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I read the how to, and it's not making sense to me. Seems overly complicated from other headlights I've aligned. I think it's the procedure that has me confused with the V lines, H lines, etc. Most importantly, it doesn't specify size of paper (that I can see) nor does it specify how high to mount the paper's "H line" from the ground.
Can someone fill in the blanks to simplify?
1) Park car on level surface about 10 feet from wall.
2) Low beam should be ____ inches on the wall from the ground.
3) High beam should be ____ inches on the wall from ground.
There isn't an exact way of doing it. But like retrofitters say, at 20 feet away from the car in front of you
your low beam's cutoff should be under the mirror of the car in front of you.
And you adjust the high beams to your liking.(People tend to prefer aiming them very high, because you don't use them too much, and when you do it is something you want to get a better view of.)
Now, if you're asking what are the OEM parameters for the lights, then I honestly got no idea.
Headlight adjustment specs for 2001-2003 (HID reflectors) are different from 2004-2006 (HID projectors). Here are the 01-03 reflector adjustment instructions translated into a way that I think makes more sense than the service manual:
1) Make sure all tires are inflated to factory spec (most cases this is 32 psi). Make sure gas tank is full and a driver is in the driver's seat. Park on a level surface with the bulb of the headlight 3.00 metres away from a 90 degree vertical wall (preferably white or light-colored). Bounce the vehicle several times to settle the suspension. Start the engine and turn the headlights on.
2) Using dry-erase or a thin sharpie with a level + ruler/yardstick/etc, draw a vertical line (V) exactly at the horizontal center of the vehicle (use rear-view mirror attachment point or centre of front license plate bracket to accurately gauge vehicle center). Then draw a long horizontal line (H) where the horizontal center plane of the vehicle is, which should be straight across from the middle of the headlight assembly or where the center of the bulb reflector is. Draw a vertical line 671 mm to the left of the center vertical line (V LH), and another vertical line 671 mm to the right of the center vertical line (V RH).
3) The vertical of the high beams should be perfectly centred with the horizontal line (H) you just drew (20.9mm of the high beams should strike above the horizontal line, and 20.9mm below).
4) The horizontal of the high beams should be centred on the 2 lines you drew 671mm on the left and right of centre (V LH and V RH), and therefore the distance between the center of the left high beam and center of the right high beam should be 1342mm.
5) The vertical cutoff of both low beams should aim 0.4 degrees below the main horizontal line (H). Knowing the angle of 0.4 degrees and the horizontal distance of 3000mm, we can solve for the distance between the center of the high beam and the bottom cut-off using "tangent = opposite divided by adjacent". Therefore, tan 0.4 degrees = opposite divided by 3000. Rearranging and solving for opposite yields 20.9mm. This means the bottom cut-off of both low beams is exactly 20.9mm below the horizontal line (H).
6) The horizontal of the low beams should be adjusted such that the left beam's bottom right edge is 671mm to the left of the center vertical line (V), and that the right beam's bottom right edge is 671mm to the right of the center vertical line (V).
See attached pic for the service manual instructions.
Headlight adjustment specs for 2001-2003 (HID reflectors) are different from 2004-2006 (HID projectors). Here are the 01-03 reflector adjustment instructions translated into a way that I think makes more sense than the service manual:
1) Make sure all tires are inflated to factory spec (most cases this is 32 psi). Make sure gas tank is full and a driver is in the driver's seat. Park on a level surface with the bulb of the headlight 3.00 metres away from a 90 degree vertical wall (preferably white or light-colored). Bounce the vehicle several times to settle the suspension. Start the engine and turn the headlights on.
2) Using dry-erase or a thin sharpie with a level + ruler/yardstick/etc, draw a vertical line (V) exactly at the horizontal center of the vehicle (use rear-view mirror attachment point or centre of front license plate bracket to accurately gauge vehicle center). Then draw a long horizontal line (H) where the horizontal center plane of the vehicle is, which should be straight across from the middle of the headlight assembly or where the center of the bulb reflector is. Draw a vertical line 671 mm to the left of the center vertical line (V LH), and another vertical line 671 mm to the right of the center vertical line (V RH).
