Headlight Adjustment

[jtrink]

Hey, I need to adjust my headlights to an ideal level. I was driving today in the dark and really could barley see.

1. How do i adjust the level up and down? (i hit a deer on on teh right side of my car. did no damage, just knocked the headlight off level) Whats the correct height? Whatever I feel is good?

2. Hypothetically if leveling my headlights back to normal doesn't do anything, how much is it going to be to get new bulbs?

Thanks for any input;.

[bigbird]

the best thing ive done is to find a fairly flat piece of space and adjust them there. at the back corner of each light by the fender is a philips screw head, turning that ill make them go up and down. u may need to get new bulbs that are just brighter if urs are adjusted right.

[xtremeskier97]

Are your headlight lenses yellowed up? If so..you can get some stuff at the local parts store that clears it right up. Worked quite well on mine.

On that note....does anyone know where to get, or even if they make, glass headlights for Gen3s? All i can find is plastic lenses.

thanks!

[Venom_5]

the up/down adjustment is the grey screws you will find poking up when you open the hood

the left/right adjustment is the yellow-capped screws you will find behind the headlight units ... also under the hood

sometimes if you get in an accident it can strip these screws or the lever-devices used to hold the headlight adjusters and allow them to move (which is what happened to me) so they might not move up/down or left/right

[jtrink]

ok, sounds good. How much do new bulbs cost?

[cdtran]

Generally rule of thumb for aiming any headlight is abouit a 2" drop at 25', but halogen's can be aim almost straight with no complaints. New bulbs depend on what kind you want. Chepo ebay crap bulbs are like $10, while piaa extream white plus bulbs are like $80 I think...

[Venom_5]

new bright white halogens are about $35

the bulbs dont determine which way theyre a pointing, however ... the actual headlight assembly does

[jtrink]

alright the headlights are finally adjusted to the right position. When the headlights are on normal its just seems like they are extremely weak, but when i put on the high beams they seem perfect. And yes i know the high beams are supposed to be brighter so no smart ass comments. It just seems like the normal power is weaker than other cars that i have driven. If i were to replace the bulb would it just be something like this:

Osram/Sylvania Headlight Bulb
1992-2006 Toyota Camry



12V 65W; inner-high beam 12V 65W

[95WhiteCamry]

if you're going with sylvania, go for the silverstar models. they're really nice lights with proper wattage so they won't fry your wiring.

the eBay ones are too high a kelvin and will cause a shitload of glare and reduce visibility.

i think the optimum temperature for good visibility is like 4300k or something like that. the silverstars are right up there. they cost 20 bucks a pop.

and personally, i don't see why the PIAAs cost 80 bucks, they're not really that great... go for silverstars!

[jtrink]

one quick question before i buy them. Do headlights just get dimmer as they go on or do they just go from totally bright to dead, ya know what i mean? Just to make sure that somethign else isn't wrong

[95WhiteCamry]

as far as i know, bulbs generally don't dim over time. it's kinda either they're alive or dead, not really in between.

headlights CAN dim though. for instance, if you run a bad battery and like use your power windows, the headlights will both dim. so unless you shorted somewhere and there is a constant enegry flow elsewhere and it's taking away from the lights, there shouldn't be a problem.

[Venom_5]

i had Sylvania XtraVisions and they were great, but i got tired of having yellow lights so i switched to Sylvania CoolBlues ... they arent as bright, but i like the color MUCH more

i just installed Sylvania Silverstars on my girlfriend's Altima [9007's ftw] ... these are the best halogens that they make, they are both white and bright!!

[xet]

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=954736

there is a huge amount of info on there about bulbs

[jtrink]

alright, thanks everyone