Great video, always good to come back to for a reminder.......FYI for all.....instead of using ratchet, use a really long fat Phillip's head screw driver. There are groove to insert the screw driver into and teeth on the back of the 8mm bolt that the screw driver fits into.....makes this job WAY faster and less frustrating
Just wanted to take the time to thank you for this video! I adjusted my lights last night and used the painters tape method. I worked great for me! Thanks again and appreciate people like you that help make things earlier for us UA-camrs..
Great video , just installed aftermarket headlights and needed this to get em dialed in. I was getting flashed lights with my OEM lights set at factory level with 3” lift . Thanks !
Regarding the upward angle of the passenger light, if not mistaken that is the way it should be. Provides additional light higher up on the curb side where you're not going to blind oncoming traffic but are more likely to spot critters like deer about to jump on the road.
Wow That sure sheds some light on this dark mystery. I would adjust my headlights but the reindeer butts keep blocking 'em anyway! Merry Christmas ❄🎄⛄🎅
The E code beams w/cut offs wont get u flashed like the DOT (glaring ) beams ....and will get you a sharper light beam where u need it. Where did u get the headlight set? Great vid :) new sub
I was gonna mention this but Murph beat me to it, you can use a long Phillips head screwdriver. The adjustment bolts have teeth that mesh with the screwdriver & the housings have markings to show which direction to turn it for up & down. Hope you have a great Christmas!
Tacomaholic I'll also add that if you back out the bolt too much (adjusting down I believe) it can disengage the bolt from the adjuster inside disabling it. At that point you'd have to take apart the light to fix it.
@@Bloomers731 I think I might have done that, I have a six inch lift and adjusted my lights down as far as I could because I kept getting flashed, now the bolt keeps spinning with no up or down movement
A better explanation of the adjustment mechanism might be (at least in my case) "a nut with a Phillips head". There are two of these on each headlight, the lower one adjusts the vertical.
Helpful video. Where did you make this video? It’s hard to find a level place w/ 25’ and a wall without parked cars or on coming traffic. Lastly, clockwise to raise and counter to lower, right? Thanks.
Thanks for watching! Yeah it's tough to find a place with a flat wall that is isolated. This was actually the parking garage where I worked at the time. I just went on the weekend when it was empty.
Was wondering which way to turn the left and right adjuster screw to make the light move in towards the center of the truck? To the left as mine shinning to far right
I have a 2009 Tacoma. Just put in new lens and bulbs. When I dim the lights, I struggle to see the road and just prey that zi am over on my own side of the road . Do my headlights adjust up ?
i have some aftermarket oem type headlights for a 2010 and it is 10mm bolts for the adjustment, however when i try and adjust it does nothing with moving light??? my driver side is off just a little but still a little annoying and i dont wanna blind on coming traffic either. any suggestions or advice? TIA
Help please. I just installed some new headlights in my truck. There Nilight Headlights. They work fine and great, wiring is correct. My dim lights seem real bright and my brighter lights shine straight out forward and don’t seem to be as bright. They do not shine in the trees or on the side of the road straight out and a little high up if that makes sense. Came someone help me? I have a 2012 Toyota Tacoma.
Hey buddy! Yeah it's designed like that on purpose so the driver side beam is a little lower to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. As far as what actually causes the angle, I'm going to say some kind of thingamadoodle inside of the projector housing.😀
Those beam pattern is international/EU standard(Ecode) .... that reduces glare for on comming traffic; non DOT style beam. (If on RHD, it points to the left). Dont know if the US ammended their headlight laws.... but some cars in Canada (as we have a ministry of transportation law subsection that allows it being used here) comes stock with them (like some audis sold here and sequoias ....among others.... the same US bound vehicles have DOT beams)
What kind of bulbs did you use? I had a set of Spyder headlights installed and even though I put LED bulbs rated at around 9600lm 6K, it doesn't seem like the light goes as far as it should. I do have a slight lift in the front but I adjusted the lights, do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
Before I got my HID retrofits I had LEDs headlight bulbs as well and it was the same. I think LEDs are great for every bulb except headlights. HID is the way to go for headlights. 👍
I guess it also depends on the quality of the projector as well as the LED. My wife has a Lexus NX which comes with LEDs and illuminates well. The only thing on my headlights is that they are designed for either halogens or LEDs and cannot handle the heat of HIDs. Thanks for your input.
