well as the genuine good police officers (most of them) who get the bad cop label because they are enforcing a good law in the current pressing interest of society. When I interviewed to become a police officer, one of the big questions was "are you okay ignoring the enforcement of a law?" The correct answer being "yes." Laws need to be enforced in a hierarchy, society itself breaks laws into hierarchy (felony by degree, misdemeanor by degree, petty offense, violation) because they are of varying importance. After further personal reflection and experience I found that the law enforcement field really wasn't for me - and I mean AT ALL, they deal with a lot of stuff and people every day that I wouldn't want to even yearly. So I do respect good police officers quite a bit, they really deal with a lot and put themselves in undesirable situations. But that said, a police officer that makes it his personal mission to write tickets for obscure technical violations is not a good one. Motor vehicles are the leading cause of death, but the primary causes are excessive speed, excessive lane changes (usually related to speed), inattention, running red lights or stop signs, driving too fast for conditions, and impaired driving - and in about that same order every year. Improperly aimed headlamps, improper headlamps, etc - they are not a pressing concern by far. Given that motor vehicle accidents/law violations are more of a continuous issue - a police officer that pulls someone over for headlamps (unless they are horribly aimed directly into oncoming traffic or not on) by definition is going to let the more dangerous speeders, etc roll right past while he is dealing with that person. While not an evil police officer, he isn't a good one. Deal with the big issues first, then trickle down. That is probably the policy of most departments as well. An elected police chief that directs his officers to hassle good people for technical violations while ignoring racers, drug deals, open prostitution, etc is not going to last long.

But I do understand why throwing "bad cop" out there can run against people the wrong way - especially without more description and explanation.

zig650

Stoppey,
What relays did you run and how/where are they interfaced. I have an 09 wrangler x unlimited and installed a hid kit last year,(HID hi/halogen lo) got the flicker and the kit tripped a factory relay preventing the lights from working at all when the vehicle was running. I even tried pulling the relay and then the vehicle wouldnt start. Reinstalled relay and removed hid kit. Now wife is complaining she cant see and wants hids back. Going to try a ddm tuning 55w 6000k kit. but dont want to deal with ecu or relay issues. any recommendations are greatly appreciated. Thanks

rickyj

I have an 09 unlimited as well. I ordered a canbus kit from VVME, not listed on their webpage, but they recommended it above everything else for the JK. They said 35w will have problems, 55w will probably have intermittent issues. If you ask, they will know what it is unless they were just blowing smoke up my butt. They implied that it was plug and play, no flicker, no relay. The warning cancelers are built into the housing, so that solves potential canbus problems (ecu). The harness hooks up to the battery directly for what I am guessing is the high current draw to get the arc going. Their grasp of the english language seemed formal but less than perfect by far however.

I should get the kit on Monday. I will post up some install pictures, beam pattern shots if I can find a reasonable wall to do so, and impressions/opinions. I will try to do so by the end of next week, unless someone has already done so on here. I am curious as to how much the pattern differs, if at all, and a little curious on if I will be able to get a picture that demonstrates it at all.

ETA - welcome to the forum........kinda. Looks like you have been registered over a year and only posted once? You aren't a deep cover NHTSA secret agent are you?

Hilldweller

Some HID talk on CPF.

rickyj

That is pretty much what I would have expected had I registered and posted there. Guy asks what law they are talking about. No one knows exactly, but they are "sure" they have discussed enough that it is 100% illegal.

One posters comment was basically "if you don't like your headlights, you should save up to buy a new car - not new headlights".

Then, predictably, thread closed and locked without a law being posted.

ETA - I understand the "must conform to FMVSS" statements. But what is the punishment if it does not? A felony? Misdemeanor? A capital offense? How many years in prison are we talking about? In addition to the $10,000 fine or not? The punishment for a car manufacturer is very clear, they can not sell the vehicle as it does not conform or comply to FMVSS, and that is a huge financial problem. I don't see listed anywhere in the section about criminal punishments for aftermarket installers. Given that it is a parts standard that is not surprising in the least. Show me the law. Since you are a member on Candlepower, ask Bill to provide the law.

Menard666

Who care's if it's legal or not, running lights that help you see and blind others is selfish, dangerous, ignorant and down right stupid. I drive past these people every night on the highways. Flashing them does nothing, they just flash back to show you they are running their low beams that scatter light and rob me of my night vision.

matt852

What about running those HID kits by DDM in my PIAA offroad lights? I have lights that run at 85w so would the housing be okay to house say 55w HID lights?