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Sideways headlight adjustment?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Technical Discussion' started by Galane, Oct 16, 2021.

  1. Galane

    Galane Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2020
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    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I replaced the badly weathered* headlamps in a 2009 with shiny new ones and HELLA H4P50TB +50 bulbs.

    All the lamps have for adjustment is vertical. After installing, the right one was lighting up the trees so I cranked it down to match the new left one. They both may still be a bit high.

    The right side lamp does a very good job lighting up the edge of the road but not much in front of the car. It's never been wrecked so it should be pointing ahead properly. Any way to adjust them sideways?

    An annoying feature on both the originals and replacements is it's obvious they were designed to have easy access adjusters with a bevel gear and a shaft aimed in a direction not blocked by other parts, but those parts were never installed. Lemme guess, Japan or Sweden or some country that also got goodies like rear disc brakes also got easy adjust headlamps while the USA got extra-cheap?

    *I could polish them up nice and shiny and within a week they'd look 20 years old again, which is quite a feat on a 12 year old car. I may clean them with a mild solvent then soap and water to be sure all traces of polish are gone then wet sand them with 1500 grit paper, followed by a spray with clear paint. I've done that on other plastic headlights and they last for quite a while before road grit chips up the paint.
     
  2. Galane

    Galane Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 30, 2020
    77
    23
    0
    Location:
    Idaho
    Vehicle:
    2009 Prius
    Model:
    N/A