JDebler

So I have been searching to find out why the C6 headlights go bad, fog, craze up, etc.

Mine are perfect and I want to keep them that way but I haven't been able to figure out what the cause and prevention of the issue is.

I read this on the Lamin-X site the other day...
Has any true cause been determined?

EVRose

The sun! It can destroy anything with time.

ByByBMW

JDebler

Well then. We should do something about that.

Seriously...if it is just sun exposure, is there any truth to what is on the Lamin-X site then?

Patsgarage

My best guess would be that covering them would help with UV damage, but then when the lights are on the covering would trap the heat generated by the lights leading to damage. So best bet would be covers during the day, no covers at night. Kind of like pop up headlights............

Andy43

I had my 2005 headlights covered with LLumar as they've covered other Corvette lights and was recommended by them. So far happy with product.

jshot00

UV and plastics do not get along! Worked for a injection molding company and we added a UV inhibitor but it just slowed the process never eliminated it. I keep car in garage most of the time and clean all lenses with Plexus

Orion2011

UV from the sun.

cclive

Simple.

Orion2011

Many artificial lights also produce UV. The intensity would be low that it would take an long time to do the same damage as the sun.

WW7

The only way to slow the process is to park in a dark garage.. My 2005 lens look almost new, but I'm sure they won't last that well with me owning the car..The problem is , I like to take the car out and drive it.......WW

Rusler John

I've had my C6 for ten years now and the lenses are just starting to craze a bit. They're not fogging up, but, have some tiny little lines on the inside. My Vette has been garaged for half its life.
My 2008 Silverado's headlight lenses are perfectly clear and uncrazed. It has never been garaged. It's always outside in the sun, rain, snow, ice. I can't figure that one out!

cb1980

my C6 was pretty much a garage queen until I got it, both lenses are crazed, no fogging or any other issue, will eventually replace them with one of the aftermarket brands

Unreal

Use.

If you don't want them to wear out, don't drive the car and leave it covered in a garage. Road debris, sun, etc will slowly wear them out. Just plan on replacing them every ~7-12 years. Not a big deal.

Mine are ~11 years old and starting to show cracks, etc.

jcsperson

I have an old 2005 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE that is my DD. Considering where I have to park it sometimes, it's the perfect vehicle. I bought it new, but it's been sitting outside since I bought my first Corvette 7-8 years ago. It's been a super-reliable car and over the years the original headlight covers have held up pretty well.

I hit a deer about 5 years ago, and unbeknownst to me, the body shop replaced the one broken headlight with an aftermarket part. Fast forward to this summer and the affected headlight cover is now yellowed significantly. This is something that the usual polishing routine won't fix. I polished both lenses and the aftermarket one looks like *** while the original looks good as new. Same with the lenses on our van. They look great.

Lesson learned. If you get collision work done on a car, insist on 100% manufacturers' parts. That aftermarket crap is cheap for a reason.

CSixDude

Personally, I wish GM would go back to pop up headlights on the Corvette. I've never really cared for the look of the C6 (or C7) headlights.

jcsperson

The NHTSA requires that there is a manual way of opening the headlights if the powered system fails:

They are all but banned in the EU so if you're intending to export or co-produce cars for the European market and the U.S., you'd need to design entirely different front ends.

C6 Snowboarder

I think my wonderful c5 had a manual **** for cranking open the headlight door. so that probably fixed any issues with the regulatory agencies.

jcsperson

I had a C5 too. The stock headlights absolutely sucked.

TheRadioFlyer

Modern headlights are usually a form of polycarbonate to prevent catastrophic failure upon impact from small road debris. The downside is most polycarbonate is not UV stable

manufacturers combat this with a UV treatment (usually a spray-on) that will last about 3-5 years depending on sun exposure. This UV can also come from florescent lights of a garage as well.

As a the designer of the C5 fixed headlights known as the "stealth light cannons" I found that using a UV stable Impact Modified Acrylic offers substantial resistance against sunlight as well as a fair balance between impact and scratch resistance.