Slant Six Forum :: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!

A bit of an odd topic, but having only ever driven cars with stalk-mounted switches, I can't find the high-beam switch on my Duster. Honestly, until I had a look at new headlights on RockAuto, I didn't think the car had high beams. I only know of two light modes, pulling the switch out a little for parking/running lights and pulling it out more for regular beams. How do I use the high beams?

Quote:

You honestly thought a car built in 1975 didn't have high beams? Seriously? When did you think high beams started being used?

Did you ever think to read the owner's manual? How about get a factory service manual?

Good grief.

So because your left foot was needed on the clutch, they moved the beam selector to the stalk....

So because your left foot was needed on the clutch, they moved the beam selector to the stalk....

So how do you move the stalk when your left hand is steering the steering wheel (and not close to the stalk) and your right hand is on the gear shifter?

Author:	Plymouth_Ruster [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 12:25 am ]
Post subject:	1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
A bit of an odd topic, but having only ever driven cars with stalk-mounted switches, I can't find the high-beam switch on my Duster. Honestly, until I had a look at new headlights on RockAuto, I didn't think the car had high beams. I only know of two light modes, pulling the switch out a little for parking/running lights and pulling it out more for regular beams. How do I use the high beams?

Author:	Rick Covalt [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:09 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
On the floor, far left by the kick panel. Push it with your foot = high beams. Push again = low beams.

Author:	emsvitil [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:45 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Youngsters...……….

Author:	Reed [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:50 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Quote: A bit of an odd topic, but having only ever driven cars with stalk-mounted switches, I can't find the high-beam switch on my Duster. Honestly, until I had a look at new headlights on RockAuto, I didn't think the car had high beams. I only know of two light modes, pulling the switch out a little for parking/running lights and pulling it out more for regular beams. How do I use the high beams? You honestly thought a car built in 1975 didn't have high beams? Seriously? When did you think high beams started being used? Did you ever think to read the owner's manual? How about get a factory service manual? Good grief.

Author:	OGLeanDart270 [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:14 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Never understood why we went away from the floor switch, it always just felt right to me. My wife always gets the new car, her Durango has like 14 sticks protruding from the steering column. It never feels intuitive where the wipers, high beams and such are. They even put headlights on there. Surprised they don't add the seat controls and the A/C controls to make it even more of a mess.

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Author:	emsvitil [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 4:23 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
How can we feel smarter than everybody else if no one asks questions on the internet that we can answer?

Author:	Rick Covalt [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 5:32 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Let's all show a little patience.

Author:	kesteb [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:21 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
The high beam on the steering column resulted from the sporty car magazines complaining they couldn't double clutch when dowshifting and dim the headlights at the same time. American cars solved that problem by having engines with enough torque so they didn't have to downshift. The same with rack and pinion steering. Apparently worm and ball steering didn't have enough "road feel", whatever that is...

Author:	SlantSixDan [ Sun Sep 01, 2019 10:52 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Car mag writers will be car mag writers: full of beans and full of themselves. They did not cause the migration of the headlight beam selector from the floor to the turn signal stalk. That actually happened for two main reasons: it made the cars cheaper for the automakers to build and warrant, and consumers reacted favourably after having got exposure to stalk-mount beam selectors on European and Japanese cars. Another reason was that at the time this shift began to take place, the mid-1970s, it was thought that a 3-beam system (low, mid, high) would replace the 2-beam system (low/high), and the only practicable beam selectors for a 3-beam system would be hand-controls. Specifically, a Japanese-style control (push stalk forward for high beam, pull stalk back for low beam) but with three positions rather than two. The 3-beam idea eventually fizzled out, but the stalk controls stayed. As for the rest: worm-and-ball steering is inferior to rack-and-pinion by just about every real measure. Drum brakes are likewise inferior to discs, carburetors are inferior to fuel injection, 1975 seatbelts are inferior to 2019 seatbelts, radial tires are better than bias-ply tires, unleaded low-sulfur gasoline is better than the filthy leaded crap that came before, today's engine oil is better than the gunk we could get when our cars were new, etc. If we're honest with ourselves, we like our old cars not because they're better—they're objectively not better. We like them because we like them, and that's fine. Pretending automotive perfection was achieved in 1968 (or whatever year your pet car happens to have been made) is silly and baseless. Attachment: old_man_yells_at_cloud.jpg [ 124.54 KiB \| Viewed 7208 times ]

Author:	Dart270 [ Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:50 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
I like the floor switch, but honestly it doesn't matter much to me. I like my old cars because I like them, and they're different, and I can modify them widely and easily to create rolling sculpture. If I could not modify/update them, I would not have them. Lou

Author:	emsvitil [ Mon Sep 02, 2019 5:59 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
So because your left foot was needed on the clutch, they moved the beam selector to the stalk.... So how do you move the stalk when your left hand is steering the steering wheel (and not close to the stalk) and your right hand is on the gear shifter?

Author:	Charrlie_S [ Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:11 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Quote: So because your left foot was needed on the clutch, they moved the beam selector to the stalk.... Actually, I think they moved the beam selector to the stalk after more cars were automatics, then standard shifts.

Author:	Reed [ Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:09 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
I drive automatics so I have a free had to eat my Taco Bell. One upside to switching the high beam to the stalk is that in snowy or wet areas the high beam switch would no longer get wet and rust up inside and disable the high beams or the entire headlight system. Having grown up in Alaska and now living in wet western Washington State (but it is getting dryer) I have seen many crusty and non- or marginally-functioning floor mounted dimmer switches And the older I get, the more I feel like yelling at the weather. I apologize to Plymouth_Ruster if my tone was interpreted as short. I have been under a lot of stress at work lately and perhaps that affected my response. I did not intend it as an insult, more of a friendly ribbing. Please feel free to ask whatever questions you wish. But also realize that there are reasources readily at hand for you to find your own answers without relying on the fallible and sometimes cantankerous denizens of this message board. An owner's manual and factory service manual ar some of the first tools you should buy for your car, if you don't already have them.

Author:	Joshie225 [ Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:53 am ]
Post subject:	Re: 1975 Plymouth Duster - Where the hell's the high beam switch?!
Quote: So because your left foot was needed on the clutch, they moved the beam selector to the stalk.... So how do you move the stalk when your left hand is steering the steering wheel (and not close to the stalk) and your right hand is on the gear shifter? The Cascade Sports Car Club driving instructor in me says "If your hand is on the shifter when you're not shifting, your hand is in the wrong place. It takes a fraction of a second to shift. Shift, then move your hand back to the steering wheel."

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