The new sd's all have drl capability. Canadian trucks are required by law to be enabled. In the US they are only enabled out of the factory on fleet vehicles - FIN is a fleet acronym but I cant recall the exact wording at the moment.

In any case unless prohibited you should be able to get them enabled.

 

..........

 

rdenis, great info there on DRL

 

How is the DRL actually implemented?

On my old 2005 truck, it is a box in the space between the rad and the grill.

Unplug the box (the half voltage device) and you have regular lights, plug the box in, and you have 1/2 voltage DRL.

Here is more info for those who want to ADD as well as Drop it.

How To Enable Or Disable Ford Daytime Running Lights

Think for the 1/2 voltage...you have to have the add on box.

Someone check --- if you turn it on DRL all the time via the IDS, is it on half voltage during day, or just turn on headlights all the time?

 

..........

 

Just to elaborate a bit more on PSD's info above, indeed the DRL's run on an approximately 50% duty cycle with respect to the pulse width module.

What this means is the voltage stays constant at 12 volts but rather than being sent at a constant 12 volts all of the time, it is sent in pulses of 12 volts. The duty cycle describes the length of time the pulse is on vs the length of time the pulse is off. In this case the lights literally turn on and off for the same amounts of time. The frequency at which the lights turn on and off is so hight it is impossible to distinguish writhe the human eye. However the effect of the pulse is to make the lights appear half as bright.

This is also why some HID conversions on some DRL equipped vehicles appear to flicker so much when the HID lights are operating as pulse driven DRL's.

 

Stats have proven that vehicle's with DRL will be involved in less accident's. DRL has been mandatory on Canadian vehicle's since 1990.

 

If you really want to know.... the original study was in some tiny Nordic country that show what you said.

However, there has been no serious follow up study since that study was done once it was implemented in Canada that I know of off hand.

What is known:

1. DRLs have caused tons of business in replacing headlights (they were met with full power lights for many years

2. This creates a noticeable drop in mpgs, as energy has to be diverted to run lights.

3. Later, the requirement was met not only by headlamps, but headlamps at 50% power, or even side marker / fog lights.

4. There has always been an escape for vehicles that cannot have DRLs, like police cars etc. that need to sit quietly with engine running (they all had the option to install a police crusier switch that turned off the DRL.


IMHO, DRLs are questionable in terms of its original function --- because the study was done on mostly 2 lane roads (which it is probably right).

On 4 lane divided highways, big question.

My real objection is the power budget -- an extra 110W / operating hour draw on my electrical system --- which was marginal and still is modest.

I like the option to select / turn it off.


-------------

Now... if you want to hear about how we got the 3rd tail light...

 

You are giving me another reason to get my own IDS / VCM....

 

Gearloose I think this is the real reason DRL became law is because some people forget to turn their light's on. The 3rd brake light became law in 1986, why don't you tell us why.

 

It became "law" or actually as a Canadian DOT regulation, which didn't "take" in USA, so it never became FMVSS.

As for the 3rd brake light, that was based on a study of NYC taxicabs that had a lower rate of rear end accidents when equipped with the 3rd light.

Now... trying to extrapolate from NYC urban conditions, with a frequent stop vehicle.. makes little sense.

Even less sense... the reason it may have worked is because the 3 light was unusual...

Once everyone had it, it became part of the "clutter" signals.

No follow up study was done to see if it really made a difference.

A real good study now would be, nationwide, to have a small population of cars operate without the 3rd light... and see if their rear end accident rate is any different.

I suspect I know the outcome of that study... which will never be done.

 

Gear once again I agree with you, I have pulled up to a stop when only the 3rd brake light was working on the car in front of me, some people never check their light's, tire's or anything until it won't start & they wonder why (no oil).

 

Nothing that engineers do can eliminate the problem of bad maintenance, mods, and so on.

On that subject, a fairly common problem in Canada with DRLs is that people forget the REST of the lights is not turned on at dusk (when it is still bright enough to not notice the instrument panel lights are not on).

So they drive with what they think are headlights on (DRL).. but no tail / side marker lights.

There is no study done on the danger of that...

Um.. come to think of it great... because the outcome of that study would be automatically turned on lights!

 

We already have auto always on headlights & running lights up here, you are right again people forget to turn the rest of their light's on at dusk

 

rdenis;

I took my 11 PSD to 2 SoCal dealers to activate the DRL. Both initially said it could be done, then came back to me and said the truck did not have the "module" that includes DRL optioning.

I'm still checking it out, but at this time I have disabled the photo cell on the dash to allow all the lights to be on at all times while in the "auto mode". The auto mode is "normally closed", while the photo cell "opens" the circuit when light is detected.

Disconnecting the quick connect to the photo cell is easy and non-evasive as it can easily be plugged back in and everything would work normal. It looks way better than trying to cover the photo cell with tape, etc.

Still, I would prefer the DRL and 1/2 voltage to the headlights only. Is there anything I should offer to my Ford dealer as insight into programing the module, or is it true that some trucks may not be equipped to be programed with DRL?

Regards,

Tom