headlight protector wax for new lights?

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bmwjohn

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I bought a set of Chinese headlights for a friends Chevy Venture van to replace his heavily clouded OEM'S originals that didn't seem to clear up. Excellent fit and appearance on the new Chinese ones. Now, we would like to find a protective coating to reduce the chances that the NEW lights will cloud up. What do people suggest as a protectant to keep the lights clear? Opinions please? I hate to see the same problem in 6 months! Thanks.
 
I use Klasse AIO on them and it seems to protect well. We did 3M film on my wife's 08 VW when we bought it new, and the headlights look new, despite being outside all the time.
 
The beam looks like the OEM did before it fogged up. This particular GM light design is not the greatest, and it uses the 9004 bulb instead of the contemporary European h-4, so the bulb kills any light assembly using it. For some reason the US DOT - NHTSA refused to just use the proven and available H-4 and decided to "redesign" their first replaceable bulb attempt, AND make it a 45 instead of 55 watt low beam.ALL the other bulbs that I know of, including the halogen sealed beams (or at least the xtra vision type sealed beams) use a 55 watt low beam. The only 55w low 9004 comes in a Korean 55/100 bulb - hard to get and not very good. (If anyone knows of a 55w low 9004, please let me know). The Chinese make good quality headlight lenses, at least as compared to US ones. If Cibie made a euro version it probably would be a different comparison. Still, the van owner is just thrilled. (of course, new bulbs helped a little).
 
I live in S. Florida and wax my headlights regularly. Does not seem to help. My Jaguar's headlights turned brownish opaque and I had to mechanically buff off the clear coat. They look better, but not perfect. I'm not at all convinced there is anything you can do to help them last longer.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
... We did 3M film on my wife's 08 VW when we bought it new, and the headlights look new, despite being outside all the time.
This. I have Xpel protection film on the headlights/foglights of both cars. The Xpel film already paid for itself by saving a foglight from a 70 mph debris hit a few years ago. Not only anti-hazing, it's debris protection too.
 
Two things I know to work are 303 protectant, 100% UV blocker developed for NASA some years back-easy to use also works well on rubber and plastic, wipe on wipe off no oily sticky [censored]. The other is spray with clearcoat.
 
Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
I bought a set of Chinese headlights for a friends Chevy Venture van to replace his heavily clouded OEM'S originals that didn't seem to clear up. Excellent fit and appearance on the new Chinese ones. Now, we would like to find a protective coating to reduce the chances that the NEW lights will cloud up. What do people suggest as a protectant to keep the lights clear? Opinions please? I hate to see the same problem in 6 months! Thanks.
Mind telling me the cost (either in PM or here)? My parents have an 03 Venture and have the same problems. I used 800 grit sandpaper, working my way up to 3000, and polished them, but they're hazed on the insides as well as outside. They also have pieces of plastic that stick out from the lenses that make it difficult to sand using a machine, so I did around those by hand. It'd be easier to replace them, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend much on this van. It has 140k of hard miles and may not last more than a few more years.
 
it's been a while, and I just realized you asked the question, but the cost was around $59 delivered for the set sans parking lights, which were OK. This from e-bay. The owner had tried to clean the previous headlights - no joy - tried a junkyard set - no joy. I owed him a favor and this looked the best way to repay. He really likes the lights, however I don't know if the lights were equal or better to the oem ones when they were new, just they seemed really good compared to the PRESENT DAY alternative. All the similar GM vans uses the same stuff Chevy - Pontiac - Olds, making for bigger volume sales.Also, he is fairly mechanical and said install was easy.
 
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Originally Posted By: bigmike
Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
I bought a set of Chinese headlights for a friends Chevy Venture van to replace his heavily clouded OEM'S originals that didn't seem to clear up. Excellent fit and appearance on the new Chinese ones. Now, we would like to find a protective coating to reduce the chances that the NEW lights will cloud up. What do people suggest as a protectant to keep the lights clear? Opinions please? I hate to see the same problem in 6 months! Thanks.
Mind telling me the cost (either in PM or here)? My parents have an 03 Venture and have the same problems. I used 800 grit sandpaper, working my way up to 3000, and polished them, but they're hazed on the insides as well as outside. They also have pieces of plastic that stick out from the lenses that make it difficult to sand using a machine, so I did around those by hand. It'd be easier to replace them, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend much on this van. It has 140k of hard miles and may not last more than a few more years.
If your talking about the haze on the in Silverado driving lights, its actually the coating from the bulbs and can be washed out really easily. You can have those lights completely out of the turck in less than a minute, slosh some soapy water in them and rinse. Let them air dry and put them back on. Don't touch the mirror in side there, the coating will easily come of if you do. They, like my healights, look new, even after 250k miles. I polished the lights on my 04 below with the Meguiars kit. In about 15 minutes I had the headlights looking new. After about 2 hours of polishing and the whole bottle of polish I figured out the haze was on the inside of the running/turn signal lights. Definitely one my "duh" moments.
 
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Originally Posted By: 2Fast4U
303 is a joke esp when concerning UV. WM now sells some uv headlight protection.
Any mention of 303 gets 2Fast4U all worked up, because he claims it didn't protect his BBQ cover. If you use 303 on your headlights it will work great, just remember to reapply it every time you wash your car, sort of common sense.
 
Originally Posted By: 3311
Originally Posted By: bigmike
Originally Posted By: bmwjohn
I bought a set of Chinese headlights for a friends Chevy Venture van to replace his heavily clouded OEM'S originals that didn't seem to clear up. Excellent fit and appearance on the new Chinese ones. Now, we would like to find a protective coating to reduce the chances that the NEW lights will cloud up. What do people suggest as a protectant to keep the lights clear? Opinions please? I hate to see the same problem in 6 months! Thanks.
Mind telling me the cost (either in PM or here)? My parents have an 03 Venture and have the same problems. I used 800 grit sandpaper, working my way up to 3000, and polished them, but they're hazed on the insides as well as outside. They also have pieces of plastic that stick out from the lenses that make it difficult to sand using a machine, so I did around those by hand. It'd be easier to replace them, but I'm not sure I'd want to spend much on this van. It has 140k of hard miles and may not last more than a few more years.
If your talking about the haze on the in Silverado driving lights, its actually the coating from the bulbs and can be washed out really easily. You can have those lights completely out of the turck in less than a minute, slosh some soapy water in them and rinse. Let them air dry and put them back on. Don't touch the mirror in side there, the coating will easily come of if you do. They, like my healights, look new, even after 250k miles. I polished the lights on my 04 below with the Meguiars kit. In about 15 minutes I had the headlights looking new. After about 2 hours of polishing and the whole bottle of polish I figured out the haze was on the inside of the running/turn signal lights. Definitely one my "duh" moments.
Ha ha nice! ive done a few of those as well. They make a smiley for it. duh
 
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