AO

Hi all-

I've had my H4's for about 2 months now. I love them, but they just aren't aimed right. The problem as I see it is that H4 only have 2 screws to adjust the aiming (Yes there is the post on the bottom but this merely acts as a fulcrum). Anywho, Ideally the lights should be aimed like my fist pic. Face of the bulb pretty much even and parallel witht he fork.

Unfortunately, my forks are leaning back a bit so when I initially mounted the lamps the were pointing up (like pic #2). This blinded oncoming drivers and lit up every second floor room in the neighborhood . Cool if you want to freak people out who are standing naked in their second floor window, but not good for neighborhood relations.

So I used the adjusting screws to bring the lamps down where the are supposed to be. The problem is that I had to crank on the lower screw so much that I just about bottomed out. At that point it still wasn't quite low enough so I "loosened" the upper screw. I now have the right height but because of the location of the adjuster screws, my lights now point to the left quit dramatically (show in pic #3). This is on both lights.

Is there a way to get the forks to come up a bit more? Perhaps a stop adjustment so when the lamps rotate up, they rotate a bit further? I searched the archives and Nichols, but didn't see anything that referenced this issue. Anyone BTDT or have some suggestions?

ErnestSw

Wish I could help, but the later style connecting ring bolts directly to the fork.

AO

The one thing I did notice is the the retaining post at the base of the fork is longer on the H4's than on the stock OB headlights. Now, I didn't see a way to sitch these, so I kept the stock ones. And as I think about it, since the H4 post is longer, switching them would have made my problem even more apearant.

Someone must know how to get the headlights to rotate a bit further. WWJBS?

Bill Ball

What did you install to get H4? I installed a full lens and ring assembly onto my S4 H5 aluminum yoke (fork, as you call it?) . I also got the Euro yoke and motorized height adjuster but did not install that. The Euro yoke and motor has a shorter post than my H5 yoke. So, it means the H4 lens housing must be postioned further forward on the adjusters to stay at the right angle, but the bucket is not canted up. There must be differnt issues when you do this on an OB as opposed to an S4. You may need the Euro yoke that mounts to the bar.

AO

I got a couple of used ones off of JB at 928 Int'l. It came with the lamp, bulb, and the mounting bracketry around the lamp. The bracketry mounts right up. No issue there. The main thing I notices is that the old 7" US lights have 3 adjusting screws so you can adjust in 2 planes. My H4 brackets only have 2 screws positioned diagonally across from each other. This is the problem. By only having 2 screws for adjustment, you can't adjust for one plane without affecting alignment for the other. So, if you want to adjust the lights to point down, you'll end up pulling them to the left (as in my case). If I want to pull them back to the right, they'll go back up. I'll take another look at ti when i get home and take some photos.

928BC

last week I noticed my h4s were sitting tilted back towards the rear of the car.
I found the plastic cup bushing had poped out at the base of both lights.
I pushed them back in and lockwired around the bushing cup to keep them retained.

Bill Ball

"By only having 2 screws for adjustment, you can't adjust for one plane without affecting alignment for the other. So, if you want to adjust the lights to point down, you'll end up pulling them to the left (as in my case). If I want to pull them back to the right, they'll go back up."

That's true, they do interact like that, but with a combination of the two adjustments you should be able to get it where you want.

ErnestSw

Also, make sure both springs are present that hold the lights to the mounting rings. With the springs in place and the bottom cup attached you shouldn't have a problem.

SharkSkin

Make sure the light pods are lifting all the way against the stops. Try pulling the whole pod forward. If it swivels up further than the normal position when the lights are "on", then most likely the headlight motor has slipped downward in its mounts. With the lights raised, loosen the motor and pull it up in it's slots & re-tighten. Easier to do with help, but can be done by yourself(BTDT). Also, IIRC, the stops can be adjusted to allow the light to come up further. If you do this, you will have to adjust the motor position and possibly the lower stops if your lights don't "park" properly.

Normy

People flash at me from time to time, thinking I have my brights on. I don't- I was able to adjust the lights to about the right height after a whole lot of screwing around, but as you've noticed ... the adjustment screws are in nearly all the way. I wonder if the headlight adjuster motors are needed in order to put the lights in their final correct position-

N!

GlenL

I think that Dave A. is onto it. There are a number of adjustments to be made in how the light pops-up. The main bar runs through bushings at each fender that can be moved up/down. The motor can be moved up/down which may require adjustments to the stops.

The bottom line is that if the lights are pointed too high and you've maxed the screw adjusters you can do some bulk changes in the mechanism to make them point down more.

Bill Ball

Although you should be able to get correct aim with H4's installed without the Euro motor and stalk, it does require all of the adjustment, as you noted, since the H5 stalk is longer.

Long H5 stalk:


H4 motor and shorter adjustable stalk

GlenL

The older cars didn't have the adjuster motors. The original Euro headlight dipping system was hydraulic. US cars just got the fixed "stalk" as in the pics.

Bill Ball

Right, Glen.

Rich9928p

It is very important that H4s are properly aimed. The basic goal is to get the beams parallel to your direction of travel, low enough that they don't blind oncoming traffic. You should see the low beam cutoff on the cars in front of you.

First, find a level stretch of driveway that is adjacent to a wall or garage door (to act as the aiming screen). Prepare the car in normal travel trim (i.e., luggage, fuel and passenger load simulated). Roll the car up to the wall. Mark the headlight centers both vertically and horizontally with a heavy felt tip on the screen. (You might want to use a large piece of cardboard and save it to be re-used on the same car.) Mark the center of any auxiliary light as well. Now, roll the car straight back, 25 feet. Scribe a straight line between the headlight centers (line B). Measure down 3" and draw another horizontal line (D). Do the same for your auxiliary lights. One at a time, aim the lights as follows (turn off or cover the lights not being aimed, I use several dark towels).

Low Beams. The correct visual aim for low beams is with the top edge of the beam at horizontal D. The point at which the cutoff begins to rise to the right should be located straight ahead of the lamp at the intersection of D and C.

High Beams. The correct visual aim for high beams is with the center of the high intensity zone at horizontal, straight ahead of the lamp as indicated by circles C1 and C2. When aiming high beams on a four headlamp system, cover the adjacent headlights.

Auxiliary Lamps. To aim your lamps, turn the lamp to be aimed on and cover or turn off all other lamps. Loosen the nuts on the mounting bolts and move the lamps until the light falls into the place recommended by the aiming diagram.

For Fog Lamps: light should fall between lines B and D as indicated by shaded rectangles.

For Driving Lamps: light should fall straight ahead of the lamps at the intersection of lines B and C1 and C2 as indicated by circles.

Tighten the nuts on the mounting bolts securely when aiming is completed.