Beam benders

by Kdc Sun Oct 30, 2022 8:54 am

Need to purchase headlight beam benders for my 2019 boxer. Any recommends from seasoned euro travellers as to which set to buy would be helpful.

by breakaleg Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:03 am

I bought a pair of headlamp protectors, they clip on and off no fixing, not cheap but being used on the third van now after about ten years plus.

They come with the section marked as to where to place the tape to make your headlights legal to drive abroad.

very easy to put on and remove, I just leave mine on and remove the tape for use at home.

Pete

by rgermain Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:18 am

I have always used eurolites from eBay, with no problem @ £3.80.

Not sure if these are what you mean as beam-benders?
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Richard

by IanH Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:23 am

I use these too, no idea if they work though seem to be reasonable in tunnels. As we never drive in the dark, except tunnels, I have them on to deter some jobsworth foreign Johnny plod!! up!

Never, ever, seen any on any foreign vehicle with them on in UK, btw......

by Kdc Sun Oct 30, 2022 10:37 am

Thanks all for replies…was looking at eurolites so will go with them.

by Caraman Tue Nov 01, 2022 5:01 pm

I've used eurolites on cars but the problem with the 2019 vintage Boxer is there is no indication on the headlight lenses where to put them. When I looked into this I concluded that breakaleg's solution is the correct one.

by Relaxez-Vous Tue Nov 01, 2022 7:23 pm

When we had a Duetto I used stick-on blockers on the headlights for several years. I will say that I noticed fine lines, perhaps micro-cracks in the plastic headlights where they'd been. I can't really say that we did much if any night driving except when going through tunnels. Nevertheless I like the idea of fitting headlamp protectors onto which I would apply the stick-on dipped beam blockers. Having stick-on beam blockers perhaps raises the temperature of the plastic which causes the fine cracks.

Even earlier when we had a Commer PB motor-caravan ( Oh happy days) the clip on yellow plastic headlight beam benders probably did just that, bend the beams.

I agree with someone else's posting in this thread, does the shop on the ferries have beam blockers for continental drivers that I assume are assiduously searching the shop high and low to find a beam blocker to fit to their vehicle so their LHD vehicle doesn't blind UK motorists.

by v8oholic Tue Nov 01, 2022 8:39 pm

The headlamp protectors work well. Of course they are more expensive than single use stickers, but you can fit the supplied stickers onto the protectors and leave them there permanently. And there are markings to show where the stickers go. I just fit the protectors at Folkestone on the way out and remove them on the way back at Calais.

by Caraman Tue Nov 01, 2022 9:26 pm

There are several threads on the Forum if you search beam deflectors or beam benders.

by Bad Penny Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:03 am

“Jobsworth foreign Johnny plod” What are those? Oh! I know, people doing their job.

by IanH Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:15 am

Bad Penny wrote:“Jobsworth foreign Johnny plod” What are those? Oh! I know, people doing their job.

Usually the sort, much more enthusiastic re their jobs when dealing with British number plated vehicles......... scratch head

by Relaxez-Vous Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:59 am

Just a note about my seeing micro cracks in the area were our beam blockers had been. Isn't there some warning about not putting stickers on motorcycle helmets?

by bikeralw Wed Nov 02, 2022 11:30 am

IanH wrote:
Bad Penny wrote:“Jobsworth foreign Johnny plod” What are those? Oh! I know, people doing their job.
Usually the sort, much more enthusiastic re their jobs when dealing with British number plated vehicles.........

Earlier this year I was driving through the Pyrenees from Perpignan towards Toulouse. This route eventually joins the road north from Andorra. At a roundabout I was waved over by the French custom police, they wanted to know what I had purchased in Andorra. I politely told them we hadn't even been there, our whole trip had been in France. He took our word for it and waved us on, but not before my wife asked him why he had singled us out. He pointed down to our number plate... So it's ok for French folk to bring duty free goods into France but not if you're from the UK...
Al.

by IanH Wed Nov 02, 2022 12:40 pm

A Brit friend lives in France, his favourite cafe is on a busy tourist route road.
It has a stop sign.
Frog plod sits up a side street watching to see if all stop properly. (I read once and now do count to 3 when stopped at a stop sign even if patently obviously clear)
He gets some fun watching this.
He reckons 30 to 50% of those apprehended are non French..........Brits mostly.

So to keep the jobsworths stationary, stop at stop signs and count to 3!!! hugegrins

by Bad Penny Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:28 pm

Jobworths (not a term I like) are still doing their job, whether they target Brits or not, if the law is broken by not stopping at a stop sign, which clearly says stop, which is the French law.Then take the hit. Don’t expect to be excluded if caught. If caught speeding take the hit, that’s why we have laws.

by rgermain Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:45 pm

IanH wrote:A Brit friend lives in France, his favourite cafe is on a busy tourist route road.
It has a stop sign.
Frog plod sits up a side street watching to see if all stop properly. (I read once and now do count to 3 when stopped at a stop sign even if patently obviously clear)
He gets some fun watching this.
He reckons 30 to 50% of those apprehended are non French..........Brits mostly.

So to keep the jobsworths stationary, stop at stop signs and count to 3!!!

I agree, I was told this by a good French friend in France about counting to 3. So far so good smile!

Not sure about who has right of way on roundabouts, I assume it's the French! scratch head

So I just stop and wait till all clear.
---------
Richard

by Relaxez-Vous Wed Nov 02, 2022 3:48 pm

I seem to remember us being stopped by the police of our way back into France from Andorra. I think they asked about cigarettes,

The only other time we were stopped by a policeman was in the centre of a small village in Brittany. There was nobody else about except us and him, it was their lunchtime. I suppose he was bored and enjoyed looking at UK driving licenses.

by Caraman Wed Nov 02, 2022 5:09 pm

I lived in Germany for 5 years with a RHD car, LHD headlamps, GB number plates and a caravan which we took all over the continent including France. We were never stopped or approached by the police and nor were we when we took the caravan to France on several occasions from UK with RHD lights & beam benders. In contrast we were stopped once in UK driving back from the West country. I think they were looking for stolen caravans as all they did was give us advice on caravan security. The last time was quite recently. My wife and I had parked in a quiet corner of the supermarket carpark in Cirencester. Having done our shopping we were killing half an hour until we could get onto the CAMC site when a policeman strode over. We wondered what we had done wrong. We needn't have worried. He just liked the look of our Nuevo and wanted to talk us about it. Apparently his wife wanted a motorhome. He stayed with us quite a while until his mate called him up on the radio to find out where he was!

by pstallwood Fri Nov 04, 2022 4:58 pm

We were stopped by police on a roundabout in France. We were robbed - they were collecting for "charity" and cost us a few euros for one of their hats.

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