[Iffin'itaintbroke]

Back up lights are so others see you’re in reverse, it’s not to illuminate your way.

Clint

What?!

 

[SoCal]

What really cha

What?!

I have super bright LEDs for backup lights and I do use them to see behind me when parking at night (they light up the camera area pretty well).

 

[Clint]

What?!

Think about it, it’s like a blinker, it lets other drivers know if your intentions. Driving down a row in a parking lot you notice a reverse light go on don’t you either slow down, tap your horn or move further away as you pass by? What if the car had no lights and just came back with no forewarning?
Seriously you think they light up your way?
If they were truly there to light your way they’d be larger, lower and brighter. Mine don’t do squat for me to see on any of my cars or trucks.

Clint

 

[Clint]

I have super bright LEDs for backup lights and I do use them to see behind me when parking at night (they light up the camera area pretty well).

It didn’t come with super bright lights, did it, no.

Clint

 

[SoCal]

It didn’t come with super bright lights, did it, no.

Clint

Apple Pie doesn’t come with ice cream, but it’s way better with it.

 

[phatB]

My two cents is that if it is pitch dark, reverse lights do light up so that you can see a little, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see at all to back up out of parking spots etc. it isn't a lot of light but it's enough (just like stock headlights!) Although with a rear view camera that has night vision, my backup bulbs are still stock for the time being, so are my rear signals - zero need for those to be brighter.

I think if I lived where there were inspections, I wouldn't mod anything. Wouldn't wanna deal with it. In the tuner world when they need to get inspection, they just refer to it as needing to "stock out" meaning to take their mods off of the cars to pass, so they always keep all of the stock parts to swap back on temporarily, then just remove them again after immediately after inspection and re-install their fart cans, ECU tunes, etc. There are always ways past the laws...

I do think we need laws to at least slow down the abusers. I too find it annoying when I'm blinded by blatantly illegal headlights on 2 foot lifted truck, and when I'm behind super noxious exhausts that obviously have no cats just to gain 10 horsepower (every subaru on the road)
In a lot of countries it's illegal to do ANY mods...
just found this interesting read about lifts and what each state requirement:
Truck Lift Kits - State Rules, Laws, and Guidelines - Sport Truck Magazine (trucktrend.com)

 

[chickdr]

So glad I live is a state without inspections. I have LED replacements in ALL of my lights, inside and out.

 

[RockMechanic]

I'm going to be moving to a state in a couple of months that doesn't require "safety" inspections, emissions yes, but I think every state is mandated to have that in some form.

 

[phatB]

I'm going to be moving to a state in a couple of months that doesn't require "safety" inspections, emissions yes, but I think every state is mandated to have that in some form.

Some states don't have emissions testing. I feel it should be mandatory for cars older than 10 years old personally.

 

[RockMechanic]

Some states don't have emissions testing. I feel it should be mandatory for cars older than 10 years old personally.

I agree, I just wish replacement parts like catalytic converters were cheaper I know the prices are high due to the "catalyst" but I'm not convinced that the prices are reflecting the actual cost properly due to mass production of millions of catalytic converters a year, it should be pennies on the dollar by now compared to back when they started. It feels artificially inflated to me, like the diamond market, or the prescription eye ware market.

 

[flormat]

im glad I don't have to deal with inspections. I put Phillips (afaik DOT legal) LED backup lights in mine, they help massively when backing up at night.

 

[Skibane]

Back up lights are so others see you’re in reverse, it’s not to illuminate your way.

That's a problem that's easily solved with the installation of brighter bulbs.

Some folks install separate floodlights for that purpose - And they're also available as a option on some aftermarket rear bumpers.

ETA: Honestly, I think that if they were intended to be purely for signaling purposes, they would have been a specific color (blue, green or whatever).

The fact that they're white implies that they're for the same purpose as every other white light in a vehicle: To provide illumination.

 

[chickdr]

Emissions testing is in the higher population counties in GA. I was in Dekalb for years and had to get emissions testing done. Moved out to Hall county in 2018. No emissions test needed here. The funny thing is in Georgia the testing isn't required as cars get really old which seems counter intuitive to me.

