Confused aiming headlights

[grahamkissack]

I just upgraded my old sugar scoop lights to the Hella H4s so I could retain the scoop look but improve the light. I followed the Daniel Stern aiming technique on these H4s sold by Pelican according to below which throws most of the low beam straight down the centerline of the bulb. In other words, it puts most of your light down your lane.



Everything worked fine. However, when I put on the high beams, I'm shocked by how far up and left (into on coming traffic) my high beam light moves. I would have thought it would just be higher up the aiming wall. Thoughts?

[DRACO A5OG]

Is your hi's adjustable?

My H1s have seperate adjustements

[wwest]

Your high beams should be adjusted such that the pattern "hits" a straight ahead roadbed area, maybe even a little to the left, roadbed centerline. Then when you switch to the low beams the beam pattern should be low(er) and to the right, OUT, away from, the oncoming driver's direct line of vision.

[wwest]

Originally Posted by grahamkissack

I just upgraded my old sugar scoop lights to the Hella H4s so I could retain the scoop look but improve the light. I followed the Daniel Stern aiming technique on these H4s sold by Pelican according to below which throws most of the low beam straight down the centerline of the bulb. In other words, it puts most of your light down your lane.



Everything worked fine. However, when I put on the high beams, I'm shocked by how far up and left (into on coming traffic) my high beam light moves. I would have thought it would just be higher up the aiming wall. Thoughts?

"...(into oncoming traffic).."

The point, EXACTLY..! If there is oncoming traffic your high beams should not be in use.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by DRACO A5OG

Is your hi's adjustable?

My H1s have seperate adjustements

They're H4's. No separate adjustment for High beams. One bulb, not 2...

[Oliver Klosov]

I agree with wwest. Shouldn't the point of high beams be to see well down the entire road. Here in the Rockies, with wildlife at night, I want to both sides of the road, as well as the driving lanes.

[grahamkissack]

Originally Posted by Oliver Klosov

I agree with wwest. Shouldn't the point of high beams be to see well down the entire road. Here in the Rockies, with wildlife at night, I want to both sides of the road, as well as the driving lanes.

Yes, that's exactly my point here. I'm surprised how far to the left the high beams point. I'm actually going to try re-aiming the low beams slightly more to the right so the high beams give me adequate coverage on both sides of the road. I'll take a pic of the final low & low/high patterns on the wall.

[nesslar]

Originally Posted by tcar

They're H4's. No separate adjustment for High beams.

I don't mean to doubt you, but are the Hella type different than the Bosch lights that are not for replacement into the "scoops"? I know that my H4s (Bosch, with the little rings similar to H5s, not with "sugar scoops") go from low to high and just light up "everything", and for quite some distance, with no noticeable loss of coverage anywhere. Just wondering....

[johnsjmc]

I believe you should set the height of the cutoff using your low beams and the centering using your highbeam. I expect that doing this will result in the "rising" light area from your lowbeams projecting down the road at the side without blinding oncoming drivers. High beam should then light everything evenly ahead of you when in use.

[grahamkissack]

Originally Posted by johnsjmc

I believe you should set the height of the cutoff using your low beams and the centering using your highbeam. I expect that doing this will result in the "rising" light area from your lowbeams projecting down the road at the side without blinding oncoming drivers. High beam should then light everything evenly ahead of you when in use.

Agreed and this is what I'm going to try. However, this is counter to Daniel Stern's method of just setting the low beams and letting the high beams land where they do.

[Gordo2]

I recently upgraded to the Hella H4 E-code headlamps and followed the adjustment method on Daniel Stern's page.

I may be numbed by the poor performance of the original sealed beams, but mine worked great once I got them adjusted.

I only adjusted using the lows.

Good luck,

Gordo

[johnsjmc]

I have also installed similar H4 lights in several cars over the years, not just 911,s . I also only adjusted using the lows but I set the point where the "rise" starts off to the right. I also set the drivers side slightly more right than the other. The angle between the high and low beam is built in to the lamp so unlike the H1s you are stuck with the split. What we are talking about here is positioning the light to achieve the best combination of lighting for the driver without dazzling oncoming drivers. Setting and resetting is fairly easy .If you can see a long way down the road and oncoming drivers aren,t flashing at you then you are probably OK.