We have a 2002 Ford Ranger that needs a lot of help. Also a 2015 Subaru Outback, that despite consistent waxing, its headlights are starting to get opaque streaks.

I’ve seen things as simple as a wipe to kits wherein you sand etc the headlights.

What works best for you?

I've used this to get pretty darn good results.

Quite a few threads in the search. Here is a pretty recent one.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...670062105#8670062105

I used this Sylvania one and it worked great.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...n_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDB5U4QUdD0

Depending on how bad they are, sometimes Toothpaste will do the job.

Watching this. Got a 2010 Highlander that needs some help.

Luckily, on the Ranger, replacement housings are only $20-50 per on RockAuto.

Might be worth just replacing, if the clearing effort doesn't work.

I recently used a baking soda toothpaste with a microfiber towel, water and lots of elbow grease then 3 coats of this:

Meguiar's Keep Clear Headlight Coating

Good point, P250UA5. Rockauto has the housings for our Honda Pilot at $36 each

I used the Cerakote kit about two years ago one the left headlight of our 2006 Ford Fusion.
It sits outside 24/7 and its starting to cloud over again. Its still light and in the first stages.
I will wait awhile longer and let it get worse. I only used 1/2 the kit the first time so hopefully the rest is still useable. If not i will try another brand the next time i buy.

I wish i could just buy a new replacement but the aftermarkets available were too expensive and all had bad fitment reviews.

For a quick and easy cleaning/clearing of headlights, I use a Mr Clean magic eraser.

I've had luck with Mother's and McGuire's.

Thinking the time and effort put forth would be better spent installing new housings if you can.

In my case, I had grafted a pair of projector HIDs from an Infinity Q-45 into the headlight housing of a Dodge.

It was a bit of an undertaking, but now I'm running up to 20,000 lumens overall with no glare.

On the Ranger, when you can get a decent quality complete assembly from Rock Auto for $26.79, I wouldn't bother trying to "restore" them. Rock Auto They should be easy to replace. The Subaru, being much newer as well as having to have its front bumper removed, might be worthwhile to try polishing, but it will only be temporary.

I’ve never used rock auto and am very surprised to see the very low cost headlight housing for the Ranger. Ty for the suggestion!

The YouTube video was very informative. I think I’ll go with the kit from sylvania for the outback.

Thank you everyone!

I used the Sylvania kit on 2 cars earlier this year. They still look as good as they did on day 1.

The home remedies like toothpaste may look good short term, but you need a UV protectant or they will go back to haze.

Both Rock Auto and the TYC brand of headlights are GTG. I put a pair on my own car ~4 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
On the Ranger, when you can get a decent quality complete assembly from Rock Auto for $26.79, I wouldn't bother trying to "restore" them. Rock Auto They should be easy to replace. The Subaru, being much newer as well as having to have its front bumper removed, might be worthwhile to try polishing, but it will only be temporary.

This ^^^

Did this for my 03 F150, at some point it's just not worth the cost and effort to to do the manual work to refurbish the plastic, and typically it will just come right back in short time as the material continues to age.

Polishing them to crystal clarity is easy. But it's a waste of time if you don't buy some clear coat and spray them when you're done.

Just tape them off. Sand with wet sanding paper and a sanding pad. I start at 400 then 600 1000 1500 2000 2500 but it's not necessary you can probably get away with 1500. Total sanding time is about 20 min per cover.

Then I use an orbital polisher with some medium grit car polish until they look like glass, which takes less than 10 minutes. Wash and dry really well so you can retape and have the tape adhere. I buy some cheap plastic sheeting or some of the brown paper roll at Home depot so that overspray is of no issue. Then spray clear coat from a can, try to find 2 part clear coat, let it sit for 4 or 5 minutes then spray again. Usually do 5 coats to help defend against road sand and stones that get kicked up.

Next wet sand 1500-2500 and polish the clear coat with orbital and you are good to go. Both headlight covers in about 1.5 hours.

The clear coat is what protects the lens cover from UV and exposure causing discoloration.

I recently used the turtle wax jobber from the auto parts place. Easy peasy.

But I’m gonna get what this guy recommended

https://youtu.be/E9NP0_nF2ak?si=IFj-Et0ls0Tr-i_U