Your car headlights must be working correctly and are aligned both for your safety and the safety of the others on the road. Have you ever been blinded on the road while driving by the headlights of another vehicle, this might be caused due to a bad headlight alignment?
The vehicle light includes the side and taillights, the headlights both the main and dipped beams, direction indicators, stop lights, fog lights, reversing lights, the daytime running lights, long-range driving lights, rear number plate lights and the hazard warning lights. Well yeah that’s a lot, and how can you say that the headlight alignment of your vehicle is in the correct order and you don’t need a headlight restoration?
The car headlights allow you to have a clear vision of the road, if the headlight alignment is not proper, they can’t do the job as a result your vehicle will be the one on the road blinding the other drivers and making it difficult for them to drive. While we have come across the argument that changing the headlight bulb is all you need to do, we sharply disagree and state that this is not enough if you want to improve the quality of the light. But in case you observe any of the following you should understand that a headlight restoration might be the need:
- You are unable to see the road and the objects clearly.
- Your car has been involved in any kind of accident recently.
- You have installed new headlight bulbs.
- If all you see is the foliage on the other side of the road.
- If you hear the oncoming drivers constantly honking their horns or flashing their higher beams
Headlight restoration is no rocket science and you can in most cases fix it yourself. Although if you are someone who is not confident enough to deal with auto repair and adjustments you can leave the work at the experienced hands and relax. All you need to be doing is to search ‘headlight restoration near me’ and take your car for the headlight alignment, and before you know the job would be done.
Here are the steps for headlight alignment if you are the enthusiastic car owner who loves to take the responsibility themselves:
Level your car: Begin with removing any excess weight from the car trunk and ensure that the tire pressure is at the manufacturer’s recommended level. Make sure that the gas tank is half full and check the headlight adjustment wheel is at the zero position. This is the first step to headlight alignment. You might also have someone seated at the driver’s seat to get the process done better.
Position your vehicle: the second step is to park the car on the level ground 10-15 feet away from a dark wall or even your garage door. The front of the car should be aimed towards the wall. Now measure the distance of both the headlights from the ground to check the suspension level and bounce the car on all four corners a couple of times to make sure the shocks are levelled.
Turn on the headlights: Coming to the third step turn on the headlight of the car. Remember do not use the high beams or the fog lights. Mark the vertical and horizontal centers of the headlight on the wall with tape and make two Ts. This is the marker for your headlight restoration process.
Check the level of the markers: you can use a carpenter’s level to see if the tapes marked are even. If you found it uneven you may measure the tape and find out how far are the two centers and mark them in alignment. The center lines should not be higher than 3.5 feet from the ground.
Back your car 25 feet from the wall: Please measure the distance and do not work on estimation. Turn off the headlight and remove the trim rings placed around the headlights. Here the horizontal and vertical adjuster should be marked. Also, you should always refer to the owner’s manual as manufacturers recommend different distances.
Adjust the headlights separately: Block one headlight with some object and adjust the other. Also, it is preferable if you can make the lights distinguishable from the other while adjusting and testing as the lights might bleed. It is better to have a helper to sit at the driver’s seat and turn the light on and off while you make the adjustments.
Turn the screws for alignment: Turn the upper screw for the vertical field and the side screws for the horizontal field. Once you have adjusted that the screws turn on the light to confirm the adjustments.
Test your alignment on the road: The final step is to take your car for a test drive and to make sure the headlights are aligned and adjusted correctly. If necessary, readjust following the same process.
Now if you feel this is tricky and tedious and that the owner’s manual isn’t helping you much you have the option to open check for the ‘headlight restoration near me’ search results and drive straight into the workshop. We know the headlight restoration process might not be as easy as it sounds, particularly if you have not done or seen it yourself before. In that case, you should certainly not meddle with such crucial car adjustment issues and leave the work on experts. one of our recommended places would be zDEGREE a great place for all your car repair work, and your one stop solution for car maintenance services in Dubai.
