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ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SW Baltic Blue

Headlight adjustment

Hi all

Thanks to excellent advice from you lot, I bought some Philips Extreme Vision bulbs and fitted them with Crystal headlamps from Paddocks (ridiculously fast postage to Germany

)
Considering my 110 now lights up the road like "Crystal" Palace

I thought I should adjust them as correctly as possible.
I've done this on a 1974 Beetle where the dipped beam setting on a wall is (centre of brightest area) 5cm below bulb height at 5 metres. Trouble is, the lights on the 110 are almost twice as high

and I'm worried about blinding people.

So... please can anyone tell me a "rule of thumb" for setting the headlights?

Cheers
Matt Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

14th Nov 2011 4:59pm

Happyoldgit

Member Since: 14 Sep 2007
Location: Norfolk
Posts: 3471

2015 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 USW Corris Grey

Personally I'd have marked the beam on the wall with the vehicle positioned a know distance from it prior to doing anything - then you would have had some reference points to work to. As it is the best way would be to get them properly set up on a proper headlamp aligner. Steve.
Owned numerous Land Rover vehicles of all shapes and sizes over the decades.
Current Defender: A non tarts hand-bagged Puma 110 XS USW.

[Insert something impressive here such as extensive list of previous Land Rovers or examples of your prestigeous and expensive items, trinkets, houses, bikes, vehicles etc]

http://forums.lr4x4.com

I used to be Miserable ...but now I'm ecstatic.

14th Nov 2011 6:03pm

ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

Miserableolgit wrote:
Personally I'd have marked the beam on the wall with the vehicle positioned a know distance from it prior to doing anything - then you would have had some reference points to work to. As it is the best way would be to get them properly set up on a proper headlamp aligner.

NOW you tell me

Actually I'm fairly sure they weren't well set to start with - probably part of the reason they seemed so pathetic.
I will get them set properly a.s.a.p. but the nearest TÜV is in Munich and it will be a week or more before I can get an appointment...
Cheers Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

14th Nov 2011 6:07pm

T1G UP

Member Since: 08 Dec 2009
Location: Bath
Posts: 3101

2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 XS CSW Orkney Grey

ZeDefender wrote:
Miserableolgit wrote:
Personally I'd have marked the beam on the wall with the vehicle positioned a know distance from it prior to doing anything - then you would have had some reference points to work to. As it is the best way would be to get them properly set up on a proper headlamp aligner.

NOW you tell me
Actually I'm fairly sure they weren't well set to start with - probably part of the reason they seemed so pathetic.
I will get them set properly a.s.a.p. but the nearest TÜV is in Munich and it will be a week or more before I can get an appointment...
Cheers

doesn't your defender have adjustable headlights?

14th Nov 2011 6:09pm

ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

er... if you mean the compensation dial on the dash, then yes but only down.
I adjusted them to be level today (with a screwdriver

) but I would like to know what a reasonable height is for both.
Good idea though

- if they seem too high I can compensate for now until I get them done properly (now why didn't I think of that?)

Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

14th Nov 2011 6:17pm

LandRoverAnorak

Member Since: 17 Jul 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 11324

Re: Headlight adjustment

ZeDefender wrote:
I've done this on a 1974 Beetle where the dipped beam setting on a wall is (centre of brightest area) 5cm below bulb height at 5 metres. Trouble is, the lights on the 110 are almost twice as high and I'm worried about blinding people.

You're not going to be far wrong applying the same principle to a Defender. The difference in height between it and a Beetle is an insignificant proportion of your 5m test distance. Darren

110 USW BUILD THREAD - EXPEDITION TRAILER - 200tdi 90 BUILD THREAD - SANKEY TRAILER - IG@landroveranorak

"You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought!" - Princess Leia

14th Nov 2011 6:23pm

ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

Re: Headlight adjustment

LandRoverAnorak wrote:
ZeDefender wrote:
I've done this on a 1974 Beetle where the dipped beam setting on a wall is (centre of brightest area) 5cm below bulb height at 5 metres. Trouble is, the lights on the 110 are almost twice as high and I'm worried about blinding people.