Absolutely. The factory LED setups that some cars come with are probably way more expensive that most people want to pay for a headlight upgrade for a vehicle that didn't come with them.
Nice video. Quick question. Is it necessary to adjust my headlights ? I leveled my 2nd gen prerunner with .85” lift in the front. I don’t notice a difference. But want to be safe. Thanks.
Are you 100% positive that you align to the bottom of the cutoff, I saw another tutorial where they aligned to the top of the cutoff? I don't know which is right.
I did mine on the lower side since my truck is lifted. Trying to be nice to oncoming traffic. :) You can try to the top of the cutoff and if you get flashed alot just lower it a bit.
Tacomaholic But if you align to the upper of the cutoff instead (upper cutoff on tape line) wouldn't that technically make the lights shine lower? Thats opposite of what you said? Unless I'm not thinking this through.
Sorry, yeah what I said was a little backwards. I was thinking you were talking about the tape line I made on the wall which I ended up going below. But you are right in saying that using the upper (passenger side) cutoff line would actually make the lights point much lower. In the end just remember that getting that perfect cutoff point for your vehicle might require some fine tuning.
A phillips head would work but if it's too long you would have to remove the washer fluid reservoir and battery to have access. Using the socket on the passenger side and just hand twisting it was surprisingly easy. Would have worked on the driver side too but it was just too tight with the battery there.
Nooo see it comes from the top of the headlight down, there is two slots built into the headlight housing for adjusting them left/right and up/down. . I will PM you a pic on tacomaworld. When I got my retros I was struggling until the guy who made them showed me this method and I felt like a dip
actually, you can just use a flathead screw driver instead. you can reach the teeth on the adjuster vertically, so you don't need to remove anything to get to it.
Is there an adjustment for left to right? Cause for on-coming traffic you have to aim the drivers side light slightly to the right or left depending on where you’re from.
One thing I don’t understand clearly is when people are saying clockwise, when you are turning clockwise to turn the headlights up/down or left/right. Is the clockwise from sitting inside the car or standing outside in front of the car?
Been awhile since I've adjusted mine, but I probably meant clockwise when looking at the adjustment knob from the back of the headlight. If you are adjusting at night you'll quickly see which way they need to be turned though.
Hi, can someone tell me what the height would be for OEM 2010 Tacoma TRD Sport headlights? Only thing that's been changed is from halogen to led, but they seem so low now.
I need help. So i switched my Headlight bulbs with LEDs and just recently have i noticed they were flickering on the right side. And i thought nothing of it. But today it started to flicker like crazy i opened my hood up and see what the issue was and the led turned off. But it was turn on dimmed or flicker whenever i moved the wiring harness. I switched the led with the led in my high beams which are the exact same. No luck didn’t even turn on. I grabbed my old OEM bulb plugged it in and it turned on but it’s dimmed. Anyone know what the issue could be
Would I have to adjust my headlights if I put on the eyelids? I want to get new LED bulbs and the eyelids but I'm worried the eyelids will greatly affect the range of the lights.
Unnecessary to remove anything or use a wrench. A long Phillips screwdriver fits into a channel right above the bolts and is made to perfectly accommodate.
A long phillips-head screw driver is all you need to turn the adjustment screws. Hope this helps: www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2013-headlamp-adjustment.535229/
This is the worst job to ever do , I just did it maybe I have fat hands , it was a reallllllly tight fit and it felt like I was turning the screw and nothing was happening it’s like 4 turns just to move it a few centimetres , But other then that I just bought new lights cause I thought they would be brighter then buying the cheap lights I could have bought 2 cheap bulbs for 35 dollars but instead I paid 50 for a set with no change I need better lights
Great video, always good to come back to for a reminder.......FYI for all.....instead of using ratchet, use a really long fat Phillip's head screw driver. There are groove to insert the screw driver into and teeth on the back of the 8mm bolt that the screw driver fits into.....makes this job WAY faster and less frustrating
There are notches around the nut that adjusts up and down, stick a philips screwdriver in the grove and turn the screwdriver.
Should of read this comment 10 minutes ago. 🤦♂️
Lol glad I could have possible helped you
Just wanted to take the time to thank you for this video! I adjusted my lights last night and used the painters tape method. I worked great for me! Thanks again and appreciate people like you that help make things earlier for us UA-camrs..
