How do I adjust headlight aim??

83043 Views 88 Replies 46 Participants Last post by discostu69er, Mar 28, 2011

Thayer

Discussion Starter · Mar 22, 2007

Installed HIR low beams, but aim is too low. I don't want to blind oncoming drivers, but want to aim slightly higher.

Can anyone tell me how to adjust headlamp vertical aim?

Thanks!

61 - 80 of 89 Posts

Visionikz

· #61 · Apr 15, 2009

All it takes is a extra long standard philips head screwdriver. It fits perfectly in the gear teeth and adjusts fine. I haven't found a left to right adjustment which strikes me as odd because my beam pattern seems to be focused to the right a bit.

702_IJDM

· #62 · Jul 9, 2009

Visionikz said:
All it takes is a extra long standard philips head screwdriver. It fits perfectly in the gear teeth and adjusts fine. I haven't found a left to right adjustment which strikes me as odd because my beam pattern seems to be focused to the right a bit.

The company made the light aim a bit to the right on purpose,
because they are for safety, so when you make a left turn it doesn't
blind the driver on the other lane.

or so i heard :wigglesmiley:

hondamtrco4life

· #63 · Jul 26, 2009 (Edited)

Visionikz said:
All it takes is a extra long standard philips head screwdriver. It fits perfectly in the gear teeth and adjusts fine. I haven't found a left to right adjustment which strikes me as odd because my beam pattern seems to be focused to the right a bit.

There is an adjustment for "left to right"... it's on the side of the inner fenders close to the headlight. You can see a little semi circle cut out in the plastic molding and it says "L - R" next to it.

Edited:

Or so I thought... I just went out and checked everywhere on the headlight and I have no idea why Honda placed the "L - R" on the molding because I see no adjustment for left to right. hmm... that's so weird

Si_K2o

· #64 · Sep 15, 2009

just wanted to say thanks to the people who added to this thread. It helped me a lot.

LONG PHILIPS head screwdriver, and a measuring tape (for better accuracy) good to go!

bump_90_08

· #65 · Oct 15, 2009

my high beam headlight is aimed low in my driver's side housing, but my low beam is the correct height...how do you adjust that?!

StupidPig

· #66 · Oct 15, 2009

^^^ There is nothing you can do. The hi and lo reflector is in one piece and you can't adjust them seperately. Well, are you sure both bulbs are flushed completely? May be one of the bulb is not inserted correct.

drivelikeyoustoleit

· #67 · Oct 15, 2009

:yeahthat: most likely the bulb isn't installed correctly... happened to me when i changed mine

~(ACE)~

· #68 · Nov 23, 2009 (Edited)

sorry for bumping this thread, i cant seem to find this screw, and there is nothing in the manual either as mentioned. The pics that the moderator posted have no been removed, can someone please post some pics up so can i see exactly which screw i should be looking for. I have a 07 civic coupe, thanks

Edit: Nvm found the little dial screw

here is a reference picture for members looking to aim their head lights in the future

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Reactions: 1

B1inky

· #69 · Dec 5, 2009 (Edited)

cool. it looks like the way to aim your low beam up or down is to look over by where the drl bulb is? i was looking near the low beam area the whole time.

EDIT: Done.

~(ACE)~

· #70 · Dec 5, 2009

^nice

yea its almost kinda in the middle, i head to remove the coolant reservoir to get to my driver side one, passenger side was a pita!

CivicEX08

· #71 · Dec 7, 2009

Shoot, I lowered mine as my HID's were blinding people since I raised them originally like an idiot. However, I'm not sure if it's perfectly right yet. Can ANYONE take a picture or their HID's perfectly aligned on a blank wall or garage so I can see the level?

civicsisedan

· #72 · Dec 7, 2009 (Edited)

Here is the rule of thumb that I have been told:

1. Find flat ground with a wall
2. Park 25 feet away from the wall (your headlights, not front of bumper)
2. Measure the height to the middle of your headlights from the ground
3. Walk to the wall
4. Measure the top of your cutoff
5. The top of your cut-off should be 1-1.5 inches lower than the height to the middle of your headlights was
6. Your drivers side headlights should be aimed slightly lower than your passenger side.

So to summarize:

At 25 feet the top of your cut-off should be aimed 1 to 1.5 inches lower than the height of your headlight bulbs

Hope that helped...

Different pictures of hid's on walls will have different heights as they are taken from different distances

And yes the easiest way to adjust them is to use a long screwdriver and stick it down the hole and adjust it that way.

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civicsisedan

· #73 · Dec 7, 2009

Here's some pics of my car, one with HID's in Halogen Housing, and then HID's in my retro's so you can also see the difference..

6000K Halogen Housing:

4300K Projector Housing:
1st pic is blurry but is same wall and distance as halogen housing
2nd pic is at different wall and different distance

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3

tda1337

· #74 · Dec 7, 2009

now i can def tell by that pic that my headlights left and right are screwed up... damnit!
if only they allowed that adjustment :-(

civicsisedan

· #75 · Dec 7, 2009

tda1337 said:
now i can def tell by that pic that my headlights left and right are screwed up... damnit!
if only they allowed that adjustment :-(

I posted that pic of my HID's in halogen housings a couple months ago when I first took that pic, and most people said that my cut-off was really clean and sharp in the halogen headlights compared to theirs and all of theirs looked a lot worse..

So I wouldn't worry about it. Just make sure your height is right from my previous post.

For some reason my headlights had a nice cutoff for halogen housing

CivicEX08

· #76 · Dec 9, 2009

I just checked mine and they seem to be fine. I guess I got used to my HID setup being aimed like high beams lol.

Radicalblackcivic

· #77 · Dec 10, 2009

mine are uneven, im gonna try to adjust mine..

B MAN

· #78 · Jan 15, 2010

i need to adjust DRL's i only see one "crown" before i go screwing around with it, can someone give me some input?

drivelikeyoustoleit

· #79 · Jan 15, 2010

B MAN said:
i need to adjust DRL's i only see one "crown" before i go screwing around with it, can someone give me some input?

the drls/high beams don't adjust only low beams..... if your drl lights are off center check to make sure they are installed nice and snug

B MAN

· #80 · Jan 15, 2010

will do

one shines brighter then the other one, so i changed the bulb.. same problem so i got down and saw they're angled differently

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