You're not going to be far wrong applying the same principle to a Defender. The difference in height between it and a Beetle is an insignificant proportion of your 5m test distance.

Cheers

Matt Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

14th Nov 2011 7:11pm

Dave-H

Member Since: 08 Feb 2011
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1507

2007 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Tonga Green

I just adjust mine to give me a nice 'spread' and then go for a drive.

If i get a flash or two from oncoming traffic i re adjust height and try again.

Keep doing until no-one oncoming seems bothered

Guns and Landrovers .... anything else is irrelevant.

14th Nov 2011 7:26pm

bm52

Member Since: 04 Apr 2010
Location: Kent
Posts: 2189

2014 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS CSW Havana

The manual says for a quick adjustment:

Exterior Lighting - Headlamp Adjustment
General Procedures
1. NOTE: Check main beam alignment using beam setting
equipment. Should this not be available the beam can be
temporarily checked and adjusted as follows.
Position vehicle, unladen, on level ground with tyres correctly
inflated, approximately 4 metres from a wall or screen,
marked as illustrated below.
2. The beam centres 'A' [measure between centre of lights] are measured horizontally on the
vehicle and dimension 'B' vertically from the ground [height from ground to centre of headlamp is same on wall].
3. Switch on main beam and adjust setting, as necessary, BM52

14th Nov 2011 8:12pm

ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

bm52 wrote:
The manual says for a quick adjustment:

Exterior Lighting - Headlamp Adjustment
General Procedures
1. NOTE: Check main beam alignment using beam setting
equipment. Should this not be available the beam can be
temporarily checked and adjusted as follows.
Position vehicle, unladen, on level ground with tyres correctly
inflated, approximately 4 metres from a wall or screen,
marked as illustrated below.
2. The beam centres 'A' [measure between centre of lights] are measured horizontally on the
vehicle and dimension 'B' vertically from the ground [height from ground to centre of headlamp is same on wall].
3. Switch on main beam and adjust setting, as necessary,

Good - seems pretty much what I thought

Cheers Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

14th Nov 2011 8:18pm

spudfan

Member Since: 10 Sep 2007
Location: Co Donegal
Posts: 4646

As ZeDefender says,but with a picturefrom the workshop manual.

Click image to enlarge

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali
2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu
2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai

14th Nov 2011 11:16pm

ZeDefender

Member Since: 15 Sep 2011
Location: Munich
Posts: 4731

Don't know if I'm bonkers but my trimmer screws are at the bottom

If I had fitted them the way they are in the picture, the towing adjustment would make them aim higher

Change in design? Tell someone you love them today because life is short.
But shout it at them in German because life is also terrifying and confusing...

15th Nov 2011 6:40am

spudfan

Member Since: 10 Sep 2007
Location: Co Donegal
Posts: 4646

Could well be. I took the diagram from a tdi manual to illustrate the wall settings. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali
2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu
2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai

15th Nov 2011 12:09pm

drewster

Member Since: 13 Jun 2011
Location: south coast brockenhurst
Posts: 226

1997 Defender 90 300 Tdi CSW Epsom Green

spudfan wrote:
As ZeDefender says,but with a picturefrom the workshop manual.

Click image to enlarge

my question is what is the mesurment of a and b

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

15th Nov 2011 12:59pm

spudfan

Member Since: 10 Sep 2007
Location: Co Donegal
Posts: 4646

As far as I know it should be the same as on the vehicle. Any garage with light checking equipment will check them and adjust them if necessary for a small fee.I get mine done before a vehicle test. 1982 88" 2.25 diesel
1992 110 200tdi csw -Zikali
2008 110 2.4 tdci csw-Zulu
2011 110 2.4 tdci csw-Masai

15th Nov 2011 2:20pm

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