Thanks for watching Miguel!
Should the two L L shape part of the beam be touching, well stacked aligned right on top of each other? @@Tacomaholic
If you're having trouble seeing where the beam hits the wall, cover the other headlight with a rag... Thanks for a succinct video!
Great video , just installed aftermarket headlights and needed this to get em dialed in. I was getting flashed lights with my OEM lights set at factory level with 3” lift . Thanks !
Thanks! Perfect on my 2012 Taco with OEM headlights.
What about adjustment side to side? What should that be at?
Regarding the upward angle of the passenger light, if not mistaken that is the way it should be. Provides additional light higher up on the curb side where you're not going to blind oncoming traffic but are more likely to spot critters like deer about to jump on the road.
Correct. Lower on the driver side for oncoming traffic too.
Wow That sure sheds some light on this dark mystery. I would adjust my headlights but the reindeer butts keep blocking 'em anyway! Merry Christmas ❄🎄⛄🎅
The E code beams w/cut offs wont get u flashed like the DOT (glaring ) beams ....and will get you a sharper light beam where u need it. Where did u get the headlight set? Great vid :) new sub
Thanks buddy! The kit is from Morimoto.
Tacomaholic thanks :)
Love your videos. Have to say tho on this one it would have been helpfulI to be able to see the adjustment bolts. Thumbs up anyway!
Thank you! Yeah it was difficult to show on camera but they are noticeable when you are looking back there.
I was gonna mention this but Murph beat me to it, you can use a long Phillips head screwdriver. The adjustment bolts have teeth that mesh with the screwdriver & the housings have markings to show which direction to turn it for up & down.
Hope you have a great Christmas!
Yeah he sent me some pics on Tacomaworld showing me what he was talking about. Lol that is certainly the easiest way to adjust them. 😀
Tacomaholic I'll also add that if you back out the bolt too much (adjusting down I believe) it can disengage the bolt from the adjuster inside disabling it. At that point you'd have to take apart the light to fix it.
Sounds like a pain! Thankfully mine were fine after the adjustments.
@@Bloomers731 I think I might have done that, I have a six inch lift and adjusted my lights down as far as I could because I kept getting flashed, now the bolt keeps spinning with no up or down movement
Wow! Great video! Just had to order some brackets for my lightbar because he ones it came with didn’t fit my ‘09 tacoma
Thanks Jacob! What kind of light bar are you running?
I’m not sure the brand cause it was a gift, but it’s a 50” curved light bar
Dang one of the big ones! That should light things up nicely. 👍
Thank you for this video, believe me that this video helped me a ton. 😎😎
Glad to hear it.
A better explanation of the adjustment mechanism might be (at least in my case) "a nut with a Phillips head". There are two of these on each headlight, the lower one adjusts the vertical.
Helpful video. Where did you make this video? It’s hard to find a level place w/ 25’ and a wall without parked cars or on coming traffic. Lastly, clockwise to raise and counter to lower, right? Thanks.
Thanks for watching! Yeah it's tough to find a place with a flat wall that is isolated. This was actually the parking garage where I worked at the time. I just went on the weekend when it was empty.
Was wondering which way to turn the left and right adjuster screw to make the light move in towards the center of the truck? To the left as mine shinning to far right
Just ordered one of your stickers.
On the way! Thanks again Keegan!
It is the whole point to point where are those screws to adjust. Not showing then is back to square 1. Thx.
Great video. Do you know if a 3rd Gen Tacoma headlight can be adjusted this way? I'm referring to a factory assembly.
Thanks! Absolutely, the adjusters might be in slightly different locations but all modern headlights can be adjusted like this.
Clockwise too adjust up or down ?
Thank You!
I have a 2009 Tacoma. Just put in new lens and bulbs. When I dim the lights, I struggle to see the road and just prey that zi am over on my own side of the road . Do my headlights adjust up ?
