Headlight Adjustment

Well I guess I have big hands because I couldnt get in there. Ill take the washer bottle out and they way it looks , the battery will have to be moved too . I now have something I dont like about my Tacoma.

 

The more that I work on my truck, the more subtle dislikes accumulate.

 

Is it clockwise as if you’re standing face to face with the truck or clockwise facing the head of the adjustment screw?

 

It's been a while but I think it's while facing the head. I just would flip it if I went the wrong way.

 

Hi rob
By any chance I believe you put HIDS on your taco. When your truck is close to the wall do you know what the height is of the top of the cutoff? I need a starting point to adjust mine to the proper height. Any help would be great! Thanks

 

I think it may have more to with the bulbs than aiming. OEM bulbs are pretty weak down road no matter how you aim them. I really didn't want to upgrade to HID's so I bought these & they are not too bright while still getting much better down road lighting

 

I did yes. It should be the same as stock but I don't konw the measurements. You have to be so many feet from the wall.


What I did is park behind a car like about the same distance I would stop behind and aim to about the trunk so it doesn't light up their cabin. Now this doesn't apply to lowered cars just the regular cars on the road.

 

Great idea!

 

I found this

HOW TO AIM YOUR NEW RETROFITTED HEADLIGHTS


The DOT standard for headlamps alignment is as follows: (this is the california standard which I'm sure is more then fine for everywhere else considering the stiffness of rules and regulations we are faced with)

The standard states that a vehicle's headlights must be at 25ft away 2 1/2 inches below the given height of the headlight. To accomplish this I have written out a guide for you guys that just are new to this or for those of you that have been wanting to do this but aren't really sure how high or low you should go.

Ok to start here's some stuff that will be needed.

You'll need to have a completely leveled flat surface and plenty of flat ground to back up 25ft away from the wall. The wall will need to be flat as well.
Tools Needed:
Tape Measure
Masking/Painters Tape
8mm wrench or ratchet
Phillips Head Screwdriver


(The Tape is necessary for all the markings you'll be doing)
Cliff Notes:

Mark 1 = Center of the Vehicle.
Mark 2 = Height from the ground to the center of the Lens.
Mark 3 = Height from 25ft away that lower arc of beam should be at. (See 2nd Arc Picture)
Mark 4 = Distance from center of the Vehicle to the center of the Lens.

NOTICE: If you follow these instructions you will have a DOT approved alignment and will not be blinding oncoming drivers.


1. Pull up to the wall and mark the center of your car on the wall and your car. Mark 1 In the Diagram.

2. Measure the height from the ground to the center of your headlight (the center of the projector lens. Measure from Ground to Mark 2 and put Mark 2 on the wall.

3. Measure from the center of the car to the center of the Lens. Mark 1 to Mark 4 and put Mark 4 on the wall.

4.Measure from Mark 2 down 2 1/2 inches. Mark 2 Measure down 2 1/2 inches and put Mark 3 on the wall.
Your tape on the wall should now look like that of the diagram in the picture.


5. Use your tap measure and measure back 25ft from the wall and mark the ground at 25 ft away.

6. Put the tap measure right up next to your tires and proceed to back up until your front tire is at the 25ft mark.IMPORTANT!!! Be sure to keep the center of your car aligned with the center mark on the wall if you don't do so then your marks are now useless. I find using the tap measure helps you back up straight because you can use it as a guide with it extended out for you to back up next to (sort of like a curb)

7. Now adjust your lamps as needed as to align the lower section of the arc to line

8. If your horizontal aim is off to much you can remove the cover that is on the bolt for the horizontal alignment and adjust as needed. (see picture of bolts location. The bolt is on the outside section of the lens cap towards the fender at the top of the headlight.)
Thats it your DONE!!!!!! being that you have now aligned your headlights to the DOT standard you can drive around worry free of blinding your fellow motorist.


UPDATED PICS:

The lower arc is the lower section of the light beam as opposed to where it arc's upwards to the top arc section.

Here's a diagram I drew up of how your's should look on the wall and how the lights should be aimed to that diagram.
NOTE: The higher arc is not what you are trying to aim here its the lower arc that you are trying to aim to the correct height.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1024x462.

__________________

Their are bolts on the back of the headlight that can adjust the horizontal aim and the vertical aim.


* SPECIAL THANKS/CREDIT TO MiniStiGuy FROM THE LEGACYGT.COM FORUM *







Last edited: Apr 25, 2016


Thanks to whoever wrote this up!!!!

 

Alot of great info on here. My question is, if our trucks are lifted do we need to adjust headlights? Seems like alot of light is aiming high, and not on ground. I'm assuming because truck is higher and angle is different because of leveling.any tips? Would following this adjustment protocol solve this thank you in advance

 

Measure a side mirror height of a sedan, roughly 38" of the ground.
Measure the distance from center to center of your headlights, roughly 64"
Make 2 crosses on a wall 64" apart 38" height.
Back up 25ft
The hot spot has to be center to the vertical lines of the crosses and below the horizontal line of the crosses.

Watch video number 1 for reference:

minute 7:48
# 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWvSWBlAwnI

# 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03fHzDEHVV4

# 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz0yRCyTP2w

 

Or, you could also go to Daniel Stern's website and adjust your headlights based on his instructions. Its the original go to and he's been working with this process for a long(!) time!

 

Or you could look up toyota’s specs for headlight adjustment and start there.

To quote myself from different headlight thread, here’s how I adjusted my stock height SR based on the Toyota specs. For my truck I’ve found that aiming up 0.5”-0.75” from the factory aim with GE +130 halogen h11’s gives me the best balance between distance projection, glare control, and overall light spread. For a lifted truck, I’d have to guess I would go back to something resembling the stock aim, perhaps lower depending on the height and leveling done.

 

Thanks guys I'll try to get it done this weekend ans I'll update

 

5\16ths also works. Ratcheting wrench makes quick work of this. Passenger side is the harder one to do though.

 

Sorry for resurrecting old thread but I'm dealing with this now. What's odd is in my case counterclockwise brings the beam up and clockwise brings it down. Literally opposite how it should be according to instructions. I was watching beam move up while turning screw counterclockwise.