After trying to get around to it for many many months, I finally got some time (and motivation) to do it. My lights didn't look horrible, but definitely oxidized. I can't remember where I saw the write-up (here or t4r or ?), but it called for 1500 and 2000 grit sand paper (which I found out I can only get at an auto parts store, not Home Depot or Lowe's), and PlastiX polish. Well, I'm cheap and impatient (not a good combo ), so I opted for just the 2000 grit paper and already had some Mother's Plastic Polish on hand.



The lighting is pretty bad, so sorry about the quality of the pics, but the lights look worse than they appear.



I started with the wet sanding. Only did about 2-3 minutes worth of sanding.



Did that, dried it off, and applied some of the plastic polish. Buffed.



Close up



Simple as that. Really made a big difference. When I was buffing the polish off, I thought that it didn't make any difference, but stepping back and looking at both lights, it's like night and day. So, total time spent of less than 20 minutes was well worth it. If any of you are looking to do this, DO IT.

 

They look great, but did this affect their night-time performance? I feel like mine aren't as bright as they should be, and my lenses do look a lot like yours did. I may give this a shot, as I'd rather not spend unnecessary money if not needed.

 

i have to do something similar with my head-lamps. Hit a deer last year and got a new housing on the drivers side...but on the other side its the orginal one and with my HID's I can tell one is faded....I guess I could heat up the glass housing and polish it with something.....?

 

iv never done this to headlight housings, mainly being that i have glass H-4 conversion housings in my 86. Although i have done baiscally the same thing to my corner and turnsignal lenses, i thing i finished up with like 2500 grit though. looks like it did an amazing job on the headlights, ill have to remeber that when i finaly get a taco or 3rd gen runner.

 

i was gonna be searching what to use, but now i don't have too


just another thing to add to the to do list when the weather warms up lol

 

WOW, what a difference!!!! good job.

 

Well, the lights definitely seem brighter. I did not do a before and after test shot, because it was during the day. But driving around at night, it does seem brighter. As to whether that's accurate or not, I don't know, because we all seem to see what we want to see especially if we spent the time and money.

 

taco's only. all 3rd gens have glass lenses (fluted or clear). just a note, if the oxidizing is REALLY bad, i'd start with 600 grit, to save you time of eating away all that "flaky" crap. move on to 1000, 2k, and you're good to go.

ill add another note though - doing this removes that protective film that originally came on the headlights - thats the film thats getting oxidized (kinda like oxidizing paint on a car). after you do this, i've noticed that the plastic yellows and oxidizes a lot faster. no biggie though, as maintenance on it should take like 5-10 minutes. you can do it every time you wax your truck i guess. just wanted to throw that out there.