gen6 replacement lense forming

[lalojamesliz]

Does anyone here do it? My current headlight lenses's are still not as clear as I would like so I'm interested in making my own by following the DIY thread on hidplanet but if someone already has made some then I would rather just buy a set. Anyone know?

[lalojamesliz]

I already tried restoring them

[LUVLEXUS101]

no

[lalojamesliz]

I was looking at my headlights before I came to work and they look like they might not be very easy to do on the DIY thread the headlights used were in the shape of a long brick. Damn

[hardtopte72]

Definitely going to be a pain to do.

How about pics of your lights? You could always try eBay and buy some TYC lights and either swap your projectors to them or swap the lenses from them. TYC seems to be the best quality.

[LUVLEXUS101]

I did that to make lens for the foglights on my maxima. It was actually relatively flat, yet it took me 6-7 pulls to get it done. Either open the lights and clean the inside or just get new lights amigo. Def not worth the trouble.

[lalojamesliz]

Originally Posted by LUVLEXUS101

I did that to make lens for the foglights on my maxima. It was actually relatively flat, yet it took me 6-7 pulls to get it done. Either open the lights and clean the inside or just get new lights amigo. Def not worth the trouble.

Thanks man

[lalojamesliz]

Originally Posted by hardtopte72

Definitely going to be a pain to do.

How about pics of your lights? You could always try eBay and buy some TYC lights and either swap your projectors to them or swap the lenses from them. TYC seems to be the best quality.

On a picture they don't look bad but the difference with the sharpness of the cutt off and color band when I have the lense on and off is huge. I recently went to a auto show in Arizona when I was visiting family and I was looking ay the lenses on some of the cars and was amazed how clear they were. I guess ill just keep them the way they are.

[gator1939]

I may not understand the whole situation, but can't you just buy new lenses from the dealer?

gator1939

[LUVLEXUS101]

I've heard the color loss can be attributed to the curvature of the headlamp lens.

[lalojamesliz]

Originally Posted by gator1939

I may not understand the whole situation, but can't you just buy new lenses from the dealer?

gator1939

I don't think so but I'll check

[gator1939]

Originally Posted by lalojamesliz

I don't think so but I'll check

If not the dealer, then a body shop. I'm positive that if you cracked one in an accident, the dealer or a body shop would be able to replace it with something from some supplier.

gator1939

[kitacamry]

There seem to be PLENTY of them on Ebay...

[louie1086]

Fogging/Yellowing of the lenses is due to oxidation of the plastic from exposure to the elements and can be easily fix by using a scratch-remover product. Think about how white plastics turn yellow over time. The same is happening here.

I typically use Meguair's Sractch X 2.0 and have had pleasing results. IMO much cheaper and easier than replacing headlights.

[HiTek21]

Vacuum forming lenses is hard and a hit or miss unless you had the right equipment and know how. I tried making some custom shrouds for projector retrofit before. It took maybe 12 attempts before I got a decent set. I either heated the plastic too much or not enough so it would pop or not form properly. I also noticed some little bubbles in the plastic when it cooled (it didn't matter because I painted them). I also spent about $200 in building the vacuum forming box and different types of acrylic and ABS plastic. I'm not sure how UV resistant that acrylic i was using is either, it might yellow faster than the plastic in the Toyota lenses.

I caution about ebay headlights, while they say they're OEM they vary in quality. When i was doing projector retrofitting for my Tacoma I tried 3 different sets and all three had their differences from the Toyota lights. First one was an unknown but said OEM. This one was absolute junk, the tabs and everything were paper thin and felt cheap. Not to mention the turn signal diffuser had broken loose in shipment and scratched up the lens inside. The second set was TYC which was pretty good overall, tabs were as thick as the Toyota ones but I'm not sure of the halogen beam output. I was marking the reflector cut off patterns and it looked a bit uneven/crooked on the wall (might have been the bulbs used though). The third set was some Anzo brand which was about as good as the TYC ones but more expensive because they were black housing (I'm really not good with spray painting)

If it were me, I would check one of the online Toyota Parts suppliers and buy a set from them. It will probably put a small dent (probably $200-250 per light) in your wallet but probably cheaper than going to your local dealership.