Headlight Clearcoat

Greetings everyone! Newbie to the forum and 4R ownership as of a week ago! I bought a 2020 SR5 Premium and both headlights have this on the top of the plastic of the headlight. Tried washing and light scraping without any results. I was told that it is the Clearcoat reaction to the Texas sun? (where my truck resided for 5 years) and that the next step would be sanding with a 600 grit wet sandpaper. Has anyone else come across this? Replacement headlights will eventually be in the budget-just not yet. Thanks in advance!

 

I would leave it alone since the portion of the lens the light goes forward through is still okay, and replace with OEM LEDs when the vertical portion goes.

The dumbass design trend of headlights with a large part of the plastic lens housing horizontal is just stupid. In Toyotas I first saw it on early 2000s models and over the years that's always the first part that oxidizes and peels off first. Then manufacturers doubled down and made the top part completely flat like this. I'm sure it has some aerodynamic reason and maybe saved the supplier a few cents a unit in ease of manufacturing like that but boy do these things go bad if they are exposed to UV and heat a lot.

 

They're always guys selling their stock headlights at good prices who have "upgraded" to aftermarket units. Either on here or marketplace. I would just go that route.

 

It's a little more complex than just 800 grit. I did the wife's car a couple of years ago. I started with 220 and ended with 800. Also a good two part (in a spray can) clear coat paint. There are a lot of YouTube videos that show how to do this.
Paint :

SAMURAI 2-Part Polyurethane Spray Paint Clear Coat for Car - 11.3 Ounce UV Resistant and Rust Resistant Polyurethane Spray (FLAT CLEAR, Pack of 1 Can)

https://www.amazon.com/Samurai-2-Pa...1&sr=8-4-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY

 

Awesome thanks!

 

Replacing the headlights isn’t horrible. Did mine in late October after hurricane Milton debris broke them. You have to take off the bumper cover but you will be surprised how easy that is. Toyota wanted 1200 for ONE headlight. I bought some OEM on this site for 500. Took maybe 45 minutes to replace them.

 

I upgraded but all I did was turn my lights on

 

Wow, never seen 5th gen light housing that bad. It almost looks like a chemical burn? Wondering if the previous owner used something on them that wasn’t compatible.

 

I maintained my 2004 Pilots headlights that suffered the same plastic reaction to sunlight.
I sometimes forgot to maintain them with plexi polish, and the lens got cloudy where the light comes out. I have an inexpensive cotton buffing wheel on a axle that goes into a variable speed drill. I applied jewelrs rouge buffing compound to wheel and ran the wheel on the lens. It cleaned off the oxidation onto the wheel. Then I cleaned/scraped the wheel on a piece of metal clamped to workbench. More rouge on wheel and polished more on lens.
Lens were servicable for 20 years.
My 2017 SR5 has minor oxidation now but I see the future need.

 

I’ve just never seen oxidation like that. Usually it looks more evenly distributed.

 

I have had good luck having custom pieces of Xpel film put on my headlights. A shop near me somehow cleans them with light sanding a polish and then put Xpel on them. I know they have custom printable pieces for a 4R and my Accord.

Not sure how clean they could your current ones but an idea for new headlights or if they can clean them to your satisfaction


After looking further at your pics not sure they could be cleaned well. If you get new headlights I would consider the Xpel for about $150 is what I paid. My 4R new but on my Accord the Xpel has worked great in the lights!

 

Temp fix could be the "eyebrow covers"

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375574873815

 

I actually ordered these exact "covers" as a backup in case my cleaning efforts don't work

 

Yeah, that's what I thought at first too. That's why I was hoping someone on here had seen them this bad before.

 

You might could also go with these and paint to match 4Runner.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/145812241979

I may go this route since I have the most superior and bestest color of all the 4Runners /s

 

Lol, I have had the exact same thoughts on the flat top plastic lights. I refused to believe it was nothing more than an idiotic trend when I first saw this on toyotas. Imagine my disappointment 20 years later to see this continue lol.

When I first saw these flat top head and tail lights, my thought was that they’re a perfect spot to put a cup of coffee. I never realized they make those “eyebrow” covers, but I may just do something like this to get some utility out of the “floor space” these lights provide.