98 v70 aim headlights L/R - help

[98v70dad]

Short of finding a flat wall and measuring is there a quick and dirty way to approximately aim new headlights left/right?

The new TYC lights I just bought don't have the big gear with the degree markings on them. The post for the gear is there but they don't include the gear anymore. The gear makes rough alignment easier but doesn't do much else. It probably saves a few cents per unit.

I stupidly messed around with the L/R adjustment screw trying to determine if the missing gear was intentional or a defect.

[sleddriver]

Take it to a station with a headlight aiming device?

I went to a nearby parking garage to aim mine. Here's a link to the procedure I used: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

[BEJinFbk]

Dark, straight road in the middle of nowhere...
Just consider oncoming traffic and watch your low beam elevation.

[98v70dad]

Take it to a station with a headlight aiming device?

I went to a nearby parking garage to aim mine. Here's a link to the procedure I used: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

I paid a place to aim my lights the last time I replaced them. They took my money and they were aimed exactly like they were when I went in. Finding a place that knows how to do it manually or has the proper equipment to do it with sensors is pretty rare I think.

I've done the procedure you linked on a 75 subaru (more or less)... a lot of work, especially since at the prescribed distances it becomes very difficult to discern where the center of the beam is.

Since the headlights have precise aiming devices I would think you could do something pretty simple based on the number of turns of the adjustment screw and be very close. I just don't know what that would be.

[BEJinFbk]

I used to spend a lot of time aiming theater lights.
Headlights really arent that different. Once you know
how they throw, it's pretty basic. Don't overcomplicate
it, get as much ditch as you can ( 'cause that's where
the moose jump into the road from! ), don't leave a
gap in the middle and be sure not to blind anybody.

An easy way to check your work is find a flat surface
with a big parking lot. Pull up close with your low beams
and back slowly away. You should have no problem
confirming good symmetry and cutoff angle that way.

When I got my first car, we lived out in the sticks and
street lights were non-existent. If you're paying attention
in those conditions, you won't get far without seeing where
you can improve your visibility. Getting your headlights
properly aimed was almost a right of passage in these parts.
That and a good set of driving lights!

[sleddriver]

Take it to a station with a headlight aiming device?

I went to a nearby parking garage to aim mine. Here's a link to the procedure I used: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

I paid a place to aim my lights the last time I replaced them. They took my money and they were aimed exactly like they were when I went in. Finding a place that knows how to do it manually or has the proper equipment to do it with sensors is pretty rare I think.

Good help is indeed hard to find these days. Competent help even harder. Here in Tx, they no longer check HDLT aiming at inspections. Perhaps many new designs are even unable to correctly aim?

I've done the procedure you linked on a 75 subaru (more or less)... a lot of work, especially since at the prescribed distances it becomes very difficult to discern where the center of the beam is.

I found Stern's guide definitive and straight-forward; pleased to have it as such. My results were indeed "spot on". I didn't find it too much work. I also aimed the fog lights.

The center of the low-beam is marked on the lens per the instructions. This point is transferred to the vertical wall with a plumb line drawn through it. I used a builders level. I used yellow chalk which was easily visible at the given distance.

Since the headlights have precise aiming devices I would think you could do something pretty simple based on the number of turns of the adjustment screw and be very close. I just don't know what that would be.

I noted one of the HDLT levels was off after aiming. Odd that. However, the sharp cut-off line was where it needed to be.

[98v70dad]

I used to spend a lot of time aiming theater lights.
Headlights really arent that different. Once you know
how they throw, it's pretty basic. Don't overcomplicate
it, get as much ditch as you can ( 'cause that's where
the moose jump into the road from! ), don't leave a
gap in the middle and be sure not to blind anybody.

An easy way to check your work is find a flat surface
with a big parking lot. Pull up close with your low beams
and back slowly away. You should have no problem
confirming good symmetry and cutoff angle that way.

When I got my first car, we lived out in the sticks and
street lights were non-existent. If you're paying attention
in those conditions, you won't get far without seeing where
you can improve your visibility. Getting your headlights
properly aimed was almost a right of passage in these parts.
That and a good set of driving lights!

I grew up in the sticks (NW rural Pennsylvania) and now live in metro atlanta. A quiet country road without much traffic is at least 45 miles away as far as I know and nothing here is even close to flat. As you mentioned the best bet is a parking lot. Those are reasonably flat but even they are usually pretty sloped here since the terrain is very hilly. The glaciers didn't make it this far. Parking garages here are typically a series of sloped ramps, not flat, separate stories.

In the past I've measured out the distances and put tape and marks on a wall and carried out the detailed procedure. I've also taken a car way out in the sticks (0.5 miles from my house when I lived in PA) and just eyeballed the result. Of the two procedures the eyeball method was far easier and was close enough for me for the short time spent on it.

I was hoping someone had quick and dirty way to get close. Something like half a tick mark below level (aimed down) on the bubble level and 2.5 turns (CW or CCW) off of straight ahead on the horizontal alignment - or whatever. My garage floor is level so getting the vertical alignment about right in about 10 minutes was pretty easy - horizontal alignment is going to be harder.

[BEJinFbk]

Good excuse for a nice fall drive!