dwisner8

I love the look of dark headlights on a light colored car, but can't afford a new set of headlights to do it the "right" way. I've heard a few horror stories about tinted lenses can crack or overheat. I contacted Headlight Armor and this is what I was told:

"Thanks for your inquiry. A headlight protection kit is not going to cause
the polycarbonate / Lexan to fail. What you have heard has nothing at all to
do with the headlight protection kit. Polycarbonate & Lexan, what most
composite headlights are made from these days, have a continuous working
temperature of between 248 - 475 F depending on the formulation, This means
that water would boil instantly upon contact and that you would get a nasty
burn if you touched them before they reached the failure point. The
materials we use in our lighting protection kits have been tested to 225 F,
significantly lower than what a headlight would run at.

Polycarbonate lens failure is usually a manufacturing issue during the
production of the polycarbonate, or a chemical contact issue. The latter
could have occurred before you even picked up your car from the dealer.
There is one dealer here in Dallas who had to replace a lot of headlights
when it was discovered that the (outsourced) make ready / wash people were
using wheel acid on the entire front of the vehicle to make bug removal
easier... There is a long list of chemicals that the polycarbonate lens is
susceptible to.

OEM HID's typically run cooler on the front side than traditional halogen
lights. We have never had an issue with a factory HID light emitting too
much heat on the front side.

In the past early S2000, C6 Corvette, and early 350Z owners reported some
hairline cracking of the headlight lens - even without any protection
applied. Most likely a chemical interaction or an OEM issue. A headlight
protection kit is not going to cause failure of the polycarbonate."

So.... I bought a set. I have not had the lights on yet, the car is currently undergoing some engine performance mods.

Opinions please, was this a bad idea or not?

RO55

I have had clear bra material on mine for over a year amd no problems (knock wood).

White Ice

I have a 05 artic white with nothing on the lens and they have all sorts of pits that look like they are on the inside. I like your look so go for it. Ithink it might help.

MKenM

I like the look. My only question would be how much light output do you loose.

Texas_Venom

Film will not cause crazing... or fine cracks in the lense. I have been saying for years that it is a chemical reaction with what is put on the lense... not the film. I have instaleld hundreds of sets of paint protection film on Corvettes and not one single case of crazing. yet I have seen brand new Vettes sitting on the lot with crazed headlights. Unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation on the net these days... and film causing healight crazing is a great example.

ricknyc23

I like these. Can you PM me a link for the website you purchased them?

ButWhatDoIKnow

It looks nice. I, too would be interested in the loss of brightness. Maybe you could go to a brighter bulb.

John Harry

I'd be more concerned about the ticket for obstructed headlights.

MHFontaine

Me too please...Thanks !

talon90

I'd say the comments you received from the manufacturer are spot on. The reality is that cars with headlight protection / covers that develop damage are generally caused by too much alcohol in solution when they apply them. Most places like to do a wet install and this generally involves a 50/50 solution of water and a soap product. Many elect to use shampoo. High alcohol content (Isopropyl) in the shampoo can do damage to the polycarbonate. Polycarbonates and acrylics have great temperature and UV resistance and their chemical resistance is good but certain chemicals (Isopropyl, Methyl Alcohols, acetone, acetates, detergent solutions to name a few) will mar and damage the material and are known to contribute to the breakdown associated with crazing.) Further, the products that folks use to clean the lens prior to install can be as much a culprit even if the install is done dry.

Basically, It isn't the fact that it has a cover generally, it is how the cover was applied. This is why GM took a hard warranty stance against lens defects on cars under warranty with light protection or decorative covers because once it is on, there is no way to determine the install method and it could in fact be a contributor.

dwisner8

I do very little driving at night, so that wasn't a big concern. I got the lightest tint they offered, I think 50%. It was a little tricky to install, but a fairly easy, cheap way to change the look of the whole car!

Texas_Venom

Great post. This is what I have been saying for years. I install film and use baby shampoo in my slip solution. Most installers use both a slip solution and another bottle to "tack"the film and stretch it.... which is usually an alchohol and water mix. I do not use the alchohol/water mix on lights and have never had an issue. But like I said previously I have seen Vettes and 350/370Zs sitting on the lot (brand new) with crazed headlights. So that tells me its not the film but its the cleaner thats used on the lights.

As far as light output with tinted film the light smoke film will not really effect it much. I install this product as well and have used it on my personal vehicles for the healdights and tailights. It really isnt noticable when the lights are on.

