Best Fog Lights?

I was looking at getting a set of fog lights to supplement my low beams. I have a bullbar and I would mount them on the lower tabs. I have been looking at the halogen Hella's but there are so many. What I do know is that their 500 size lights would fit best. Would led fogs be better though? And do I want a true fog beam?

 

Foglights don't help much (except if one of your headlights burn out) so it doesn't really matter which ones you get.

I don't have experience with LED foglights so someone else would have to chime in. I do know that there are people who put HIDs in their foglights but they just glare at other drivers on the road.

 

http://www.piaa.com/store/p/787-PIAA-Toyota-Tacoma-2012-VSK-LP530-3-5-LED-Driving-Light-Kit.aspx I use these

 

Those would work if this was a 2nd Gen. Alas, welcome to the 1st Gen forum

The best "fog" lights, I believe, have the amber hue to them to keep the light "brightness" lower but still illuminate the area "below" the fog (someone else can chime in that maybe knows more).

You would want them mounted as low as possible for this reason, otherwise you are just spreading light into the fog itself and not really helping

 

I think the OP is not necessarily looking for a Fog beam he wants to supplement his lighting of the halogens, therefore i think a Driving beam would be better for this. I had a 04 TRD gen1 and installed the Rigid SRM Driving LED lights in the lower valance for the same reason added light down the road, I wouldn't recommend getting the Rigids based on price and performance of the lights most of the light from them was peripheral to the sides of the road good for deer spotting but not good for down the road which is pretty standard for most all LED lights. I didn't notice the OP was referring to a GEN1 truck at first.

 

I agree with the "driving lights" as the supplement. I have yet to install my light bar (I think it's a 24") in my lower valance as I just haven't had the opportunity, so I can't particularly comment on the extra light

 

Selective yellow fogs is a myth from what ive seen. it was said the yellow spectrum lessened the refraction from the fog particles but the same would happen for any part of the spectrum.

yellow does seem to be better suited though. maybe its just more "soothing" to the eye.

 

theres good infos in the Lighting/HID section, I do like LED lighting but it has its long range down the road is very limited. I very pleased with the PIAA led lights I got the setup of the bulb and reflector housing make good use of the beam, unlike other brands heres some pics I took

this about 30 feet fogs only

this is fogs and headlights 30 feet

both at 100 feet

 

I have LED headlights and switchbacks in the turn signal housings. I notice no difference in lighting than standard SilverStar ultras (my usual bulb of choice), save one thing. reflection from road signs. I notice them further out if the sign is newer and has the reflective particles on them.

 

White/bluer light reflect more from fog moisture, they have almost 50% more glare compared to yellow light. Plus the human eye deals with the colors differently and bla bla bla. Yellow looks cool.

 

what brand headlights are they? im still running stock halogens but I really want white LEDs but have concerns over putting the LEDs in the stock halogen reflector bowls and having unfocused light all over the place, and also the durability of the LEDs

 

They would be mounted pretty low, I have a bull bar and it has lower mounting tabs that sit a little below the valance. Yes I am not necessarily looking for true fogs, I want them to be less bright than my lows and be able to run them independently but also turn them on to supplement my low beams.

 

Here's my 2 cents worth:

Fog lights are for driving in heavy fog. And that's that. They work by lighting up the road underneath the fog. On extremely foggy nights you can see that the fog (for some reason that I've long forgotten) rests about a foot above the ground, and the lights illuminate that area. I don't think that physics and weather has changed much over the last 45 years.

By "heavy fog" I don't mean a slight fog that somewhat obscures the driver's vision. I mean heavy, dense fog the limits vision to less than 20 feet and forces the driver to crawl along at walking speed.

I lived in worked in Germany for several years in the 1970s. During 1971 I did some work at the Hella factory in Germany in Lipstadt. I was given a tour of the engineering department . The engineers explained the difference lights and showed me how various lights are tested. They explained to me that yellow lights do not show the ground as well as the white lights and as far as they were concerned, were for looks only. Then to back up their comments they showed me the fog light test platform and gave me a demonstration of yellow versus white. The difference was obvious, but not substantial. They explained to me that the light's brightness depended upon the shape of the reflector, the dispersal characteristics of the glass lens, and the distance from the bulb's filament to the center of the reflector.

Then they took me to another room and showed me the driving light test stand and gave me a demonstration of the various driving light styles.

Finally, we discussed the purpose and use of the rear red fog lights. Fog lights in the rear of a vehicle consisted of one 35-watt round, red light that was mounted on the driver's side of the rear bumper (either above or below, but attached to the bumper). Its dispersal pattern was more-of-less round. At the time, were not allowed in the U.S. at the time, and I have never seen them used in the U.S. During foggy nights when their use is allowed, they become visible at about 100 feet and are the first indication a driver has that something is in front of him.

As a result, I outfitted my car with one set of Hella's largest round, pencil-beam driving lights mounted on top of the bumper. These used the 55-watt H1 type of halogen bulbs. The beam pattern was extremely bright and narrow and would light up a reflective sign at about one mile. I also had a set of 100mm fog lights that I mounted upside down underneath the bumper about 16 inches from the ground. Those lights used the 55-wat H3 bulbs. I wired them to the low beams and to the rear fog light. The only time I really used them was a few times at night when the visibility was next to zero, and I had to crawl along at 10 to 15 kmh until reaching areas where the fog was not so low.

I still have the driving and front fog lights I used when I was in Germany, and a set of the smaller rectangular driving lights that I mounted on my motorcycles, and one set of the largest driving lights but with a somewhat broader beam that does not extend out quite as far as the H1 lamps.

That's about all I have to say. Those who choose to run the yellow lamps are free to do so, but I personally feel they run them to satisfy their own egos rather than to decrease their chances of driving into something, or off of something, during heavy fog conditions.

 

I have older PIAA 520 series lamps. Took them off a BMW R1200GS I bought from a neighbor and installed them on my Tacoma’s light bar. Can’t remember if they are the 520 Ion Yellow Fog Halogen Lamp kit or the 520 Ion Yellow Driving Halogen Lamp Kit, but they are great. I have them aimed down, yet they easily overpower my headlamps. They throw off some heat too.


Since my truck is only a toy hauler, don’t recall driving them in significant fog. However, I consider them a safety feature, as they pretty much guarantee that you will be seen by approaching vehicles.

 

I rode my motorcycle on the Going to the Sky road in northern Montana years ago. I had installed the smaller rectangular Hella lights on it (a 1982 Honda Sabre). After riding out of that area for about 1/2 hour I stopped for some reason. I noticed the caps on the lights seemed to glow. Well, they were pretty much melted on the lights' lenses. The air temperature was in the 40s at the time, and I was riding between 40 and 70 mph. Apparently while going over the rough road the relay that drove the lamps chattered and made contact, then froze in the ON position. So yes, 55 watts will heat up the covers enough to render them useless.

 

Mine are 85 watts. Can feel the heat from a couple feet away. Had to remove them from the truck to pass state inspection.


Going to the Sky road in northern Montana sounds cool. Did the Alpine Loop in CO last year. Gave my ALTRider engine guards a workout on Cinnamon pass.

 

visual of 520 series PIAA on light bar...

 

If you need fog lights to help you in thick, heavy fog, why waste your time and money on anything EXCEPT true fog lights? I would mount them low like the two shown in your photo.

 

cool info, good to hear someone had first hand experience with a manufacturer. white it is

 

I use a pair of spot beam hella 500s with 4300k hids mounted on the bumper for fog and snow along with my low beams.