I would liked to have seen a before and after night test but otherwise great work
i have some aftermarket oem type headlights for a 2010 and it is 10mm bolts for the adjustment, however when i try and adjust it does nothing with moving light??? my driver side is off just a little but still a little annoying and i dont wanna blind on coming traffic either. any suggestions or advice? TIA
Help please. I just installed some new headlights in my truck. There Nilight Headlights. They work fine and great, wiring is correct. My dim lights seem real bright and my brighter lights shine straight out forward and don’t seem to be as bright. They do not shine in the trees or on the side of the road straight out and a little high up if that makes sense. Came someone help me? I have a 2012 Toyota Tacoma.
Any idea what causes that 45 degree line at the top of the cutoff? My truck does the same thing.
Hey buddy! Yeah it's designed like that on purpose so the driver side beam is a little lower to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. As far as what actually causes the angle, I'm going to say some kind of thingamadoodle inside of the projector housing.😀
It’s a shield inside the projector housing. That’s also what causes that blue coloration on the cut off line. Hope that helps.
Thanks David. Figured it was something like that.
Thanks for the info!
Those beam pattern is international/EU standard(Ecode) .... that reduces glare for on comming traffic; non DOT style beam. (If on RHD, it points to the left).
Dont know if the US ammended their headlight laws.... but some cars in Canada (as we have a ministry of transportation law subsection that allows it being used here) comes stock with them (like some audis sold here and sequoias ....among others.... the same US bound vehicles have DOT beams)
Merry Christmas amigo!
Merry Christmas buddy! I hope you get a ton of great Tacoma mods for the holiday. 👍
What kind of bulbs did you use? I had a set of Spyder headlights installed and even though I put LED bulbs rated at around 9600lm 6K, it doesn't seem like the light goes as far as it should. I do have a slight lift in the front but I adjusted the lights, do you have any suggestions? Thanks.
Before I got my HID retrofits I had LEDs headlight bulbs as well and it was the same. I think LEDs are great for every bulb except headlights. HID is the way to go for headlights. 👍
I guess it also depends on the quality of the projector as well as the LED. My wife has a Lexus NX which comes with LEDs and illuminates well. The only thing on my headlights is that they are designed for either halogens or LEDs and cannot handle the heat of HIDs. Thanks for your input.
Absolutely. The factory LED setups that some cars come with are probably way more expensive that most people want to pay for a headlight upgrade for a vehicle that didn't come with them.
Nice video. Quick question. Is it necessary to adjust my headlights ? I leveled my 2nd gen prerunner with .85” lift in the front. I don’t notice a difference. But want to be safe. Thanks.
At just .85" lift it's probably not going to make so much of a difference.
@@Tacomaholic Thanks so much for the response. Keep up the great videos.
Did those headlights have a wire harness coming out of the low/high beam
That's probably the HID ballast
Are you 100% positive that you align to the bottom of the cutoff, I saw another tutorial where they aligned to the top of the cutoff? I don't know which is right.
I did mine on the lower side since my truck is lifted. Trying to be nice to oncoming traffic. :) You can try to the top of the cutoff and if you get flashed alot just lower it a bit.
Tacomaholic But if you align to the upper of the cutoff instead (upper cutoff on tape line) wouldn't that technically make the lights shine lower? Thats opposite of what you said? Unless I'm not thinking this through.
Sorry, yeah what I said was a little backwards. I was thinking you were talking about the tape line I made on the wall which I ended up going below. But you are right in saying that using the upper (passenger side) cutoff line would actually make the lights point much lower.
In the end just remember that getting that perfect cutoff point for your vehicle might require some fine tuning.
Tacomaholic Thanks, yeah think I'm going to just have to experiment, don't want to be blinding anyone.
Might be a good idea to get a buddy to drive toward you and let you drive behind him so he can let you know how they look.
If you use a long phillips head screw driver its way easier than a socket
A phillips head would work but if it's too long you would have to remove the washer fluid reservoir and battery to have access. Using the socket on the passenger side and just hand twisting it was surprisingly easy. Would have worked on the driver side too but it was just too tight with the battery there.
Nooo see it comes from the top of the headlight down, there is two slots built into the headlight housing for adjusting them left/right and up/down. . I will PM you a pic on tacomaworld. When I got my retros I was struggling until the guy who made them showed me this method and I felt like a dip
Great pics on TW. Your method is wayyyyy easier. 👍
TonyBaloni can you send me those pics
actually, you can just use a flathead screw driver instead. you can reach the teeth on the adjuster vertically, so you don't need to remove anything to get to it.
Is there an adjustment for left to right?