96LT1Conn

By my personal experience with Headlight armor, I can tell you that they are being, let's say, less than truthful. I installed the exact tint as Dwisner8 on my 2008 VY Z06. I must say that the application was fairly easy, I had a few small bubbles, but just as Headlight armor says, if you wait a week or so, they totally disappear. The covers looked great and appeared to be a nice alternative to spending $1000 or more for used black lights. Fast forward another week or 2 and very noticeably stress fractures began to appear on both lenses. Not just a few cracks, but very many (probably 20-25 on each light). The cracks were very noticeable, but at 1st I thought they were just in the headlight armor film. Well, I did not like the look of the lights with the cracks so I decided that I was going to buy a set of used lights and rework the lights (install new lenses if needed and paint the bezels black). When I finally finished the rework and got around to installing the reworked lights, I removed the original lights which had the headlight armor film installed. At that time, I removed the headlight armor film to discover that the stress fractures were not on the film, but were in fact on the headlight lenses themselves. These headlight lenses were in extremely good condition prior to the headlight armor installation. I am 100% positive that the headlight armor ruined these lenses. The headlight armor instructions call for installation using water (which is what I used) so I have to assume that whatever adhesive they use, is what causes the cracks.
Basically I am out the $80 for the cost of the Headlight armor, and since I reworked my original headlights (painted the bezel black) in an attempt to recoup the cost of the the black lights on my car now), I had to spend an extra $310 for new lenses as I could not possibly hope to sell my original lights using the same fractured lenses. So guys do not believe what you are told, I speak from experience, an experience that cost me $390. Headlight armor will crack your lenses, and crack them badly no 2 ways about it.

PS In the 2-3 weeks between the time that I installed headlight armor and the time fractures appeared, not once did I drive the car with the headlights turned on, so I think that blaming the fractures on heat buildup caused by the tinted film is completely off base.
And if anyone wants to buy some nice black lights with brand new lenses, send my a PM.

ben dover

They sure look good.

Texas_Venom

Sorry you had that experience... but it is not the problem. I would be curious to know what solution you used to install the film. I have installed thousands of sets of headlights kits over the last 10 years and not one single case of crazing. Yet I have seen headlights on C6s and 350/370Zs sitting on the lot, brand new, with crazed headlights. It IS NOT the film. In your case... why would the film cause crazing if there was not heat??? Come up with a valid reason and get back to us. At this point you are saying that the contact with adhesive is what caused it... becaues there is no other possible explanation. Not trying to discredit your experience but film has been going on lights for nearly 20 years now and there are only a handful of cases where lights craze. And those are due to using al alchohol based cleaner or install solution on them.

96LT1Conn

As indicated in my original post, I used only water (as per the instructions) in conjunction with the squeegee provided. Before the install, I wiped each lens off with damp towel to remove any dust, dirt or contaminents. If not the adhesive, Do you have any theories as to what caused the heavy crazing that I had? As previously mentioned the crazing appeared within a couple of weeks and it was quite heavy on both lights.

mcandrew67

I have no experience with any of this, but just a thought, had you used any typer of cleaner, sealer etc on your lights, polish, rejex, wax? Maybe if you had in the past, the adhesive and the compounds used mixed and sealed then in the sunlight caused it?

scapegoat

i had my headlights tinted almost right away and can confirm that it causes the plastic to crack

Wayne O

I don't have firsthand experience with dark tint film or know how it affect the functional temperature range of polycarbonate & Lexan composite lenses. I do, however, have some experience with dark tape. I used to partially tape my lamp lenses with blue painter's tape to help protect them from damage on the track. One weekend I forgot painter's tape so I used black PVC tape on the lower half of the headlamp lenses (the same PVC tape I used on parts of the body). After a weekend in the sun, when I removed the tape there were spiderweb cracks in the lenses where the tape had been.

Just from my experience I would be hesitant to use too dark of a tint film on the lamp lenses. Good luck.

96LT1Conn

I had waxed the headlights when I waxed the entire car with MeGuiars 3 months earlier. I doubt that could be the cause. As I mentioned, I wiped the lights clean with a wet cloth prior to installation. It's very diasppointing, as I had researched all the various tinting films through the internet and extensively through this Forum, I was aware of issues concerning using liquids other than water for the installation, and followed instructions to the letter, yet still ruined 2 perfectly good headlight lenses.