Red rear bumper lense
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NoLimitSoldier
New member
Does anyone make a clear replacement for this lens that you could put in and then wire a super bright bulb to the reverse wire and have basically the equivalent to headlights in reverse? I've seen the mod to make it another set of brake lights but nothing to make it a reverse light. Also Uneek with your knowledge of other countries why is it some countries require rear fog lights?
NoLimitSoldier said:
Sometimes the USA falls behind other countries in safety and light requirements. Took the USA a very long time to get that high mounted 3rd brake light. I remember reading about a man that got a ticket for installing the high mounted brake light before the law was changed to require it. Many other countries required it for years. The same explanation applies to the rear fog lights. One day it will be a requirement in the USA. All it will take are for a few thousand deaths to occur, then we will see the rear fog lights.
NoLimitSoldier
New member
007Runner said:
What is the purpose of this rear foglight system though?
NoLimitSoldier
New member
Ahhhhh it makes sense now I thought they were like the traditional fog lights here and they were optional to turn on I didn't realize you guys meant they automatically came on for visibility purposes I was under the assumption your turned them on at your leisure and couldn't for the life of me figure out why something like that would be law mandated.
HiVel-JR
New member
they are optional to turn on... there is no automatic process to it....
OK, in almost all the European countries there are areas on the auto bahns where the fog is very intense and thick, and believe it or not the drivers will not even slow down for the fog. They will continue to run 100 plus mph or 160 kilometers and just turn on the front and fear fog lights so that other drivers will see them coming and going and the slower drivers do the same so the faster drivers will see the slower drivers. These rear fog lights are super bright red lights (can be confused as a brake light and formula-1 cars use them too) and most people are unaware that they even have them on their cars in the states. Volvos, VW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and some other European car companies put them on their cars standard and the American consumer has no idea what they are for or do. Just another button to push or turn depending on where the switch is. So you will see people driving down the road with this really bright red light coming from the back of their car and they have no idea, they think they have turned on the front fog lights... really pisses me off because people buy these cars and have no idea what rear fog lights are and what they are used for, seriously. Some cars have the rear fog light just below the brake light on the driver's side like Volvos and some cars have the rear fog lights on both sides just inside the brake lights like BMWs... I use to get people off my tail that drove to close to me by turning my rear fog lights on and hitting the gas. The effect was the guy behind me slowed down because he thought I had hit my brakes and I would pull away at a faster speed, would really piss the guy off behind me, but I hate drivers that ride to close to my bumper at high rates of speeds. Anyway I hope all this helps. They really are a great asset to have if you live in a place with bad weather or fog for most of the year, like Europe and if so then they work and serve a purpose... man that was a long one...
enjoy
OK, in almost all the European countries there are areas on the auto bahns where the fog is very intense and thick, and believe it or not the drivers will not even slow down for the fog. They will continue to run 100 plus mph or 160 kilometers and just turn on the front and fear fog lights so that other drivers will see them coming and going and the slower drivers do the same so the faster drivers will see the slower drivers. These rear fog lights are super bright red lights (can be confused as a brake light and formula-1 cars use them too) and most people are unaware that they even have them on their cars in the states. Volvos, VW, Audi, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and some other European car companies put them on their cars standard and the American consumer has no idea what they are for or do. Just another button to push or turn depending on where the switch is. So you will see people driving down the road with this really bright red light coming from the back of their car and they have no idea, they think they have turned on the front fog lights... really pisses me off because people buy these cars and have no idea what rear fog lights are and what they are used for, seriously. Some cars have the rear fog light just below the brake light on the driver's side like Volvos and some cars have the rear fog lights on both sides just inside the brake lights like BMWs... I use to get people off my tail that drove to close to me by turning my rear fog lights on and hitting the gas. The effect was the guy behind me slowed down because he thought I had hit my brakes and I would pull away at a faster speed, would really piss the guy off behind me, but I hate drivers that ride to close to my bumper at high rates of speeds. Anyway I hope all this helps. They really are a great asset to have if you live in a place with bad weather or fog for most of the year, like Europe and if so then they work and serve a purpose... man that was a long one...
enjoy
Jeff Kleb
New member
007Runner said:
We actually beat many other countries to installation of the CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Light) in all vehicles. The USA required this light in all vehicles manufactured for the 1986 model year, before they were en vogue throughout Europe. Part of our mandate involved studies by utility companies that had installed them on some service vehicles, and had noted fewer rear-end collisions with them in place. Some of our police departments also had deck-mounted brake lights that increased their visibility to approaching vehicles.
