Anyone figure a fix to adjust the factory high beams ONLY? (1 Viewer)

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I don't know when this came to be, as you all know I'm a lighting fanatic and have been using the HIR bulbs since someone here first discovered the John Deer bulbs some 20 years ago. The 80 lights have always been amazing with these - best lighting of all our vehicles.

However, last summer my increasingly car aware son asked if I had the high beams on when we were towing home late one night in dark N. Idaho. Then earlier this year I noticed the high beams were way up in the trees and made a mental note to adjust them. Which I forgot within the next 5 minutes. Then yesterday we took the 80 way back into the high country in deep snow (got stuck) and on the way home I noticed the high beams are totally useless. It's as if they've been slowly rising upward over the years and finally got my attention as I don't drive it more than 1000 miles/year. they are literally pair of light blobs up several degrees such that the only time they touch the road is when you are coming up to a steep hill. A very steep hill.

So I grabbed my tools a few minutes ago, and went out to orient myself on aiming them and discovered the high and low beams are tied together. Boo!! Hiss!!!

So, first - is anyone else having this phenomenon? Second, has anyone gone postal and disassembled them to re-orient the high beams? Or am I going to be the first on something (finally)? Thanks in advance.
 
I’m in the same boat, I’m running Wagner 9011’s and am fine with the low beam output but my High-beams are high. DS seems worse than the PS ... just not deep enough into my to do list to dive into the lights yet.
 
This is kind of a hack - One option is to remove the bulb from the housing and "bend" the bulb upward or downward opposite of the direction you want your light beam pattern to go. Works on some bulb styles, not on others. I have not tried on my 80. The same could be said about the mounting surface of the bulb to the housing - remove material or bend the bulb mounting base to move light pattern up or down.

It is free and easy - start small.
 
FWIW, I have the HIR bulbs in all 4 positions and do not have an issue with either beam pattern. The low beams are great and the highs are close to amazing on a dark mountain road.
That said, moving the bulb will do nothing. You would need to move the reflector inside the housing to change the beam pattern, or the entire housing which will move both beams.
 
FWIW, I have the HIR bulbs in all 4 positions and do not have an issue with either beam pattern. The low beams are great and the highs are close to amazing on a dark mountain road.
That said, moving the bulb will do nothing. You would need to move the reflector inside the housing to change the beam pattern, or the entire housing which will move both beams.


Yeah, I might have been thinking the reflector and mixed it up with the bulb. Either way, I know if you bend or tweak that stuff slightly, it can correct the aim on non adjustable lights.
 
Is it possible the HIR bulbs are overheating the housing and it is melting or softening it, so they are "drifting" downward in the housing and angling the reflectors?
 
Is it possible the HIR bulbs are overheating the housing and it is melting or softening it, so they are "drifting" downward in the housing and angling the reflectors?
I think that is very unlikely given that the wattage is the same for both types.
 
I think that is very unlikely given that the wattage is the same for both types.
That's why I posted as a question. I was unsure of what the differences are with the HIR.
 
That's why I posted as a question. I was unsure of what the differences are with the HIR.
They use different filaments and different inert gasses and the design is slightly different, but the power consumption is the same between a 9005 and a 9011. Both are 65 watts. The low beams are also the same between the 9006 and 9012 @ 55watts.
 
Then yesterday we took the 80 way back into the high country in deep snow (got stuck) and on the way home I noticed the high beams are totally useless. It's as if they've been slowly rising upward over the years and finally got my attention as I don't drive it more than 1000 miles/year.
Doug, please don't take this the wrong way, but is it possible that your rear end is starting to sag?
 
Sorry for the slight hijack but is everyone running the wagners 9011’s? What are the HIR’s?
Thx

9011’s and HIR are one and the same, this explains them better than I can. All I know is it’s a simple and cheap mod if you still have the original housings, great bang for the buck.


 
Lots of brands, Wagner is a Phillips bulb repackaged and half the price. I got mine from RockAuto, here’s a link. Search for the mod to the base of the bulb to make it fit.

 
Mr. Held - that is not only possible, but beyond highly likely and well into the confirmed category. Now, back to the 80! Ya weasel....

So yes, these 9011s are a great hack, and I hope some of you are on a totally dark back road sometime soon so you can check for what I'm talking about. In a typical urban environment, my lights like your HIR equipped system make you go "wow that's a lot of light". But. On a totally dark country road you mayl see this situation where the high beams are not slightly higher than the low beams as they're supposed to be. If the full diameter of the high beam light blob was X, the high beams are perhaps 2X above the low beams when they should be 0.5X - just barely above the low beams like a setting sun. And they're outboard an X or two as well.

I'll be interested if anyone has a broken lamp they'd like to donate for me to figure out a hack others can reproduce if this turns out to be an aging 80 issue. I'll pay for the mailing to N. Idaho.
 
I had the same problem a few months back and once I realized I couldn't aim them I decided to pull the light housing and found that both of my high beam bulbs had wiggled loose over the years. Once I reseated them in the locking tabs, the light was aimed back onto the road instead of in the trees. May not be your problem but something worth checking.
 
Hmm - I will check. I had the entire assemblies off the vehicle last year to clean the lense/reflector so who knows.
 
@IdahoDoug are you 100% positive your low beams are aimed correctly (by putting them on a wall at a certain distance, etc.) or do they just "look right" when you're driving? I'm guessing both your beams might be too high.......easy to guess from my armchair. :p
 
I had the same problem a few months back and once I realized I couldn't aim them I decided to pull the light housing and found that both of my high beam bulbs had wiggled loose over the years. Once I reseated them in the locking tabs, the light was aimed back onto the road instead of in the trees. May not be your problem but something worth checking.

This has happened to me too as the HIR bulbs require or at least did a slight tweak to fit, however being said they still tend to higher on High Beam than they should with JD HIR‘s even when in snuggly and lowering them in some way would provide much more useful light!

I have an entire front rebuild planned for Winter that requires most of the front to be removed and planned on looking for an improvement.

I also have another 80 with a rock chipped headlight, if I can find a really nice suitable replacement (no longer available from Toyota) I will donate the old one to the project!
 

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