My most recent project on my 2006 LX470 was to replace the yellowing and scratched polycarbonate lenses with glass lenses. From my understanding, the 1998-2002 LX470 came with glass headlights and in 2003, they switched to polycarbonate. I had a 2000 prior to this one and my wife had a 2000 4runner with glass lenses and it was so nice to not have the headlights age the vehicle.
I ordered glass lenses from eBay, see link below. They shipped from China and took about a month to get delivered. One showed up shattered unfortunately, but the seller was able to send out a replacement at no charge. The arrived within about 2 weeks.
Glass Lenses Link: A Pair For Lexus LX470 1998-2007 Front Headlight Clear Lens Housing + Seal Glue | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/275754569788
Shipping box from china and glass lens unpacked
I had also decided to change out the corner light housings to clear side marker ones. I bought a cheap set off Aliexpress. This was a much worse buy. They ended up being substantially lower quality plastic Thant the OEM ones. They also didn’t really fit well. I wouldn’t recommend this. I kept my cracked OEM ones and will likely replace them with OEM corner housings in the future.
Corner Lights:
Don’t Buy: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...2808573.1005001721675186&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
Buy Instead: Front Clearance Lamp - 2006 Lexus LX470 - https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts-list/2006-lexus-lx470/electrical/front_clearance_lamp.html?pnc=81610L
In order to replace the headlight lenses, I removed the entire headlight housing. There are 4 10mm bolts that hold on the main housing. One bolt is hidden by a trim piece closest to the center of the front of the truck. There are multiple good videos of this on YouTube.
Once removed, I removed the 8 clips with a flat head screwdriver and 2 screws in the bottom center on the housing that holds the polycarbonate lenses in place. These 2 screws are not used with the glass lenses, all 8 clips will be reused. To melt the glue that seals the lens in place, I baked the housing in my oven at 200° (f) for 15-20 mins. (With a convection oven, I recommend flipping the headlight around halfway through) I baked it in a glass pan to prevent the plastic coming in contact with the metal grates as well.
Glass in back, old polycarbonate in front. Screw holes with screws removed shown.
Lenses were pretty easy to remove after that. With the lens out, I used the provided headlight sealant in the grooves. I found that stretching out the sealant to a thinner bead worked fine as I wasn’t able to remove much of the old sealant. I then baked the headlight housing with the new sealant bead for another 10 mins at the same temperature to soften the sealant prior to installing the new glass lens.
Installing the glass lens after the sealant was warmed up wasn’t too difficult. I would recommend using the clips to help compress the lens into the housing and ensuring a water tight fit. I was unable to get one of the clips on due to having too much sealant in a section and it hardening quicker than I could compress the lens on. I’ll edit this if I find it to ever become an issue.
Finally, reinstall the headlights, test the lights, and enjoy permanent non-yellowing lenses. (And add replacing those trim pieces to your to-do list that they are cracked like mine.)
Before (let) and after (right)
Please let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully this was helpful.
I ordered glass lenses from eBay, see link below. They shipped from China and took about a month to get delivered. One showed up shattered unfortunately, but the seller was able to send out a replacement at no charge. The arrived within about 2 weeks.
Glass Lenses Link: A Pair For Lexus LX470 1998-2007 Front Headlight Clear Lens Housing + Seal Glue | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/275754569788
Shipping box from china and glass lens unpacked
I had also decided to change out the corner light housings to clear side marker ones. I bought a cheap set off Aliexpress. This was a much worse buy. They ended up being substantially lower quality plastic Thant the OEM ones. They also didn’t really fit well. I wouldn’t recommend this. I kept my cracked OEM ones and will likely replace them with OEM corner housings in the future.
Corner Lights:
Don’t Buy: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...2808573.1005001721675186&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
Buy Instead: Front Clearance Lamp - 2006 Lexus LX470 - https://www.lexuspartsnow.com/parts-list/2006-lexus-lx470/electrical/front_clearance_lamp.html?pnc=81610L
In order to replace the headlight lenses, I removed the entire headlight housing. There are 4 10mm bolts that hold on the main housing. One bolt is hidden by a trim piece closest to the center of the front of the truck. There are multiple good videos of this on YouTube.
Once removed, I removed the 8 clips with a flat head screwdriver and 2 screws in the bottom center on the housing that holds the polycarbonate lenses in place. These 2 screws are not used with the glass lenses, all 8 clips will be reused. To melt the glue that seals the lens in place, I baked the housing in my oven at 200° (f) for 15-20 mins. (With a convection oven, I recommend flipping the headlight around halfway through) I baked it in a glass pan to prevent the plastic coming in contact with the metal grates as well.
Glass in back, old polycarbonate in front. Screw holes with screws removed shown.
Lenses were pretty easy to remove after that. With the lens out, I used the provided headlight sealant in the grooves. I found that stretching out the sealant to a thinner bead worked fine as I wasn’t able to remove much of the old sealant. I then baked the headlight housing with the new sealant bead for another 10 mins at the same temperature to soften the sealant prior to installing the new glass lens.
Installing the glass lens after the sealant was warmed up wasn’t too difficult. I would recommend using the clips to help compress the lens into the housing and ensuring a water tight fit. I was unable to get one of the clips on due to having too much sealant in a section and it hardening quicker than I could compress the lens on. I’ll edit this if I find it to ever become an issue.
Finally, reinstall the headlights, test the lights, and enjoy permanent non-yellowing lenses. (And add replacing those trim pieces to your to-do list that they are cracked like mine.)
Before (let) and after (right)
Please let me know if you have any questions. Hopefully this was helpful.
