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Headlight beams are at a weird angle

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by Watcher One, Dec 2, 2017.

  1. Dec 2, 2017 at 8:14 PM
    #1
    Watcher One

    Watcher One [OP] Member

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    So sometime over the summer I replaced my headlight assemblies with new ones from Amazon which maybe was my mistake. The low beams are relatively ok but the beam pretty much splits to where the low beams angle down towards the ground, and my high beams angle up towards the trees/sky. So I can see the ground pretty good with my low beams but there is a very visible line where the visibility ends right at about eye level. But my high beams only really give me a good view of the trees at night. The line where my low beams end is where my high beams pick up. Its not like other vehicles where the lights illuminate everything, up, down, left, right of the vehicle with two levels of brightness. Ive known that you can apparently change the angle of your lights somehow but Im not sure i saw where to do that on my headlights when I was installing them. And I figured if i did find a way to angle them downwards they would just mess up my low beams to give me better visibility with my high beams. Sorry This was a pretty terrible description of my issue but I was wondering if anybody else has encountered a similar problem. Like is it just the way my lights are angled, or did I just buy crummy assemblies, or is it the bulbs themselves. Thanks.

    Edit: forgot to mention I just put a leveling kit on my truck as of yesterday and it made it even worse which is why I felt led to get this sorted out.
     
    Last edited: Dec 2, 2017
  2. Dec 3, 2017 at 12:53 AM
    #2
    crashnburn80

    crashnburn80 Vehicle Design Engineer

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    Prior to installing your new assemblies, did you tape off lines on the wall from your old and re-aim your new units to have the same cut-off line as your old? Aiming your current headlights down will affect your low beam.
     
  3. Dec 3, 2017 at 5:09 AM
    #3
    Too Stroked

    Too Stroked Well-Known Member

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    Let's go for the easy stuff first. To start with, it's very easy to install the headlight bulbs incorrectly in the headlight housings. Go back in and verify that the bulbs are clocked (rotated) so that all three tangs sit in the recesses in the housings. Then make sure the spring clip that hold the bulbs in is correctly seated on top of the bulb and locked down correctly. Assuming the bulbs are in correctly, it's time to make sure the headlight housings themselves are installed / seated correctly. Check all of the bolts and hard mounting points. My money is on one of these two being off because your beam pattern is so far off.

    If everything is indeed correct above, it's probably time to re-aim your headlights. As Crashnburn80 said in his post, having marked a suitable vertical surface with the original position of your cutoff line would have been a great help there - if your truck was still at the stock ride height. Even with a lift kit installed, it would have at least been a starting point. You at least need to get your cutoff line (on the wall) to be level with the center of your headlight lens to even be in the ball park here. Most aftermarket housings come with the adjusters way off, so this could possibly be your problem.
     
    crashnburn80 likes this.

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