Fixed my foggy headlights.

I used the Chemical Guys process since my buddy and I have basically all of their products. Highly recommended. Started by wet sanding with 2500 grit paper. Then 3000. Then two stages of compound followed by a polish. Finished with a UV protected sealer. All chemical guys products. We did the turn signals as well but they have a lot of gunk and moisture inside. Looks like they aren’t sealed whatsoever. Rockauto has replacements that are CAPA certified for $10 a piece so I’ll do that. I wonder if those have a seal in them? The cheaper ones are only $4 a piece. Anyway, this made my truck look 110% better and the lights look much brighter at nighttime.
If you’re interested check out this video. I understand most people don’t have these products and it might be cheaper to just buy new headlights since they’re pretty cheap for these trucks, but since I do have them, it was a breeze to do this. I’m not sponsored in any way by Chemical Guys but I do highly recommend their detailing products. https://youtu.be/kn9gVpF6-Mg

 

Nice!

 

In my experience those rehab kits don't end up lasting very long, no matter the brand. For me, it was about 6 months before they started looking like crap again. I know when I did mine (using several grades of polish with an electric polisher, etc...), they looked fantastic at first, but them parked next to my wife's new car and they were definitely still brown in comparison, and in six months you could already see the fog coming back.

When UV light damages the plastic, it goes deeper than the dents and scratches you can just polish out. I can still see a brown tint to those lights although it might be the lighting in the pic.

I did it twice before I wised up and just got new headlights (CAPA headlights from rockauto for ~$40 a piece).

Even after doing the restoration (twice), I didn't really notice that much of an improvement in the quality of the light beam, that is, until I got the new headlights.

 

If you read the post you’d notice I did not just polish them. I sanded them, compounded them, and polished them before sealing them with a uv protected sealer. So I expect these to last much longer than yours. I did not use a rehab kit. I used professional detailing gear from Chemical Guys who make really high quality products and a high quality rotary polisher.

 

Looks good! Cheap tip: You can do this with some polishing compound and a can of clear spray paint too.

 

Yes that’ll work however it won’t last nearly as long. This is a permanent fix. I’ve sanded the plastic down to remove the dead plastic and old clear coat. Then I compounded the plastic to smooth it and remove any scratches from sanding. Then polished to remove the haze from compunding. Then sealed them so it doesn’t happen again.

 

Looks great, but this isn't a permanent fix.

Don't get held up on that.. you did a good job, and it looks great. I need to do mine!

 

Well permanent is the wrong word. I mean much much longer than most other techniques, but yes you are right.

 

Lasted 4+ years on my last car, was still perfectly clear still when I sold it. The key is applying some sort of UV protectant, which we both did. I've done 15 or so headlights for other people on a variety of cars. In extreme cases I will wetsand the haze out with 2500 grit, but generally you can just use a polisher and compound. Clean it with rubbing alcohol before you clear coat it, just make sure its got UV protection. It is basically as 'permanent' as the paint would be. If you want it to last forever, keep them waxed up and it'll keep the plastic from oxidizing.

Also worth noting, you should either remove the lights while working or apply blue tape around them, so you dont polish off the paint on the body/bumper.

 

That’s good to know. Glad you got long lasting results. We figured it was worth sanding since we already had it but you clearly know what you’re doing and it worked. And yes, we taped around the lights so I did not scratch the paint.

 

Looks great!

 

I'm sure the Chemical Bros stuff makes the job easier. All their detailing products are top notch... I'm just cheap

 

I’m cheap too lol. Honestly it’d be crazy to waste money to buy all of the products just for these headlights. Luckily we had them on hand for detailing vehicles. Like you said, you can get the same results with less money and time if you know what you’re doing.

 

Good info, I need to do mine soon as well.

 

Tomayto, tomahto...

You sound like one of their sales people, lol.

Every manufacturer out there will claim they have the highest technology chemicals and polishing compounds, and claim "professional" results. I spent easily an hour a piece on my headlights with the kit I had, which sounds eerily similar to yours.

All I'm saying is that with headlights that are really bad off (like most of our 1st gen trucks), the UV damage/discoloration goes deeper into the plastic lens than any amount of sanding or polishing can truly get rid of.

The more you sand/polish, the better it will look for sure. And the UV protectant stuff helps keep them looking better longer. Probably best to make this process part of your annual maintenance routine, though.

I just opted to replace the headlights entirely instead of repeating the restoration process every year. For the price of one Chem Guys kit ($40 on Amazon), I just bought one CAPA headlight.

 

I’m not trying to argue about this so thanks for your input. That’s not sarcastic either haha. I hope for my sake you are wrong but maybe you’re not. This is my first try so time will tell. I do sound like one of their sales people and after using their products I wish I was lol. But again, thanks for questioning me and keeping me in line. Hopefully this post will help others willing to tackle their foggy headlights.

 

While I still have my OEM headlights, with the thought of trying one of these techniques, I ended up replacing the headlights and corner lights with aftermarket parts. Are they as good? Good question. They are better than the foggy OEMs. And the truck looks much better, almost like new (except for all the scratches and parking lot dents).

 

I used that kit on my tacoma about five years ago. Like was said above it looked good for about 6 months. Its been about five years since I cleaned up my headlights and I'm in desperate need of new headlight housings.

 

used the

$65 Meguiar's G2980 Meguiar's Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit, Car Headlight Cleaner and Restorer

Meguiar's G2980 Heavy Duty Headlight Restoration Kit from walmart. took less than 45 minutes. if it lasts 3 months who cares? they include enough product and materials for many restorations. since im just stripping off top oxidation layer i presume the headlights can be treated many many times. results are good, little effort, and i dont have to replace the OEM housing

 

looks great.
Did you use a polisher or all elbow grease?