I unfortunately have moved to Virginia and after having my car pass the safety inspectionlast year, now my headlights are illegal. They don’t have SAE or DOT stamped on them making them illegal according to the technician. BTW…I forgot to mention that an off-duty state trooper pulled in to get a oil changed and told the tech about the headlights. Anyway, anyone deal with this before or are the one-piece approved?
:sad:
Thanks
Main reason why there not legal is because they dont have reflectors in them. If you have to go to inspection just throw some 3pc headlights in the mean time and then swap em out.
yup they are not DOT approved so they are illegal in all 50 states if inspected by any law enforcement. usually no one cares but that all depends on how your state handles vehicles.
yeah that’s how it goes here in hawaii, once a year i gotta throw my 3 piece stocks on to pass safety, but usually the cops don’t bother, it’s only during inspection
just add a reflector for the meantime. or always. cops have been busting ass around here so i bought some orange reflective tape and stuck a piece on the molding on each side of the bumper.
I thought the flutes cut differently? Like the US one are designed for right hand lanes so that way they don’t blind oncoming drivers in the left lane. And jdm ones are designed for left hand lanes so they don’t blind drivers in the right lanes?
Or i may be completely wrong.
does anybody have a write up on how to install JDM one pieces?
garagekansai, the headlights are exactly the same except JDM’s are plastic, lack reflectors and are 1 piece.
DA9707, they install the reverse of removing your 3 piece headlights.
even if you put reflectors on they are still not DOT approved for the US. so technically they are illegal however you modify them because they are not stamped.
i got pulled over for the first time in over 5 years the other night(routine traffic stop). the police officer was staring at my retrofitted JDM headlights for the longest time, but didn’t say anything about them. gave me back my license and registration then told me to have a good day!!!
[QUOTE=mav3rick478;2153176]garagekansai, the headlights are exactly the same except JDM’s are plastic, lack reflectors and are 1 piece.
DA9707, they install the reverse of removing your 3 piece headlights.
even if you put reflectors on they are still not DOT approved for the US. so technically they are illegal however you modify them because they are not stamped.[/QUOTE]
thats too bad. for anyone in Canada having this problem often enough just add reflectors.
How much does it cost to get an inspection? Maybe try to get it re-inspected at another station and hope they look over it.
Inspections only cost $16 but I have a reject sticker that has a written note that the headlights aren’t approved. So, I put the stocks on. However, now I have another problem. Now I’m being told the suspension can’t be altered. When I asked about trucks being raised, the shop said that trucks falls under different regulations and is only required to have their bumpers height within a certain range. I asked them to show me the regulation and it says any modification to suspension that restricts normal operation. I’m sitting on Tein Super Streets and nowhere close to the lowest setting, so I explain my set up and they tell me it’s junk. I restrained myself, continue to read the regulations and it says that personal vehicles with altered suspensions bumpers must be with 14 to 22 inches from the ground. I asked why would 14 inches from the ground apply to a raised truck and the shops explanation was “Sir, it’s really up to the inspector’s discretion if they want to approve suspension set ups or not”. I said thank you for being honest and walked out. This is turning into a nightmare!