My take on Factory Fog Light Replacement

Ryance39 · Jun 25, 2019

I saw another thread on the forums a while back and thought I might take a crack a fog light replacement and write up in case anyone wants to copy what I did.

This was done on my 99 limited with factory fogs, and if you're a glutton for punishment you do this the day after you went wheelin so shit falls in your face the whole time.

I purchased two of these

Step 1: take your new lights and move the mounting bracket to one side.

Step 2: remove the factory fog and bracket. Look for the little bolt I am pointing at. It is on the inner side of each light. You will need an 8mm socket to get it.

Step 3: Take your now removed fog light back to your bench and start to strip the wire protection so you can cut the connector off.

Step 4: Connect the plug to the new light. Blue and red, Black and Black. After the photo I covered most the wiring in electric tape just to be careful.

Step 5: Mount and connect your new fog lights.

Step 6: Reach for refreshments...

Step 7: Test and adjust the lights for the best angle.

I'm hoping to get a night shot tonight, but we'll see. So far I am very happy with the result. The entire installation took about 15 minutes.
Hopefully this helps someone.

Brian. · Jun 25, 2019

Wire nuts? Really?

I hate to judge, but butt connectors are readily available, stupid cheap and easy to install. There's no reason NOT to use them beyond being lazy. You could do one better and use spade connectors for easy replacement in the future if that was the big concern.

Ryance39 · Jun 25, 2019

Brian. said:
Wire nuts? Really?

I hate to judge, but butt connectors are readily available, stupid cheap and easy to install. There's no reason NOT to use them beyond being lazy. You could do one better and use spade connectors for easy replacement in the future if that was the big concern.

Judge on! That's the great thing about the internet, it's the internet and we can disagree.
Wire nuts are what I had on hand and will work just fine. I also could have soldered the wires together but chose not too.

apohl17 · Jun 25, 2019

Great install thread. I'm impressed at how well those mounted up with the factory brackets by just shifting them off to the side like that! Most guys I know that did this built custom bracketry or went crazy buying OEM stuff- that was a pretty slick install. Hopefully the lights output what you want- I am running into that issue on my cheaper "amber" LED square fogs.

I think the only reason you are getting flack about using wire nuts is that they aren't common in automotive use where vibration & the elements play a strong role in diminishing connections. To each their own!

Ryance39 · Jun 25, 2019

apohl17 said:
Great install thread. I'm impressed at how well those mounted up with the factory brackets by just shifting them off to the side like that! Most guys I know that did this built custom bracketry or went crazy buying OEM stuff- that was a pretty slick install. Hopefully the lights output what you want- I am running into that issue on my cheaper "amber" LED square fogs.

I think the only reason you are getting flack about using wire nuts is that they aren't common in automotive use where vibration & the elements play a strong role in diminishing connections. To each their own!

Thanks. When I ordered them I was hoping they would mount up easy, but didn't expect it to be as easy as it was. I also think the round lights look better than the squares do. Not sure if that has a part of what you're running into with the light being cut off by the round hole.
The light output is pretty good from what I can tell, need some adjusting though. It wasn't quite dark when I took these.
Just headlights

Headlights and fog lights

Different strokes, different folks. I did a little reading about automotive wiring last night and while wire nuts are not the go-to in automotive wiring, it's a lot more common than I expected. I found a lot of places folks use them on other forums.

cblock406 · Jun 25, 2019

Wire nuts!!! Haha, just kidding. Looks good Ryan, wish I had factory fogs :sobbing:

MStudt · Jun 25, 2019

Come on, wire nuts?:laser:

I actually us non-crimp connectors. It's the same heat shrink material used on butt connectors. But, instead of needing to crimp them, you heat them with a hot air gun, and it melts the solder on the inside.

Mike

rideexileex · Jun 25, 2019

Ryance39 said:
Judge on! That's the great thing about the internet, it's the internet and we can disagree.
Wire nuts are what I had on hand and will work just fine. I also could have soldered the wires together but chose not too.

I hate to say, but this is not judging. Wire nuts / twist locks are plain stupid in a car.

MStudt · Jun 25, 2019

rideexileex said:
I hate to say, but this is not judging. Wire nuts / twist locks are plain stupid in a car.

It's 100% judging.

How are you going to tell someone what they did is "plain stupid" or say "there's no reason NOT to use them beyond being lazy", and then say it's not judging?

