Need Advice Aiming Headlights
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Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Kansas City area
Need Advice Aiming Headlights
The last time I drove my pickup after dark I realized that I need to adjust the headlights. It sits fairly low with the Volare IFS and the headlights seem to only light up about 10-20' of road ahead of me. I know I need to adjust upward I'm just not sure how much. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.
Postmaster
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 3,730
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From: Waynesville, OH
Since you don't have a stock vehicle with specifications and all that, the rule of thumb is that you want them aimed as high as you can go without blinding the folks coming at you. I did a quick and dirty adjustment on another vehicle by having one of my kids sit in his car about 200 feet down a flat road in the evening (very little traffic there). I then adjusted the lights up until he hit the horn. Backed them down just a little and test drove by each other on a different road. Worked out great and only took 20 minutes or so. 
Postmaster
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 4,190
Likes: 2
From: Riverside, So Cal
Larry -
I had the same problem. There are two captured adjusting screws in the headlight retaining ring (behind the bezel), one at 9 o'clock and one at 12 that work against a bucket spring to aim the headlight.
Remove the bezel. Adjust the 12 o'clock screw to raise/lower the beam. Adjust the 9 o'clock screw to swing the beam left/right. I did this at night, lights on, truck facing my garage door. Or you could face a wall.
If this doesn't adjust anything, something is wrong inside. Remove the headlight. Check that the spring is attached between a bracket at the bottom of the bucket and the ring of the headlight retainer housing. Also check that the (nylon) nutplates that the adjust screws go into aren't broken (like mine were). I don't have a clue where to get another nutplate. I used a soldering iron to remelt my nylon nut back together.
A Shop Manual is invaluable here. It shows how all goes together and how to adjust/troubleshoot and what the proper adjustment specs are.
Good luck.
I had the same problem. There are two captured adjusting screws in the headlight retaining ring (behind the bezel), one at 9 o'clock and one at 12 that work against a bucket spring to aim the headlight.
Remove the bezel. Adjust the 12 o'clock screw to raise/lower the beam. Adjust the 9 o'clock screw to swing the beam left/right. I did this at night, lights on, truck facing my garage door. Or you could face a wall.
If this doesn't adjust anything, something is wrong inside. Remove the headlight. Check that the spring is attached between a bracket at the bottom of the bucket and the ring of the headlight retainer housing. Also check that the (nylon) nutplates that the adjust screws go into aren't broken (like mine were). I don't have a clue where to get another nutplate. I used a soldering iron to remelt my nylon nut back together.
A Shop Manual is invaluable here. It shows how all goes together and how to adjust/troubleshoot and what the proper adjustment specs are.
Good luck.
Last edited by Randy Jack; Apr 3, 2005 at 04:01 PM.
