T6.1 LED headlights

mellow yellow

mellow yellow

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VIP Member
T6 Pro
Hi, I've searched but couldn't find an answer.

I haven't been driving out late at night and with the nights drawing in, last night was darker it's the 1st time I've experienced since driving the T6.1 that the headlights dont seem to throw as much light/dipped beam ahead on the road. The light shone is wider spread of field, but not as much depth..

So last night driving home at 8.30pm, the road were putch black, cats eyes on the road were poor, and i found that the distance the led headlights shone for, seemed quite short in comparison to my rav4 with h4 bulbs.

i could only see for about 1 and a bit cars length and had to use my full beam to illuminate further up the road

is this a quirk of the t6?! In my old 08 Rav4, I could see much farther than I can in the T6.1, and driving around many roads here in aberystwyth it's quite dark.

I've looked in case the headlights had a level adjustment button etc, but from what I've read the T6.1 doesn't have any of that, so I'm stumped as to how I can adjust the dipped headlights to shine/spread more beam further ahead so I can drive more safely.

Sorryz I don't have the vocabulary to describe what I mean well, as I read this back lol

Any hints, tips or is it just something I need to get used to...🤔
 
On the T6 the leds were adjustable under the bonnet so I assume the 6.1 is the same.

I’d park it up in front of a wall and see if you can dial them up a little.

Or take it to a garage so they can do it?
 
WinFreak said:
On the T6 the leds were adjustable under the bonnet so I assume the 6.1 is the same.

I’d park it up in front of a wall and see if you can dial them up a little.

Or take it to a garage so they can do it?
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Thanks I've had a look but couldn't see any adjuster and from reading on here the t6.1 doesn't have any adjuster, unless I've read it wrong.

The beam appears to me to be low, but could be subjective as my seated ride height is higher than in my rav4.....but the beam does feel to me like it's too low and not spreading further to see as well...
 
mellow yellow said:
Thanks I've had a look but couldn't see any adjuster and from reading on here the t6.1 doesn't have any adjuster, unless I've read it wrong.

The beam appears to me to be low, but could be subjective as my seated ride height is higher than in my rav4.....but the beam does feel to me like it's too low and not spreading further to see as well...
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So are you saying that when driving on roads with no street lights the LEDs on dipped don’t light up very far? They will have a sharp cut off so you don’t dazzle oncoming drivers.

If there are no oncoming drivers and the roads are unlit, I suggest you put the full beam headlights on. That should illuminate the road sufficiently. Thats the whole point of having dipped and main beam headlights.

If you adjust your LED dipped beams up, you will just end up dazzling oncoming drivers and possible fail MOTs due to incorrect headlight alignment.
 
Skyliner33 said:
So are you saying that when driving on roads with no street lights the LEDs on dipped don’t light up very far? They will have a sharp cut off so you don’t dazzle oncoming drivers.

If there are no oncoming drivers and the roads are unlit, I suggest you put the full beam headlights on. That should illuminate the road sufficiently. Thats the whole point of having dipped and main beam headlights.

If you adjust your LED dipped beams up, you will just end up dazzling oncoming drivers and possible fail MOTs due to incorrect headlight alignment.
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Hi skyliner33, I understand that the led must have a sharp cut off point to not dazzle oncoming drivers.

I do use both full and main beam when conditions must, and regularly on everything i drive 😀

The situation i am perhaps poorly describing is that I was using the full beam when there were no other traffic around and this did light up the road perfectly. The concern I had was that I couldn't see (my subjective opinion) enough ahead of me, but also there was a car in front of me far enough down the road/lane as me, as I could see their tailights. I couldn't use full beam, as they weren't far enough down the road, else I'd blind the driver ahead in the same lane/direction as me. Hence wondering if there was adjustment button not such that I would dazzle oncoming traffic or drivers ahead of me.

Having limited driving experience of this van, and from responses thus far, I now understand that with the Led headlights on my T6.1, it is what it is with no adjustment and I'll just need to adjust and get used to it. It was just unnerving compared to the being able to see farther in my other cars 🚗
 
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I can't believe there is no adjustability in these lights at all.

If you lower a van the lights would be miles off where they were before and without a way of fixing it lots of people would have this problem.

Can you take a photo of the top and maybe the back of the lights?
 
Found this photo online, these two plastic allen bolts will do your alignment, one is horizontal the other is vertical. I suggest parking 10m away from a wall, turning the lights on and chalk a line where the top of your beam is, then adjust them up a bit and see how you go.

I like having mine so when I'm behind another car with a comfortable bit of space in between, the edge of my beam is just below his side mirrors so I'm not dazzling him.


1759926603355.webp
 
As others have said LED lights have a sharp cut off as the light source is far more focused than halogen bulbs and therefore reflectors struggle to make the most of the brightness.
Another consideration is that LEDs have a much cooler light temperature- usually around 6000 kelvins whereas halogens will be in the 3000 range. The warmer whites tend to have a better CRI (colour rendering index) and therefore allow better perception of objects.

