RHD illegal headlights still on Delica's today

[almac]

Dood, look who you bought the van from. I would think a longtime contributor and Delica-gear fabricator would not sell his personal Delica with illegal headlights.

yea. im just being paranoid.
like last week i started to get this odd rattle in my rear end. i freaked...
after checking out the rear for a few days... turned out to be a loose exhaust hanger. LOL!
i guess im just being protective of my new baby.

[FalcoColumbarius]

One way of checking if they are left hand or right hand lights is by looking at the pattern that they illuminate. You should be able to see it on the road in front of you. If in doubt, drive up to any old wall with your lower beams on: To your left the beam should be narrow; to your right the beam should be broad. If it is the other way around you will be blinding the oncoming traffic.

Falco.

[bosc]

Oh right, those things.


I've got those old lights on mine still. They are the best lights I've ever had on a vehicle. I'll be keeping them on for sure. Apart from the legal issues, whats the problem with them anyway? They don't blind anyone as they are very adjustable. I don't see inspections up here.

Bosc

[fexlboi]

They don't blind anyone as they are very adjustable.

Since when are this lights horizontally adjustable? You can move it up and down, but the light beam is still in the wrong direction.
Let's hop you are not get caught in a serious accident.

[Golf Cart]

They don't blind anyone as they are very adjustable.

Since when are this lights horizontally adjustable? You can move it up and down, but the light beam is still in the wrong direction.
Let's hop you are not get caught in a serious accident.

In Masset?

[fexlboi]

In Masset?

Enough trees

[bosc]

In Masset for sure.

Perhaps i should relook at the positioning to make sure there is no issue. I never gave much thought to it.

[athabasca]

Can someone point me to DIY info on compliance for a pajero? I don't even know what side markers are, but I'd be quite willing to pay myself $400/day to giter'done. Is it just headlights and tires, period?

[jessef]

Can someone point me to DIY info on compliance for a pajero? I don't even know what side markers are, but I'd be quite willing to pay myself $400/day to giter'done. Is it just headlights and tires, period?

Side markers are on every vehicle. They are the red(rear) and orange(front) reflective markers you see at or close to the head/tail lights.

I did a post recently with a list of what a normal inspector looks for.

4x4wire.com has a Pajero-specific forum under trail talk forums along with the necessary compliance work needed.

Pajero just like any imported vehicle has to go through the same inspection.

These things have to be in proper working condition to pass :

tires have to be in good shape (99% tires coming from Japan have severe weather cracking and are not safe to drive on, ie. Rubber peeling while driving, blown sidewalls.)
tires have to had the load rating,psi and/or Dot approved stamp.
suspension components
balljoints/tie rods/swaybar links bushings/cv boots/shocks
brakes
calipers/pads/rotors/hubs
lights
dot or e-code LHD headlights/marker lights/day time running lights/3rd brake light
no massive leaks/window cracks
seatbelts have to be working

there is a longer list somewhere back

basically an inspector can fail you on any of those things

some inspectors are anal and very meticulous while others don't care or are lazy

there have been some good inspection facility shutdowns and licenses revoked because of poor inspections (passing vehicles with apparent problems and/or not up to spec)

if you fail, you can get it redone as many times as you like. It just costs money

4x4wire has been around for a long time and every bit of Pajero information you can think of has been discussed there. Good source of information.

[Mr. Flibble]

This is a very valid topic of discussion, but tell me, what is all the nice-guy discretion about when it comes to "not mentioning any names..." ?
Isn't the whole point of this forum to be sharing valuable information concerning these vehicles? And isn't honest feedback about good dealers and bad dealers, not to mention outright crooks amongst the most valuable information, especially for first time buyers earnestly seeking advice?
How many of us need to get ripped off over and over before justice catches up with the crooks?
So, please tell me, why are we withholding this information (those of us, that is, who don't have handy photos of dealer decals on the van!)?

I chose not to name the dealer as I don't know if they update the lights after the fact as Green 1 mentioned. I also looked at the vans without the salespeople around, so I don't know if they actually make them compliant after the fact. Furthermore, I am 99% certain that this dealer does not frequent this website, and thus would be unable to mount a defense to any accusations I might have, and that is patently unfair.

