Sonoma CLEAR HEADLIGHT MOD INFO.

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:24 am

I emailed ten people on a dakota forum... and I got one response..

You set the oven to 350 degrees. for ten minutes. once its hot you stick it on there with the lens side up.. for 5 minutes. then you remove the light from the oven and try to seperate the lens from the assembly. If you cant. you let it cool and then try again for ten minutes this time. It should work then..
once open. you can yank out the plastic orange reflector.
to reassemble you put the seperate pieces back in the oven for the same time as before. then pRess it back together. he said if the glue wont soften up to put it back together. you can get some double epoxy.(you know the two tubes that look like syrings and you have to squirt and mix the hardener and the base.)he said that will seall it back up..

HOWEVER I DONT HAVE THE B*LLS TO TRY IT..... SOME ONE WANT TO GIVE IT A SHOT?

iKNOW THIS ISNT A DAKOTA. BUT THEY DO IT ..

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 6:03 am

I have mentioned this a LONG time ago.. Someone who has a sonoma zq8 has done this and it worked real well. I wouldn't mind doing this mod. Even if it doesn't reseal, nothing alot of silicone can't handle

Dragonmaster · Post by **Dragonmaster** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 8:09 am

I wouldn't put these things in the oven, most guys just use a hair dryer.

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:58 pm

I have mentioned this a LONG time ago.. Someone who has a sonoma zq8 has done this and it worked real well. I wouldn't mind doing this mod. Even if it doesn't reseal, nothing alot of silicone can't handle

what is a sonoma zq8?

do you know they guys email adress who did it. or some pics...

adrenalnjunky · Post by **adrenalnjunky** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 1:26 pm

It's the Sonoma qith the 2 inch lower suspension and 16 inch rims (RPO code ZQ8)-- The same code applies to Chevy and GMC models. (I think it does at least -- just like the Z71 off road package applies -- aren't the GMC Highriders still a ZR2 RPO code for the package?)

christian · Post by **christian** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 3:32 pm

very interesting.......might think of doing it....but like Dragon master said...i'm not to fond of putting them in the oven ...

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 4:07 pm

I have a bad habit of putting things in the oven and forgetting them. Just ask my wife about dinner the other night! I'd rather burn up a Stouffer's family dinner than one of my lights from my truck!

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:27 pm

here's where i found it http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/312337/4

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 7:32 pm

I have a bad habit of putting things in the oven and forgetting them. Just ask my wife about dinner the other night! I'd rather burn up a Stouffer's family dinner than one of my lights from my truck!

EVER HEARD OF A TIMER ?

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 7:55 pm

here's where i found it http://www.sounddomain.com/memberpage/312337/4

CAN SOMEONE steal some pics and post them on this site.
sound domain is not work friendly...

Justin · Post by **Justin** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 11:12 am

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Wed Nov 19, 2003 5:43 pm

2bunik wrote:
I have a bad habit of putting things in the oven and forgetting them. Just ask my wife about dinner the other night! I'd rather burn up a Stouffer's family dinner than one of my lights from my truck!
EVER HEARD OF A TIMER ?

Yep, got one. Just can't hear the darned thing when I'm in the garage messing with my truck!

christian · Post by **christian** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 6:15 pm

Yeah well i tried the mod and if i have any advice to others...stay away from this mod.....the damn oven cooked my lenses....mostly the bracket holding the fog lights

... So i had to run to canadian tire and buy some clear corner lenses for a 98 and up but without the factory fogs...still looks good but i would've prefered to have my factory fogs

I have no idea what went wrong. And even worse the damn lense wouldn't come off of the assembly

Forget this mod unless you have some money to through outthe window

Chris

2bunik · Post by **2bunik** » Fri Nov 21, 2003 7:27 pm

sorry to hear about that. but please provide us with some details. what temp did u have on the oven how long were they on ther and what not. please.. thank you ..

duce · Post by **duce** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:10 pm

well I tried this as well. I put the oven at 350 and let it warm up for about 5 min than put the light in lens facing up for about 2 min. than took them out and tried to separate no luck put it back in for another 3 min and tried it again still could not separate them

at this point i gave up I didn't want them to blister or worse. I may try it agene....

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 1:24 pm

christian wrote:Yeah well i tried the mod and if i have any advice to others...stay away from this mod.....the damn oven cooked my lenses....mostly the bracket holding the fog lights ...

