Headlamp masking

rumik

I'm off to France on Wednesday and ordered some headlamp protectors with the masking attached - they finally arrived today but are the wrong ones Sad

So can anyone advise the correct size, shape and place to stick some tape on the headlights to mask the dipped beam to avoid dazzling our French EU partners Confused

The van is a 2008 Boxer.

Zebedee · Moderator

bandaid

Have you looked inside the bonnet, sometimes, in sensible French vehicles, ( like my picasso,) theres a throw over lever, which,.....throws the headlight across so they're sorted for the Continont.

alledgedly.

rumik

Zebedee · Moderator

Hi again Mike

The only bit of simulated wisdom I was able to come up with was more of an observation really.

a). I have never seen a lorry or "white van" (or even a Van Blanc in this country) with beam deflectors.

b). I have never been flashed while on the continent.

I do lower my beams as far as they will go, and that seems to drop the cut-off low enough to avoid any problems for oncoming drivers.

I won't start the ponderings about whether beam deflectors actually deflect effectively, but I think you can guess my opinion.

Hope this helps

Minerva

Hi

Beam deflectors only mask the left of the dipped beam to stop it dazzling oncoming motorists.

If you are fortunate to have Xenon headlights you just loosen a couple of screws and turn 15degrees (when you get accrss the channel) and you are ready for continental roads

Bill

safariboy

It is not a good idea to stick black tape onto the plastic lenses. It gets hot and can damage the lens. (The protectors are OK)
I suggest you go to Halfords and get a set of their deflectors. When I used them they did not have the correct place to stick the deflector and I had to ring tec. support. I got the impression that the ones current now would have the correct template in the instructions.
It is not the same as the old ducato/boxer

TUCANO

We were in the same situation last year. I tried to ensure we were off the road before nightfall but when we were caught out a couple of times I drove on side lights and fog lights. Never experienced any driver coming towards us who appeared to be unhappy.
Norman

rumik

Thanks for all the responses.

In the end I bought some Eurolites deflectors and used the electronic headlight adjustment to point the lights down as far as possible. The deflectors come with pictorial instructions that appear to cover just about every make and model of car or van.

For the Boxer (2006 onwards) they say (I'm trying to put a picture into words here) stick the deflector (a 60 mm diameter disc) in the 8 o'clock position with respect to the dip beam bulb such that the edge of the deflector appears to touch the edge of the bulb. The position is as you look at the headlamp, crouched in front of it and is the same for both headlamps.

I didn't have to drive in the dark so never really tested the results but I did have to have the lights on in rain and gloomy conditions. No one flashed or indicated any displeasure.