You spoke thus:

> the low beams on the vanagon are dangerously dim, its surprising that you
> don't think so.  recently while driving on a narrow curving road with
> oncoming traffic I realized that when cars were coming my direction I
> could not see the road at all.

Maybe my lights are brighter because I cleaned the inside of the lenses with
a home make "Q" tip made from a coat hanger & clean rag. My mechanic
suggested it. There was quite a lot of white film on the insides and it made
a huge difference in brightness.

I'll pay more attention when I am on a dark country road to see if I need
better lenses. However (now that I think about it) I did replace the stock
lights with Sylvania 9004XV headlights as well. I guess that added some
light to the equation. But even these lights seem not so bright to me in a
well lit street.

I think a good first step is cleaning the inside of the lenses with a home
make "Q" tip made from a coat hanger & clean rag. The Sylvania 9004XV
headlights might still be on sale for 1/2 price at your FLAPS.

William