Who/What is TYC? Best Source if I Strike Out with OEM?

Two questions:

The first is mostly curiousity. Who/what is TYC? I picked up another 2007 Corolla 5 speed last year; wanted one to drive while I replaced fender and lights on the first one, after I hit a deer (hey, we like 9th gen. Corollas). I suspected when we drove it off the lot that the headlights had been polished to look good. And they soon began to cloud. Then, this year I started getting condensation in the right light. I'd pull the bulbs, set up a heat gun, get it clear, then it would come back worse.

So, like I had with our first Corolla, I ordered genuine Toyota headlights from ToyotaPartsDeal and set out to install them. The left light broke a couple of rather brittle plastic tabs during removal. The right lamp, when I got it out, was marked "TYC made in Taiwan." I had also noticed the mounting bolts were not original, so suspected some body work in the past.

I'm guessing TYC is one of the aftermarket makers. Are they any good? IS there a good one out there?

And that's the second question. I want to buy new headlights for our 1999 Grand Cherokee Laredo. The WJ series was made 1999 through 2004, so that puts me past the usual ten year support of manufacturers and dealers for their cars. At first glance, I'm seeing a lot of "same as," but no "genuine factory Jeep" when I search. There's something on Amazon called Headlight Depot that looks scary cheap. If I cannot get genuine Jeep headlights for the WJ, what is my best option? (BTW I did at one point buy a used genuine Jeep headlight off of eBay, and it turned out to have been polished; in a fairly short time it clouded worse than the light it had replaced.)

Side note: I stopped at a Toyota dealership in Marysville, Washington, and asked them about an optical aiming machine. They looked like deer caught in headlights. Finally, after explaining what I wanted, they said no. Well, I have 45 years or so experience with aiming at marks on a wall 25 feet from the lights. But I'd wanted the aimer because my truck floor at work is full of generator parts, and it's hard to find 25 feet plus a car length of perfectly level floor that extends to the "aiming wall," so I can measure height accurately. There must be dealers in my state with optical aimers, but I'll bet not Toyota.

Hamilton Felix said:

Two questions:

I'm guessing TYC is one of the aftermarket makers. Are they any good? IS there a good one out there?

There's something on Amazon called Headlight Depot that looks scary cheap. If I cannot get genuine Jeep headlights for the WJ, what is my best option?

Click to expand...

- Yes exactly, TYC is one of the more well known manufacturers of aftermarket headlights. They are pretty good quality in my experience, I've replaced the lights in my Mustangs with these and never had any problems.

- I personally would stay away from "Depo" aftermarket lights. I also have experience with these as my wifes car (way back 10+ years ago when we met) had one of these mounted by a body shop after she hit a deer. It never held aim properly, eventually let moisture in and when I replaced it (with a TYC) it was noticeably "cheaper feeling" also broke the tabs which became super brittle after only a couple years as you've experienced. They're scary cheap for a reason...

- IMHO if you can't get OEM I would go with TYC. I've used them on 3 Mustangs and a Mercury Tracer (Ford Escort) without issue.

In all honesty however, NOTHING can match the quality of OEM headlights. So if you're replacing the ones on your Jeep simply because of hazing/clouding, I would polish those OEM's up and get a quality (preferably 2-stage) clear coat on there. Should last the rest of the vehicles life if done correctly. My first choice if I had to replace the OEM lights with aftermarket would be TYC.

This is just my personal opinion that I felt compelled to share because I have had hands-on experience with both aftermarket light brands you've asked about. I also would love to hear other peoples opinions on aftermarket VS OEM solutions, I have a couple vehicles that could use new headlights if I'm feeling too lazy to polish AND once again the wife now has an Elantra that has one OEM headlight and one aftermarket replacement (haven't pulled it yet to check the brand, but it lost it's aim already compared to the OEM one).

I'm not sure if they make something for the particular year/model of your Jeep but JW Speaker makes some excellent headlights for Jeeps.

