99 Camry - Aiming headlights
 

Hey Everyone,

So I recently had my mechanic change my headlights after I got into a minor accident. The new headlights were aimed too low, I raised them however now the headlight fixtures stick out of the body somewhat and aren't aligned with the turn signals. Does anyone know how I can fix this?

-Thanks

The headlight assy sticks out of the chassis as if not bolted in correctly or doesn't fit?

I'm pretty sure it fits okay, I turned the adjustment screws to the right a few times until the beams got higher but the more I turned the screws the harder it became to do so. I'll take a look again later today, as of now the lower portion of the headlights are sticking out roughly 1/2 inch. It might have something to do with the lower bolt not being tightly installed.

Also not sure if this makes a difference, I purchased after market Eagle Eyes replacement headlights.

-Thanks

Just wanted to show you a picture to see what I'm on about...

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/614/ys0.png

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, which is why this bothers me...

Was the chassis area behind the light damaged in the accident and if so realigned correctly? Does the other headlight fit better?

Some aftermarket headlights don't fit as well as others and stick out further.

Aftermarket headlights certified by CAPA (a parts association) are supposed to fit up like factory parts but cost twice as much as non-CAPA types.

Your mechanic may be able to tweak the headlights mounting brackets to make them fit better.

It looks like they are CAPA certified, at least according to their website:

http://www.eagleeyes.com.tw/index.ph...o&id=3&index=3

After adjusting them I noticed they aren't as snug. I'll have my mechanic tighten them up, its possible I made some of the fittings loose by raising the headlight level.

The passengers side headlight doesn't stick out as much. I think it may just be a case of having to play around with the fixtures. The only clips that broke from the accident were the ones located by the radiator. If all else fails, my girlfriend's uncle can take a look at them, hes been in the body shop business for over 30 years, hopefully he can sort this out.

The car was involved in an accident last year and was repaired by a shop, naturally due to the cars age they used after market parts, fenders and a bumper cover. I'm sure this isn't helping my cause as body shops tend to bang and butcher after market parts until they fit.

-Thanks

Don't know for sure.

An internet search of headlights having the same generic part number (TO2503117 for RH) finds a few complaints about headlights being loose when installed (as you describe) and having a poor fit. The looseness caused by the plastic mounting parts being less rigid then factory lights (small dia plastic parts).

As a fix, some users appear to have swapped the old OEM headlight mounting parts to the new assy.

CAPA certified products will have a seal on part stating certified.

It could be the headlights assy is "as designed", but still have a poor fit and more flexible mounting hardware.

Suggest your uncle look at the head light mounting hardware as a source of the looseness. Perhaps he can modify the lights to recess them better but don't know.

Why a manufacturer can build a part that fits and doesn't move around is a question but assume they try to drive out all the robustness, etc in order to get the manufacturing cost down to bare bones. Plus most people today will not notice the difference between a quality part and something less (or care).