Where can I get bulbs for the fancy Hella auxiliary lights on my 1991 U300? Are they sealed beams or do they take ordinary H3 bulbs? Sorry to be so unbelievably stoopid. I took the light out of my coach and it didn't look like it came apart so I thought it was probably a sealed beam. I was looking for it on the internet and it's over a hundred dollars for the lamp and apparently only available in Germany as a new old stock item. I did see someone mention that it's an H3, which would mean it's not a sealed beam if that's true... So how do I get the lamp apart without breaking it to replace the H3 bulb which may possibly be inside? ...or maybe I just need to stop doing so much traveling at night.
@Scott Sorry can't help with your question but I had a mishap with a very large orange cone that took out one of my driving lights. I checked FOT and they are no longer available. Do you have the link where you found the NOS items?
see ya
ken
Timely question, as one of mine is out and I thought that maybe I'd get a chance this week to change it.
...they were on eBay in Germany, there was a pair of yellow ones and a single one that might have been blue (?) but I'm not sure about that, I didn't read the description I just looked at the photo ...someday I'll learn to read :)
I called Foretravel and their parts department said the aux lights aren't available anymore. They said some years used sealed beams and other years used H3 bulbs inside the aux lamps but they weren't sure which years. Closer examination revealed that I have the H3 bulbs instead of the unavailable sealed beams... (happy dance)... Even closer examination, after successful disassembly this time, revealed that the H3 bulb wasn't burned out but the ground terminal was corroded, so I cleaned it and now it works again. :) This is very good news because I really depend on the aux lights to make up for the poorly designed Ford headlights that Foretravel used on the U300. The crummy Ford headlights are the worst design feature of the entire coach that I've found so far. To disassemble the aux lights remove the two screws on the sides of the bezel on the front of the lamp and the whole thing will come out from the front. You don't need to mess up the aiming screw in the corner of the lamp, just take out the two big screws on the sides of the bezel. You'll see how to squeeze the spring and remove the bulb after the lamp comes out. Don't touch the glass part of the H3 bulb because the oil on your hands will cause the bulb to burn out prematurely. If the ground wire is corroded like mine was you can clean it with a wire brush. To test the aux lights you need the headlights on, the ignition switch on, and the aux light switch on. Even if the aux light switch is glowing red the aux lights still won't come on until you turn the ignition switch on.
Unless you live in a state where inspections are required to license your motorhome you could replace your headlights with units such as these Hella 138 x 124mm H4 Single Flush Mount Headlamp | Rally Lights (http://www.rallylights.com/hella-138-x-124mm-h4-single-flush-mount-headlamp.html) . It would require some machining to mount the lights in place of the originals, but they would almost certainly provide far better performance.
...or install more powerful H3 bulbs in the aux lights