How to Align | Aim Headlights Correctly on a Car, Truck, Motorcycle, by Alla Lighting Automotive LED Bulbs on YouTube. 4 min 40 s.
- Video length
- 4 min 40 s
- Time to do it
- 20 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Park on level ground about 25 feet from a flat wall, facing it. Set your tire pressure to the door-jamb spec and take heavy loads out of the trunk.
Check that both bulbs light up and clean the lenses. A dim or flickering bulb changes the beam, so fix it before you aim anything.
Measure the height of each headlight center from the ground. Mark that height on the wall with a strip of tape.
Mark the left and right center of each headlight on the wall with vertical tape lines, using the car's centerline as your guide.
Tape a second horizontal line about 2 inches below the first one. That lower line is your target for the low beam cut-off.
Switch on the low beams and look at the sharp top edge of the light pattern. It should sit just under the lower tape line and centered on the vertical marks.
Find the aiming screws on each housing, usually one for up and down and one for left and right. Your owner's manual shows where they are.
Cover one light, then turn the vertical screw until the cut-off meets the lower tape line. Repeat on the other side.
Turn the horizontal screw until the brightest part of the beam lines up with the vertical tape mark. Recheck both lights together.
On trucks and large vehicles, use a longer distance or a taller wall and recheck the aim after loading the bed or hitching a trailer.
Tips and common mistakes
Never touch a halogen bulb glass with bare fingers, because skin oil makes it overheat and fail.
Do not raise the beam to see further. Aiming too high blinds oncoming drivers and can fail a safety inspection.
Let hot bulbs cool before you reach into the housing, and switch the lights off before adjusting.
Recheck the aim after carrying heavy loads, towing, or fitting a lift kit or new bulbs.
Questions
How far should the car be from the wall?
About 25 feet is the usual distance for a car. Trucks and taller vehicles need more room or a taller wall so the beam has space to spread.
What if my car has no adjuster screws?
Some cars use a hidden screw behind a trim panel or only allow electronic aiming through a dealer tool. Check your owner's manual before forcing anything.
Can I aim headlights by eye on the road?
It is unreliable. The wall method gives you a fixed reference line, and a quick night test drive afterwards confirms the result.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
