Headlight lenses

[airforce1]

I recently had my lenses restored.

They are very clear now but the only thing is the lens color has a mild yellow tint. When I look closely, I see micro cracks beneath the surface which are invisible to the naked eye unless you look very closely. I don't have a pic but will do once I get home.

Any recourse in rehabbing the color or should I look into a new light housing?

 

[Volunteer]

@chipsterguy I had the same issue I was looking for aftermarket options but there doesn't seem to be any. I thought I saw a thread on converting to the newer 13+ grill and headlights but there are other things I rather put the $ towards. The guy I pay to detail our vehicles once a year came over last night and did a 3 step process clean, polish and seal he did all three with a buffer/polisher at a medium speed he also did the fog lights they were yellow and hazy as well. All 4 really came out great I was using the meguairs plastx on them before every few weeks to keep the clear. He said after this process they should last 6months and for $40 I was happy and tipped him for coming out to the house.

Meguiar-s-Plast-X-Clear-Plastic-Cleaner-and-Polish
Works and does a good job its just doesn't last doing it by hand, maybe if you used the buffer with a cleaner you may get much better results.

I had similar issues with my dodge megacab headlights I replaced them and put the XPEL wraps on the new headlights and never had to worry about it again. I see XPEL has a kit for the 200 I'm going to order them and see if that'll help. Headlight Protection Kits - XPEL

 

[JohnJB]

@Volunteer did you ever purchase the Xpel headlight kit? I'm curious if the kit wraps the film up along the more horizontal portion of the upper headlight. My headlights are in good shape minus that upper portion, so I'll restore and film the entire headlight if the Xpel covers that section. If not, won't bother with Xpel.

 

[Volunteer]

@Volunteer did you ever purchase the Xpel headlight kit? I'm curious if the kit wraps the film up along the more horizontal portion of the upper headlight. My headlights are in good shape minus that upper portion, so I'll restore and film the entire headlight if the Xpel covers that section. If not, won't bother with Xpel.

I didn't, I had planned to but I guess he did such a great job cleaning them up I moved on to other projects. He was right in his estimate they have stayed clear for 6 months but I just noticed this past weekend washing it that they are starting to glaze again. I keep hoping a reputable company like Depo or other would make a viable replacement option.

 

[JohnJB]

I didn't, I had planned to but I guess he did such a great job cleaning them up I moved on to other projects. He was right in his estimate they have stayed clear for 6 months but I just noticed this past weekend washing it that they are starting to glaze again. I keep hoping a reputable company like Depo or other would make a viable replacement option.

Thanks. Totally agree on the replacement option as it'd be nice to inexpensively replace and easily maintain for another handful of years, especially if it allowed easy upgrade to some sort of projector option like the 13+. I can get 20% off Xpel kits so I might order just to see what film coverage looks like, but yeah, not really a priority.

 

[JohnJB]

And here's the Xpel headlight film. Excuse the poor picture as holding film to headlight and taking a picture to show coverage is challenging. It appears it does have very good coverage on the horizontal surface. I have the film located fairly far down on the headlight; I'd wager coverage would come up to within 1cm of top of headlight installed.

That said, this headlight film is much thicker than I expected. Install might be a little more difficult than I would have guessed if you're fussy and not familiar with the product. Heat gun will be key as it's not very pliable at 60ish degrees. We'll see if I get around to installing it once I polish the lights up.

 

[Volunteer]

View attachment 1921750
And here's the Xpel headlight film. Excuse the poor picture as holding film to headlight and taking a picture to show coverage is challenging. It appears it does have very good coverage on the horizontal surface. I have the film located fairly far down on the headlight; I'd wager coverage would come up to within 1cm of top of headlight installed.

That said, this headlight film is much thicker than I expected. Install might be a little more difficult than I would have guessed if you're fussy and not familiar with the product. Heat gun will be key as it's not very pliable at 60ish degrees. We'll see if I get around to installing it once I polish the lights up.

Great to hear, I look forward to seeing them installed

 

[Heckraiser]

Just thought I would bump this old thread to see if anyone has updates or if anyone else would like to chime in.

My LX headlight lenses are toast. Very cloudy, very yellow. I have used the parts store lens restoration kits, they don't get rid of all the yellow, but most of it and make the lenses much clearer. I'm happy with the immediate result, but it only lasts a few weeks/months. Not worth my time.

