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Headlamp Aim, Easy? or Getting into something more here.


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Guest EOppegaard

Alrighty, I would like to take off my entire headlamp assembly in order to clean it out, as well as do some other modifications to it.

 

I looked up in my chilton manual, as well as the owners manual for the car and both of them tell me that I need to have the headlights professionally aimed.

 

I am guessing that after I fiddle with the mounts unbolting them and then bolting them back in I will put the lights out of whack.

 

Does anyone know if I can just re-aim them easily myself? I really don't feel like taking them to some dealer and pay $$$$ to have them twist some bolts.

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Guest Setright

Yes, you can DIY it, there are two adjustment screws on either headlight. One for horizontal and the other for vertical. Both accessed from the engine bay.

 

I cannot vouch for the legality of your headlight aim after you do it yourself. Different places have different laws about headlight height and aim, make sure you comply.

 

Anyway: Find a flat piece of land, preferably with a vertical wall at one end. Drive right up close the wall with the lights on. Mark the area on the wall where the light is brightest, should be roughly the center of the beam.

 

Roll the car back about ten meters, and adjust so that the beam center has dropped below the marks, and moved slighty off toward the curb side of the road. This should prevent you blinding oncoming traffic. Again, make sure the aim is legal. The exact drop will be dependent on the local laws. I would recommend that you start with a 2 cm drop, and maybe 1 cm off center.

 

Then, making sure that nothing is behind you, reverse very slowly another 10 meters and watch how the aim changes. Should move smoothly down and slighty more off centre, toward the curb side.

 

Take it for a spin at night, and if people flash their full beam at you all the time, your lights are probably still too high! Back to the wall...;)

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Guest Commuter

Just as a further comment - Do what Setright has said "before" you take the headlights out. Position the car in the driveway and mark the beam spots on the garage (or something like this). Make sure you fully mark the car's position. Make sure you don't change any weight in the car from before to after. Even the gas tank level could influence this a bit. Check tire pressure too. But, if you know where you started from, you should be able to get very very close to the original aim after you put them back in.

 

Couple this with the above alignment directions and you should come out ok I'd think.

 

Commuter

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Guest CROSSTBOLT

Both Setright & Commuter have great suggestions. I always liked to got to the local little airplane airport & get on the end of the taxiway or runway & then set the HIghbeams like I wanted them within reason. Then the lowbeams would take care of themselves. Works great for real driving lights too. P ick an airport that really goes to sleep at night or you will have someone trying to land on you!. You should be ok at a little airplane only joint 'cause most of them could not land on the numbers if their life depended on it! Some parking lots work great, too. Anything that can give you a good straight, flat surface. You folks that live in liberal big cities need to stick with what Setright and Commuter said since you probably have real tough annual "safety" inspections.

 

Do NOT try this anywhere in California!

 

Karl

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  • 11 years later...

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