 

[SoCal]

Emissions testing is in the higher population counties in GA. I was in Dekalb for years and had to get emissions testing done. Moved out to Hall county in 2018. No emissions test needed here. The funny thing is in Georgia the testing isn't required as cars get really old which seems counter intuitive to me.

The same is true for California - cars from the 70's and older don't have to get smogged.

 

[MrPandy]

The same is true for California - cars from the 70's and older don't have to get smogged.

The older cars don't get smogged because they weren't manufactured to meet pollution standards. They didn't have useful pollution control equipment, so there would be nothing to repair if they fail.

 

[Colo.Frontier]

Personally, i wish Colorado had some type of vehicle inspection program, it might get the junk off the road. 10 Years back, good friend ran a quick lube shop, lady brought in a car that had no brake lights, he quoted her the bulbs at $2 over cost, plus labor she declined, said her husband would fix it. 3 months later she came in, same issue, she declined again. After that, he started a spread sheet, tracked by license plate, of vehicles they recommended safety repairs, and if accepted or declined, and if repeat "offender". It was amazing how fast his spreadsheet hit 100 pages, and 80% were repeatedly on the list for the same item. One guy went 4 yrs with 1 of 6 brake bulbs working, eventually he sold the car.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

 

[phatB]

Personally, i wish Colorado had some type of vehicle inspection program, it might get the junk off the road. 10 Years back, good friend ran a quick lube shop, lady brought in a car that had no brake lights, he quoted her the bulbs at $2 over cost, plus labor she declined, said her husband would fix it. 3 months later she came in, same issue, she declined again. After that, he started a spread sheet, tracked by license plate, of vehicles they recommended safety repairs, and if accepted or declined, and if repeat "offender". It was amazing how fast his spreadsheet hit 100 pages, and 80% were repeatedly on the list for the same item. One guy went 4 yrs with 1 of 6 brake bulbs working, eventually he sold the car.

Sent from my LM-G710VM using Tapatalk

it blows my mind how some people are just unreasonably cheap that they won't pay for $5 in bulbs to make their car safer and legal. Those are the people we wish the police would pull over and ticket... makes you wonder how horribly they neglect their vehicles with maintenance.

The older cars don't get smogged because they weren't manufactured to meet pollution standards. They didn't have useful pollution control equipment, so there would be nothing to repair if they fail.

I thought any car 25 years or older was exempt from emissions testing in most states, but that's a 1996, which isn't SUPER old considering the technology, and in 4 more years a car built in 2000 will be exempt, just seems crazy that a car built in the year 2000 will be "old" lol

 

[chickdr]

I thought any car 25 years or older was exempt from emissions testing in most states, but that's a 1996, which isn't SUPER old considering the technology, and in 4 more years a car built in 2000 will be exempt, just seems crazy that a car built in the year 2000 will be "old" lol

And this is what seems so ludicrous to me. So if the car is newish it has to conform to regs, but once the emmission parts get old and stop doing their job you don't have to fix them anymore. Catalytic converters have a 10yr unlimited miles warranty anyway, right?

 

[phatB]

And this is what seems so ludicrous to me. So if the car is newish it has to conform to regs, but once the emmission parts get old and stop doing their job you don't have to fix them anymore. Catalytic converters have a 10yr unlimited miles warranty anyway, right?

A good point. I agree, it seems odd. I think the reasoning behind may be that the percentage of cars on the road older than 20 years is low so they figure there is no big need, but it is increasing every year due to how reliable cars are becoming. i think currently the average car on the road is 13 years old which means there are millions much older... so you'd think they should require passing emissions testing too. It'll never make sense how it's regulated, especially since every state does it differently, which I also think is pointless - things like this should be a national standard - is the air different in each state?

 

[shift_RUSH]

Catalytic converters have a 10yr unlimited miles warranty anyway, right?

IIRC, our Frontier emissions system warranty is 80k miles.