Headlight restoration or Upgrade?

Hey guys,

I grandpa sold me his 2003 DCSB V6 recently, and I’m so stoked to be back in a 1st gen. Of course, it’s still a 20 year old car and could use some TLC. The passenger door handle broke as I tried to open the door for my girlfriend, so those are already enroute with a metal upgrade I found on another thread.

More importantly, what can I do about these headlights?! They are fogged over bad, and I have bad eyes at night so the long drives I take through rural areas are even tougher with this truck. Cleaning them would make it look better, but I imagine the function would not change much. I keep seeing people doing “retro fits” but not sure what that entails. I like the simple and clean look of stock but need something that functions better than OEM. What and how do you guys recommend?

I have some electrical experience, but not a ton of free time. (And not a ton of money)

 

Try the cleaning and maybe some new bulbs.

 

It's wasted money cause it'll eventually lead to buying new replacements. But it will get you buy while you save up for replacements.

 

To properly restore the OE lights, you need to do a lot of sanding with multiple grit and then spray with automotive clear. That stuff has bad stuff but it will last 15 years without issues. Very time consuming. I've done it on many vehicles. Given that our headlights really aren't that expensive, you can just buy replacement on Rockauto.

 

I have used the auto parts store stuff to try restore my head lights over the years. PlastX or something along those lines. Which, did clear the lens up a little bit, but they would always oxidize again within a few weeks.

I decided to get serious and hit them with my Dewalt rotary buffer (don't mean to brag or anything...) with Chemical Guys GAP11516 Headlight Restore and Protect. The product works GREAT, and the lens were just as clear as new. However, when I turned them on later, the inside of the lens was now not as nice as the outside, and the light is still scattered. So the exterior oxidation was gone, the light was brighter than before, but the pattern still sucked.

I have yet to replace them, as I just don't drive much (work from home life) these days. But save yourself the effort, and just get the new certified ones...

I also have the PIAA LED replacement bulbs with Hi/Lo and I like them.

 

About an hour with this product and my headlight look like new. It took all the yellowing and frosting out of them.

SYLVANIA - Headlight Restoration Kit - 3 Easy Steps to Restore Sun Damaged Headlights with Exclusive UV Block Clear Coat, Light Output and Beam Patter

$22 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 Protection

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00429NKWK

 

Upgrade. Don't waste your time.

Those polishing kits make the lenses LOOK nice, but they don't perform any better. The UV damage that smears the light goes all the way through the plastic lens...

This is what mine looked like after I had done 2 different rounds of polishing kits. Very badly smeared light beam pattern (illuminating my gutters from like 10 feet away with low beams).

Just get new housings.

 

Personally, I'd replace them if they were real bad. Or at minimum, hit them with a resto product and run new leg bulbs. I have bad sight at night too, I always keep mine clean.

 

Also, look into the "proper headlight upgrade" if you want to upgrade your lights.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/proper-headlight-upgrade.407879/

The only other viable option is a full HID retrofit, which can get spendy. LEDs in the stock housing is a terrible idea, despite what the LED manufacturers tell you. The physics of how the light in generated and reflected is simply different, and the light ends up smeared which blinds other drivers.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/why-leds-should-not-be-run-in-halogen-reflectors.454371/

But in the end, it really depends on WHY you're looking for an upgrade. I've honestly never felt that a set of new OEM (or CAPA certified) housings, decent halogen bulbs (I've also done the upgraded wire harness mentioned in the above link) is in any way inadequate. I drive all over the place on dark mountain roads, city streets, and long straightaways in the middle of nowhere (Hwy 50). You don't need to be throwing obscene amounts of light down the road to see when it's properly aimed and reflected.

I drive a lifted 4x4, and I still get blinded by the toolboys who drop sweet LEDs in their halogen housings, so just don't.

If you're looking for off-road lighting, ditch the idea of "upgraded" housings anyway, and go for a roof mounted light bar or pods and ditch lights.

 

For only 60$ and the fact it'll take less time to replace them than clean them, this seems like the best option

 

I saw these photos on one of the larger headlight threads. Its actually what led me to realize that cleaning and some bright bulbs wouldn't be the best solution

 

I think I am going with some new housings considering how cheap they are. Is the upgraded wire harness needed for higher Watt bulbs? or are there higher quality bulbs that aren't higher wattage than stock bulbs? I imagine new housing would help a lot, but I wouldn't mind a minor-decent upgrade from stock.

 

https://www.bxbuilt.com/toyota-retrofit-headlight-packages?page=3

If you wanna spend money and see the road I highly recommend. Best thing I ever did.

 

It depends. If you get just some "regular" bulbs like Sylvanias or whatever, you don't really need the wire harness. But because the Osrams in that tread pull enough wattage, it'll likely overpower the stock wiring.

That said, because the wire harness pulls voltage direct from the battery vs. thru the stock harness, you actually get more voltage to the bulbs, and thus even stock bulbs would be slightly brighter.

So there's actualy an advantage to the upgraded harness even just with stock or near stock bulbs.

 

is replacing the wire harness a simple matter?

 

Basically bolt on a negative wire, a positive wire on battery, plug original driver headlight plug into new harness and hook up headlights into new harness plugs.

 

Yeah, not too hard, just read thru that thread about the 1st gen upgrade. You just need to double check the type of harness you need. Installing it is pretty easy.

 

I just used the 3M head light restore kit, with a spray can of clear coat. Made quite a difference with light output with new bulbs. Or you can buy CAPPA certified lenses and put new bulbs in them.

 

Results very but I didn't like how much light blurred after a Sylvania restore kit vs new headlights on my GX.

Old lenses restored


New OEM headlights

 

I just bought the CAPA certified off Rockauto for my 02. If you are worried about light, bolt on a set of offroad lights and wire them to trigger on with your brights. Thats what I did on my 97. Worked great and never blinded anyone and had a tremendous amount of light.