Headlight Alignment

[NoDak]

just did a low beam/fog light silverstar upgrade and a 100w high beam upgrade on my 04 sport 4runner. normally after replacement of oem bulbs, do the lights have to re-aligned? i was very gentle removing and installing the new bulbs and wiped the bulbs clean in case there was residue on the bulb glass. from what i can see of the bulb housing, removing/installing new bulbs shouldnt have moved the alignment unless the alignment is based on the bulb and not the housing.

if anyone can clarify this i would be greatful.

ps: new to the forums today also. when i get a chance i will post pics of my 4R when it get above 0 sometime in february. should have the last 2 mods done on friday 23-Jan-04.

 

[jharris2]

Welcome to the forum.

When I change bulbs, I try to see how they are aimed before and after to see if they need adjusting. A purist would say that you need to adjust, but I tend to take the pragmatic approach.

However, since you went with a higher wattage bulb, it is possible that you will need to lower them a bit because they may be too bright for oncoming traffic. The other drivers will certainly let you know!

 

[NoDak]

i did check the beam pattern before installing the new silverstars on the low beams and fog lights. it seems the normal driving mode appears to be low. the 100w high beams are mostly for when i am driving at night to be able to see deer on the road and such (plus it helps when people refuse to turn off their high beams) since i live in north dakota (state pop is only around 663k total). but i talked to my dealership i bought the 4runner from and my friend the service manager said toyota provides 1 free headlight aim for free. so i am taking advantage of that to have them check the low/high beam alignment. otherwise the silverstar low beam / fog light combo seems to be a tad bit better than the factory bulbs. the factory high beams seem off alignment even before i changed the bulbs to 100w. the 100w just makes it look worse now. he did inform me that just replacing the bulbs will not affect the alignment on the '04 runners since the alignment is based on the housing and not the bulb.

 

[Ian]

I realign the lights all of my new cars. From my experience, the factory or the shipping/prep process seems to knock the lights a little out of alignment. My daily-driver Subaru had foglights shooting into the street 10 feet in front of the car! I find a loading dock at night (most are flat) and move back 30ft or so and align the lights so that they won't blind oncoming traffic. For where I live (SE PA), aligning the foglights to see deer at the side of the road is a huge benefit that the stock alignment didn't offer. That said, my wife has been monopolizing our 3 week old 4Runner, so I haven't gotten to the lights.

Also, I don't know if anyone has experienced this problem with Toyo light harnesses, but I'll give the warning just in case. On my Subaru I installed 100W highbeams and my wife borrowed the car to go to a horse show in the middle of nowhere. Since it was so remote, she drove for a while with the high beams on and when she arrived at the show her parents told her one of the headlights was out. It turns out that the high wattage bulbs melted the harnesses, the one closest to the battery (short run of cable) melted the worst, to the point where the plug wouldn't stay in contact all the time. I ordered heavy-duty plugs from the Internet (2k racing place in the following search, good service):
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=heavy+duty+harness+9007

They've worked great in the Subaru and I might do the same in the 4Runner if necessary.

On our '95 Jeep Grand Cherokee (used for off-roading, venturing into Philly) I installed an entirely new headlight circuit because the factory one had *terrible* voltage drop. The headlights are now as bight as the PIAA lights under the bumper, which also have their own circuit. I ordered the parts from the following website:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/
Great service and the guy who runs it really knows lighting (automotive consultant, IRC). He provided the harnesses and relays and I got the wire from Home Depot.

I'm happy to give more details if anyone is interested...

Ian 04 4Runner SE V8 (purchased 30Dec2003, cheap!)

 

[NoDak]

thanks for the info on the melting harness. on my 98 4runner, i had 55/100w bulbs (performanceproducts.com) in there and never had to replace them once. the harness never melted or otherwise even on 3 trips over 2k miles. just have to keep and eye out on the new 04 in case toyota decided to replace the harness with a lower quality gauge of wire.

 

[bryancos]

Upgraded Headlamp Relay Kit

For those interested, Daniel Stern Lighting offers an upgraded headlamp relay kit to improve voltage and light output from stock headlamps. The 03/04 4 Runner would use kit RIK-HB34.

For details see:
http://dsl.torque.net/tech/relays/relays.html


For info on the Headlamp Relay Installation Kits, see:
http://www.danielsternlighting.com/products/products.html


RIK-1 kit for one sealed beam or H4 headlamp (Motorcycle): $35

RIK-2 kit for two sealed beam or H4 headlamps: $45

RIK-4 kit for four sealed beam or H4/H1 headlamps: $55

RIK-RAM kit to properly install Dodge Ram Sport
9004/9007 headlamps in place of standard
1994-2001 Dodge Ram headlamps: $79

RIK-HB1 kit for two 9004 headlamps: $55

RIK-HB34 kit for two 9005 and two 9006 headlamps: $72

RIK-HB5 kit for two 9007 headlamps: $55

RIK-C5 kit to properly install H4 (export) headlamps on 1997-2003 C5 Corvette: $79

RIK-H4R kit to properly install H4 or 9003 headlamps in place of 9004 or 9007 headlamps: $55 (Audi, Mercedes, Subaru, Saab, Volvo, etc.)