I'm wondering if I do the normal wet sand/polish restoration and then spray them with clear coat or wrap with PPF, if that would make this a more permanent solution? Has anyone tried this? I imagine in 2023 there have got to be a lot of guys out there fiddling with their nasty headlight lenses.

 

[sleepycruiser]

Mine seem to be peeling on the inside

 

[bloc]

Just thought I would bump this old thread to see if anyone has updates or if anyone else would like to chime in.

My LX headlight lenses are toast. Very cloudy, very yellow. I have used the parts store lens restoration kits, they don't get rid of all the yellow, but most of it and make the lenses much clearer. I'm happy with the immediate result, but it only lasts a few weeks/months. Not worth my time.

I'm wondering if I do the normal wet sand/polish restoration and then spray them with clear coat or wrap with PPF, if that would make this a more permanent solution? Has anyone tried this? I imagine in 2023 there have got to be a lot of guys out there fiddling with their nasty headlight lenses.

Meguairs ultimate is not a good long term solution. Nor is 303, or at least not for lenses as far gone as mine are.

Can’t speak to PPF but I have concerns with the heat generated by the lamps getting trapped or harming the PPF and/or adhesive. In my head I dislike clear because I believe it’ll chip from rocks, then be harder to deal with.

My friend tried the new cerokote kit and I’ve been meaning to check back how it has worked out.

I’m pretty close to working some overtime and just putting new lamps on mine.. buy once cry once.

 

[tbisaacs]

I know they are expensive but highly recommend new OEM assemblies. They took like 10 years off my truck

Build - Travis’s PNW LX570

Oh the Worthingtons are available....for a price. yikes!

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[sleepycruiser]

I know they are expensive but highly recommend new OEM assemblies. They took like 10 years off my truck

Build - Travis’s PNW LX570

Oh the Worthingtons are available....for a price. yikes!

forum.ih8mud.com

That is what I’m going to do. Funny thing is if you buy 2 at the same time they charge freight of like $250. If you order one at a time then free shipping.

 

[tbisaacs]

That is what I’m going to do. Funny thing is if you buy 2 at the same time they charge freight if like $250. If you order one at a time then free shipping.

This is what I did more or less

 

[MikeVpdx503]

Original owner of my 2013 had PPF put on the headlights but only the front facing surface. The tops are getting pretty bad but the front is pristine after 10 years!

 

[Ali FJ80]

I have also seen just replacement lenses for the LX on ebay but cannot speak of the quality. Maybe a set of those and PPF to give them more protection.

In the past I have also gone the route of sanding, wet sanding, applying auto clear coat, wet sanding lightly, polishing and have ended up with like new lenses that lasted years but it is very time consuming.

 

[1world1love]

I finally got around to dealing with my headlights this week. I did a kit about three years ago but that was mostly a failure. It improved them from the terrible state they were in, but only just. The clear coat included with the kit actually did a decent job, as for the most part, it maintained the pseudo clear state for longer than expected. They were never great but didn’t get worse for a couple of years. But the past year they have deteriorated so I decided to actually do it for real this time.

I thought about ordering a new set but I hate to dispose of them if they are salvageable, and they certainly were not the worst Ive seen. Sadly I did not get any good before pics because I thought I already had some. Oh well.

I used a 3 inch drill attachment and dry sanded with 3M 500 to remove a good bit of material. I used three disks per light. Then two 3M 800 dry and two 3M 1000 dry each. Then I wet sanded using a 3000 grit 3M trizact per light. I polished with some compound and then I used Meguire’s Keep Clear which was recommended to me. I was pretty impressed with the ease of application and results. Obviously the proof will be in the longevity but I think at 10 years old, you probably have to consider headlights as PM every two or three years.

The pics above are three days after applying the clear coat.

 

[bloc]

I finally got around to dealing with my headlights this week. I did a kit about three years ago but that was mostly a failure. It improved them from the terrible state they were in, but only just. The clear coat included with the kit actually did a decent job, as for the most part, it maintained the pseudo clear state for longer than expected. They were never great but didn’t get worse for a couple of years. But the past year they have deteriorated so I decided to actually do it for real this time.

I thought about ordering a new set but I hate to dispose of them if they are salvageable, and they certainly were not the worst Ive seen. Sadly I did not get any good before pics because I thought I already had some. Oh well.