I just looked at JW Speaker. Wow, they have expanded their line! But, unfortunately, they do not produce lights for the WJ. It's quite understandable that they wouldn't go into vehicle specific headlights. They have me covered if I want really expensive headlights on my old 1986 F250 (last year before Ford replaced large rectangular with vehicle specific lights. They'd even fit my F250 at work, a 2006 Super Duty with the base work truck grill and standard rectangular lights. But it looks like I may try polishing those Jeep lights. I have little confidence in anything I can do at home really lasting a long time, but if one has to repeat the process, that's life.

Of the aftermarket makers, TYC and Depo are the two biggies, and their products generally aren't as completely awful as most of the other aftermarket brands. That said, all the aftermarket lights are a significant step (or numerous steps) down from original-equipment quality, performance and durability. See this damning report on a test by NHTSA of original, TYC and Depo versions of a variety of low-tech headlamps. Utter fail by the aftermarket lights; see pages 21 and 30 especially.

To be fair, Depo has come quite a long way since those tests were done. Their more recent knockoffs are considerably less crappy than their older knockoffs. TYC has made less progress, and I would definitely rank Depo above (better than) TYC, and the industry at large seems to agree with me on that, as evidenced by two points:

(1) When GM spun off their Guide Light division and it failed completely because their technology and quality was severely behind the state of the art, GM was left without a maker for a whole lot of replacement lights, which they now source, complete with GM logo and part number, from Depo...not from TYC.

(2) The new-look UPS delivery trucks introduced a number of years ago no longer have 7" round headlamps. Instead they have lamps originally designed for one GM car or another—an Oldsmobile or a Buick, I think. They're made by Depo (not TYC) and they seem to be holding up well.

You can still get OE Chrysler/Mopar headlamps for your WJ Jeep, right and left. Those are 2004-model units, maybe not quite exactly the same as the originals in your '99 -- there were a bunch of permutations of bright-chrome/dark-chrome/black/silver bezels, amber/clear turn signal lenses, etc, but the mounts and the sockets and the optics are all alike, so at most you'd have to swap amber turn signal bulbs for clear ones or vice versa.

Hamilton Felix said:

But it looks like I may try polishing those Jeep lights. I have little confidence in anything I can do at home really lasting a long time, but if one has to repeat the process, that's life.

Click to expand...

With some time and patience it's a pretty easy job that you can definitely do at home. Just check out some how to videos and you'll see, just don't try any of the easy way out methods; do the actual wet sanding & polish method.

Again, the most important part to making all of your hard work last is a quality clear coat. A professional 2-stage clear coat is worth every penny and should last as long as you own the car. I recommend this if you need to spray your clear out of a can, it is a true 2-stage that has a little button on the bottom that once depressed will release the 2 parts together. Be sure to use proper PPE when spraying this stuff

1pt21 said:

I recommend this if you need to spray your clear out of a can

Click to expand...

Interesting packaging of a catalyzed (2-part) paint product in a user-friendly aerosol can. Can you point to any long-term results with this stuff in use as a headlamp lens coating?

Another method, using much less toxic materials and with some multi-year checkups behind it, is described here.

But eventually once the lens itself degrades, there is no bringing it back.

-Virgil- said:

Interesting packaging of a catalyzed (2-part) paint product in a user-friendly aerosol can. Can you point to any long-term results with this stuff in use as a headlamp lens coating?

Another method, using much less toxic materials and with some multi-year checkups behind it, is described here.

But eventually once the lens itself degrades, there is no bringing it back.

Click to expand...

Nice find! I've got to admit that it's pretty cool seeing all of the different methods of restoring headlights, they literally go from bug spray, to toothpaste, to wet-sanding to, ....?? LOL. But the biggest consensus is that a good quality clear coat will seal the lights from oxidation for a long, long time.

BTW, am I the only one that still owns a car with GLASS headlights?!? 1991 Acura Integra.. Man. talk about the good ol' days, now cars even have plastic oil pans and intake manifolds! Not to mention the various other plastic parts.... But I digress, that's a whoooole 'nother topic here.

The only long term results I can honestly point to are the many positive reviews from Amazon customers that used this clear coat for the exact purpose as recommended. AND I have personally used it on a Dodge Durango (headlight resto) and to fix the clear coat peel on an old Toyota Corolla front fender with fantastic results (almost body shop quality out of a can).

Good luck to all and please keep us updated, these threads are very interesting to DIY guys like myself.