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Fog Lights

65 messages,  Last post on Apr 09, 2009 at 4:33 AM

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#26 of 65 Fog Lights by clubman1 May 23, 2005 (2:53 pm)
Replying to: sequoiasoon (Oct 01, 2003 8:15 pm) Hello, I am new to the forums and I hope I get it right. Anyway, I have a 2005 Galant ES. This model comes without factory fog lights. I would like to buy OEM fog light kit from Mitsubishi. I have been told conflicting stories as to the car having the correct wiring harnesses already installed in the bumper and the switch harness in the dashboard all ready for the switch. Some dealers are saying everything is there, some are saying harnesses may be needed. If all is there, I can probably install myself. If not I might have to give it to the dealer to do. Anyone have any info. as to the wiring etc. has anyone installed lights and know how hard it is to do.                        Regards,, Clubman
#27 of 65 gray skies by steve_ HOST Sep 24, 2005 (7:40 am)
Fall is officially here; anyone installing fog lights in anticipation of foggy winter days?   Steve, Host
#28 of 65 are fog lamps useful or decoration by pod Sep 25, 2005 (7:13 pm)
My last four cars have had fog lights built in by the manufacturer (BMW, Supra, Ford truck and Mercury Sable). Under various conditions (including fog obviously) I have turned them on and off and must say that they did not contribute to a remarkably improved view of the road ahead. In fact there was hardly any difference at all except for the scattered light near the car. Are fog lights designed to make your car more visible to other cars in fog or are they alleged to improve road visibility for you. I don't find this. Any opinions? Replies to this message: tidester (Sep 25, 2005 9:23 pm) pod (Sep 26, 2005 2:37 pm) tidester (Sep 26, 2005 5:44 pm) biscayne2 (Feb 09, 2006 5:18 pm) sequoiasoon (Sep 30, 2005 8:23 pm) eharri3 (Apr 03, 2006 1:17 pm)
#29 of 65 Re: are fog lamps useful or decoration [pod] by tidester HOST Sep 25, 2005 (9:23 pm)
Replying to: pod (Sep 25, 2005 7:13 pm) Are fog lights designed to make your car more visible to other cars in fog or are they alleged to improve road visibility for you.   Fog lights are intended to make you more visible to others. There is nothing magical about the color, from a physics perspective, since all visible wavelengths are pretty much equally scattered by fog droplets though the eyes are more sensitive to colors in the middle of the visible spectrum.   tidester, host Replies to this message: pod (Sep 26, 2005 2:37 pm) tidester (Sep 26, 2005 5:44 pm) biscayne2 (Feb 09, 2006 5:18 pm)
#30 of 65 Re: are fog lamps useful or decoration [tidester] by pod Sep 26, 2005 (2:37 pm)
Replying to: tidester (Sep 25, 2005 9:23 pm) I am surprised since I always assumed that foglamps were to illuminate the road for the driver's advantage. If, in fact, they are intended to make your car (the one with foglamps) more visible to others, then they are analogous to running lights in a boat. Why aren't the standard headlamps sufficient to make your car visible to others? Is it simply a matter of the number of lights? Does the location of the "foglamps" matter? Could they be mounted on the roof of a car and be equally effective? Are there rear-facing (red) foglamps to protect from cars behind? Thanks for taking the time to chat. II ask these questions out of curiosity, not to be contentious. If you are correct then it is no wonder that I notice no difference (as a driver) in visibility when I turn on the foglamps in the fog. Am I the only one who was so off base in my understanding of foglamps? I am really surprised that I was so off base. Replies to this message: tidester (Sep 26, 2005 5:44 pm)
#31 of 65 Re: are fog lamps useful or decoration [pod] by tidester HOST Sep 26, 2005 (5:44 pm)
Replying to: pod (Sep 26, 2005 2:37 pm) Standard headlamps will be visible to others in a fog but I think the main motivation is to have a different color to indicate the source is a vehicle with fog lights as opposed to some other light source. Also, they are positioned low which is another cue that the source isn't, say, an amber traffic signal. Red (front or back) is out of the question because that's the color designated for brake lights. Also, as I mentioned before, the eye is somewhat less sensitive to red light than it is to yellow.   To aid the driver, fog lights do have a very sharp cutoff helping somewhat to minimize the problem of backscatter but also helping to avoid disorientation.   tidester, host
