adjusting headlights

[doctbhunter]

thanks to several responses i received on finding repacement headlights for my 2000 mountain aire dp, i was able to buy new shinny headlights. can you tell me the proceedure for adjusting the new lights once they have been installed---thanks--doc/tbh

[a10koaksfed]

I'm also curious. We installed new headlights in our '02 MADP last spring, but they don't shine anywhere near the target. I've spotted a couple of screws that might adjust the direction of the beam, but they seem to be behind the edge of the new lamps and can't be reached. I don't drive after dark very often, but when I do I feel like having someone walk in front with a lantern!

Who's got the answers?

[Diplomat Don]

Automotive repair shops have a tool that latches onto the lens and adjusts the lights while the vehicle is sitting level. It would probably be hard to get this done with a motor home, unless it was an RV repair shop.

The poor man's way is to find a vehicle, like a pickup truck where the headlights are mounted about the same height as your motor home lights. Find a closed business, at night, and a flat area adjacent to the wall of the business. Park the truck about 20 away and perpendicular to the building (measure the exact distance from the glass on the truck headlights to the wall). Find the center point of your vehicle (distance between headlights) and mark that on the wall with some 3M blue tape. Also mark where the headlights are striking the wall. Return with you motor home and make sure it's parked in the same position as the truck and the same distance from the wall.

If, for example, the headlights on the truck are spaced 5' apart the motor home's are spaced 7' apart, you can measure outward from the tape marks on the wall for the truck's headlights, one foot out from each light. This will give you a general area where the lights should be adjusted.