Hazy headlights

I wet sanded mine and applied a clear coat, going a year and a half strong and still look exactly the same as when I wet sanded them.

 

This is the only "permanent" option. I've done this on a few vehicles now and it works great. BUT you have to use either a professional automotive clear coat or Spraymax 2k clear (rattle can 2 part clear coat available on Amazon or some local body shop supply stores).

My process depending on condition is -
- DRY sand 340grit to remove what is left of the factory coating
- WET sand 340-400-600grit and STOP!!! Do not use any finer sandpaper, you will not have proper adhesion if you go past 800grit.
- Clean well with Isopropyl Alcohol or plastic safe paint prep.
- Prepare and spray clear coat PER Spraymax 2k Clear instructions. This stuff is wicked, use it in well ventilated areas ONLY!
- Don't worry about a small run or slight orange peel, you can take some 2000grit and wet sand till level and use a drill polisher to polish it nice and clear.

The clear coat is about $20 and this process takes about 30-40 min sanding/spraying and then overnight for the clear to dry.

The problem with simply polishing your headlights is a lack of UV protection and you'll be in the same boat in no time. Also, the coatings, waxes and sealants with all the fancy UV protection and such are made to be a "sacrificial" barrier. i.e. IT WILL WEAR OFF. Whether that's 6 months or year, you'll be back at square one again. Polishing, applying and all that fun stuff.

 

Hey @TacoFergie you seem pretty knowledgeable. This sounds great. My lenses have the cracks in them that no amount of polishing will get rid of so I have a question. I want to replace them with new but don’t want to get the haze again or the cracking. BTW I have no idea what causes the cracks. Do you know if there is a way to protect the new headlights? Any info about why they crack?

 

i used

$23 SYLVANIA - Headlight Restoration Kit - 3 Easy Steps to Restore Sun Damaged Headlights with Exclusive UV Block Clear Coat, Light Output and Beam Pattern Restored, Long Lasting Headlight Restorer Kit

this on my previous car, worked great and was very easy to do. didnt have to worry about overspray with the spray kits.

 

Need @MESO to make some housings for a sealed beam retrofit. It might make my truck look like a ‘92 GMC Safari but at least I could see where I’m going.

 

I spent hours searching for glass replacement lenses. There is some Euro company that makes them for a BMW of some sort. I would replace my lenses with glass in a heartbeat if they were available for my truck. I wonder how hard it would be to make a mold from the stock plastic lenses. Probably too many $$$. Just thinking out loud.

 

On my 2007, one of the headlights is all fogged and old-looking, but the other is still crystal clear. Looks pretty odd once you notice it. Doesn't bother me all that much, especially since i almost never drive at night (eye problem).

 

I still have one of my original lights. I lost the other to a minor accident. A year later I noticed the replacement headlight had the cracks running through it but my insurance wouldn’t replace it. I bought a set from an 09 and put them in. Noticed that these have the cracks in them now and they’re hazing. I think I have enough lights and lenses (without cracks) to build one decent set.

Spent a little time reading about clearcoats. That spraymax 2k clearcoat is dangerous shit. Like full body suit/respirator bad. Not worth it to me.

 

I think I've used almost every restore kit out there on one of my three trucks. They do work, but within a year they are back to hazy even with waxing. I think it's just the cheap plastic that quickly degrades in the sun. Have a new set for the 4Runner on the bench waiting to go in - the old ones are only 2 years old. Sigh.

 

Unfortunately the cracking is somewhat unavoidable and not repairable. But as a temporary fix while saving up you could still accomplish this process and be able to hold off for a while. However (this is just theory) if the fading is caught early and clear coat is laid down I would think that the UV protection that the 2k clear provides would help protect the plastic from further damage....or at least slow it down.

As far as protecting new headlights it's somewhat hard to say since you'd really have to test multiple identical headlights over years with multiple products on the same model vehicle and same enviroment. There are Ceramic Coatings and Sealants that have UV protection that would help slow it in theory. But it's mostly the plastics that the manufacture use, whether it's OEM or aftermarket. Some headlight builders will use aftermarket headlights, sand and clear the lens since some lenses scratch very easily.

 

You are absolutely right about it being some pretty nasty stuff. But ensuring proper respirator, ventilation and gloves you should be good. If you are outside or in the garage with the door open and have a fan or two with an HVAC filter on them, I don't see why you would need a full suit. Obviously I wouldn't recommend spraying barefoot or in your birthday suit. . .but that's another conversation. haha

 

That’s why I had the body shop spray mine with clear coat. Wax isn’t enough.

 

^^^ What did that cost if you don’t mind me asking.

 

I bought my 2006 in 2009, and around 2015 the lenses started clouding up pretty good. I garage it at home which surely has helped postpone this. Anyway, I bought a tub of buffing compound, some drill chuck-friendly buffing pads and some lens sealer. For about $30 I got enough to do around 50 treatments, maybe more. The hardest part is taking the time to polish the lenses effectively, for good results it takes about 30 minutes per lens, and that's because I use the slow drill gear so that the compound doesn't sling all over the place. Gotta spray water all the time to keep the pad lubricated. Follow-up with a good rinse/dry and sealer treatment, which needs to be repeated every month to keep the lenses clear after polishing (the sealer is basically just mineral oil). I do the polishing routine about once per year and the lenses on my 2006 look pretty good, not new but pretty good.

 

I probably wouldn’t spray paint naked but hey I have done some dumb stuff. When I was just a little moron I mixed gasoline and powdered pool chlorine together in a hole in my parents back yard. The plume of smoke it put out drifted through a row of bushes and after a couple days they were all dead. I piled dirt on it to put it out and it was years before anything would grow there. Was kinda done with chemical experiments at that point.

 

$300. It was steep but considering I had already spent a full day doing the BHLM and it has a lifetime warranty, it was worth it for me

 

If you do spray a clear get some plastic sheeting and cover the entire truck to be safe. Overspray is a PIA to remove. SprayMax is a good clear in that it's a 2 part mix. There's a plunger on the bottom of the can that you hit to mix the components together. Keep in mind there's a pot life of something like 24 hours as it'll harden in the can.

 

Best to remove the headlight housings and spray away from the truck

 

Old thread but wanted to share this. Installed Expel headlight protection film on my 2007 15 years ago. Truck sat outside the first half of it's life (dry, desert like climate.) I'm replacing the headlights this summer just to get rid of the chrome look but thought these originals have held up pretty good over the years... never used a polish or anything on them.

 

I wonder if you could do a headlight restoration kit then do a film like this mention or weathertech UV film.