how do you adjust/aim headlights?

[theksmith]

I've found plenty of generic answers on the web about pointing them at a wall and making sure they are straight overall and slightly down, but I was hopeing someone could tell me exactly how they should be aimed. i.e. are they supposed to be at a certain hieght at a certain distance from the truck, or are they supposed to fall at a certain rate/angle? Should they point straight or slightly out or in?

I have them adjusted "good enough" right now that I can see, and I don't *think* I'm blinding anyone. However, I'm just one of those people that likes to be exact

Thanks!

 

[5-90]

I'll typically back about 30' away from a blank wall, get out the tape measure and the masking tape, and get to work.

You'll want to know the centreline height of the lights, and the centre-to-centre distance between them. Take your masking tape, and mark the wall at the centres of the two lights (kinda like crosshairs. You can use a Sharpie pen if it's your own garage door, and you mark the ground where you are for repeatability.)

You'll want to aim the driver's side low beam so that the "cut-off" (where the light output falls off considerably) is at the bottom of the horizontal tape mark, and so that the beam centre is just inboard of the vertical. The passenger lamp can be aimed to the same vertical level, and dead centre of the vertical mark (since it's not going to bother people so much.)

This is how I've got my E-codes aimed, with 90/130W bulbs. I've been running them for about five years now, and no-one's given me any trouble over them (although, when I hit the high beams, I usually get just the one big eyeball in the rearview mirror. Damn kids and their "bloo" headlamps...)

5-90

 

[montanaman]

x2 what 5-90 said.

I would only add that if you *First* park your rig about 6 inches from the wall, and shine your lights on the wall, that will help you to find and mark the centerpoint of each lamp very quickly and easily. You can always double-check with a tape measure, but its a very quick and accurate way to do that. Then back up the 30 feet and do your aiming.

 

[Rick Anderson]

The FSM usually has a spec, don't know them for the XJ, I still waiting to find a cheap FSM on ebay.

My Neon is something like 25 ft away, 2in down and 2.5in to the right of center.

 

[iBran]

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

 

[theksmith]

Thanks to everyone for the good replies! I've got my new harness and 80/120 watt bulbs and the light output is awesome!

 

[montanaman]

Thanks to everyone for the good replies! I've got my new harness and 80/120 watt bulbs and the light output is awesome!

Sounds great ... I've ordered all the supplies for my lighting harness. I'll probably go with the 55/65W halogen lights because they are cheap and should be good enough when combined with a proper wiring setup. Can't wait to make the harness and plug it all in.

 

[Jeep914x4]

Thanks to everyone for the good replies! I've got my new harness and 80/120 watt bulbs and the light output is awesome!

I ran high wattage bulbs in my hella e-codes for a while. Here's a tip... If you stop to help someone out or something DON't leave your brights on for too long. Mine always seemed to burn out a few days after doing this. I think they get too hot when you are parked with the brights on for long.

I just get replacements at auto zone for about 6 bucks.