How To Resurface Headlights

Last time we covered some important tips for driving at night. Having clear and working headlights is essential in any low-light situation; one cannot rely on a car navigation system with an in dash navigation screen alone. Most modern headlights are made out of polycarbonate, which is great because it is durable and will not break easily in a minor fender-bender. The downside to polycarbonate is it oxidizes over time and turns cloudy and yellow. Hazy, yellowed headlights do not provide proper visibility – good news is you can easily resurface your existing headlights instead of having to replace them. Here is a quick guide for restoring your headlights.

 There are many kits out there for restoring your headlights, but they all have the same basic tools you can get from anywhere you like. The main choice you have is whether you want to polish them by hand, or use an electric drill. Using an electric drill makes the job go quicker and easier, but some people do not have this tool so it can be done by hand.

Start by masking off the area around your headlight. Use two layers of thick masking tape around the headlight itself.  Then thoroughly scrub and clean your headlights, making sure they are free from dirt or caked on tar and bugs. After they are scrubbed and dried, get them extra clean by wiping the surface with rubbing alcohol.

Most kits include several different grits of sandpaper or buffing wheels. They polish the surface of your headlight using polishing discs and compounds. You can also polish your headlights without a kit by wet-sanding. We will cover the wet-sanding method first. 

Buy wet/dry sandpaper in 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000 grit increments. Soak the sandpaper in cold water for 10 minutes or so before you begin. Spray the surface of the headlight with water, and begin with the lowest grit sandpaper first,  sanding in one direction back and forth over the surface of the headlight. Make sure the surface remains wet – if it starts to get dry, spray it down again.

Next once the headlight sheds the yellow color but is cloudy from the sandpaper, switch to the next grit of sandpaper, working in the exact opposite direction of the first grit and keeping the surface wet.  Do this again with every grit, switching the direction, until you get a nice, polished surface. The last step with 3000 grit sandpaper will probably take quite a while without a buffing wheel, but will make your headlight look like new.

After resurfacing your headlight, wash them off thoroughly and wipe them dry. Then apply a UV Plastic sealant to the headlights so they don’t oxidize so quickly in the future. This should keep them looking nice and bright for years to come.

 Using a kit with an electric drill is much the same as sandpaper, just a bit quicker. One main difference is that you often do not need to wet the surface, and instead will use a polishing compound. Each kit has specific instructions so make sure to read them carefully to get the best results. Work with the drill on a low setting and use light to medium pressure – if you press too hard, you can heat the plastic and cause it to warp.  After you have finished with the last and finest polisher, your headlights should look like new. Make sure to clean the surface well, dry thoroughly, and apply a UV Sealant the same as you would if using sandpaper by hand.

The end result should be a shiny, brand new-looking headlight that is protected from UV and thus further oxidization. You can clean and re-apply the sealant at the intervals suggested on the product to retain your headlight’s clarity and shine. With clean and clear headlights, you’re free to enjoy night driving as much as you like.

10 Tips for Driving After Dark

Driving at night can be a soothing and enjoyable experience; there are less people on the road, it’s much quieter, and you can’t see much beyond what’s directly in front of you. Pop in some of your favorite music on your car stereo, forget any destinations on your car navigation system, and just drive.  Driving at night can be a great experience, but it can also be dangerous – here are some tips for driving after the sun goes down.

Aim Your Headlights – Many people are unaware that your headlights can be aimed a certain direction, much like your mirrors. Also like your mirrors, if they are not aimed correctly it can greatly affect their utility. Make sure your headlights are aimed properly so that they illuminate the road well but do not blind oncoming traffic. You can check your owner’s manual for instructions how to do this.

Also make sure that your headlights are free from haze and grime. Over the years the plastic surface of headlights can become yellowed and hazy, reducing the amount of light coming from your headlamps. If they are foggy or yellowed you can have them re-surfaced, polish them yourself, or replace them to regain proper visibility.  

Dim Your Instrument Panel – The many bright lights on your dashboard can be distracting visually from the road. To make sure you can see the road clearly, make sure to dim your dash lights quite a bit when driving at night. Also, avoid leading interior lights on as most illuminate the entire cabin and can also be a distraction.

Wear Proper Eyewear – There are yellow-tinted “night driving glasses” sold that claim they help you see better at night. These claims are false. There is no evidence to substantiate that wearing any kind of tinted sunglasses will help your vision in low light situations. Save your money and skip the glasses; pay attention to the rest of these tips instead.

