sailordave
07-23-2008, 07:40 PM
This isn't in regard to mpg. This is my own public safety message. Please check, or have checked, the aim of your head lights and fog lights. I know that in some states this is done as a part of the annual vehicle inspection. But for those other areas, please either learn how to do it yourself or pay to have a professional check it once every few years. My wife's car is a diy job. It came with float levels and other guides. All you need to do is park on a level surface and make the adjustments. My car doesn't have this and it's beams are greatly diffused several feet from the lense. To adjust my car I have to make a mark on a wall where the headlights are hitting, back up 20 feet away from the wall, and make adjustments based upon the marks on the wall. Kind of hard to do when that single spot is now a few feet wide. Headlights go out of alignment due to changes in suspension, amount of bumps in the road, or ignorance of diy customizers. If your vehicle has fog lights then they should also be aligned. The purpose of fog lights is to help you see in thick fog at low speeds. They're not there to "look cool" or to allow you to speed through the fog. If properly aligned, fog lights could save your life or the lives of others on the road. If headlights are improperly aligned you'll be sending your low beams right into the eyes of other drivers. Some ways to tell if your low beams are not aligned right include street signs are brightly lit up when you approach them on dark roads, oncoming traffic regularly flash their brights at you, and cars in front of you flip their mirrors to send the glare to the ceiling of the car instead of in their eyes. A trustworthy mechanic will check and correct the low beams, high beams, and fog lights.
If your headlight lenses are yellowish or brownish then they need to be either replaced or resurfaced. There are some pretty good diy resurfacing kits on the market, some starting at about $20. They're actually pretty good and easy to use. Used one on my wife's lenses and she can now safely drive at night. She couldn't see 6 feet past her front bumper before. New lenses is the best way to go but they can be expensive. Some start at $250 per lense depending on make/model.
If your headlight lenses are yellowish or brownish then they need to be either replaced or resurfaced. There are some pretty good diy resurfacing kits on the market, some starting at about $20. They're actually pretty good and easy to use. Used one on my wife's lenses and she can now safely drive at night. She couldn't see 6 feet past her front bumper before. New lenses is the best way to go but they can be expensive. Some start at $250 per lense depending on make/model.