How To Adjust Headlight Beam Height

[Bigbikes]

Not sure about you, but even with my auto high beams, a car could be a couple of miles away and the highs will turn off, then I'm driving the deer infested dark with the forest rats gnashing their teeth as they wait for me to get closer so they can suicide against my shiny paint. My headlights were so low that I could easily run over the neighbourhood kids and think it was just a traffic calming measure.

However, if auto high beams is enough for you justify the laziness of improperly adjusted headlights, that's cool too

Not lazy just doesn't affect me and where i normally drive my car..

 

[StingerHP]

Start at page 10

thanks

 

[slthomas1]

Counter clockwise raises light. Just finished doing it very easy all back to normal.

Does this adjustment pertain to the DBL headlights?

 

[MerlintheMad]

Does this adjustment pertain to the DBL headlights?

How To Adjust Headlight Beam Height

 

[rocket23]

Some of these guys and girls selling and working on have know idea of what’s going on with this car and how to do stuff to them. When I bought mine I knew more about car then anybody in there.

Same goes with driving; people nowadays are frightening ignorant to the way one is supposed to drive

 

[Tim Ulrich]

I used the #2 Phillips screwdriver and it worked great. It took less than a minute to make the adjustment. I also shined a flashlight on the gear that turns while I was turning the screwdriver to make sure it was actually turning. It turns slowly compared to the screwdriver but it works. Now I can see down the road and nobody flashed their high beams at me.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Welcome, Tim. Good first post, there.

 

[rocket23]

Welcome, Tim. Good first post, there.

Long way to 5000 huh?

 

[Paul J. McCain]

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I came across this issue as well (low headlamp aim) so I wanted to contribute for anyone reading in the future:

I work in the automotive lighting industry. I was shocked at how low the aim was on the factory GT2 (adaptive) lamps. The cutoff (flat portion at the top of the pattern) shines about 50-60 feet in front of the vehicle, on a flat road. I have seen a lot of bad factory aiming, usually it is too high. But in the Stinger, driving at night is miserable with the factory aim.

In general terms, FMVSS/DOT aiming and beam pattern standards call for that top of the cutoff to be parallel - that is, it should shine to the horizon on a perfectly level surface. The factory aim on my 2018 GT2 was at least 4-6 degrees lower than it should be, which makes a HUGE difference in distance of the headlamp beam.

To aim the headlamps properly, park on a perfectly level surface with the car at least 20 feet from a wall. Look at your headlights - you will see a small dot in the center, molded into the plastic. This is intentional, indicating the optical center for aiming. Use a tape measure and determine how far off the ground that dot is. If it's 30 inches, go to the wall and measure 30 inches up. The top of the cutoff should be 30 inches up as well. If you lower your Stinger by 2", as long as it's even all around, your aim should NOT change! But it's always a good idea to re-aim when you do any kind of suspension change as it could alter how the vehicle sits.

 

[YOWStinger]

I work in the automotive lighting industry. I was shocked at how low the aim was on the factory GT2 (adaptive) lamps. The cutoff (flat portion at the top of the pattern) shines about 50-60 feet in front of the vehicle, on a flat road. I have seen a lot of bad factory aiming, usually it is too high. But in the Stinger, driving at night is miserable with the factory aim.

In general terms, FMVSS/DOT aiming and beam pattern standards call for that top of the cutoff to be parallel - that is, it should shine to the horizon on a perfectly level surface. The factory aim on my 2018 GT2 was at least 4-6 degrees lower than it should be, which makes a HUGE difference in distance of the headlamp beam.

Yeah, it was atrocious, not sure if you saw my previous post: How To Adjust Headlight Beam Height

Never mind 50-60 feet, mine was literally pointed at the curb across the street (20-30 feet?). Driving at 80-100kph with the headlights pointed at the ground 30 feet in front of the car on unlit country roads was uncomfortable

I didn't have a wall that I could use, but I did have a big piece of packing material from a whiteboard I had bought . Placed it touching my bumper, marked the top of the lights, moved it 25 feet away, then adjusted the lights up to the line.

 

[Stinger Girl]

I had mine adjusted twice by Kia. The first time they moved them up an inch. The second time they moved them up as far as they would go (they said). NOW I can see at night, the stupid line with the half circles is about gone, and no, no one is flashing their lights at me.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I had mine adjusted twice by Kia. The first time they moved them up an inch. The second time they moved them up as far as they would go (they said). NOW I can see at night, the stupid line with the half circles is about gone, and no, no one is flashing their lights at me.

Twice, in six months!? You were pretty aggravated back there. How long has it been since you got your low beams adjusted, finally?

 

[Stinger Girl]

Twice, in six months!? You were pretty aggravated back there. How long has it been since you got your low beams adjusted, finally?

A few weeks ago.....

 

[MerlintheMad]

A few weeks ago.....

You decided to be patient, then. I'm glad that you found a satisfying solution.

 

[namja]

I had mine adjusted twice by Kia. The first time they moved them up an inch. The second time they moved them up as far as they would go (they said). NOW I can see at night, the stupid line with the half circles is about gone, and no, no one is flashing their lights at me.

Did they charge you?

 

[Stinger Girl]

You decided to be patient, then. I'm glad that you found a satisfying solution.

Well....not exactly LOL. The first snow at night pushed me over the edge. Star Wars for 20 ft in front of the car and pitch black beyond that...yeah...no.

Did they charge you?

No, they were aware of the over all issue so did it both times under warranty.

 

[YOWStinger]

No, they were aware of the over all issue so did it both times under warranty.

That's nice, because when I went in they charged me for it and didn't actually do it.

 

[Paul J. McCain]

I was able to adjust my adaptive LED lamps with no issues, and the output is much better now.

In case anyone is wondering, this is probably the reason for the "notch" in the beam pattern. It is apparently quite common in many new full LED headlamps. It's still pretty distracting to me though, I may open the lights and grind down that feature on the cutoff shield to remove it.

 

[namja]

aim the headlamps properly, park on a perfectly level surface with the car at least 20 feet from a wall. Look at your headlights - you will see a small dot in the center, molded into the plastic. This is intentional, indicating the optical center for aiming. Use a tape measure and determine how far off the ground that dot is. If it's 30 inches, go to the wall and measure 30 inches up. The top of the cutoff should be 30 inches up as well.

.
Wait so... Tldr: place car at least 20 ft from wall, and dot in lighting should be 30 inches up?

 

[TomB]

Anyone consider that the proper adjustment tool would be something like a #24 torx on a long shaft?