#32 of 65 Re: are fog lamps useful or decoration [pod] by sequoiasoon Sep 30, 2005 (8:23 pm)
Replying to: pod (Sep 25, 2005 7:13 pm) Fog lights are designed to help illuminate the road. Most of the "factory" versions I have seen do not do a very good job, especially domestic vehicles. Fog lights as tidester stated have a very sharp cutoff (direct line on top) to reduce the amount of glare reflected by particle droplets (snow, rain, fog, even dust). Most of the better quality fog lights too be used for that purpose also produce a yellow or amber light that reflects less than white. Many of the BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Jag utilize projector fog lights as they cast a more even amount of light. They also often have a single red rear facing one. You might notice on some of these at night when on that it appears to have 1 brake light on all the time, but then they step on the brakes and they all turn on normally. Check here for more info http://www.rallylights.com/hella/Beams.htm . Different manufacturers and DOT rules also make things difficult. DOT does not allow fog lights to be on with high beam so many manufacturers only allow them to come on with low beam and turn off when high beams are used. Unfortunately they often don't allow them to turn on with parking lights only as some do. When it's REALLY poor visibility I've found that even the regular headlights reflected too much. I normally add aftermarket fog lights (hella DE with an ion bulb too make them yellow) and allow them on with parking lights and high beam. The parking for reason as stated above and high beam as extra illumination when I can use high beams. The Hella DE's make a NOTICEABLE difference in lighting in front of vehicle and to the sides (they go almost straight out 180 degrees).   The BIGGEST things are good quality lights with excellent pattern control and a MUST is PROPER aiming. Directions are listed many places. Basically lights need to be lower to the ground than headlights. Park car facing a wall 25 ft away. Measure from ground to center of light on vehicle, go to wall and measure, the top of the cutoff line should be 4" less than what you measured at car. This way they are aimed slightly down, illuminate the road well, and don't blind oncoming traffic.   Many people that are adding them to their vehicles have no clue on this, don't care, they just want it to look good and "sporty". Unfortunately it's dangerous that way.
#33 of 65 Need instructions on how to mount pre-lux fog lights by adraka Oct 20, 2005 (6:38 pm)
Hello, I bought some old pre-lux fog lights at a garage sale and have managed to get my hands on an instruction manual for some other lights that come with a kit to help guide me along, I think I have the wiring down and have bought all the necessary wiring components. Now for my problem, I have a heavy duty round bumper on my old toyota 4x4, I cannot figure out how the lights are "suppose" to be mounted, although I can figure out other less orthodox ways to mount the lights. I am searching for some basic instructions that might show me if I need to purchase some sort of harness, or perhaps something else that I haven't even thought of. Can someone help me figure out where to find instructions on the internet, or have a definitive answer of exactly what I need? I have been hunting on the web for some idea, but have found nothing that helps. The lights are round, say pre-lux 36A on them and are pretty heavy-duty, the wires come out of the bottom where there is a nut screwed into the light, and that is it! Thanks to anyone who can assist me.
#34 of 65 Factory Foglamps by bigfur Oct 27, 2005 (2:10 pm)
Are a joke in my own opinion. Took them off of my 01 Silverado and installed PIAA P-400 four way fog/driving lights. One set of white lights is on when my day time running lamps are on (not bright). An amber set come on when i switch the headlights on once again, not really bright. Inside the truck i can manually switch on the bright fog/driving lights and they make a HUGE difference in visibility as far as what i can see. In rain or fog the bright amber allows me to see the road alot better i think. On any given dark back road the driving lights will light up more than you could ever need. I dont use the driving lights that are bright on the road with traffic very much as i think they are pretty brighter than my trucks high beams.
#35 of 65 HID Foglights on a 300M by scotian Dec 09, 2005 (4:16 pm)
http://public.fotki.com/Scotian/300m/lighting/projector_foglights/

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