i am trying to figure out how to make the low beams stay on with the high beams. im not worried about bulb life and such ive done this mod to my other cars and haven't noticed any difference in bulb life. the bmw i had to open the fuse box and cut a ground wire off the low beam relay and wire it to a constant ground point instead of the switched ground point is there a simalar type thing that has to be done on the subaru? i have a 95 legacy wagon with the 2.2 motor.

I had to do this when I put the JDM headlights in my legacy. I just grounded the switched ground at the light. Since I already had to take the connectors apart and make custom ones I just put a pigtail on the low beam wire to the body somewhere. Make sure to do it on both sides so you're not passing the current from both bulbs though the one ground. I also added a fused relay from the battery to power the lights, which I'll discuss below.

 

There are, however, a few reasons it isn't a good idea... One, you have the older style headlights with the H4 and the crappy spade connector plug, those like to melt on a good day. You're going to be adding heat, nothing is designed for the added heat. The positive supply wire to the lights is designed to run one bulb on each side, you're almost doubling (because high beams are usually higher wattage) the amount of current that it's designed for.  The added current draw is why I had a fused relay off the battery running the lights, the wiring is small already, you don't want to go overloading it.

while not going with jdm i have plans for robbing the innards of some audi lights or somtihng from the yard and cutting my lights up to  put projectors in them.

Well don't bother with the projectors out of the UrS4/C4 chassis, I don't know about the others but they are just as bad as the legacy lights...

 

The 98 Forester i just got has Great headlights though.

On my '03 OBW I wish the low-beams *didn't* stay on with the high beams, the near wash of light wipes out the dim light from distant objects.

You may overload the harness. The plugs sort of suck to begin with from the factory.

 

Also the human eye will only see the brightest light closest to it, which will render high beams useless if on with low beams. 

On my '03 OBW I wish the low-beams *didn't* stay on with the high beams, the near wash of light wipes out the dim light from distant objects.

 

I had the same gripe with my 3rd gen outback. My solution was to put a normally closed relay inline with the supply wire to the low beam bulb, one of the coil wires to the positive supply, and the other coil wire the switched negative on the high beam. This essentially creates a NOT gate, whenever the high beam is on it disconnects power to the low beam. Problem solved.

i will make a harness for it all with bigger wires i was just curious what it took to get it done because once i do get the projectors it will have hid's and only one bulb for both high and low so they will need to be that way soon just getting things started. the halogen bulbs should last that way for way longer than i need them too.

I had the same gripe with my 3rd gen outback. My solution was to put a normally closed relay inline with the supply wire to the low beam bulb, one of the coil wires to the positive supply, and the other coil wire the switched negative on the high beam. This essentially creates a NOT gate, whenever the high beam is on it disconnects power to the low beam. Problem solved.

 

I've thought about it, just too lazy.

 

I did bother to alter the wiper switch so they don't automatically start to wipe when hitting the squirter though- that's a windshield saver! And it saves the view when the fluid is out of frozen, sometimnes doing nothing is better than just smearing what's there.

I've thought about it, just too lazy.

 

I did bother to alter the wiper switch so they don't automatically start to wipe when hitting the squirter though- that's a windshield saver! And it saves the view when the fluid is out of frozen, sometimnes doing nothing is better than just smearing what's there.

I did that to my GL since I used to offroad it and get it all muddy. Saves the windshield and the wiper blades.

I actually like the 3rd gen outback lights and plan to put some on my legacy. Same procedure as discussed above?

im getting the stuff together for the projector retrofit and was wondering will the wavy clear lens of the stock lens interfere with the light output from the projector?

Edited December 2, 201510 yr by sirtokesalot

Yes, it will deflect the light output. You won't have a nice sharp cutoff unless you sand the inside of the lens flat. Probably not that big a deal, tbh, you just need a circle where the projector shines through. Use a round sanding pad on a drill start with a coarse paper to break the ridges down, going finer and finer until you have a polished finish.

Turbone did that on his rx hatch.

Start with like 320 to smooth it then work down thru 400, 600,1000,1200,2000, then polish it with compound.

Go easy on the coarse grits, as you can burn thru the lens pretty quick

do you think it would be wiser to switch to the next style headlight with the separate side markers? those headlights have a clear lens without the wavy pattern in them.

That's a winning suggestion right here. Easier to work with, too since it's a smaller light (don't have to deal with the blinkers). I've never converted from single to two piece, just the other way (for JDMs). Can't be too hard.

do you think it would be wiser to switch to the next style headlight with the separate side markers? those headlights have a clear lens without the wavy pattern in them.

Edited December 3, 201510 yr by 987687