Re-Aligning Headlights

[Rocky99]

Hi... I'm new to this forum.

My son collided with a Harley in a intersection accident last year. Nobody hurt thankfully. Collision must have torqued the frame or something since despite being hit on the front drivers side, most of the visible damage is on the passenger side.

Hard to believe, but the car still drives great. Did a 1200 mile trek this summer in it moving my kid back from Salt Lake City. Car steers straight as an arrow without a hint of anything being out of alignment.

My question has to do with aligning the headlights. The impact created a two inch difference in the height of the headlights, with the driver side being higher than the passenger side.

Will it be possible to adjust them to specs? I haven't attempted anything yet.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Welcome aboard!

An impact that hard will definitely knock the car out of alignment. Front wheel drive cars wont pull left or right from being out of align, unless it is severe. What happens is the tires will wear unevenly and then the car will pull left or right because of the uneven wear on the tires, but by then the damage to the tires is done. Get the car to a competent alignment shop as soon as possible to have at least a 4-wheel alignment check done and a subsequent alignment.

Regarding headlight alignment, it all depends on how much body damage was done and I have no idea of that. If the impact was hard enough to knock things 2" apart, it sounds like the skills of a professional automotive body technician are needed in order to evaluate how much damage was really done.

 

[Rocky99]

Thanks

Thank you for responding so quickly.

Yes there has been some uneven wear on the front tires but nothing excessive.

The body shop it was taken to in Salt Lake City pretty much told us to write off the car.... being about a zillion dollars to correct damage. Said you couldn't do partial repairs... but I think that was BS.

Having trouble attaching photos so I will try again after I send this.

Would love to figure out how to make it look like a decent car again.

Thanks again

 

[Rocky99]

Photos

Here is my poor car.

 

[Rocky99]

front view

second pic

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

With uneven tire wear showing already, get the 4-wheel alignment done as soon as possible, or you'll be buying new tires over and over. That gets expensive. An out of align vehicle also consumes more fuel than a properly aligned vehicle and will also put a lot of stress, wear and tear on expensive suspension components. Having a 4-wheel alignment done will save you money.

Looks like a lot of body damage was done and several components need replacing.

 

[Rocky99]

You know, I am going to take back the comment about tires wearing unevenly. That comment was made by a guy who was interested in buying the car. On close inspection this morning, I really don't see any obvious uneven wear.

Another good sign. On the trip from Salt Lake City to Oregon, I averaged 40 miles to the gallon, which I thought was pretty darn good.

My question now is.... where do I start with the body repair? Is it unusual after an impact like this to have one side 2 inches higher than the other? Is that even correctable by a "shade tree mechanic?"

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Take your hand and drag it across the tread of the tire going towards the front of the car and then do the same thing instead this time in the other direction. I'm willing to bet you will notice some scalloping/out of alignment wear. Again, a hit that hard had to have knocked the alignment out.

As far as parts being bent and uneven from side to side, a close inspection can determine if the outer sheet metal was all that was bent, or the underlying metal, which is much more difficult to repair. Body panels can always be replaced, but metal underneath that is bent is a much more daunting job.

If the fender, hood, etc., need replacing, you can find good used body parts at the below website -

http://www.Car-Part.com

 

[Rocky99]

I know what you mean. My wife got new tires on her Kia one week and got the alignment checked, then ran over a trailer jack on the highway the next which took out the new tire AND messed up the alignment.

As for the Corolla, I think the gods may be smiling on me for once. All four tires are smooth as can be. No sign of scalloping.

I just remembered though, I bought these tires at a local store that will do free alignment checks for their customers so I should take advantage of that service.

Guess I'm just a bit self conscious on how it looks right now, and maybe have a bit of anxiety about finding out further irreparable damage that will ruin my day... if you know what I mean.