01-04 headlight adjustment?

does anyone know how to adjust the headlights on the 01?

my truck has a 6in lift, and i can't go anywhere without blinding someone... (running silverstar platinum bulbs) really bright

 

... And here's a diagram for the location of the adjustment screw thingie (driver's side illustrated)....

 

On mine it is a hex head on the end of a threaded rod, found at the lower outside end on the back of each light housing. Use a 4.5mm wrench. It only adjusts up and down. There is a bit of side to side that you get during the up/down however

 

- get the truck on a level surface facing a vertical wall
- mark on the wall the level / line directly in front of the headlight bulb / center (i.e., @ same vertical height as headlight)
- back the truck away from the wall to a distance of 3 meters (9.84 feet) from the wall surface to the headlights
- turn on low beams
- the low beams should hit the wall 20.9 mm (0.823 in.) _below_ the line @ headlamp height (based on designed 4 degree low beam downward deflection from horizontal)
- use the vertical adjuster bolt / screw to make this so

This should work on any model, because the spec is relative to horizontal from lamp center, not distance from the ground. Hope this answered well

 

Thanks for the informative post Ridgrunner! It was exactly what I was looking for. Now I need to find a 4.5mm socket. I have everything from 5mm-24mm. Porbably gonna be hard to find a single 4.5mm.....
Thaanks again,
Skip56

 

I've been looking everywhere for this thanks...

 

I just did this last weekend. Used a 1/4" drive, 4 mm socket. It fit perfectly.

 

Me too. Shoould have done it right after the lift.

FSM pages attached for technical goodness.

 

I have aftermarket Projector headlights that do not have the small plastic thing which you slide the side lights into. Is it possible to remove this plastic thingy from stock headlights and mount them to the after market ones, to ensure a better fit between after market headlights and side lights ?

Because right now my side lights kind of just stick out.

 

I found a 4mm works well
Also see...
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/198980-1st-gen-lighting-adjustment.html

However, since that post, I had to adjust mine slightly farther down from 1" to illuminate the road effectively.

 

Which way do you turn the socket to raise the lights? Right up left down?

 

You'll find out pretty quickly if you follow the instructions I posted from the FSM above.

 

I already got them adjusted. I have retrofits so I had to get the projector cut off just right. I had normal HID's before with stock housings and it was spraying light everywhere so I had lowered them but now I had to raise them back up. I couldn't even see 5 feet in front of me at night but when no cars were coming I would just turn on my 42" light bar for my hi lights!

 

(2001 Tacoma 4x4, ext cab, 2Dr). Happy holidays to all. Thought I'd wake this thread from the dead with a quick question. I recently replaced my faded headlights with Depo brand. When adjusting the aim from 9.8 ft away, I notice the lighting is defused with a solid bright spot in the center. Is the solid bright spot what I should be looking at to align proper height?