Foggy headlights

I’m wondering if anyone can recommend a product to get the fogginess out of the headlights?? I just got my crewmax and I’m trying do a little bit that will go a long way! This is my first Toyota and I’m in love!!

 

I used a 3m headlight restoration kit and it worked great!

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/clean-oxidation-off-headlights.71118/

 

Where's the Captain Jack Sparrow image saying Shoo? LOL

 

I think we need @Pinay instead to move this to the proper generation thread. 2nd gen based on the "2011."

 

After cleaning and polishing the oxidized headlights in my 1st generation a few times, I replaced them with brand new Toyota OEM headlight housings... I did the same with my 2nd generation Tundra because oxidation doesn't skip a generation.

 

I'll attach some pics of mine below before/after.

Here's what I used, it took me about 60 minutes total. The kits you buy in the parts store will only last so long. I'm going on years now with mine still glossy. I realize this is spendy up front if you don't have any of it, I just happen to have a lot of it on-hand because I used to rebuild vintage turntables and often need to re-polish the acrylic lids. Once you have this stuff, you'll find uses for it, and Novus is something everyone should have in their arsenal for polishing.

Polish:

$23 NOVUS-PK1-8 | Plastic Clean & Shine #1, Fine Scratch Remover #2, Heavy Scratch Remover #3 and Polish Mates Pack | 8 Ounce Bottles

Novus 7100 polish kit
Hook & loop 3" pads:

$25 Griot's Garage Orange Foam Correcting Pads for Car Polishing and Detailing, Removes Light to Moderate Paint Defects, Durable, Machine-Washable, 11241, 3", Set of 3

Griot's 3" polishing pads
Hook & loop 3" holder:

$10 Glass Polish 3" (75mm) Backing Pad for Drill - Hook and Loop Rotary Backing Pad with Drill Attachment - GP12004

3" Glass polish backing pad GP12004
Wet/Dry sanding pack:

$14 Dura-Gold Premium 50 Sheet Assorted 3-2/3" x 9" Wet or Dry Sandpaper, Grits 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3000 (5 Ea) - Automotive Color Sanding Polishing, Woodworking, Block Sander

Dura Gold wet/dry sanding pack 15-3000 grit
Also needed: Power drill, to use the buffing stuff. 3 cups of tap water. Spray bottle with tap water in it. Masking tape. Paper towels. Glass cleaner. Two clean terrycloth towels

Basic process:

Before you start, get your area ready. Get three small cups of tap water. Start soaking the sandpaper: Take a sheet of 300, a sheet of 600, and a sheet of 1200 grit sand paper, cut it into 3" strips (my strips above were 9" wide, I cut into thirds). Drop all three of each one into their own dedicated water cups to soak - and remember which one is in which cup (300/600/1200).

Use painters masking tape (blue or green) to tape off all body panels around your headlights as you see in post # 2 above. I personally didn't do my turn signals, they didn't need it, so I only taped around the headlight. Take the window cleaner and fully, vigorously clean your headlight.

Starting with the 300 grit soaking wet paper, sand your headlight. I prefer to sand in an up-and-down motion across the surface, then left-to-right across the surface, then at diagonals one direction, then the opposite diagonal direction, dunking my sandpaper back into the water between directions, then repeat up-down/left-right/diagonal1/diagonal2. When the lens is equally hazy, stop and rinse the residue off with the spray bottle of tapwater.

Repeat the last process with 600 grit sandpaper, but make sure you get every nook and cranny. Be sure to rinse after.

Repeat the last process with 1200 grit sandpaper, but make sure you get every nook and cranny. Be sure to rinse after.

Now wipe the lens dry with a paper towel.

Get the drill out. Put the pad holder in the chuck. Put on a fresh new foam 3" pad. Plug in the drill if not cordless.

