Fog lights, on or off
- Thread starter HeavyD
- Start date
atomic punk
New member
If you really want lights that help you see in dense fog, then it's best to get high power driving or fog lights, and mount them as close to the road as possible.
I know the beam patterns for fogs are different than driving lights, but the main difference is that fogs are supposed to be mounted closer to the road than driving lights soas not to have the light reflected back into the driver's line of sight in intense fog conditions. That being said, the stock setup of having the weak fog lights being able to illuminate ONLY WHEN the driving lights are illuminated is totally worthless and defeats the whole purpose of fog lights: which is to be able to see better in fog, not see the area 0-5' in front of you car.
Car manufacturers need to rename the stock fog lights.
Call them accessory lights, or "A $200 option for cool looking lights"
Ideally, high wattage (penetrating) 80w+ driving lights (white or yellow doesn't matter, that has been proven), mounted on or under your bumper, on a totally independant switch so you can turn your headlights off, would be perfect lights for driving in fog. I had a set of 110w driving lights, on a switch independant of the stock lighting, mounted on the bumper of my jeep, aimed downward, not up, used only in fog and heavy snowfall. They never blinded oncoming drivers and worked fantastic.
I know the beam patterns for fogs are different than driving lights, but the main difference is that fogs are supposed to be mounted closer to the road than driving lights soas not to have the light reflected back into the driver's line of sight in intense fog conditions. That being said, the stock setup of having the weak fog lights being able to illuminate ONLY WHEN the driving lights are illuminated is totally worthless and defeats the whole purpose of fog lights: which is to be able to see better in fog, not see the area 0-5' in front of you car.
Car manufacturers need to rename the stock fog lights.
Call them accessory lights, or "A $200 option for cool looking lights"
Ideally, high wattage (penetrating) 80w+ driving lights (white or yellow doesn't matter, that has been proven), mounted on or under your bumper, on a totally independant switch so you can turn your headlights off, would be perfect lights for driving in fog. I had a set of 110w driving lights, on a switch independant of the stock lighting, mounted on the bumper of my jeep, aimed downward, not up, used only in fog and heavy snowfall. They never blinded oncoming drivers and worked fantastic.
Oh, really? Where's the aftermarket solution to fill those OEM holes with something useful?
The strange thing is that there are aftermarket fog lamps for the Prado, but not for the 4Runner
The strange thing is that there are aftermarket fog lamps for the Prado, but not for the 4Runner
Uneek said:If the factory foglights did work perfectly, there wouldn't be an aftermarket industry and we wouldn't have anything to mod.
Uneek
Super Moderator
Offroader said:
You misinterpret my statement. I made my statement because some feel the factory fogs are not good enough. I didn't say there was a perfect solution, thus the neccessity to mod. The solution is upto one's creativity. For a '06, one could probably get round fogs, fab a mount and installed them behind the opening.
Each owner has different tastes, wants and needs. The manufacturer can probably design a vehicle that will meet most of the consumers' desires, but to have anything perfect mods need to be done. My reference for the aftermarket industry and shows like SEMA is there are companies out there to help each owner acheive or get closer to that perfect vehicle. Without any doubt, you and I probably have different needs for our trucks and you've probably taken steps to make your 4R fit your needs, as I have with mine.
msanta
New member
I use them all the time because they give some extra light on the side of the road, I use the JAOS Progreate lights when is foggy or the visibility is not too good, these lights are the best!they have a blue lens and such a white intense light that they almost look as HID lights, I love them and besides they have a remote switch which I find so convenient!
jeober
New member
Fog lights have sharp cut-off to keep the light from scattering from fog up in your vision path. But so does your low beam, so afog light in practice is a poor and not useful auxiliary low beam. Worse yet is that it intensely lights the roads immediately in front of you which might impede your vision for dimmer objects down the road. I know this first hand from a vehicle I loaded with 600 watt of halogen at high beam - the near field was bright as day. And when I came off of high beam there was an eyeball adjustment problem.
The pencil beam driving lights at high beam are a more useful accessory with your OEM lighting. Fog lights are for show.
The pencil beam driving lights at high beam are a more useful accessory with your OEM lighting. Fog lights are for show.
Northof49
New member
Funny, I always used the fog lights while driving (just cause they were there), but always kinda thought the brightly lit area near the vehicle impeded vision further away. Never knew it was a real problem for the eyes. Cool, guess I'm not nuts afterall! hahaha
That said, the bright nearby vision from fogs + LB's is great for night time logging roads, parking lots and other low-speed times when it's nice to see everything nearby.
That said, the bright nearby vision from fogs + LB's is great for night time logging roads, parking lots and other low-speed times when it's nice to see everything nearby.
KellyJ
New member
One gripe I have with this is people who drive with their lights on during the day, especially if their vehicles already have DRL's. Call it a pet peeve, but I think when people have their headlights on during the day, its harder to tell from the rear if they are braking or not, since the lights are already halfway lit up.
Volvo's are a HUGE example of this, as most are equipped with some type of safety feature that makes the headlights ALWAYS on, and if it weren't for the third brake light (in most circumstances), it is really hard to tell when a car is braking when their lights are on during the day.
And another.
Hard to tell, don't you think?
Volvo's are a HUGE example of this, as most are equipped with some type of safety feature that makes the headlights ALWAYS on, and if it weren't for the third brake light (in most circumstances), it is really hard to tell when a car is braking when their lights are on during the day.
And another.
Hard to tell, don't you think?
RonMAIDEN
Super Moderator
Good bulbs that actually work cost a bit so it is silly to see people driving in the day with them on or even when they aren't needed but alot of people like the fact that they look "cool" with them on.
I have yellow bulbs that actually are useful so using them all the time is kinda senseless to me since I don't feel like buying another set anytime soon.
I have yellow bulbs that actually are useful so using them all the time is kinda senseless to me since I don't feel like buying another set anytime soon.
CJ3Flyr
Super Moderator
I did the mod so I can run the foglights anytime on my '07. During SWFlorida rains I run them as a supplement to my DRLs. When driving in the rain the cars that use a high reflector angle (hi-beam 80%) DRL's or foglights seem easier to see than any other type of lights other than full-on high beams. Headlights on low beam don't scatter the light beam enough, the orange DRL's (bright parking lights) aren't quite bright enough. The wide beam of the foglights makes me visible from a great distance, greater than low beams. Obviously I'm talking about daytime driving and this is just IMHO.
:cheers:
:cheers:
