Getting Headlights Aligned

Axial

My headlights need aligning so dropped into Kwik Fit yesterday to see if they do it, and after thinking about it (it wasnt shown as a service offered on their signs etc) the guy said it would cost £20.

This seems fairly expensive for a few mins work, especially as I enquired how much to balance a wheel - which would obviouly involve taking the wheel off etc and the use of some parts (albeit very small parts) - the weights - for just £6 a wheel.

Anyone know what sort of price headlight aligning should cost or had it done recently??!

reeac

Axial wrote: »

My headlights need aligning so dropped into Kwik Fit yesterday to see if they do it, and after thinking about it (it wasnt shown as a service offered on their signs etc) the guy said it would cost £20.

This seems fairly expensive for a few mins work, especially as I enquired how much to balance a wheel - which would obviouly involve taking the wheel off etc and the use of some parts (albeit very small parts) - the weights - for just £6 a wheel.

Anyone know what sort of price headlight aligning should cost or had it done recently??!

I used to do it myself but that's long ago and maybe modern cars are more tricky. Worth looking at the adjustment screws/ knobs on your particular though. If they're accessible then point the car at a wall or garage door about 20 feet away to see the beam patterns.

Stooby2

I wouldn't use Kwik-Fit for the simple reason they don't have the equipment to do it. Find your local MOT place and see if they will do it and how much. Ideally it should be done using the beam alignment tester to get it right.

keith1950

As most garages charge somewhere between £40 and £80 per hour plus vat I think £20 is quite a reasonable price for this task, after all at those prices this would only pay for approximately 15- 25 minutes.

forgotmyname

My MOT guy does it for FREE. One good reason to stick to the same places i guess.

Quiet_Spark

Stooby2 wrote: »

I wouldn't use Kwik-Fit for the simple reason they don't have the equipment to do it.

If they didn't have the correct equipment for checking headlamp alignment, they wouldn't be able to do MOT's.

Joe_Horner

If you can find the adjusters and a flat wall with flat ground in front of it, do it yourself. Unless you have abig garage to do it inside, its much easier at night or a very overcast day.

Drive up straight to the wall so you're virtually touching it and, with the lights on low beam, you'll find that they each produce a small dot of light because the beam hasn't had a chance to spread. That's the centre of the light units. Mark them on the wall (small piece of tape works fine).

Now back away from the wall about 5 - 10m in a straight line. You'll see the beam pattern develop a flat top on the right and an angled "kick up" to the left.

The flat top must be between 0.5 and 2% below your mark and the inflection point (where it starts to kick up to the left) must be between 0 and 2% left of the mark.

For every 5 metres between the car and the wall, 0.5% = 2.5cm and 2% = 10cm. So, if you've backed up by 10 metres, the beams should be between 5 and 20cm below the mark and between 0 and 20cm to the left.

The further you can back up (staying straight and level to the wall) and still see the beams, the wider the tolerance becomes in cm (eg: 10 to 40cm at 20m away) and the easier it is to set them close to the "high" point for best lighting. At 10m or less, aim for the centre of the tolerance and you'll be as close as you need to be.

Ratboy

Why did you need to have the headlights adjusted, and what is the vehicle? Many vehicles have self adjusting headlights these days?

Stooby2

Ratboy wrote:

If they didn't have the correct equipment for checking headlamp alignment, they wouldn't be able to do MOT's.

Not all branches do MOT's - both of my local branches don't.

Lum

Ratboy wrote: »

Why did you need to have the headlights adjusted, and what is the vehicle? Many vehicles have self adjusting headlights these days?

They only adjust for increased weight in the back causing the headlights to point upwards.

If the basic alignment is out then the self-adjustment will make it continue to be out by the same amount even when the boot is full.

Why have them adjusted? Maybe because they're dazzling every poor sod coming the other way?