DIY Headlight Alignment?

[356Speedster]

Simple one-line question, that'll probably not have a similarly simple answer....

Does anyone have any tips on how to align the headlights in prep for IVA, at home?

[Storer]

If you get your every day car and park it facing a wall about 5 ft away as it is getting dark you will be able to see the cut off line of the lights on dip beam. Mark the outline of the beam.
Measure the height of the lights from the ground.
Measure the height of the Ultima lights and subtract the height from the marked outline and re-mark.

Position the Ultima in the same place and adjust the lights to fit the lower line.


Alternatively, take the car to your local friendly MOT station (on a trailer) and borrow their beam setter!!!!!!!!!!!


Paul

[Steve_D]

The best you will do at home is measure the height of the beam cutoff at the lamp then set the beam on the wall a few feet away to just below your measurement.

Take tools with you to the test. The inspector will let you make adjustments during the test and may even help you.

Steve

[ViperDave]

don't park the car too close to the wall either, the further back the more pronounced any error will be so easier to spot (although the beam edges do get fuzzyer). the viper service manual says 25ft and i have successfully aligned lights for both IVA and MOT this way

[356Speedster]

Thanks for the responses chaps. Hopefully that'll be enough to get me "close" and the IVA inspector will give me some wiggle room, or maybe even help if I need to tweak anything

[V8Dom]

i was in halfords earlier. i see they do 3 different headlight bulbs to standard now all the same wattage,, 50% brighter, 90% and 120% ,,, anyone tried these yet?

[craig7l]

I'm gonna do a HID conversion tomorrow....will post the before and after shots....

[Graham-P]

I have the 120% extra bulbs for the dipped beam and they are much brighter than before, I also have HIDs for main beam, different league.

Graham

[V8Dom]

hid's ??


will they melt the covers?


can you run hid in main and dips?

[DHGTR]

I thought HIDs actually had a lower temp than conventional bulbs?

Why didnt you do HID for normal driving Graham - was it a case of the bulb connector wouldnt fit without hitting the tyre?

[craig7l]

im not sure on total temperature but the lens assembly with glass frontage then gap then lexan plastic cover i wouldnt have thought (hope) not a problem, they draw less current than 35w HID approx 3times as bright as halogen 55W. But run more circuitary. each has a ballast and ignitor. Im putting them in low beam and main beam - didnt bother with side lights.
I went with 3000k low beam and 4300k high beam, H7 both bulbs.

cant work out why regs say that a wash is required..?

Biggest numbers in HID arent always best on HID kits for instance a OEM fog would run 3000k and a 12000k would be unuseable on the road as it would be very purple "show" orientated.

[Graham-P]

DHGTR said:

I thought HIDs actually had a lower temp than conventional bulbs?

Why didnt you do HID for normal driving Graham - was it a case of the bulb connector wouldnt fit without hitting the tyre?

The plan was to fit both dipped and main but as you say the dipped beam HIDs were too long just not enough clearance to the tyre, so reverted to plan B and back to the projector lamps.

[F.C.]

craig7l said:

cant work out why regs say that a wash is required..?

Mostly covered here:

http://mottesters.co.uk/files/special%20notices/MO...

This is what MOT testers are required to do (note this is not actually related to the law, fitting OEM HIDs without a self leveller is actually illegal, but a MOT is not designed to see if your car is legal or not)

"Vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) or LED dipped beam headlamps may be fitted with headlamp washers and a suspension or headlamp self levelling system. Where such systems are fitted, they must work; however, it is accepted that it may not be possible to readily determine the functioning of self levelling systems. In such cases, the benefit of the doubt must be given."

Ergo it's not a MOT requirement for a self levelling system to be in place. If it is it must work.

They will test beam pattern and height though, so you can't just fit them in and not check they will dazzle someone.

In actual fact HID's are illegal in UK law, there is a "loophole" in that European law trumps it, so long as the components of the installation have the all important "CE" mark and are "fit for purpose"

Simples, clear as mud!

Oh, the wash is something to do with preventing glare through dirty lenses.

[craig7l]

V8Dom said:

hid's ??


will they melt the covers?


can you run hid in main and dips?

i left these on for 20mins or so and the lexan was only mild warm really..no issues.

The picture doesnt do them justice.... well worth the effort, massive different over halogen... ran 3000 main, and 4300 dip in the end.

[V8Dom]

Graham-P said:

The plan was to fit both dipped and main but as you say the dipped beam HIDs were too long just not enough clearance to the tyre, so reverted to plan B and back to the projector lamps.

matter of interest Graham, where did you fit the ballast boxes?

also been looking at head light arrayment... any reason why we cant swap dip to a different possition to put hid in? main beam is great already its the dip thats crap.

dom

[Graham-P]

Hi Dom, I mounted the ballast boxes on a bracket under the light unit, I haven't got the car at the moment, was meant to pick it up yesterday, so can't show you a pic. I'm not sure about the regs regarding where dipped and mains should be, no doubt advisement will follow soon.

[Steve_D]

Graham-P said:

......I'm not sure about the regs regarding where dipped and mains should be, no doubt advisement will follow soon.

I don't believe position of the lights in the existing cluster will be an issue.
I expect the regs on wash and self level will get stricter with good reason.

Steve

[F.C.]

Steve_D said:

I don't believe position of the lights in the existing cluster will be an issue.
I expect the regs on wash and self level will get stricter with good reason.

Steve

The regs are already in place it's the mechanism of enforcement that's lacking.

[V8Dom]

hi Graham


looking at the different type bulbs,,, there are 2 different lengths... did you go standard or short

thanks dom

[Graham-P]

Hi Dom, I didn't realise there were two lengths, I got mine from Amazon, this is the link.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ring-Brighter-Upgrade-Head...

Graham