Mike

Ryance39 · Jun 25, 2019

rideexileex said:
I hate to say, but this is not judging. Wire nuts / twist locks are plain stupid in a car.

You are more than entitled to have your opinion. That's what we're all here for. I agree twist nuts are not the best for this application, but it's what I had on hand, and they do work. When they stop working or cause trouble, I'll change them. I'm not recommending people use them over something else.

It's funny to me that people pick out the little things that have zero bearings on the value of the thread. I posted a simple write up with a fog light replacement that is a direct bolt in and inexpensive. For as often as the question gets asked about 3rd gen fog lights that seems to be the value.

rideexileex · Jun 25, 2019

MStudt said:
Come on, wire nuts?:laser:

MStudt said:
It's 100% judging.

How are you going to tell someone what they did is "plain stupid" or say "there's no reason NOT to use them beyond being lazy", and then say it's not judging?

Mehh, I'm just saying the same thing you are, but more direct. It's the internet.

Ryance39 said:
You are more than entitled to have your opinion.

But in another 'light', the lights themselves look great! I do like the look of the yellow lights. They'll catch eyes and be safe.

grokglock · Jun 25, 2019

Wire nuts? Jeez! Why didn't you just pour sugar in the gas tank and be done with it!!!:flypig:

rideexileex · Jun 25, 2019

What makes me laugh the most is that this would be perfectly acceptable on an old Chevy forum

weekendclimber · Jun 25, 2019

The thing I ran into when using a set of Hella Micro DE's to replace the factory fogs is that the bulbs would burn out because of where the fogs are located up front. Since they are right in front of the front wheels, they would get constantly sprayed with water when it rained and that would make its way into the housing and then burn the bulbs out and pop fuses. Could become and issue with the wire nuts.

Scramble · Jun 25, 2019

I wouldn't even use wire nuts in the interior. They're for indoor use. Where you're using them will trap water/mud & corrode the wires, besides vibrating apart. Why do the job twice? You can get a 100piece spade or butt connector kit with various sizes off Amazon for $10. I have two sets of PIAA's (4" & 6") that have seen snow, rain & wheeled in mud for years that are still working fine.

Brian. · Jun 26, 2019

Ryance39 said:
It's funny to me that people pick out the little things that have zero bearings on the value of the thread.

For my part, I see it as having a LOT of bearing on the value of the thread. Mostly because I inherently can't stop wanting people to not suffer loss or injury (sorry, double neg there). Put another way, dude, I don't want your rig to catch fire or you to suffer injury should your lights (granted fog, not mains) cut out at an important time. A *LOT* of people blindly follow things posted on the internet without ever considering that it might be unsafe, so I post for Their benefit too.

Wire-nuts are designed for solid-wire, not stranded. From experience (couple decades as a motorcycle mechanic), wire nuts on stranded wire tends to be a fire hazard. If I come across as an ass, but manage to save someone from loss ~ I'm okay with that equation.

BTW, look at all the free bumps to your thread you're getting. WAY more visibility than a huge number of posts on here.

Ryance39 · Jul 6, 2019

Wire nuts have been removed, wires have been soldered and shrink wrapped. No pics but everyone can rest easy now.

I've been very happy with the lights, and they don't seem to bounce too much for only being mounted on one side.

Red October · Jul 6, 2019

Any night shots of the light output from these lights? I like the idea of them as an alternative for trying to find stock fogs, since both of mine are currently broken on one of my trucks.

Ryance39 · Jul 6, 2019

Red October said:
Any night shots of the light output from these lights? I like the idea of them as an alternative for trying to find stock fogs, since both of mine are currently broken on one of my trucks.

Not quite "night" but it was getting dark.

Ed_C · Jul 6, 2019

weekendclimber said:
The thing I ran into when using a set of Hella Micro DE's to replace the factory fogs is that the bulbs would burn out because of where the fogs are located up front. Since they are right in front of the front wheels, they would get constantly sprayed with water when it rained and that would make its way into the housing and then burn the bulbs out and pop fuses.

I ruined a pair of Micro DEs the same way. For the next pair I'm going to extend the breather fittings and plumb them towards the engine bay, like the extended diff breather mod. I'll also use hose clamps so the rubber boots have a more water-tight seal.

My take on Factory Fog Light Replacement

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