Headlamp Alignment

I've concluded that my low beams were factory or dealer set too high. I used a torx screwdriver to easily adjust to ~36", top of beam, at a wall in front of my level parked Commander. I'll have them checked next time I'm at the dealer. Anybody know the proper setting?

There is alot of people flashing their brites at me, but only my low beams are on. I also notice they are reflecting of from signs and the like, just how highbeams would.
Thoughts?

do you guys have the "smart beam" headlights?

No. Got the "cheap" version.

(I tried the dealer the next day, they said "can you leave it all day?"; thought not for a ten minute job.)

same here, no "smart beam" only dumb beam lights on my truck. The lows do seam to high.

I dont know the exact heoght, but 36 seems about right. This must be a factory issue, I had to do the same with mine.

I've got the smart beams, no problem here with people flashing me.

36" high at how many feet from a wall?

Good question, Andy. The dist. to the wall from the plastic lens, horizontally from the bulb, is/was about 37". (I haven't seen a calibrating stand since I lived in Texas (no state inspection here in WA), but the 36/37 Nos. are probably pretty close.) Should we call this the Archer standard?....

You guys arent driving around with your fog lamps on are you? LOL :D :p

Took it on my first road trip this weekend, travled at night. Every other car brited me after I passed them. I finaly ran with just my running lights+fog lights. That made every one happy. I was taking a look at my head light assemblies. I poped off the cover plate under the hood. I see only a left & right adjustment torx screw I dont see an up and down adj screw. Any help?

Thanks, Andy

The vertical adjustment screw is the visible one at the top of the fixture: facing the vehicle, on the right and left, for the right and left lamps respectively. They can be seen without removing the plastic cover. (This happens to be the first & only one I saw with the cover off and tried.) I had to lower my fixtures approximately 3".

This is a seirous issue from this owner's perspective. When on the highway, I have had semis that I pass jump out and tail me for miles w/ their high beams on. Just last evening I had a car slam on his brakes, swerved to avoid, then he tailed me w/ his high beams on. I also saw my first commander at night in the rearview last week, and its easy to see why people think they're high beams. Will try the solution above... Someone ought to let Jeep know before somebody gets confronted by another driver and they have to explain "talk to Jeep..."

No one tried to kill me but almost every one brited me after I passed them. I cant blame them it did light up their entire car.

I fixed them last night 5 rotations of the screw did the trick I may move them up 1 or 2 rotaions more. I did 10 rotations at first they were much to low. Drive it after you adjust them and see how they look you'll be able to tell and tune them in. I'm tring to get mine so they come up to just the top of the trunk on a samll car infront of me.

Thanks all, worked like a charm. Hopefully they'll adjst at the factory for future owners!

Chapter 2. Self Help doesn't count. I sent the following to the Jeep web site: "New Commanders seem to be coming out of the factory with the low beam headlights poorly adjusted. I participate in the jeepcommander Internet
forum, many of us have simply lowered the beams about 3" as displayed 3'
in front of the vehicle (on a wall). This is something that should be
taken care of at the factory!!"
Today I got an innocuous lengthy reply saying take it to the dealer. (You've already seen my stab at that, "leave it all day" for a 10 minute job.) Blah.

I did the same thing and got the same reply. I then called the # in the email, and got some poor guy who has a script. He was a good listener, which I suppose on some level made me feel better, but he kept saying "we take these matters seriously and they will be considered in future vehicles"

I tried multiple times to tell him this is not a future vehicle issue, but a current production issue... He didn't seem capable of leaving the script. This issue and the flipper glass speed are IMHO the two things that stand to cause PR problems (or perhaps injury) and its interesting that there appears to be no obivous recourse to the manufacturer. I've considered writing a letter to the CEO's office just for kicks, but that takes time, etc. You would think / hope in this day in age they would have someone in cust svc or quality or PR scanning these boards. They don't to their own detriment.

I've chosen the lightbulb icon as I find it appropriate for this particular forum :p

I had Silverstars in my old Pontiac Grand Am with them set to the correct height. I would get people flashing their high beams at me and just flashed them back at them to show them they weren't the high beams (which in turn probably made them blind for the next 10 minutes :-p) . Hopefully it also made them learn to not flash their lights at people just because they think the lights are too bright.

I have Silverstars in my Cherokee but the reflectors in the sealed beam lights aren't so great so I the lights aren't as bright and have only got flashed at maybe twice in the past 5 years.

In short, if you know the lights are set at the right height there isn't much you can do for other people.

The guy from DC 'marketing' (Miguel??) has been pretty silent since he said howdy a few weeks ago -- maybe he can cut thru some of the b.s. to get the answers we need?? For example, what is the exact spec for aiming the lights? Height of the light at 'x' distance from the wall would be enough.

My lights seem to be aimed correctly, as no one has 'brighted' me but if they weren't I would consider it trivially easy to reach in there and adjust them a bit -- but you shouldn't have to do so, of course.

A buddy and I are doing a three day trek thru Northern Michigan this coming weekend and I'll have more chances to see how the light coverage really is...

Commo
Dearborn, MI

Mine has the "smart" beam, too. I also added bright whites (added wattage and white color) to the lows, highs, AND fogs. I don't get flashed, but I'll keep an eye out. I've got bad eyes, so i never know if it is me or the lights. I'm used to Xenons on the other cars, so the Jeep always seems like it has poor lighting.

After being "flashed" repeatedly and watching people shoot me the "finger" when I was behind them at night, I finally took a torx driver to the head light adjustment. Four turns was enough for me. Now only a Mini-Cooper is in peril of the "lights from hell"!

i also had to adjust my low beams it was every other car flashing me, wife took it to the dealer the next day, the service manager told her she would have to leave it all day also , because they would have to take the front end apart to adjust them, i did it myself ,it took me longer to find my set of torx than it did to adjust the lights, also 5 tuns on each

I haven't been flashed by a single vehicle yet in 5500 miles, so my lights must be adjusted ok from the factory. That said, I can see I might need to adjust them someday for different loads, etc.

Can you detail which torx size you needed and what configuration, i.e., a long screwdriver type, etc?

Thanks,

Commo
Dearborn, MI

Can't help with the torx size, I'm not at my workshop. As I recall, I used the third smallest in the set, "normal" length; the screw is visible through a hole in the abt. 7" x 6" removable plastic cover (which doesn't have to be removed to do the adjusting).

Jangy, I have the same "problem" and got used to the xenon lights. Do the "bright whites" make a big difference? If the old ones on the Commander are 0% and the xenon 100%, where would you put your subjective bang for the buck judgment as a percentage? Thank you already for your answer :)

i get flashed at least twice everynight. it's usually not a safe thing to do, but i show em what my highbeams can really do. they don't seem to like that too much at all. :-)

How do I adjust headlamps? One of mine is too low. Can it be done with a standard screwdriver, or do I need something special? Thanks.