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Leveling HIDs

Old Jun 6, 2007 | 10:00 PM
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Leveling HIDs

I installed the Wisesports and a pair of 6500k HID's. WOW, big difference I love how it looks!!! I am having troubling leveling them though. I am curious what are the correct ways to go about leveling HIDs on a 3rd gen rx7?

Things to put in consideration...how high should the HID's hit? Should I use the position of the lens' to change the beams projection? Even when the position of the LENS seem to be the same one still aims differenlty then the other. Should I level them against a garage or just on the street. Anybody who knows how to do this please help pictures would be great
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Old Jun 7, 2007 | 04:09 PM
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You need to find level ground first. Second, park about 15-20ft from a wall and use that to level the lights... Did your kit come with high and low beams??? PICTURES!!!
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Old Jun 7, 2007 | 06:47 PM
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Do a lazy eye conversion on your headlights. That'll solve it.
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Old Jun 7, 2007 | 08:42 PM
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Pics please, get some shots of the road with lights on, against a wall, and straight on if you don't mind.
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Old Jun 7, 2007 | 10:07 PM
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I can do this but Im curious how you adjust it.. I believe its by the way you screw the points of the lens' and change the direction of the beam.... Thanks for the feedback guys but Im not sure how pictures will help..
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Old Jun 7, 2007 | 11:08 PM
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Pictures won't help, we just want to see how they look. I've never actually seen pictures of the housings themselves, so that might shed some light (har har) on the subject.
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 10:49 AM
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Haha definitly but I would like to get some pics after they are leveled. Does nobody have any help or insight into leveling HIDs?
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 10:54 AM
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would love to check it out in person...i'm in fairfax too.
i have a set i bought about a year ago and haven't been able to install cause the car's been at a shop...
can't wait for the pics.
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 11:21 AM
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First of all, what housing are you using to? Are these projected or reflective HID lights? That plays a roll.

Most HID have a "plate" of some sort (some use paint) that blocks the light from going upwards, that's what you see as a solid bar of light... that's what you want to align.

There is a standard procedure, using a flat and level driveway facing a gray or dull white wall that is free of any source of peripheral light (perhaps the back wall of your garage, interior lights off). The open space on the wall should be at least the width of the vehicle plus an extra 2 ft. per side.

make sure that your tires have equal pressure, as this will effect the alignment. Confirm that the car is on level ground by using good level on the side of the vehicle (the door frame is a good place or the roof). Check the suspension ride height side to side to make sure there's no excessive suspension sag.

Park the car so it's exactly 25 ft. fromt he wall to the face of the headlamps (I like to do 33 ft since I'm in a lower car) -- do not estimate. Use a tape measure.

Now, we are ready to begin...

First, identify the center of each low-beam headlamp and mark it with a piece of tape vertically (this will help you align the headlights from left to right). For the horizontal, you'll use the line created by the HID. If it doesnt' produce said line, also mark the center using a piece of tape on y our headlamps.

For this next part, you might be able to measure at the wall from the ground up, but it's easier to just bring the vehicle as close as you can to the wall. Now that you have your markings on the headlamps, it's time to transfer then to the wall. Using tap, trasfer the locations to the wall using a bubble levle to span the gap between the vehicle and the wall toensure an accurate trasfter. On the wall, make the tapelines very wide. A single horizontal line for both centerline of the headlapmps and a verticle tapeline for the centerline of the vehicle. Make sure it's long enough so that it's easy to line up the vehicle and for the lines to form a cross. This is your reference point. It may be a good idea to lay down some tap on the ground by the centerline of you rear tires so that you can back up stright as you move to the pre-specified distance from the wall... use the centerline of the wall and windshield as visual aids as well.

Now back the car up to the pre-specified distance fromt he wall.

Now cover one of the lights up and align the other. Look at the light pattern ont he wall.
Vertical aim: The top of the most intense part of the beam should be at or below the centerline of the headlamp horizontal tapeline.
Horizontal aim: Most of the intense part of the beam should be to the right of the vertical centerline of the headlamp assembly.


You might want to concider making the driver side (left side) a little lower so you wont blind incoming trafic.


(sorry for spelling or grammer errors.)
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 11:33 AM
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Wow intense! I guess I will be trying this out tonight.. I still didnt see an explanation of how to change the direction of the beam??

http://www.wisesports.co.jp/catalog/besiege/index.html

Click others, then click HID's and you will see on the left the housing I have and how it looks... Thanks guys
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 12:25 PM
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That's why I was wondering about the housing.

the horizontal line that you see with HID lights will have to be done at the bulb itself. To do this, you'll need access to the bulb. Back the car up a good 25 or so feet, shine the light on the wall and see how your light pattern appears. Now with a level, check the line as it appears on the wall. Make sure it's level; if it's not turn the bulb until it is. Check again. Repeat until it's level. Be sure to cover the other headlight while doing so.

Now, to change the direction of the beam, that's done by the turning alignment screws on the headlight Assembly as shown in the picture provided:
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 01:38 PM
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Perfect... A+ for the explanation lol.. Ill let you guys know how it goes tonight...
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 01:51 PM
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i think this will not work for hid....ur trying to achieve cut ioff correct?
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Old Jun 8, 2007 | 04:19 PM
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Lol all Im trying to do is level my HIDs I know its possible.. Im not sure what a cut ioff is.. I'm just trying to level the beams... I think Noxlupus had the right idea but thanks!
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Old Jun 9, 2007 | 02:23 AM
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It's not a projector retrofit, it's just a free form housing with bi-xenon H4 HID bulb retrofit. I have one too and it's not bad at all.
On my Wise Sports I had to do a bit of work to the headlight bucket and change how the wires were routed to make them fit just right, the back of the bulb hit the frame and made the beam pattern not look right since the bulb sits crooked.
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Old Jun 9, 2007 | 12:13 PM
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Wait I think mine are kind of crooked too. You are talking about the line the beam projects on the wall/garage correct? I believe mine maybe slightly crooked. How did you go about leveling it out when it had a pre-set way to sit in the housing.
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Old Jun 11, 2007 | 11:56 PM
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Wow that went terrible.. all my screws are apparently stripped so no adjustment could be made.. Sounds like 10 projects in 1 cant wait sarcasm...
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