How to Align Headlights

Most adjustment screws can be reached from the top of the headlight under the hood.

Working on cars can be an enjoyable pastime that not only relaxes you but accomplishes a task as well. Whether your car was hit in the front, you installed a new body kit, or your headlights have just never lined up correctly, aligning your car's headlights can be completed in a few minutes of work.

Things You'll Need

• Screwdriver Helper

Instructions

1. Park the car facing a dark wall. This process works best when it is dusk or dawn as the lights will show up better on the wall and provide a more accurate view of how the lights currently line up. Turn the low beam headlights on.

2. Instruct your helper to sit in the car and see where the lights hit the wall currently. Whichever light is highest on the wall will be the light you line the other up with at first.

3. Pop the hood and examine the top of the driver's side headlight. There should be a screw in the middle of the top of the headlight to adjust the windage of the headlight beam. Using the screwdriver, turn the screw clockwise to make the beam shine lower and turn it counterclockwise to make the beam point higher on the wall.

4. Use the adjustment screws to line up the two headlights on low beams, and then turn on the car's high beams and check for alignment again. Use feedback from your helper to discern where and how much to move the beams.

Tips & Warnings

• The difference between the high and low beams will be minimal at the distance in which you are working with the wall, but be sure not to point the beams so high as to blind oncoming drivers.

• If you have been the victim of a head-on collision and the adjustment screws are not working, you may need to consult a dealer or body shop as the screws could be broken inside the headlight itself.