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From: donch@teklabs.UUCP (Don Chitwood)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Re: Grab a hammer and we'll change your headlamps...
Message-ID: <3189@teklabs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Sep-85 16:06:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: teklabs.3189
Posted: Wed Sep 11 16:06:35 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 14-Sep-85 06:15:18 EDT
References: <553@hoxna.UUCP>
Organization: Tektronix, Beaverton OR
Lines: 23

I agree that the act of changing a headlamp can and almost certainly
will change the alignment of the beams.  That has been my experience
everty time I change lamps.

The point about the filament and support structure being wimpy points
out the difficulties of fabricating such a structure reliably and 
cheaply, as opposed to pointing out a structural defect that will
change your beam alighment with every bump.

Besides, the mechanical alignment sytem of most cars consists of springs
and, therefore, tensioned adjustment screws.  I can change the alignment
of my headlights simply by muscling the headlight enough to flex the 
springs which then take up a new fulcrum point, etc.

I always align my lights by finding a warehouse or big parking lot with
a wall.  Once I've found a level stretch, I point the car at the wall
which is a good hundred feet away, and adjust the lights to match
the low-beam cut-off.  With halogen lights, this is a snap because the
cut-off is optically sharp.

Don Chitwood
Teklabs
Tektronix, Inc.