View attachment 3304890View attachment 3304891

I used a 3 inch drill attachment and dry sanded with 3M 500 to remove a good bit of material. I used three disks per light. Then two 3M 800 dry and two 3M 1000 dry each. Then I wet sanded using a 3000 grit 3M trizact per light. I polished with some compound and then I used Meguire’s Keep Clear which was recommended to me. I was pretty impressed with the ease of application and results. Obviously the proof will be in the longevity but I think at 10 years old, you probably have to consider headlights as PM every two or three years.

The pics above are three days after applying the clear coat.

They look great.. Does mequairs say how often the keep clear needs to be reapplied? Does it seem thick like an actual clear coat paint? or is it some other thinner coating that is more a chemical protectant than a physical barrier like clear coat?

If I can find something that truly works long term my plan is to pull the bumper cover and remove the headlight bucket to get full access to the edges.. the inner parts against the grille are tough on the cruiser.. but yes, do them right, then if I don't have to redo the work every year I'll run whatever coating I have to.

My reading that a paint sealant such as meguairs ultimate wax would prevent yellowing was inaccurate.. or maybe I wasn't reapplying often enough. I was averaging every couple of months.. which is still hard to keep up with.

 

[1world1love]

They look great.. Does mequairs say how often the keep clear needs to be reapplied? Does it seem thick like an actual clear coat paint? or is it some other thinner coating that is more a chemical protectant than a physical barrier like clear coat?

If I can find something that truly works long term my plan is to pull the bumper cover and remove the headlight bucket to get full access to the edges.. the inner parts against the grille are tough on the cruiser.. but yes, do them right, then if I don't have to redo the work every year I'll run whatever coating I have to.

My reading that a paint sealant such as meguairs ultimate wax would prevent yellowing was inaccurate.. or maybe I wasn't reapplying often enough. I was averaging every couple of months.. which is still hard to keep up with.

Thanks, yeah, it really makes the state of my paint job stand out by contrast.

It seems pretty thin to me and seems thinner than regular clear coat, but I do think it is some sort of acrylic polymer based on the smell. The label says UV protection for a year. It is easy enough and cheap enough to apply so if I can clean and reapply yearly and then do a full rehab every three years, I’ll be ok with that.

We‘ll see though. Realistically, my expectations boil down to 1 - apply something once a year, or 2 - rehab the lights about every three years.

 

[04UZJ100]

I finally got around to dealing with my headlights this week. I did a kit about three years ago but that was mostly a failure. It improved them from the terrible state they were in, but only just. The clear coat included with the kit actually did a decent job, as for the most part, it maintained the pseudo clear state for longer than expected. They were never great but didn’t get worse for a couple of years. But the past year they have deteriorated so I decided to actually do it for real this time.

I thought about ordering a new set but I hate to dispose of them if they are salvageable, and they certainly were not the worst Ive seen. Sadly I did not get any good before pics because I thought I already had some. Oh well.

View attachment 3304890View attachment 3304891

I used a 3 inch drill attachment and dry sanded with 3M 500 to remove a good bit of material. I used three disks per light. Then two 3M 800 dry and two 3M 1000 dry each. Then I wet sanded using a 3000 grit 3M trizact per light. I polished with some compound and then I used Meguire’s Keep Clear which was recommended to me. I was pretty impressed with the ease of application and results. Obviously the proof will be in the longevity but I think at 10 years old, you probably have to consider headlights as PM every two or three years.

The pics above are three days after applying the clear coat.

Looks great - where did you get the pads?

 

[MSLX]

Thanks, yeah, it really makes the state of my paint job stand out by contrast.

It seems pretty thin to me and seems thinner than regular clear coat, but I do think it is some sort of acrylic polymer based on the smell. The label says UV protection for a year. It is easy enough and cheap enough to apply so if I can clean and reapply yearly and then do a full rehab every three years, I’ll be ok with that.

We‘ll see though. Realistically, my expectations boil down to 1 - apply something once a year, or 2 - rehab the lights about every three years.

I used a Meguiar's kit from wally world on my LX yesterday...happy with the immediate results...we'll see if it lasts. Wet sanded with 1000 and 3000 (included), used the included drill attachment buffing pad and their plastic buffing compound and finished with their sealant. It supposedly takes a full 24 hours for the sealant to cure, may add more today. More than enough crap in the kit to do everything again when it needs it. ~25 minutes total effort and worth it my opinion.

BTW...mother nature has done a mighty fine pinstriping job on your LX!