Adjusting your headlights is sometimes necessary and you may find yourself in a situation in which you need to make those adjustments yourself. The first thing you need to do is to find out what kind of screws are used in your headlights. In older vehicles, you’re likely to find that it’s simply a Phillips head screw. Many of the newer vehicles have torque screws.

After you’re sure that you have the correct tool to make the adjustments, you have to know which way your headlights need to be adjusted. Start by parking your car’s hood just a few feet from a level wall. Be sure your car is also on level ground and you’ll immediately be able to see whether the lights are even. To have them even is the goal, so if you’ve damaged one you can use the one that’s still correct as a guide.

You will probably have a screw at the top, bottom and on each side of the headlight you are adjusting. By turning those screws, your headlights will move up, down, left or right.

Remember that you’re going to be shining those headlights toward incoming traffic, so you should never make them point too far to the left or too high so that you’re blinding drivers in the cars you’re meeting. If adjusted incorrectly, your lights can even compromise the vision of the person in the car in front of you.

Since there’s no way for the average person to be able to correctly adjust headlights for both optimal vision and to be sure they aren’t blinding other motorists, the best bet is to take the car to a shop that has the tools and know-how to make proper adjustments.