Aiming headlight problems + Beam pattern of faux-JDM black housings.

[atomic punk]

I am very pleased with looks and the quality of construction of my newer, less expensive JDM-like black housings.

I am, however, very surprised and disappointed that the beam pattern of these housings seems to be very different from that of the OEM housings. Seeing the beam spread pattern of these aftermarket ones - compared to the OEM ones - at night with identical bulbs yields a HUGE difference. The spread is nowhere near as wide and doesn't project as far onto the road ahead either. There are a few "hot spots" where the light seems to be concentrated, but this just reminds me of cheap projector headlight patterns of a few years back, like my wife had on her Mercury Cougar.

I was out tonight in front of a wall trying to aim these better and I was turning, turning, turning, and turning the screws, but due to carpal tunnel worries, I stopped. I also didn't see the beam moving more than a few inches here or there. So no real improvement.

My questions are these:
how much screw turning should I be doing to move the light beams?
Has anyone else noticed this condition?
Would the reflective area of the OEM housing (which is now black) make a difference and actually be a part of the light output?

I was told that these housings/reflectors are exact replicas of the OEMs and that there shouldn't be a difference - that it's in the aiming, which can be tricky. Tricky - as in spinning the L/R aiming screw maybe 10, 20+ turns?

This is new to me. Help?! Thanks....

 

[4RUNN!N]

I'll write the same thing I posted in the 3rd gen thread. Here is an explanation and hopefully it helps.

OEM manufacturers spend millions of dollars designing the correct parameters for the reflection of the H4 bulb which makes the proper H4 beam pattern. Aftermarket manufacturers use a mold of the OEM design and usually they can't replicate the exact parameters of the OEM design, so usually the beam pattern is very bad. Also the aftermarket sometimes don't fit correctly, seals aren't watertight, and its quite hard to aim, as you turn the aiming screws and nothing happens. Here is a pic of OEM vs. Aftermarket housing for a Nissan Cefiro (Nissan Maxima in the states) which also used a H4 bulb like the 3rd gen 4R. The first 2 pics were the OEM Cefiro headlamps I had on my Maxima. The 3rd pic was another owners with the aftermarket housing.

OEM H4 beam pattern (Notice the cut-off points and the flare)

Aftermarket H4 beam pattern (Notice the stray light and no cut-off point)

 

[momo.75]

I have been meaning to post and ask about the aftermarket JDM head lights, as far as their lighting pattern. I wasn't concerned when I got my tails, but didn't want to sacrifice the quality of the heads for looks. I guess I might have to go with the real JDM heads so they will giv ethe same lighting as the stock.

 

[bonedoctor]

I recently purchased the DEPO replica JDM headlights from Burtman. I had to fiddle with the adjusters quite a bit, lots and lots of turns. They're kinda hard to get to, but I finally got them adjusted to my liking. They do have a sharp cut-off and I've only noticed a little shadow off to my left front that's almost blocked by the A-pillar of the windshield. Otherwise, the pattern seems fairly good. It did take a lot of adjustment however since I think they were aimed for the Japanese market (drive on opposite side of road). Keep fiddling with those little screws--they have screw heads, but you can't get a screwdriver on the outside beams, or either of the beams on the driver's side because of the battery. A little trick I used was to take the one of the rear floormats out and use it to cover one headlight so I was seeing only one beam on the vertical surface ahead. When I got that headlight to where I wanted, I made a note of its location on the wall (of snow) and then covered it with the mat and adjusted the other light to match. It really helps if you can see just one headlight projecting at a time. My fingers did get kinda sore because those knobs are hard to turn. It does take many many turns to make the beam move, so keep at it. I guess that allows finer tuning of the pattern.

 

[atomic punk]

Thanks bonedoctor.... I will keep trying. It actually might be easier for me to remove the housing, turn that hard to get to L/R screw about a thousand times, then reinstall. My passenger side headlamp is NOwhere near where I want it to me. I think you are correct, it is aimed too far towards the left (wrong) side, for US driving anyway.

BTW, I have the same set of lights as you do.

 

[05 Sport Runner]

i put in the original lightbulbs with the JDM headlamps, and the lighting go so much better.
But i still have an alignment problem.
My right side acts like a flashlight, basically lights straight ahead. I need to get this to spread out better. The left side spreads better but doesn't go as far as the right.

I was thinking of reinstalling my original lamps and basically taking my measurements on the wall, and then try to replicate that with the JDMs.
also figured that I should disconnect one side at a time, and then sit on both the driver and passenger seat to get the proper perspective. I guess here in the US, the lights should aim more to the right.

i'll let you know how this goes.

 

[atomic punk]

...just thought I'd add for everyone else's information that 05 Sport Runner also has the same non-JDM blackout headlight housings like I do, not the original, more expensive JDM ones.
:

 

[00328]

...just thought I'd add for everyone else's information that 05 Sport Runner also has the same non-JDM blackout headlight housings like I do, not the original, more expensive JDM ones.
:

I don't think it would matter much, the more expensive JDM ones are still made for the Japanese market so you would probably have the same alignment issues. Maybe they would be easier to adjust? I don't know.
I painted my OEMs just so I wouldn't have this issue.

 

[atomic punk]

That's my next step, bro.... painting the OEM ones and comparing them to the blackouts.

Time consuming, sure, but it might be well worth my effort.

...but I'm also contemplating painting them SILVER to match my exterior paint.

 

[00328]

Yeah, it is time consuming, but not too bad.

Hope you guys get the JDM style ones figured out.

 

[05 Sport Runner]

The other night, I was able to get the aim as close to the OEMs.

I went ahead and took off the bumper.
Found it easier to do the following.

After takin the bumper off, i pulled the car in front of our wall.
Using the stock bulbs, i plugged in the OEM lamps and used a bolt to fit it properly with the car. Working the right lamp first, i could see where it's aiming, and used black tape to measure the main hot spot on the wall. then, i put in that bulb with the Black lamp and plugged that one in..to compare the aim. (The cap for the horizontal adjusting screw is pretty easy to take off). then with the light still plugged in, i rested the lamp on the car and used a screwdriver for the adjusting screw. Staring at the wall, I could tell i'm making progess and continued as needed. I double checked by again puttin the OEM back on and I was pretty satisfied. My left side was actually already good, so I didn't really need to do anything with that.

After puttin the bumper back on and cleaning everything up, I took a lil spin around the block was pretty happy with the improved all-around lighting.

I mention in another post that I tried using PIAA low beam lights but they wouldn't fit. So I ended up getting Silverstars.

I post some pics when I get the chance.

 

[sdsh]

Hi 05 Sport Runner, how do you take off the cap on horizontal adjustment bolt? The black replic headlight from burtman doesn't include the cap. Are you plug the cap from OEM into the replic headlight or do we need the cap?

 

[05 Sport Runner]

i've only been able to take off the adjustment cap on the black faux lights, not the OEM.

If you're asking me about the OEMs, I'm not sure.

 

[atomic punk]

I've taken the caps off of the OEM and the faux aftermarket ones, and they both come off the same way: first you turn, then you snap and break them into 2 pieces. Comes right off.

Stupid design.

 

[sdsh]

Which way you turn the adjustment bolt to make the light point to the right? clockwise or counter-clockwise? I don't find any info on adjusting horizontal level.

 

[atomic punk]

I believe that clockwise makes the passenger light go to the right. But I'm only about 50% sure.


Plug in the light (unsecured to the 4R, just dangle/hold it), turn on the LBs, and use a cordless screwdriver to turn the knobs. That's what I did to find out which way to turn it - it became very obvious which direction the light was moving when the knob was turned by motor power and not finger power.