 Watch For Retinas – If you live anywhere with trees, there always seems to be woodland critters about waiting to jump into the road. Before you see them however, you can usually spot your headlights reflecting off of their retinas. Watch far ahead for two little balls of green or yellow light in the distance. If you see them ahead you can slow down to make sure you don’t hit them. If it seems like it’s too late and you see a deer in front of you, slow down as much as possible – if you try to swerve to avoid the deer they will often follow your headlights and you’ll end up hitting them anyway, just faster, and possibly swerve into oncoming traffic.

Don’t Stare at Oncoming Lights – It seems like a no-brainer, but in the quiet, dim hush of your car interior while driving at night, bright lights from oncoming traffic or bright street signs can be a distraction and you can be lulled into staring at them before you realize it. 

Keep Your Windshield Spotlessly Clean -  Windshields that appear clean in the day can reveal greasy streaks that cloud your vision at night. One trick to remove the streaks is to polish your windshield with newspaper to remove all of the residue. It’s mostly oil that’s the culprit so take care not to touch the inside of your windshield with your hands. In addition, do all you can to avoid getting interior dash conditioners on your windshield – they can be difficult to get off completely.

Bolt-On Fog Lights – Fog lights help drivers see in foggy conditions by directing light low and wide in front of the car. This illuminates a wide swath of road without reflecting the light off of the fog and visually blinding the driver.  Fog lights can be useful in clear conditions as well – the positioning of the fog lights casts large shadows over objects and potholes in the road.

 Add Auxiliary Lights – If you spend a lot of time driving on country roads at night with little other traffic, adding auxiliary lights may help you see the road properly. They must be exercised with caution however because they are so bright that turning them off requires your eyes to re-adjust, taking up to 30 seconds. A lot can happen in 30 seconds when you’re driving so it’s best to only add and use auxiliary lights when you absolutely need them.

Clean and Adjust Exterior Mirrors – If your mirrors are dirty they will reflect light from cars behind you in a wider, diffused manner that produces glare. Make sure they are clean and pointed slightly down so light doesn’t reflect directly in your eyes.

Keep Your Eyes Healthy - If your own vision is impaired, all of the proper lighting in the world won’t help you see the road clearly. If you wear corrective lenses, make sure your prescription is up to date and that your vision is crisp and clear. If you do not wear any type of corrective lenses, make sure to visit an eye doctor and take an eye exam to make sure you vision is still in top form, especially as you get older

Source: Popular Mechanics

Collision Avoidance Systems

Collision avoidance systems are the next development in vehicle safety. Since the legal requirement of seatbelts, most safety features have focused on protecting the passengers in the event of an accident. It's easy to get distracted talking or texting on a cell phone, going through menus on your car navigation system, or changing the track on your car CD changer. Looking away from the road for just a few seconds can cause a serious car accident. Moving forward, automakers are looking to avoid accidents altogether with new collision avoidance technology.

 Collision avoidance systems usually involve adaptive cruise control. This is like normal cruise control, but with radar sensors that can detect traffic ahead of you to maintain a certain distance away. They can also sound alarms or flash warnings on the windshield if the sensors detect you’re getting too close to the car in front of you too fast. If you don’t react in time, the system will automatically apply break pressure. If the computers and sensors determine that you are going to crash, they will tighten seatbelts, adjust headrests, and close power windows and the sunroof to make the car safer in the collision.

Collision avoidance also includes other technology like sensors to tell if you’ve drifted into another lane or to monitor your blind spots. These use cameras instead of radar to watch the road around the vehicle and alert the driver of any dangers.

 Having these systems in vehicles make cars smarter than drivers. It alerts sleepy drivers if they’re drifting around the highway and distracted drivers if they’re about to turn into someone in their blind spot. It also prevents serial tailgaters by forcing a safe distance between you and the vehicle ahead. These systems could save many lives as the computers react faster in crucial situations than we do.

There is a potential for the system to overreact, causing irritating warning lights to flash when there may not be present danger. Some argue this would be a small price to pay for the lives that could be saved by collision avoidance systems.

Today this technology is primarily available for luxury cars, like BMWs, Cadillacs, and Audis but it has begun to appear in mid-level cars as well, like the Ford Taurus and the Dodge Charger. It will only be a matter of time before these systems are widely available for even lower priced vehicles so everyone can benefit from the added safety collision avoidance systems provide.

Source: AOL Autos