Warning!!! Headlight Adjustment
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 141
Likes: 7
Warning!!! Headlight Adjustment
Guys if your doing lifts or level kits and want to adjust your LED headlights down be very careful or have dealer do it. I tried adjusting the drivers side and the plastic gears stripped on the headlight assembly. It now spends freely and does not move the headlight. This was the first time I tried to make an adjustment I also felt resistance on the passengers side but did not push it for fear of breaking. Its at the dealer now but he told me its $1400 to replace each of the headlights if the gears are broken. My truck is out of warranty already with 40k miles. Seems like a very crappy/weak adjustment system for a $1,400.00 lighting module. My only hope is that I carry mechanical breakdown coverage with my insurance and he said he has always had good luck with them so well see. Just wanted to warn everyone about it.
Thanks
Thanks
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 141
Likes: 7
Yes I have an earlier build 2017. It was very strange as I could not turn the screw either way on either one. It would turn and build up tension like a spring and as soon as I would let go the screwdriver would spring back literally like I was turning a spring and the headlight would not move. I maybe turned the screw about 2 full rotations against the springy tension before I heard the sound of plastic snap then it turned freely but did nothing. The passengers side is same story but I only turned that one about 1 rotation in both directions and it would not budge so I gave up before I heard any snapping.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 810
Likes: 34
From: Sarasota, FL
There are a few posts on this including mine where I snapped one trying to adjust it and the dealer snapped the other. Both replaced under warrant as they were seized. Took time at the dealership to replace between pictures sent to Ford for authorization and then they had to be ordered. My truck sat there for almost a week. Others have had the same issue. Sucks you're out of warranty.
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Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 141
Likes: 7
There are a few posts on this including mine where I snapped one trying to adjust it and the dealer snapped the other. Both replaced under warrant as they were seized. Took time at the dealership to replace between pictures sent to Ford for authorization and then they had to be ordered. My truck sat there for almost a week. Others have had the same issue. Sucks you're out of warranty.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2016
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From: GA
Guys if your doing lifts or level kits and want to adjust your LED headlights down be very careful or have dealer do it. I tried adjusting the drivers side and the plastic gears stripped on the headlight assembly. It now spends freely and does not move the headlight. This was the first time I tried to make an adjustment I also felt resistance on the passengers side but did not push it for fear of breaking. Its at the dealer now but he told me its $1400 to replace each of the headlights if the gears are broken. My truck is out of warranty already with 40k miles. Seems like a very crappy/weak adjustment system for a $1,400.00 lighting module. My only hope is that I carry mechanical breakdown coverage with my insurance and he said he has always had good luck with them so well see. Just wanted to warn everyone about it.
Thanks
Thanks
Also, I take it you have the OEM LED headlights.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 310
Likes: 2
My early 2017 also has a lot of resistance. I actually took ti to the dealer and they explained it's normal. You just keep turning and it pops and adjusts one turn. They showed me. They then adjusted it back. They said it takes a lot of force but it won't break. Obviously it will. Hm.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 810
Likes: 34
From: Sarasota, FL
So I don't know if anyone has taken a look at the adjusting mechanism for the headlights. I'm no engineer by any means but it's a horrible design. I can't recall which side, but one of the headlights there is a piece of steel cable that attaches to the screw head you see up top and that cable travels down and connects to a set of gears. The dealer showed me one of my headlights and the cable was rusted at the lower end where it connects to the gears and simply snapped. My truck was only about a year and a half old when this cable rusted and snapped.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jul 2017
Posts: 2,296
Likes: 552
fyi you can also go at it from the back side with a large allen head wrench. The big issue i see: Plastic gears turning a steel bolt. FYI I was able to get the adjuster to pop out of the back of the headlight but haven't been able to get it to separate from the Reflector bowls inside the housing.It looks like a metal ball inside of a plastic socket aka lots of broken plastic to remove it lol. And I haven't been able to get it out even with the entire headlight disassembled.
If you "tighten" the adjuster all the way you can stick a 1"1/16 open end wrench and twist the entire piece and it'll then be free to pop out. similar to the headlight bulbs. You'll see the rubber bushing which is what caused me to think its gotta be serviceable/ replaceable part. APPROACH THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
If you "tighten" the adjuster all the way you can stick a 1"1/16 open end wrench and twist the entire piece and it'll then be free to pop out. similar to the headlight bulbs. You'll see the rubber bushing which is what caused me to think its gotta be serviceable/ replaceable part. APPROACH THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 1,592
Likes: 204
If you have aftermarket bulbs in a halogen housing, you can adjust the beam up/down by adjusting the depth that the LED sits in the housing. Deeper in the housing is up. This is why many people who switch to aftermarket LEDs have to adjust the lights down.
