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Will be interesting to see how these hold up to UV and everyday wear and tear.
I think if one seals them and waxes them every wash then it should hold up just fine. What ive determined to be the cause of these stress cracks in our headlights is the heat from all halogen bulbs. In particular to MY07, the nokya yellow DRL's which get so hot you can feel the lens get warm. Also the parking lights and turn signals are small halogens that get super hot.
My idea is to replace the lens on the oems and add appropriate amber leds for the turns and parking lights and a simple yellow h1 bulb for the DRL's.
Lights get here friday so maybe after christmas passes ill bake them up and make it happen!
Interesting about the impact of the heat generated by Halogen bulbs. I have an extremely low mileage ap1. The headlights etc. are in perfect shape. Maybe I should be changing bulbs to led to keep it that way?
Interesting about the impact of the heat generated by Halogen bulbs. I have an extremely low mileage ap1. The headlights etc. are in perfect shape. Maybe I should be changing bulbs to led to keep it that way?
You should be fine, care and maintenance will keep them young and you seem to be ahead of that.
I have a MY03 with over 100000kms(60000miles) on the original headlights and still look great but it has been mostly garage stored. I swapped them out to AP2 headlights this spring just for an updated look. I have a MY06 with 125000kms and the headlights have stress cracks, maybe a downgrade in the composition of the lenses?
I don't buy the idea that the excessive heat causes stress cracks. Stress cracks can occur in many materials due to large temperature differences across the profile. This can be caused by spraying cold water on hot lenses. Materials like plastics become more susceptible to stress cracks over time as well due to thermal fatigue and UV light exposure. But the stress caused by temp differences, resulting in localized thermal expansion and contraction can be significant.
Same with windshields of older cars. I have had windshields on other cars crack right across the lower windshield without any chips and I've seen this in many others. And it happens right where the defrost vent hits the windshield.
My '03 S2000 has 362,000 miles and no stress cracks on my lenses. I have to be doing something different than some others. I do a significant amount of highway driving, much of it at night.
I have had windshields on other cars crack right across the lower windshield without any chips and I've seen this in many others. And it happens right where the defrost vent hits the windshield.
If you spend any time in the arctic regions, (Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories etc.), a very high percentage of the vehicles, new and old, have windshield cracks clear across the bottom the the glass like you describe. Seems it has to have something to do with temperature changes. It is quite cold up there that is for sure. Of course here in Vermont and across the northern US and southern Candada we have very cold weather as well, albeit for a shorter time each year. Maybe its just not quite so extreme. But, I bet sudden temperature changes has something to do with these windshield cracks.
But, maybe its UV exposure for the plastic headlights?? Is your high mileage ap1 stored in a garage? Is this something that tends to happen on cars that are outside in the sun a lot?
Yes, my S is garaged at night when I'm home. But it has been exposed to a significant amount of sunlight during the day.
It would be interesting to know what the owners of stress-cracked lights have in common. Do they keep their lights on often in daylight hours? Do they use their brights often? Do they spend lots of time idling in traffic with their lights on? I don't do any of these much. If any of them keep their lights on on hot days and get splashed or hit pop-up showers often, that could explain it.
I ordered some of the listed headlights to swap lenses (initially had spec-d but they aren't exactly like OEM). Received my order Friday, opened them up to take a look and this is what I found:
Not only is the top light smoked and chrome internals, but the shroud is broken (not that it matters, I just wanted lenses) and then the obvious issue is that both are for the passenger side. I'm very disappointed, as there are no longer any available and I think my only recourse will be to return this set for a refund. Hopefully they become available again.
