Adjusting headlights

**chichichibo** · 24-11-2010 12:08 AM

Originally Posted by curtis265

Just adjust them down, and stand 20m away and take a look for yourself at squat-height

xpire, its illegal to have fogs on anyway,

20m away, and then take a look at the headlight at squat height? then? how to assess if it is fine?
if the light doesnt blind myself at squat height with a 20m distance, then it is fine? if not, fails?

**curtis265** · 24-11-2010 12:35 AM

yes. use your own judgement.

**chichichibo** · 24-11-2010 01:04 AM

Originally Posted by curtis265

yes. use your own judgement.

may i as one more thing?
in fact, will the police fine on me if my headlight glare the others? or will they issue me a 'yellow sticker' and will need to go through a vechile examination?
thanks

**funworld** · 24-11-2010 01:06 AM

You could also try sitting in a friend's car that is parked opposite and to the right of yours. It's still not super accurate, but more-so than squatting down.

My posts in this thread have probably already alluded this but I might as well say it straight - I don't think you should keep the HIDs. You just won't get results that are great. I think it's better to just buy white halogen globes - even though less light is produced because of the filter as curtis said, as long as you don't get ones that are blue it will be better than HIDs dropped into reflectors.

If you decide to keep them and aim them down, that's your choice but remember that just because people don't high beam you, doesn't mean it's not blinding them

in fact, will the police fine on me if my headlight glare the others?

They most certainly can. Thing is though, most of the time they'll only notice that your headlights are blinding when you're both travelling in the opposite direction so won't really be able to turn around and fine you.

**Xpire** · 04-12-2010 01:56 AM

Hi guys,

I finally attempted to adjust my headlights. Got into a car accident because some idiot decided to turn into my lane, and just received my car back today.

I tried both cogs on both the headlights, I turned them both directions and the headlights didn't go up/down at all.

Am I turning the right cog, is there more than one in there?

Hopefully one of you guys live close by so I can get some help

**chichichibo** · 04-12-2010 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by Xpire

Hi guys,

I finally attempted to adjust my headlights. Got into a car accident because some idiot decided to turn into my lane, and just received my car back today.

I tried both cogs on both the headlights, I turned them both directions and the headlights didn't go up/down at all.

Am I turning the right cog, is there more than one in there?

Hopefully one of you guys live close by so I can get some help

May i ask, if the car get involved in suh an accident that due to the glare of ur headlight making ppl crossing the wrong lane and hit your car, will the insurance company still compensate for u?
Or will the insurance company refuse the claim?

**curtis265** · 04-12-2010 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Xpire

Hi guys,
I finally attempted to adjust my headlights. Got into a car accident because some idiot decided to turn into my lane, and just received my car back today.
I tried both cogs on both the headlights, I turned them both directions and the headlights didn't go up/down at all.
Am I turning the right cog, is there more than one in there?
Hopefully one of you guys live close by so I can get some help

Xpire, you could be turning the wrong thing? The should be msot definitely moving up and down, just slowly. Could you please share a photo of what you're turning?

Originally Posted by chichichibo

May i ask, if the car get involved in suh an accident that due to the glare of ur headlight making ppl crossing the wrong lane and hit your car, will the insurance company still compensate for u?
Or will the insurance company refuse the claim?

Absolutely possible. but really, if you see an oncoming car, are you going to drive into it? I doubt it...

@funworld, it's certainly not blinding 100%, the cutoff is still relatively neat on the FD's, and compared to other cars, the glare is comparable, even to some halogen bulbs out there.

but i do agree that the whiter halogens will be the best option for glare control, just not the greatest light output

**Xpire** · 07-12-2010 01:58 PM

Originally Posted by curtis265

Xpire, you could be turning the wrong thing? The should be msot definitely moving up and down, just slowly. Could you please share a photo of what you're turning?

Is that the right thing?

**curtis265** · 07-12-2010 02:36 PM

hmm, that most certainly is the right thing. Try turning the screwdriver lots of times and watch the beam - i most definitely notice the beam height moving

**Xpire** · 08-12-2010 01:18 AM

Hmm okay. I tried turning it again and noticed it moved possibly a cm per revolution, which is really damn slow

I also find it hard to see the cut-off line...are you guys able to see a clear distinct line with HIDs? I think I've turned it too low

**curtis265** · 08-12-2010 10:09 AM

Yes it is quite slow, and it's meant to be.

Sometimes a sharper cutoff can be achieved with expensive branded bulbs - they're designed better that their cheaper counterparts, bu generally speaking, HID's in any sort of housing (whether it be projector or reflector) will have a shithouse cutoff and light distribution compared to properly designed housings - thats why people love retrofitting projectors so much.

Mine was decent with kaixen bulbs. Can you try get a pic

This isn't a great one, but you get the idea. The circled bit is all glare

Here's from directly above - a meaningless photo really, you can't tell if there's glare.

oh and don't ever judge photos like this - they are also meaningless for the same reason as above