Take the Novus #3 and apply five dime-sized drops on the pad, in the same pattern dice have, then rub it all around into the surface of the pad. Apply a few random small dots of Novus around the now-hazy light cover. Every modern drill I've ever used has a locking mechanism on it, start the drill, lock it ON so it keeps spinning. You're going to want to move like a typewriter, or if you're too young to know how one of those worked, you're going to work across the headlight lens as if you were systematically eating corn off a corn cob. Start in the top-left, slowly polish in a straight line to the top-right corner, then shift down one row with a little overlap on the first row, working to the left left side again. Repeat this going

Forth ->
<-Back
Forth ->
<-Back

KEEP MOVING STEADILY until you reach the bottom-right corner, making sure you have a slight overlap with each pass. When you reach the bottom right corner, repeat the exact same thing top to bottom, where you start in the bottom-right corner, then work up to the top right corner, then move left, repeating

Up ^ - Down V - Up ^ - Down v - Up ^ - Down V

Until you reach the top-left corner.

Repeat the grid three to five times. It's OK to reapply a few sparing dots of Novus around the headlight cover between passes *if* things start getting excessively gummy. Just, whatever you do, keep moving and DO NOT let the flat surface of your sponge touch the ground. If you get the tiniest piece of sand on the foam, it's going to leave scratches all over the surface you're polishing. An average piece of sand is probably like 80 grit sandpaper.

After you're done with the Novus 3 pass, with a CLEAN terrycloth towel, spray tap water on the lens, and completely wipe the residue off the headlight lens.

Apply a NEW orange foam pad. Repeat the above process using Novus 2.

Clean again after using a different terrycloth towel than you used for the Novus 3.

You should see your headlight is very glossy now. Use the Novus 1 per its directions to treat the buffed plastic so it stays that way. Some people like to wax after, I personally like Novus 1 to treat my plastics. Re-treat periodically or if you prefer, just make sure you wax the lenses every time you wash the car and they'll stay clear for a long time to come.

Peel away your tape. Admire your work. Then clean up if you're done on both sides - rinse and repeatedly squeeze our your 3" Griot's pads under a faucet until only clear liquid is coming out, let them dry overnight, and put back in the bag for next job - maybe your fog lights?

The whole point here is this:

You're wet-sanding with 300 grit to shave off the hazy oxidized plastic off the lens.
You're wet-sanding with 600 grit to knock down any scratches from the 300 grit.
You're wet-sanding with 1200 grit to knock down any scratches from the 600 grit.
You're using Novus 3 to polish out the very-fine scratches from the 1200 grit.
You're using Novus 2 to polish out the ultra-fine scratches from Novus 3 to give yourself a silky-smooth surface.
You're using Novus 1 to treat and seal your freshly polished plastic.

Commercial products from the big-box stores don't really dig as deep and aren't as thorough as this, which is why they don't last as long. Their reality is, they can't sell you a kit with this many pieces at a price point that makes financial sense - their kits are already damn expensive! And they ultimately want you to come back later.

You'll need to finish this off by applying cleracoat, or the haze will return in a few months. 3M makes a good clearcoat wipe that's reasonable. Meguair's also has their 'keep clear' spray product if you prefer masking and spraying the lenses with a few coats instead.

In all honesty, it's arguably cheaper to buy new housings. But the Chinese re-pops proliferating the market are often garbage, and OEM you're looking at $450 easy right now to get replacements.

Here's my before/after. Sadly, when I polished mine out, I found the lenses are pretty significantly cracked, which was barely visible under the haze:

 

The most important thing to do when finished polished, is to keep them that way forever. I swear by installing clear PPF (paint protection film) on the headlights. Xpel makes pre-cut film for a lots of makes and models that you can DIY (I did on a Jeep GC, very easy), or find a local tint / PPF shop to do it. Mine charges $40 bucks for putting clear film on the headlights - I had him do my Tundra when I bought it. My headlights look new. Once you have the PPF installed the headlights don't oxidize or degrade, and no need to reapply wax or re-polish. My Jeep GC has had this installed on it's headlights for 7 years, parked outside, and still looks perfect.

 

Wet sand and clearcoat them. If you were local I would do them for you.