AIMING HEADLIGHTS?

[dkn1997]

I'll spare you the happy recap...but I just got done with upgrading to relays and hella H4's and H1's:

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,58543.0.html

anyway, now that it's all done, I need to know how to aim the headlights right. between switching headlight types and the accident...where the grill frame got very bent....they definately need some finetuning.

I heard that you pull right up to a wall at night, mark 2 crosses that line up directly with the center of the lights....back up a certain amount of feet and then aim the low beams so that they hit just to the right and below the center of the crosses.  1st I don't know if it's right or how many feet...second, I have no procedure for the high beams.  I won't be taking it to get done either.  there has to be a "backyard' way that will give good results.

[resq302]

The brightness is pretty impressive.

[68X426]

Your 68 shop manual has the exact directions to adjust.

You might get within 30% accuracy (basically worthless). But then it's just you and no traffic in your backyard, so safety may not be top priority.

Better way and safer: take it to your local friendly non-chain body shop. The professional adjustment takes them 5 minutes (tops!) and there is happiness all around. Here's why:

All the shop employees get a break because the shop owner has to schmooz with the show car owner and calls everyone over to see, the worker bees are happy with a break, the owner is happy and looks like a big shot talking about the old days, you are happy, the owner doesn't charge you because the paperwork for the receipt takes longer than the actual adjustment, you get a free donut, and you brought special happiness into everyone's working day by just driving your sweet ride into their shop.

It's just good karma, it's free, but then you have to return an act of free-ness to someone down the line. And, best of all, now you can see where the hell you are going! 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Your 68 shop manual has the exact directions to adjust.

You might get within 30% accuracy (basically worthless). But then it's just you and no traffic in your backyard, so safety may not be top priority.

Better way and safer: take it to your local friendly non-chain body shop. The professional adjustment takes them 5 minutes (tops!) and there is happiness all around. Here's why:

All the shop employees get a break because the shop owner has to schmooz with the show car owner and calls everyone over to see, the worker bees are happy with a break, the owner is happy and looks like a big shot talking about the old days, you are happy, the owner doesn't charge you because the paperwork for the receipt takes longer than the actual adjustment, you get a free donut, and you brought special happiness into everyone's working day by just driving your sweet ride into their shop.

It's just good karma, it's free, but then you have to return an act of free-ness to someone down the line. And, best of all, now you can see where the hell you are going! 

damn what part of the world are you from?

Here in NYC NOTHING is free

[dkn1997]

LOL....

I just don't see it being rocket science...it's aiming something...and not exactly the scope on a sniper rifle.

after I posted this, I did find a procedure online that's similar to what I described above, I will try it. 

judging from even the new cars I see driving with headlights pointing to the power lines, I can't do much worse.

I'd like to know what this aiming machine works?  it would be pretty interesting to see that.

[TylerCharger69]

Myself.....I went to a street that was a dead end and hardly ever travelled.  I just sat in the car, looked what I had, went out and adjusted, back and forth, until it looked okay. That was the low beams of course.  the high beams I just adjusted them a bit further than the lows.

[68X426]

Chris: I live in the good old USA. I have heard of NYC though. 

I live in the mountains of Northern California. To me its too big of a place, what with 4700 people in the nearest town and 51,000 in the whole county. That's probably how many live just on your street. Modesto is over an hour of open road away, with 350,000 people. Sacramento is 2 hours of open road away with 600,000.

Yes, California sucks in its own special way, but I'm not leaving just yet. Been to NYC, its got it good points, and yes I know everything is twice the price. Maybe there's a shop like I described in Jersey. (now the Jersey bad boys will let me have it about their corner of the world!). 

DKN: the headlight tool is a set of "boxes" with a suction cup that pops onto the bulbs. Each box has 3 levelers on top and two levelers on each side, with about 4 mirrors inside each box. Each box has a battery and light source. The guys follow a procedure that identifies the "hot spot" and "light spread" of the headlight (impossible for the human eye to locate) and using the mirrors and levels aligns both lows and highs to the factory specs. Or in the case of modified hot rod height, they adjust accordingly.

The headlights are not on by the way. The guy just works the adjusting screws like we would by eyeballing it in the backyard. The boxes/tools are their eyeballs.

This all happens within a 2 minute time frame per low and high, total 4 minutes, couldn't be easier for you.

My point: this is a critical safety measure AND you get to take the easy way out.  It is accurate, easier than spending an hour on a dark road, easier than taping a mark at 27 inches high on the backyard fence then pacing off 100 feet, and cheap or free in most of the country.

Hope it all turns out okay for you.

[1969chargerrtse]

Myself.....I went to a street that was a dead end and hardly ever travelled.  I just sat in the car, looked what I had, went out and adjusted, back and forth, until it looked okay. That was the low beams of course.  the high beams I just adjusted them a bit further than the lows.

[dkn1997]

Chris: I live in the good old USA. I have heard of NYC though. 

I live in the mountains of Northern California. To me its too big of a place, what with 4700 people in the nearest town and 51,000 in the whole county. That's probably how many live just on your street. Modesto is over an hour of open road away, with 350,000 people. Sacramento is 2 hours of open road away with 600,000.

Yes, California sucks in its own special way, but I'm not leaving just yet. Been to NYC, its got it good points, and yes I know everything is twice the price. Maybe there's a shop like I described in Jersey. (now the Jersey bad boys will let me have it about their corner of the world!). 

DKN: the headlight tool is a set of "boxes" with a suction cup that pops onto the bulbs. Each box has 3 levelers on top and two levelers on each side, with about 4 mirrors inside each box. Each box has a battery and light source. The guys follow a procedure that identifies the "hot spot" and "light spread" of the headlight (impossible for the human eye to locate) and using the mirrors and levels aligns both lows and highs to the factory specs. Or in the case of modified hot rod height, they adjust accordingly.

The headlights are not on by the way. The guy just works the adjusting screws like we would by eyeballing it in the backyard. The boxes/tools are their eyeballs.

This all happens within a 2 minute time frame per low and high, total 4 minutes, couldn't be easier for you.

My point: this is a critical safety measure AND you get to take the easy way out.  It is accurate, easier than spending an hour on a dark road, easier than taping a mark at 27 inches high on the backyard fence then pacing off 100 feet, and cheap or free in most of the country.

Hope it all turns out okay for you.

thanks for the info, that's very interesting.  I never even knew such a thing existed.  I am going to try aiming them myself for now.  The car does have to go back to the body shop in the next month or two to fix a couple of scratches they put in it. I will ask him to check the lights too.  when he delivered the car back to me, I hadn't gotten the new lights yet.