Cause for on-coming traffic you have to aim the drivers side light slightly to the right or left depending on where you’re from.
Yes there's a horizontal adjustment knob on the backside of the headlight too.
One thing I don’t understand clearly is when people are saying clockwise, when you are turning clockwise to turn the headlights up/down or left/right. Is the clockwise from sitting inside the car or standing outside in front of the car?
Been awhile since I've adjusted mine, but I probably meant clockwise when looking at the adjustment knob from the back of the headlight. If you are adjusting at night you'll quickly see which way they need to be turned though.
@@Tacomaholic Thanks Brother!
Hi, can someone tell me what the height would be for OEM 2010 Tacoma TRD Sport headlights? Only thing that's been changed is from halogen to led, but they seem so low now.
Second song sounds like a CKY instrumental.
Soooo, how were your lights ? Have to adjust them ?
Lights are great but I did have to adjust them. I actually made a video about it ...
Any way to adjust left to right, or right to left?
Probably depends on the setup. Not available on my HIDs.
where did you get the headlights?
Hey Justin! A guy on Tacomaworld made them for me. I'll be doing a full headlight video soon.
Tacomaholic did you make the video?
Great
Well done. Thanks!
I have a 3” lift also, how many inches from the cut off to the ground
I mention this in the vid but just measure to the midmark on your headlight. Mine was 42" so I adjusted my cutoff 3" below that.
Approximately how many turns did it take for you to come up that much?
I can't remember exactly but it was quite a few considering how low they were.
1
2 whoooooo
3.
Took 3 turns to get to the center of that tootsie pop!
hey brian, where did you get your headlights
They were custom-made by a guy on Tacomaworld. Can't say I'd recommend him though.
which headlights are these??? link me!!!
A guy on Tacomaworld made them for me but I won't recommend him.
Where you get your headlights?
A guy on Tacomaworld made them. I've had issues with them so can't say I recommend them.
I need help. So i switched my Headlight bulbs with LEDs and just recently have i noticed they were flickering on the right side. And i thought nothing of it. But today it started to flicker like crazy i opened my hood up and see what the issue was and the led turned off. But it was turn on dimmed or flicker whenever i moved the wiring harness. I switched the led with the led in my high beams which are the exact same. No luck didn’t even turn on. I grabbed my old OEM bulb plugged it in and it turned on but it’s dimmed. Anyone know what the issue could be
Are the LEDs the approved spec for your headlights? (bulb style, etc)
What is the size of your Halo lights?
Sort of hard to measure but looks like a 4" diameter.
Would I have to adjust my headlights if I put on the eyelids? I want to get new LED bulbs and the eyelids but I'm worried the eyelids will greatly affect the range of the lights.
I guess you would if the eyelids hung down far enough on your headlights, but you should be fine with all of the ones I've seen.
How is it your lights like led in the projectile Housing
Lights doing great but I've got an HID setup in the projector housing.
That is one nice 🌮 sub'd
Thanks David! She's changing a bit since that video was made. 😀
Unnecessary to remove anything or use a wrench. A long Phillips screwdriver fits into a channel right above the bolts and is made to perfectly accommodate.
What is 2nd 1st 3rd gen?
1st Gen is 1995-2004, 2nd Gen is 2005-2015, and 3rd Gen is 2016-2021 currently.
@@Tacomaholic im 2nd gen!!! Ty lol
what projector kit did you go with?
I bought mine pre-made. Can't remember but I think most of the parts used were Morimoto.
How far apart are the beams supposed to be from one another at 25 ft away
On the horizontal
Measure the center dots in the lens, then you want the beams to be slightly too passenger side so as also not to blind oncoming traffic.
A long phillips-head screw driver is all you need to turn the adjustment screws. Hope this helps:
www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2013-headlamp-adjustment.535229/
Yeah I saw that a little later.
This is the worst job to ever do , I just did it maybe I have fat hands , it was a reallllllly tight fit and it felt like I was turning the screw and nothing was happening it’s like 4 turns just to move it a few centimetres ,
But other then that I just bought new lights cause I thought they would be brighter then buying the cheap lights I could have bought 2 cheap bulbs for 35 dollars but instead I paid 50 for a set with no change
I need better lights
Yeah it can be a pain to reach the headlight adjustments sometimes.
U uhfy