BlackBoost

When swapping bulbs I noticed on the top, there's a hole with a gear inside. Using a small screwdriver, I can turn that gear and it adjusts my headlights up and down. After some searching, I found a gear on a rod that fits and turns that gear. Problem is it's all one metal piece. I'm trying to find the same thing without the attached rod, or figure out how to attach it to a stepper motor.


The plan is to have 2 stepper motors and add an up and down button inside the cab which will make the motors turn one step every time it's pressed. This will let your lights go up or down in specific intervals. My thought with the stepper motors is that when you hook up a trailer, you can adjust your lights and know how to get them back to where they were. Hook up trailer, and press DOWN 5 times for example, and then you know when you unhook it to press UP 5 times.


If I can get it to work, I might even go one step further and add a self-leveling option, maybe with an Arduino chip or something (hobby of mine).


This is for 2015+ headlights but might work with older ones, I've just never seen the older style headlight setup so I'm not sure if it's similar.


Would anyone have interest in this? I just need to find the gears and figure out a way to securely attach the whole thing to the headlight housing. If it works, and I can get it to be relatively easy to install, I might make some more for anyone else who would like one. This isn't for profit, so just the approximate cost of the parts is what I'd be looking for. This kind of thing is a hobby of mine anyways and I like to tinker.

SixShooter14

I think it's a great idea and it should be implemented from the factory to any truck with a tow package. That seems like it would be much more useful than the "pro backup assist" thing.

EventHorizon

I really like the idea for when I'm off roading and trail driving but to me if your headlights are pointing to the sky when you're towing you need to relook at your hitch setup.

Pugga

iTrader: (1)

It's a neat idea but, from what I've heard, it's a complete PITA to execute when you really start looking into it. Someone on a past forum I was a member of pulled it off and had a lot of trouble with it. It was a Tacoma forum and he was using OEM switches and motors from a Lexus truck that came with adjustable headlights from the factory. The self-leveling feature was extremely difficult to implement and he was not able to get it done. This was someone who did retrofits for the forum and was very meticulous with his work. Not saying it can't be done, but it proved to be a very substantial undertaking the last time I saw it attempted.

BlackBoost

True, but I keep my headlights leveled for maximum visibility with 3/4 of a fuel tank, JUST below blinding people... Towing ANYTHING brings my lights up enough to shine in people's eyes. Instead of readjusting my lights all the time, I'd like an easy way to do it in the cab. SuperDuty trucks have this feature stock for a reason.



Oh I know what I'm getting into lol Won't be done tomorrow for sure. Took me forever just to find this gear that will work. Step 1 of 500 complete

acdii

Maybe look into headlights from a Lincoln MKS or MKT that have the motors to turn the lights while turning, and use that in a vertical fashion instead of horizontal.

Johnny_bravo00

Thats thinking outside the box BlackBoost! Ill be watching for the final product. Keep up the good work!

berty

Thats a cool idea! I think the tricky part with the self leveling is finding the baseline. For instance how is the chip to know the difference between a heavy load and just being parked on a hill? And even when it is able to identify that there is a load, what is the baseline it should use to measure off of (cant just assume level is straight forward cause again, truck may not be on perfectly level ground)

Absolutely love the idea though, definitely a sub from me!

Pugga

iTrader: (1)

There are plenty of vehicles that actually have a vertical adjustment for the headlights. You basically just add a motor to the manual adjustment screw and put it on a switch in the cab. The trick is, both motors have to move the same or have set points so they stay together.

BlackBoost

Thanks. Well the idea is that it'll only do the self-level when the truck is first turned on. That's what my BMW used to do when I started it. But I could also add a button to level itself anytime you want when you know you're on level ground. But the self-leveling this is just me getting way ahead of myself on this idea. I gotta get the motors working first.



Yes, the both need to move at identical and predictable increments, which is why I want to use stepper motors. They only move in specific intervals, and if I have two of them, they will both move the exact same amount each time the up or down is pressed. This also allows you to keep track of how much you adjusted it as long as you remember how many times you pressed up/down.