I saw one of the Delica L400's missing from the dealers lot, and I drove around to his garage. And lo and behold - there was a Delica L400 with E coded lights and the new side reflectors. So, it looks like this dealer is taking the time to do compliance, and had the vehicles sitting on the lot before modification. I am glad I did not name the dealer prior as they seem reputable in getting the right headlights and compliance performed. Now the dealer name completely eludes me, and I can't post it!

[dfnder]

Well it is nice that you took the time to follow up.

[FalcoColumbarius]

I was having a chat with another long time resident of North Van at a coffee shop about the usual coffee shop chit-chat when he brought up "have you noticed that there are more and more high beams on these days?".... I felt this certain sense of relief go through my mind as I have been noticing this but no one seems to know what I am talking about. The other day I was driving down Lonsdale (main drag) and this big pick-up truck that was at the intersection facing me, had his high beams on and they were the dreaded high powered blue-white variety.

What I experienced was: I could see his lights; not sure what brand of pick-up it was because I couldn't make it out; nor could I make out the vehicle beside him; the people crossing the street in front of him were difficult to make out until they were far enough away from the pick-up's headlamps. I gave him a flash of my upper beams but got no response so I put my hand up between my eyes and the beam of his headlamps so I could see the upcoming intersection more clearly (I was two lanes away from him). The traffic light changed and he started moving. As he came closer to me his beams shot beyond me. As he passed, he and his passenger were waving at me (I presume because I had my hand up blocking his headlamps) with these big grins on their faces.

This happened in broad daylight. Imagine if it was dark out. How long would it take for your eyes to readjust once the vehicle had passed? What could transpire in front of you during that period of time? If you hit something or someone in that period, do you think that driver would even stop?

If you are operating a vehicle with headlamps that shine into the oncoming traffic and a car that you blinded hit a pedestrian because his eyes had not readjusted... how would you justify your headlamps then? Would you be able to live with yourself?

Falco.

[loki]

I was having a chat with another long time resident of North Van at a coffee shop about the usual coffee shop chit-chat when he brought up "have you noticed that there are more and more high beams on these days?".... I felt this certain sense of relief go through my mind as I have been noticing this but no one seems to know what I am talking about. The other day I was driving down Lonsdale (main drag) and this big pick-up truck that was at the intersection facing me, had his high beams on and they were the dreaded high powered blue-white variety.

What I experienced was: I could see his lights; not sure what brand of pick-up it was because I couldn't make it out; nor could I make out the vehicle beside him; the people crossing the street in front of him were difficult to make out until they were far enough away from the pick-up's headlamps. I gave him a flash of my upper beams but got no response so I put my hand up between my eyes and the beam of his headlamps so I could see the upcoming intersection more clearly (I was two lanes away from him). The traffic light changed and he started moving. As he came closer to me his beams shot beyond me. As he passed, he and his passenger were waving at me (I presume because I had my hand up blocking his headlamps) with these big grins on their faces.

This happened in broad daylight. Imagine if it was dark out. How long would it take for your eyes to readjust once the vehicle had passed? What could transpire in front of you during that period of time? If you hit something or someone in that period, do you think that driver would even stop?

If you are operating a vehicle with headlamps that shine into the oncoming traffic and a car that you blinded hit a pedestrian because his eyes had not readjusted... how would you justify your headlamps then? Would you be able to live with yourself?

Falco.

some newer cars (like my Mother's Diesel Grand Cherokee) have an auto high beam setting, that is supposed to turn off the high beams when it senses on coming traffic (not sure if it detects traffic in front of you going the same way as you). This is a good thing if it works well, might not work in daylight, and also if it doesn't work well and people rely on it it can cause big problems, for others at least.

[delimonster]

"have you noticed that there are more and more high beams on these days?"

They might have been probably HID headlights without proper headlamp housing. If you install HID kit on non-HID stock headlamp housing, chances are lights will be spread like wildfilre.

[jessef]

Two L400's and one L300 (our neighbourhood loves Delica's) spotted close to 4th and macdonald in kits with original Japanese RHD headlights.

The L300 was good for all the rest but one of the L400's still had the bald Japanese non-dot tires.

Really. Who do these people think they are ?

Do the importer/sellers not realize that 'the man' is watching the JDM import business ?

Ignorant or arrogant. It's one of the two for the importer/seller.

Pisses me off.

I left notes on the windshield pointing to Delica.ca and to have them re-check their delica's for non-compliance stuff.

I'm guessing the owners just don't know what to look for.