Whenever it is dark, and slightly wet to raining outside, the visibility goes to nothing! Headlights are in perfect working order, aimed correctly, windshield by no means is old or dirty or polarizing light, oncoming headlights are very sharp.

When there is no oncoming traffic, I can see white and yellow road lines about 30 feet ahead but when a car is coming the road becomes a blur! I can’t distinguish anything but the whitest mailboxes from the black and grey.

My vision is also in order as I never have this problem in other cars. Is it the relatively high slope of the windshield in the Runner?

 

I'm not for sure on the answer but I always thought it was my problem, seeing as though that is what happens everytime it rains here

 

Try some rain-x. That ought to make everything clear again. The best part is that you don't have to use your windshield wipers in the rain.

 

good suggestion, and i used to use that, it works great, but even with the product on the wind shield I still can't see.

 

Do you wear contacts or glasses?

Maybe you are suffering from night blindness. The oncoming lights temporarily blind. I used to be bothered by that - not so much anymore.

What I did to alleve it was when a car approached, I would make a conscious effort look at the line by the side of the road so I didn't look directly into the oncoming lights. Helped me. Just a thought.

 

Ditto Cebby I hate driving at night and I too do the same thing. I stare at the line on the well.. uh left side of the road over here..haha

 

Are your headlights clean though?

I know it sounds odd but I read on the Hella site that a thin film of road grime reduces the headlights efficiency by up to 25%.

I put a coat of Rain X on mine so the grime won't stick.

Your comment about the steep windshield angle brought up something I had noticed a while back. When I was on the unlighted highway at night the road signs would seem to be reflected back and look like a double image. I asked on 4x4Wire a long time ago about this and almost everyone thought it might be a vision problem. I was having some problems with my vision at the time and wrote it off as another symptom, until I mentioned it to a friend of mine who told me he noticed the same thing when he drove my 4Runner. We figure that the lights hit the sign just right to reflect it back at an angle that creates the illusion of the double vision.

 

Unless my vision only worsens only when getting in the 4Runner then it 'aint' it

The problem is with low contrast really, not water on the windshield or oncoming lights blinding. When a car is coming whatever was left of the image is overwhelmed by the reflections from the opposing headlight anywhere I look in the windshield. I'm sure the reflectors built into the asphalt on the highways would be visible, but normal painted lines don't stand a chance.

Yesterday when it was dark I honestly only navigated by the other's car headlights! If they passed 3-4 feet to the left I assumed I was in the right place on the road (unless it was another 4runner coming ). But jokes aside, this is really dangerous as it's impossible to see any object or a person that might be walking a narrow road.

 

I gotta agree with the Rain-X and focusing on the white line. I'll also add that you might try picking up a pair of shades with very light yellow or orange lenses. They cut the night-time glare drastically but don't block out enough light to be a hazzard. Really reduces eye strain, especially in dry climates and/or if you wear contacts.

 

try doin' one of these


j/k i have horrible eyesight, and i should get my eyes checked, and perhaps get some glasses

i have found that rain-x works great. I also try to make sure that the inside of the windshield is clean too. even after i use windex on the inside of the windshield, i see that a few days afterwards, it hazes. when this happens, everything gets pretty blurry and the street is harder to see.

also i'm wondering what kind of headlights you have in the truck... if you're running OEM/Stock bulbs, you may want to switch to some sylvania silverstars. They're much brighter than stock and more reliable than the piaas or those hong kong blue "HID" knockoffs, all together giving you a clearer field of vision at night.

I've even thought about getting a pair of auxiliary driving lights. perhaps the small hella ones they sell at Advance auto parts for like 35 bucks. they can't be THAT bad, and if they break, just get another pair.

 

Hehe. Lighting and cleanliness of the glass is certainly not the problem.

Just realized something, in the 4Runner the eyes are like 6 feet high off the road, while in a sedan like 4 at most. That’s got to be a factor in this formula.

Here's a diagram of what I think it is. The higher car stays in the 'field of reflection' much longer than a lower sitting sedan. At least we got high bumpers