Leak Proof Headlights

Just bought an 06 Taco mainly to drive back and forth to school. It had been damaged and the headlights were repaired. After our first rain I discovered the lights to be fogged up with droplets inside. Removed the bulbs and ran a hair drier to eliminate the moisture. Next day, moisture was back. Checked out E-Bay and found a flock of styles. But also found comments about leaking. Any suggestions?

 

Lots of people on here bought the black ones with the projectors you see all over ebay for ~140$. Some leaked some didn't. A simple tube of clear silicone around the housing fixes the leak issue. I just wasn't a fan of the style so retrofitted my own headlights, and ran a silicone bead around the headlight for extra insurance....

If you want to save money and keep your stock headlights, and you think yours are leaking around the housing where they mate together, just run some silicone around it, or pop them in the oven, and seperate the halves, and use some of the factory sealing stuff (cant think of the name at the moment)

 

Buy some OEM take offs. They show up in the for sale threads pretty regularly. Aftermarket lights are a gamble.

 

OEM, or go with CAPA certified. Which are 3rd party engineer tested to meet the OEM spec in quality and optics. They will cost more but be less than OEM.

 

Why not just re-seal his if he is keeping with factory headlights? He is going to have to remove them regardless.

 

I agree. Bake it. Paint it. Re-seal it.

 

Certainly wouldn't hurt to try as a first course of action since it costs almost nothing other than time.

 

True. Could be damaged beyond repair I guess.

 

Someone could have baked them before and warped it. Totally possible

 

Appears to have been disassembled and re-assembled, wil blow about this time with warm air and silicone seal the seams. May not have completely dried out first try. Looked clear, then parked in the sun where it fogged up, again. But not as bad.

 

do not use silicone on headlights

it continues to outgas even when hard and will smog up the lens over time

use proper headlight seal putty


anyhow OEM is the way to go with headlights, it's the only legal and reliable
option. no the headlight police ain't gonna get you, just saying there are laws
and aftermarkets do not pass the specifications, ever

 

You use the silicone on the outside not inside of the headlight, but ya either way the factory used butyl is easy and less of a mess, if you can pick it up locally. Silicone can be a pain especially if you ever have to remove it for any reason, I have used, and seen it used on the outside of many headlights without issue.

I went with the cheapest HID/ projector combo option available last time and it served me well for around 6 years never had a problem so I dont think the reliability is an issue.

I did a projector conversion on my last truck and had it for about 6 years and was one of my favorite mods and only increases safety, I see it being no more illegal than your tires sticking out a half inch beyond your fenders, your third brake light being covered by a softopper,, or anything else along those lines. IF you are obeying other laws they are never going to ticket you for properly adjusted aftermarket headlights.