3) The vertical of the high beams should be perfectly centred with the horizontal line (H) you just drew (20.9mm of the high beams should strike above the horizontal line, and 20.9mm below).
4) The horizontal of the high beams should be centred on the 2 lines you drew 671mm on the left and right of centre (V LH and V RH), and therefore the distance between the center of the left high beam and center of the right high beam should be 1342mm.
5) The vertical cutoff of both low beams should aim 0.4 degrees below the main horizontal line (H). Knowing the angle of 0.4 degrees and the horizontal distance of 3000mm, we can solve for the distance between the center of the high beam and the bottom cut-off using "tangent = opposite divided by adjacent". Therefore, tan 0.4 degrees = opposite divided by 3000. Rearranging and solving for opposite yields 20.9mm. This means the bottom cut-off of both low beams is exactly 20.9mm below the horizontal line (H).
6) The horizontal of the low beams should be adjusted such that the left beam's bottom right edge is 671mm to the left of the center vertical line (V), and that the right beam's bottom right edge is 671mm to the right of the center vertical line (V).
See attached pic for the service manual instructions.
The low-beams and high-beams are a fixed unit - setting one correctly should set the other correctly.
1) Make sure all tires are inflated to factory spec (most cases this is 32 psi). Make sure gas tank is full and a driver weighing approximately 150lbs is in the driver's seat. Park on a level surface with the bulb of the headlight 3.00 metres away from a 90 degree vertical wall (preferably white or light-colored). Bounce the vehicle several times to settle the suspension. Start the engine and turn the headlights on.
2) Using dry-erase or a thin sharpie with a level + ruler/yardstick/etc, draw (on the wall or a big enough sheet of thick paper taped to the wall) a vertical line (V) exactly at the horizontal center of the vehicle (use rear-view mirror attachment point or centre of front license plate bracket to accurately gauge vehicle center). Then draw a long horizontal line (H) so that it is the same height as the center mark of the low-beam lamp. Draw a vertical line to the left and to the right of the center vertical line (V LH and V RH) so that they line up with the center mark on the low-beams.
3) The vertical cutoff of the left low beam should aim 0.4 degrees below the main horizontal line (H). Knowing the angle of 0.4 degrees and the horizontal distance of 3000mm, we can solve for the distance between the center of the high beam and the bottom cut-off using "tangent = opposite divided by adjacent". Therefore, tan 0.4 degrees = opposite divided by 3000. Rearranging and solving for opposite yields 20.9mm. This means the bottom cut-off of both low beams is exactly 20.9mm below the horizontal line (H).
4) The horizontal of the low beams should be adjusted such that the "step" in the middle of the beams falls exactly on the V LH and V RH lines.
5) To check the high beams, shut off the low beams or disconnect the low-beam connector. The vertical of the high beams should be perfectly centred with the horizontal line (H) you just drew (up to 40mm of the high beams should strike above the horizontal line, and 40mm below).
6) The horizontal of the high beams should be centred on the V LH and V RH lines. The left and right edge of each high beam should shine 40mm to the left and 40mm to the right of each lamp's vertical line.
^^^^Ok. I tried this last night. Either I'm not understanding something or the instructions aren't right. Or Lexus likes their headlights aimed really, really low.
So..following the instruction in step 2, I measured the center line height of the low beam projector. On my 2004, it's 29.5" from the road. So I drew my "H" line 29.5" inches up on the garage door I was aiming on.
But looking at the pics below if I am to follow instructions in step 3, I'd have to lower my low beams roughly 8" so that they would be .82" below my "H" line. That can't possibly be right, can it??
Here's are the pics. If you look close, so can see a small " + " That is my H line with a V line through the middle of it. Note how high above that mark my low beams are.
09-26-15, 03:59 PM
