At the risk of sounding ignorant, what's that? What does it do and where can I buy it? Given that the rear of my 200 was only lifted 1/2", would that even help?
Any issues with headlight brightness or aiming on 2016+ models? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter brasskey
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bloc
SILVER Star
OK, but like I said, the rear of my 200 is barely lifted. Since the rod is on the rear control arm and not the front, would it really impact the light alignment? I've used the bilsteins more to level the 200 more than lift it...
I have the same suspension setup. In the Rear control arm (Driver side) there is a link that attaches a levelling sensor to a slotted bracket (It senses sag for load conditions). Stock would be around the middle of the slot. Loosen the bolt and move the link to max height. It lowers the headlight beam. Beam is slightly lower than optimal for rural conditions, but in city, it is just fine. So you may have to play around a bit. Also note that the adjustment is not instant, it takes couple of engine restarts and few minutes of driving for the headlights to adjust.
bloc
SILVER Star
Yes.
The rod and sensor is intended to automatically adjust the headlights for a change in attitude (aka level) of the vehicle because of load added to the rear. As you said the front moved more than the rear, and the sensor can't tell, but that doesn't mean it can't be adjusted to get the desired result.. To avoid the concerns you listed with adjusting the screws too far, see what you can safely get out of the rod, then use the screws for fine adjustment after that.
Got it. So if I push the lever up towards the floor of the 200, it'll act as pushing the headlights down, right?
bloc
SILVER Star
Correct. And if you can’t get enough out of the factory adjustment slot there are longer rods available, both the TJM part and someone on this board posted pictures of a home-brew solution, though you’d need to search for that.
I’d do everything you can there before messing with the screws. Yes you will have some amount of screw adjustment before things fall off a cliff but we just haven’t established yet how much.
Thanks. I've reached out to tjmusa, they have an interesting system. Apparently they don't sell direct to the public, you have to ask for a quote and they then send it to your local tjm dealer, who you go and buy it from....
Agree on not messing with headlight adjusters. Just seems like a design flaw that Toyota didn't put in a stop so you can't turn the projectors off the adjusters...
Agree on not messing with headlight adjusters. Just seems like a design flaw that Toyota didn't put in a stop so you can't turn the projectors off the adjusters...
I am going thru this journey too after doing a 2" Ironman lift on my 17LC200
I made an extendable bracket like the TJM with parts from ACE Hardware...kinda like a carb linkage
forum.ih8mud.com
After adjusting to their specs I felt like my low beams were too low and my high beams were non existent.
So I adjusted past the 915mm (36") on the TJM instructions to about 42" and the low beams seem usable.
But high beams still seem weak....worse then my wifes honda odyssey
I don't get flashed at all so I might adjust it even higher then the 42....maybe just go til I do get flashed and then back it off alittle.
One weird thing I've noticed is my auto high beams are all wonky too now.
If I have a sea of brakes lights in front of me or with oncoming traffiic and no cars around me it will be on HI
If I have a car just in front and to the L or R of my car (like a 45deg angle from the front seats) the headlights will trigger to LO
And even with that I rarely get flashed so I am thinking my headlights are way too low
I made an extendable bracket like the TJM with parts from ACE Hardware...kinda like a carb linkage
Adjusting headlights in a new 200
I've arranged for my dealer to install the OEM front spacers and do an initial oil change on my 2020 LC. I asked that they also adjust the headlights accordingly so I'm not blinding oncoming traffic. Even without the spacers, I get a lot of cars flashing me, so I know the headlights will...
forum.ih8mud.com
After adjusting to their specs I felt like my low beams were too low and my high beams were non existent.
So I adjusted past the 915mm (36") on the TJM instructions to about 42" and the low beams seem usable.
But high beams still seem weak....worse then my wifes honda odyssey
I don't get flashed at all so I might adjust it even higher then the 42....maybe just go til I do get flashed and then back it off alittle.
One weird thing I've noticed is my auto high beams are all wonky too now.
If I have a sea of brakes lights in front of me or with oncoming traffiic and no cars around me it will be on HI
If I have a car just in front and to the L or R of my car (like a 45deg angle from the front seats) the headlights will trigger to LO
And even with that I rarely get flashed so I am thinking my headlights are way too low
777Gage
SILVER Star
Try what @bloc recommends first, I did and it fixed my issue immediately.
I'm running a 2.5 Bilstein lift and was getting flashed from other drivers constantly. I searched the forum and found this thread, adjusted the OEM linkage, haven't had a single issue since. (if I go higher eventually, I might need a different solution but for now, all is well)
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Ok, adjusted the linkage and when I turned on the headlights I noticed that the headlights didn’t go thru an auto level cycle at all.
So, where to go from here? No fault lights or errors on the dash…..
So, where to go from here? No fault lights or errors on the dash…..
bloc
SILVER Star
I don’t recall the resolution but do remember people posting about this exactly. You’ll need to do some searching.
So you have a US 2016 LC200?
I’ve never seen my US 17 LC200 do the auto leveling like the video from Australia posted above does. There was some discussion and no clear answer about whether the Australia headlight do them and the US ones don’t.
No, I've got a US 2018 LC200. I don't recall it ever doing the headlight "dance" when I've started it, I picked it up used about a year ago. I find it highly unlikely that there's something wrong with the leveling mechanism on both our 200's. So maybe the US ones just don't do it? Seems strange tho, ever other car I've had with self leveling headlights does it...
Yes they do it, only when there is a significant change in load and then you start the vehicle. I noticed this very well when I adjusted mine due to lift as described many times here…
PSA: this is the safe way to adjust ride height headlight aiming DO NOT adjust with the headlight screws that is only to adjust headlight to headlight. You run the risk of stripping out the screw and spending $1,500 on a new headlight. Unfortunately I speak from experience
Interesting. So they don't do it unless it senses that the alignment is way outta whack?
Way out of whack might be a bit much but yeah… you just can’t see it unless you park it aiming against a a wall just a few feet in front of you
I should be able to see it do the calibration dance in my garage tho, at that point the front wall of the garage is only a few feet away. I've never seen it do the dance. So does it only go thru the calibration cycle when it sense that it's beyond a certain alignment point?
Moby
GOLD Star
FWIW I didn't use the TJM part or any other extended linkage. I'm running no rear lift and front leveling lift so my lights were off. I simply took my pneumatic angle grinder and extended the slot in the auto leveling bracket up towards the floor. Then used the Daniel Stern method to set them correctly using the extra travel of the slot. I still get flashed occasionally, but at least I know that it is just the lights, not the aim.
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Daniel Stern method? Do your headlights do the calibration dance when you first turn them on?
