Headlight cleaning/polishing

All that does is add a layer of oil to fill in the imperfections the haze has created. You'd be just as successful spreading peanut butter all over your lights and wiping it off. At least then you'd have something to eat while you tackle this project.

 

The kid is just irritating me. Im trying to me nice.

 

Wow, didn't mean to open a can of worms here...

 

Yea don't get too serious it's just T.W

 

Opinion's are like assh.... Ehh nevermind

 

I wonder if those are OEM lights. Did you buy the truck used? They may have been replaced with DEPO or Eagle (or some other non-OEM brand) lights.

 

Yeah, I bought it used with about 118,000 on it. I really don't know if they are the original lights or not. That one bad spot looks like something rubbed against the plastic, and it looks like it did it for a while to make it that bad. I have no clue what could have done it, though. No obvious signs of repainting or whatever on the body, so I'm kinda ruling out either an accident, or hard off-road use, but I really don't know.

 

As a matter of fact, this picture was taken the day I brought it home from the dealer in Knoxville. Look close, and you can see the rub/marring on the headlight on the driver's side.

 

It's been so long since I've had 2009 OEM headlights so I can't look at my own truck for you. I know for sure on the back of the headlight housing there will be a "Toyota" stamping into the plastic. I can't remember if the front clear lens part says Toyota or something else.

 

When I get a chance, I'll go out and root around under the hood and see what I can find.

 

Try for the passenger side, because the washer fluid tank is behind that light. You'll need a 10mm socket to remove two bolts then pull up on the tank and move it back towards the cab. That should give you some room.

The driver's side light has the battery behind it and moving that would require more than 2 10mm nuts.

I believe that the "Toyota" stamp is underneath the opening for the headlight bulb to go into

In this pic, the headlight is upside down. Where it says "DEPO" is where the Toyota stamp usually is located:

 

What I found was on the mounting tab above the socket for the front turn signal bulb, where yours is just marked with the "R" for the right headlight assembly, mine are marked "Toyota U.S.A." and the "R" and "L" designation. I couldn't get all the way to the bottom of the assembly, but I'm about 99% sure they are OEM headlight assemblies.

 

Any topic can be made a personal and controversial topic on an internet forum.

 

*Sigh* Yes, sadly, that's all too true.

 

I got sucked in. Must do better next time lol.

 

wife's headlights before, during, and after 3M medium duty kit. this was after using the toothpaste method.

 

Would this be considered oxidation? It's not hazy but more like a million tiny cracks. I live in az so it's hot as a mother out here and I did the BHLM a year or so ago to stock headlights. This cracking started about 5 months ago

 

It looks like some oxidation in the upper right-hand part of the picture.
I don't see the cracking you mention.

 

I tried to read through the 4 pages of awesome but couldn't so sorry if this has been mentioned but I used mothers nulens with the powerball for lights drill attachment. It had an attachment for your drill that would accept sand paper and the powerball so I was able to wet sand them with 3 different grits up to 3000 then polish them. It also came with a liquid polish/protectant that I reapply every time I wax it.

That is how I got them back to new on my wife's 2010 Camry which was a giant rolling ball of oxidation on the paint and headlights. It had never been garaged up until a few months ago and 5 summers in the SC sun had taken its toll. Also my 2003 ford ranger is on its 3rd set of headlights and wet sanding isn't even clearing them up, also never garaged. On the other hand my 2012 Tacoma which has always been garaged has its original headlights that look like new. One tip if you do replace, pull a part junk yards. They're relatively inexpensive and they're OEM.

 

I just bought my first (used) tacoma. I can't tell if the headlights are starting to haze or if it's something else. It's a 2011 with 24K miles. It apears to be on the inside of the lens. Any thoughts, ideas, comments would be greatly appreciated.