I thought yours was a S-10? This is for the GMC guys to try.
Though I would think that a heat gun-

would be much safer.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:57 am

Sonoma Headlight Reflector Removal

Blackhighrider wrote: OK, I've seen a few Sonoma's on here with the reflector removed, and read a few places of people doing it but I finally got the guts to do it. It was actually pretty easy!

1. Of Course, remove the headlight pulling up the plastic tabs that hold in the headlight and remove the bulb, careful not to touch it with unclean hands.

2. Now remove the small metal clips on each headlight assembly being careful not to tear off the rubber gasget.

3. Preheat the oven to 350dg. I placed my headlights one at a time on a cookie sheet on top of a paper towel (lense down) and placed them in the oven, setting the timer for 6 minutes.

4. Once the 6 minutes is up, I removed the headlight and immediately took a couple of screwdrivers and start prying the edges of the clear lens away from the black housing. Once I got it far enough up on one end to fit my fingers in, I start pulling it apart with one hand while gently prying around the edges until the entire lense comes off. Remove the lense slowly, being sure not to put too much pressure on and weak points causing them to break. The reflector should fall right out. Be careful when prying not to stick the screwdriver too far in scratching the chrome inside the housing.

5. Now comes the time consuming part... Scrape all of the old silicone off of the edge of the clear lense and out of the channel of the black housing. After that, clean out the housing and the lense of any debri.

6. To seal these back up, I used a small tube of clear silicone. I ran a thick bead in the channel of the housing and gently placed the clear lense back in place, being sure that the edge of it fit snugly into the channel of the housing.

7. After the headlight is re-assembled, replace the metal clips in their original location. This will also help hold the light together while drying

--------------------
Chris

Snoman002 · Post by **Snoman002** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 9:11 am

Well it looks like this works.

The method I have heard of from the guys ripping headlights apart over at hidplanet is a little different.

They recomend 250 degrees. Let oven warm up completly, then turn oven off, place headlight in oven for 8 miinutes and it should just fall apart when removed.

But from what I have heard over there the domestic sometimes is a little different.

I do know that on my Bravada I was able to remove the lens without any heat at all, just a little time and patience.

SONOMA915 · Post by **SONOMA915** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 1:03 pm

I used a heat gun, plastic wedges and some patience. It took a while, but the result was good.

This mod is not legal in my state, but the police dont care. So I must use the FOR OFF ROAD USE ONLY disclaimer!!!

shift220 · Post by **shift220** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 4:48 pm

I've also done this to my Sonoma headlights. I forget what temperature I set the oven at (probably around 250). First I let the oven heat up fully, then I took a baking pan and placed the headlight lens down on it (don't worry, it will not scratch it or melt it). I left it in there for about 2 minutes then tried to pry it apart. If it wouldn't budge I would leave it in longer each time until it did.

You have to be very careful when prying the black plastic away from the lense as it chips off very easily. After I resealed it with some clear silicon and put in some yellow bulbs.

doughboy5499 · Post by **doughboy5499** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:23 pm

shift220 wrote: After I resealed it with some clear silicon and put in some yellow bulbs.

What exactly is the idea of yellow bulbs? Are you turning them into fog lights. I think that sorta beats the purpose of making clear lights would'nt it? IMO Fill me in.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 6:26 pm

The turn signal and marker lamps are required to be amber in color.

shift220 · Post by **shift220** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:16 pm

I only replaced the turn signal bulbs with yellow colored ones to keep it sort of legal. And they only appear yellow when your looking at them from straight on. As you walk to the side the yellow starts to fade off. It still looks 150% better then it was (especially with my billet grille)

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:19 pm

Rumor has it that there are amber LED bulbs out there. I have not yet seen them, and they may require a different flasher unit, or load enhancer to work properly.

Pauleo · Post by **Pauleo** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 7:33 pm

I have seen bulbs at the local Advanced Auto Parts or Auto Zone that are chrome im color but light up amber. Supposed to be for that "true" clear corner look. Just replacement bulbs. No need for LED. I have not tried them though. Anyone else heard of these?

jeff024 · Post by **jeff024** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 12:33 am

Pauleo wrote:I have seen bulbs at the local Advanced Auto Parts or Auto Zone that are chrome im color but light up amber. Supposed to be for that "true" clear corner look. Just replacement bulbs. No need for LED. I have not tried them though. Anyone else heard of these?

I have them there made buy silverstar