front light beam

[neilo]

Hello, could anyone please give me an idea of the height from the ground to the brightest part of the front light beam when parked on level ground facing a wall?

My lights seem to have a very short throw, I think this migt be due to the fact that the car was lowered when the KW kit went on; now it seems as thought the lights only illuminate about 20m in front of the car, which in comparison with other cars I drive seems a bit, well, short!

If anyone has a measurement that I could check I'd be very grateful!

 

[Mike_Pollock]

If they seem too low they probably are!
My adjusters were so worn that the threaded rod slid through with the normal vibration of the car to become self adjusting! .
Its very difficult to quote figures, especially as the car is lowered.
I just adjusted them bit by bit till they seemed right.
Mike

 

[graham.webb]

The handbook isn't that helpful...just reminds you to check tyre pressures and put a 75kg weight in the driver's seat!!

Haynes manual (usually useless) says park 25 feet from a wall, tape vertically to mark the c/l of the car and each light, then a horizontal mark equivalent to the centre of each light (measured at the car). Alignment of the bright zone should then be 2" below and to the right...in your case I guess you'd have to raise the horizontal mark by however much you've lowered the car?

An unworthy thought....given that we're all fed up with being dazzled by 4x4s with their HID lights, you could just use the foregoing as a guide, then adjust the hight so you can drive safely within the range of your lamps!! If people keep flashing you , you know they're set a bit too high...

 

[944Turbo]

If its a late car with height adjustment - I put mine on the highest setting and marked a wall, put them on the lowest setting with the electric adjuster and then adjusted the lights up with the manual adjusters to the mark. When the electric adjuster was reset to high the vision was fine and if you are dazzling people you can adjust back down.

No help at all on earlier cars! Your friendly local MOT man might give you ten minutes to use the proper tester in exchange for a pack of biscuits or a couple of beers.

Tony

 

[neilo]

Thanks for the replies. I was considering the xenon route I fitted them to my last car and the difference was, well night and day! but before I look at them, I'd like to get the standard lights working as well as I can.
That's a good idea about using the adjuster as a reference... only problem now is the adjuster screws on the headlight surrounds / casings are rusted solid! are these readily available?