Toyota Tundra Forum

Some might ask why someone would want or need to bake their headlights? Some people choose to paint the chrome around the lights that are not part of the reflectors. Gives it a different look from the stock chrome ones. Many paint them black. Some will color match them. And few will be daring and try some combo of the two. Anyway, in order to open up the headlights, you have to heat them to soften up the sealant that holds the clear lens to the black plastic. That makes the sealant malleable while hot and easier to separate.

Most say that you have to heat the headlight at 275 degrees for 12-15 minutes on the highest rack you can fit the light on. Well, seems my oven is smaller than other ovens so I had to stand the light up rather than lay it on the back on a cookie tray. That meant I had to use the rack on the lowest position. I had preheated the tray in the oven, probably shouldn't have done that. I set the light on the tray and it slid a little and touched the side so I put a layer of foil under the light to keep it from sliding. I heated mine @250 for 10 minutes. I try to err on the side of caution cause I tend to have bad luck with stuff like this. This time was no different. I checked it a couple of times and it looked fine.

When the 10 minutes was up, I pulled the light out and then realized what happened. The preheated cookie sheet was too hot and was melting the plastic. That is why it was sliding when I first put it in. It is OK since it didn't damage any major parts and can still be used like normal.

Now I had a second headlight that needed to be baked. Time for a change of how I am going to do this. I kept the preheated cookie sheet, but put in about 24 ounces of tap water in the pan. That should keep the pan at or below 212 degrees (boiling point of water) for the 10 minutes needed to heat the headlight. That should hopefully be low enough not to melt the plastic again. Pulled the light out after 10 minutes and it worked like a charm. No melting at all and the lights came apart fairly easily.

And of course, I took some pics of the melted parts.


The left one is the melted one:

Melted:

Unmelted:


It still will work fine so it's not a big deal. But for anyone doing this in the future, add water to the pan that is holding the light to avoid this in the future.

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Any questions about truck mods I have done need to be asked in the forums. Don't send me a private message about mods cause I probably won't answer that PM unless there is money involved.

2007 SR5 Crewmax 5.7L 4x4
Mods: nerf bars, Truxedo tonneau, radar detector power, 3M clear bra, fog lights, black billet grille, rear differential breather, parking sensors, Line-X, power tailgate lock, hood safety latch mod, one off driving lights behind grille, Pioneer NAV w/ OEM camera, Flowmaster 50 SUV dual/dual, blue LED dash lights, Volant CAI, Llumar tint, CompuStar Pro alarm, ProComp 6066 20" wheels, Cooper Zeon LTZ 275/60/20 tires, OME HD coilover lift, Firestone helper air bags, 55w reverse lights, stereo cable lock, Tekonsha P3 brake controller, colormatched exterior parts (de-chromed truck), eDead sound proofing, CDT Audio speakers, Custom made speaker brackets, Weathertech floor mats
All mod descriptions and pictures © 2007-2009 by Toxarch. They may be copied only for personal use and the mods may be done for non-profit only.

thanks for the tip wanted to do this for a some time, but the head lights cost to much for me to just try it out. I always try and make sure i have enough cash on hand to buy all new parts just in case cluster ##$% happens but the headlights and the grill surround have been calling to me for quite some time now. Hope it all turns out like you want, are u just going to reuse the same glue? or scrap off and do new? or add new and reuse old?.

and lol preheated the pan? u making cookies or something...

That's exactly why I haven't tried this yet.

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07 DC SR5 Long Bed Desert Pyrite Mica, folding rear seat mod, Raptor step bars, OEM back-up camera, "iPod in the ashtray", Toytec 3" leveling kit

Well, I preheated the pan because I just left the pan in the oven after test fitting the lights in the oven. Found it was easier to put the lights in if the pan was already in there.

I plan to add a little RTV and reuse the old glue. I'll put the light cover on best I can when cold, then bake them again to get the sealer pliable and then finish fitting the cover back on. It's nice that they have screws on the back and a couple of tabs on the sides so fitting them back together straight should be easy.

Someone else found a used set of lights for $75 on craigslist! Wish I could have found that deal. Would have eased the nerves a bit if I had a spare set of lights. There was a guy locally selling a set for $200. Too high for me unless I muffed these up.

I'll just wait for Marky Mark to get bored with his.

tt

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"Annoy a Liberal. Use logic and facts."

LOL! Ya think I ever will?

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Wow, double M, that is one bad-arse looking headlight!

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2007 Tundra Limited Double Cab 4x4 Super White
Volant CAI
Pioneer AVIC Z-2 (hard drive upgrade to AVIC Z-3)
Key FOB Tailgate Lock (courtesy of Toxarch)
OEM back-up camera w/flip down monitor microswitch mod
Sirius Satellite Radio
WeatherTech Floor Liners
20" OEM alloy wheels
Line-X Bed liner
UWS Black Powdercoat Low Profile Toolbox
DU-HA underseat storage unit
JC Whitney Black Nerf Bars
Lund Interceptor II Bug Shield
Tekonsha Voyager Brake Controller

^^Thanks bro!