I was in Germany twice back during the 1980s, and noticed that they did use the rear fog lights, however. What I don't know is whether their rear fog lights were activated when the front ones were turned on - or if they had a separate switch.
As for front lighting, the Europeans were way ahead of us. The composite plastic headlamps with replaceable bulbs came into use here during the middle to late 1980s, but were standard equipment in Germany since the late '60s or early '70s.
We were ahead of them with regard to unleaded fuel as well. Lead-free (bleifrei) gasoline was used for most 1975 and later cars here in America, but did not catch on until a decade later over there. Germans seemed to have caught onto the benefits of diesel power way ahead of us, however. About one in four passenger cars there are oil-burners; quite possibly because diesel fuel is taxed at a much lower rate than is gasoline (benzene - I think is what they call it).
But that's a whole different issue.
:bigok:
Jeff Kleb
New member
007Runner said:
While I cannot find anything in our state vehicle code that makes their use unlawful, I suppose federal legislation (DOT, etc.) might preclude installing aftermarket fog lamps to the rear.
Oddly, I have seen a few Volvo and Mercedes sedans with the "low mounted" rear fog light in place. Now I think they may have been cars that were purchased by US citizens in Europe who brought them over here with them. There are quite a few people in the military who have done this - including my dad who brought over his Volvo 240 with him more than twenty years ago.
You could order a car there to be built with US instrumentation (miles rather than kilometers, etc.) and US side marker lights; as well as the catalytic converter being shipped inside the trunk.....since they did not use them in Germany in the early 1980s. When your tour was over, they slapped on the catalytic converter and sent your car to the USA a few weeks after you arrived back home. You then had a street-legal new car without having to enrich your local dealership, and Uncle Sam paid the freight to ship it back to the USA.
:beer:
I don't have the DOT number, but it has something to do with the rear fogs being mistaken for brake lights. So what like that is a bad thing. Maybe people will back off and stop tailgating. They could always change the color of the rear fogs if that is the concern. Green might be a good choice. Then it would never get confused with any other light. One day they will require them here. Just take 20 years for it to happen.
Jeff Kleb
New member
007Runner said:
A green light would run afoul of the vehicle code here in VA; and probably other states as well. Heck, even amber running lights on the rear of the car are unlawful. Amber lights on the rear can only be used for flashing turn signals or (on some dump trucks or semi-trailers) as brake lights in tandem with the red ones.
Green is a good idea, though, as it would definitely be eye-catching in poor visiblity.
The only time I have seen green lights in use here in VA is with an incident commander for the fire department. A single green flasher is used so that everybody from the news media to rescue and law enforcement personnel know who is in charge and where they might be at a scene.
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HiVel-JR
New member
Every car that I had with rear fog lights had a separate switch for the rear light... Mini Cooper and BMW 525 in Germany and Volvo S-70 in the states all had them, the BMW rear fog switch was on the same selector switch as the front fog lights just above the radio and the Volvo had a little switch left of the steering wheel. I cannot remember where the Mini Cooper switch was... I bought the Volvo in the states (1996) and it had the rear fog light oddly enough, (that car was nothing but a headache!!!) Got a VW passat (2001) after that and it has no rear fog, but the switch is on the same selector as the head lights and front fog lights. Left of the steering wheel rotate clockwise for the lights and pull the switch out once for the front fogs and pull out again for the rear.
As far as the legalities of rear fog lights in the states? who knows..
As far as the legalities of rear fog lights in the states? who knows..
tkr128
New member
Uneek said:
The Japanese Hilux Surf still has the rear fogs, it's pretty much in the same place they were on the 03-05's. Toyota just made two bumpers, one for countries with rear fogs and one without.
Here's a link to Toyota's Japanese website. It shows the rear fogs near the bottom of the page.
http://toyota.jp/hiluxsurf/safety/active/index.html
sharp4runr
New member
JP4RNR said:
On that page I see this:
<img src="http://toyota.jp/hiluxsurf/safety/active/image/p05.jpg">
It looks like the rear bumper lens lit up to me.