If you’re saying the light pattern on the road near the van is wide (but short) I wonder if you can go much higher with adjustment anyway (I’m sure there will be some tucked in the back of the unit). Beam patterns tend to be narrow further from the vehicle so the fact you don’t have a tight hot spot on the road in front of the van makes me wonder how much adjustment is left.

Some people love LED headlights but there are a lot of negative comments when you start looking around other forums or at reviews.

I do a lot of night driving, always have, and personally I usually prefer halogens… although a new Kia Sportage that I get to drive occasionally does have impressive factory LEDs so it is possible.

First thing I would do is get to an MOT tests station and ask politely if they can just check the beam height is as it should be.
 
WinFreak said:
Found this photo online, these two plastic allen bolts will do your alignment, one is horizontal the other is vertical. I suggest parking 10m away from a wall, turning the lights on and chalk a line where the top of your beam is, then adjust them up a bit and see how you go.

I like having mine so when I'm behind another car with a comfortable bit of space in between, the edge of my beam is just below his side mirrors so I'm not dazzling him.


View attachment 305698
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People need to get the beam properly set up. Letting folk adjust their own lights to suit is what leads to dazzling which has been shown is responsible for collisions.
 
Lubrown said:
People need to get the beam properly set up. Letting folk adjust their own lights to suit is what leads to dazzling which has been shown is responsible for collisions.
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Yup in an ideal world maybe. Shame we live somewhere where 90% of the time you can do a better job yourself than some useless moron in a garage will. Even at main dealers. It’s not a hard job and with a bit of patience and reading up on things it will be fine. There’s plenty of info on measurements online for where the beam edge should be.
 
Lubrown said:
As others have said LED lights have a sharp cut off as the light source is far more focused than halogen bulbs and therefore reflectors struggle to make the most of the brightness.
Another consideration is that LEDs have a much cooler light temperature- usually around 6000 kelvins whereas halogens will be in the 3000 range. The warmer whites tend to have a better CRI (colour rendering index) and therefore allow better perception of objects.

If you’re saying the light pattern on the road near the van is wide (but short) I wonder if you can go much higher with adjustment anyway (I’m sure there will be some tucked in the back of the unit). Beam patterns tend to be narrow further from the vehicle so the fact you don’t have a tight hot spot on the road in front of the van makes me wonder how much adjustment is left.

Some people love LED headlights but there are a lot of negative comments when you start looking around other forums or at reviews.

I do a lot of night driving, always have, and personally I usually prefer halogens… although a new Kia Sportage that I get to drive occasionally does have impressive factory LEDs so it is possible.

First thing I would do is get to an MOT tests station and ask politely if they can just check the beam height is as it should be.
Click to expand...
I used to have osram night breaker halogens in my old car and loved them. So I foolishly thought thr LEDS would be a good step up and modern (my car was a 2008 lol).

I'm gonna heed advice in the replies, go to a MOT testing station and check the beam alignment and explain the subjective view i see and see what they say. That way im comparing apples and apples etc.

My van wasn't really used on the road, it's was leased to a well known baked bean factory and used to drive execs and managers around the factory ha ha 😀

Now it's being used daily, I need to know it's all A-ok especially as nights are longer and will be darker for longer. There aren't as many street lights here and they all seem to go off at 1am, which takes some getting used to, as back in Kent the street lights stayed on 24/7 🤣
 
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I assume you have the factory LED's and if so I have them too and find them to be the best lights I've ever had. When you start up with the lights on do you see them go up and down to set their base setting? say parked in front of a wall you should see the beam pattern go up and down, this level I believe is then controlled by a sensor on the suspension so it doesn't matter what load is in the van the lights stay the same. As said the beam has a very sharp cut off and will easily light the road width to two lanes either side of you on dip then main beam takes over from that for half a mile! Proper adjustment is key!
 
Thank you for the advice, I've no experience of LED lights, so good tips for me to check and park up against a wall and see how the beam adjusts etc. I'll have a look later when back home , thanks again 👍😎
 
Yes, mine are the same, are you lowered at all? I'm 60mm lowered, don't know if the lights have been adjusted to suit (or if they need to be).
 
StratosFearXX said:
Yes, mine are the same, are you lowered at all? I'm 60mm lowered, don't know if the lights have been adjusted to suit (or if they need to be).
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hi, my bus is mechanically standard T30 and only done 3500miles, so factory suspension and 16" claytons etc. I've only had some cosmetics to the front and a van-kings bed in the back. I'm sticking to stock height and will next year put on 18" sportlines and tyres to fill the arches.

Suspension maybe changed in the future, but for now I'm broke buying the van, so it'll be on the long things to do wish list for now :)
 
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