Well I just lowered my car on wed night and took it out for a drive to figure out how stiff I was going to set the shocks. Went thru a couple favorite spots I like to drive thru at night (am I the only one that likes looking at the hid beam?). Noticed that the beam was lower obviously due to the drop..... Has anyone re-aligned the beam to point higher after the their drop??..... Maybe I'm being anal but I used to like driving on the freeway and being able to see my beams on the center devide bouncing as I go by or watching it reflect off of the signs as I pass them or approach them.

What way do I turn the knob to raise the beam?..... Clockwise or counter-clockwise?

Thanks guys!!

 

It's kind of a pain to adjust the stupid beam. But yes, they are very sensitive and should be adjusted correctly after your ride height changes. You might also have to re-adjust them when the springs settle.

No you're, not the only one that likes watching the beams lol.

Use an 8MM socket, a 1/4'' drive ratchet and a 3'' extension. You'll have to reach into the headlight access hole and find the 8mm bolt (only by feel, not by sight). Counter clockwise to raise, clockwise to lower.

Do it correctly against a wall or something so you make sure the beams are even. Since I like to watch the beams, it drove me NUTS when they were uneven for a day. dont go nuts with raising them or you'll blind the hell out of people.

 

Yeah, the headlights need re-adjustment after a drop.
But it's not something you could just adjust it to your own likings.
I recommend bringing it in to the dealer to have it aligned properly.
Too low, you lose visibility and too high, you'll blind the on-coming traffic.
Good luck.

Dan

 

Ok cool, thought I was crazy for looking at the lights at night instead of the road..... Lol!! Any idea what the dealer might charge to re-align?

Car has been lowered for about a week now.... Any idea how much longer before they actually fully settle? Thanks!

 

i thought shocks/springs settle after your first ride/run in the car... at least thats what i've always noticed

 

hrmm i never align my lights after the drop lol. but i think it looks fine to me?

 

If the springs/coilovers lower the car equal amount for both front and rear, I don't think realignment is necessary.
I might be wrong though.

Dan

 

only reason I brought it up is because I did lower the S and now it seems like my lights shine more of the ground instead of what's ahead of me..... I drove from pismo beach last night down to so orange county.... A good 3hrs of night driving and the whole way home I was bothered by the beam not lighting up what it used to.

 

I see your point as to a even drop but I would be guessing that a re-alignment would still need to be done..... Dont know if you have even played with head lights but from close range if you move the beam 2inches up then get on the freeway at night, those two inches 50-100 feet away is a huge diff.

 

the suspension, tires, and bushings let the car settle after your first drive. Springs, however, usually sag. The sag occurs after having the weight of the car on them. Most manufacturers say about .25'' after 500-1000 miles. After that, they should not sag appreciably anymore. If they do, your springs are either worn out or defective or broken.

If you drop the car evenly (front to back), the re-alignment is a little less nessecary. Projectors are meant to drop the beam down in certain increments as they get farther away. So there's a slope.

Think about it as a right traingle. The Y value is the height of the headlight. The X value is the length of the beam. The slope is the hypotenuse of the triangle.

If you change your height, you change the Y value. The correct slope is constant regardless of the Y value. So the X value is slightly shortened. Meaning your lights dont shine as far. The only way to solve this is to increase the slope.

However, if you try to match up the headlights against a wall to where the beams used to sit at stock ride height, the beam will shine too far upwards and blind people since the headlights are now aimed more upwards...they may meet up with the line on the wall, but after that line, the lights could keep raising upwards.

If your lights start out lower, they will end sooner. If the car is lowered proportionally to stock F to R, the slope stays correct. You can increase the slope a little bit and get away with it without blinding anyone, but not too much. You have to increase the slope only incrementally. Your lights will not be on the same place against a flat surface as they were stock.

Think about it like this: (numbers are made up)

Stock ride measured to the top of the tire from the bottom of the fender lip = 2''R, 1.75''F

That's a .875:1 ratio. The front is 12.5% lower than the rear.

Lowering proportionally would mean that after lowering, the front was still 12.5% lower than the rear. So you'd lower it to 1'' fender gap rear and .875'' fender gap front.

The stock headlight height is 24'' off the ground. The lowered headlight height is 23.125'' off the ground

If your car is parked 50ft away from a wall at stock height, the beams are at 18'' off the ground on the wall. The beam ends 200ft away from the car, and actually ends on the ground. So you're dropping 6'' of beam height every 50ft of distance.

If your car is lowered proportionally to stock, the beam may hit the wall about 17.125'' off the ground. That would maintain the correct slope proportion of 6'' every 50ft. The beam now ends 192.7ft from the car.

If you change the slope positive, the beams shine longer forward. In that example, since the ride height was proportional and not changed by much from stock, you can get it to be JUST about right.

However, if the car is lowered more front than rear, you're not gonna get too close to the stock beam height on the wall and not blind someone.

I think that was way too complicated for a simple question lol. But you kinda get the idea.....