fog lights turn off with high beam

deleted

 

they are set like that from the factory.......its a "safety" feature, but yep....you can get around it. the mod for doing so takes about 2 minutes, if you have a couple things laying around. here is a link to the simple diy mod.......

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/technical-chat/4838-cheap-free-mods.html#post45430

i did this on the 06 i had, and with the truck in the on position, even without the lights on.....you can have your fogs on or off as long as the truck is on. you can run just the fog lights if you want too, and best part is.....if you forget and leave them on, when you turn off the truck...the fogs go off too, and they'll be on when you turn the truck on next time. its a great mod. enjoy!!

 

It'll illegal to have fog lights on with high beams in PA - so perhaps its illegal everywhere in U.S? Dunno why.....

tacomaman06 - after doing that, do you have any issues getting inspections in your state? If I did that mod - I'd have to completely disconnect the power to pass inspection (here in PA).

I'd love to be able to run the OEM fogs + PIAA fogs without any headlights on - but that might stick out like a sore thumb and I might get visited by Mr. Officer.

 

Thanks a lot tacomaman for the info but why is it a "safety" feature, I don't understand, is it because there are too much lights??
But I don't very understand the mod, I will try to do that tomorrow if I can, do you need to buy some cables?

 

all you need is a small piece of 16 guage wire, about 6 inches, and a little quick splice connector/alligator clip, and a female spade end. its really easy man.

and, in most cases...its illegal cause its too much light f you have everything on, like the fogs with the high beams, too bright for other drivers.

 

janster....here in south carolina, we dont have any inspections, so its not a real problem here. when i had mine on, it was usually on a dark or foggy back road during hunting season anyway, so i didnt really use mine that much.

 

With that mod, does "foglights on anytime" mean just that, regardless of the headlight switch? So if the headlight switch is "off" but the foglights switch is "on" and the truck is "running" the foglights are "on"?

I've been wanting to have the foglights on with the normal headlights "on" or with high beams but not when the headlight switch is off. In other words, I want the foglights double-switched: pass thru the foglight switch and then thru the headlight switch. So if the headlights are off but the fog light switch is "on", there are no lights on at all.

Sorry if this is confusing and/or the thread redirect but is there a mod to do this?

 

You're not supposed to use the high beams when vehicles are coming towards you.....You're supposed to flick'em into low beams. The high beams are too bright regardless of any fogs being on.

 

thats kinda the point i was getting at.

 

Personally, I think that's stupid. I mean it says "hey! Lets turn OFF the high beams just to blind them by turning ON another set of lights!" I'd rather have highs and fogs, then have it drop to lows and fogs instead of flash my eyes with the highs going off and fogs coming on. Almost like looking into the flash of a camera at night.

And I've had my truck inspected 3 times and to the dealer once since doing the mod. No one ever said anything to me about it.

Edit: That flash effect is especially bad for people in cars as fogs on trucks/SUV's are damn near eye level to some compact cars.

 

Realistically, if you really need to use your fog lights, due to fog, it would be pointless to have your brights on.

 

Realistically, if you're offroading on some tightly wooden trail strewn with rocks, tree limbs, and other debris you want all the damn light you can get! Which means being smart enough on your own to control the lights without a nanny system doing it for you.

Or, in my case, unpainted back roads where the asphalt/gravel & dirt silently disappears into a field or ditch. Highs for distance, fogs to help see where the road ends a little closer.

 

Anybody got a fog light mod for a Subaru Forester laying around?

 

Ph16drive. Its exactly what it says. Your fogs are only controled by the push button, the headlights have no effect on them. However they do turn off when the ignition is off. No chance of them draining your battery. It is a very simple mod to do and I like it, Works great on the leeves out on the property when coming out of the field at night or getting there early in the moring.

 

Yes. With this mod, the only way to turn off the fog lights it to push the button on your dash. They will be completely independent of your lights. (They do turn off when you turn the truck off, though, so dont' worry about running down your battery or anything.)

If you want them off when your lights are off, then you'll have to remember to push the button, unless somebody figures out/posts a mod that lets you do what you want.

I leave mine on most of the time as daytime running lights.

 

Oh, I know. I was just sayin'

 

Offroading is acompletely different thing. You can run whatever you want while offroading and nobody is gonna care.

The original question was - WHY do the foglights go OUT when the high beams are on? Nobody has answered the question yet.....other than *It's for safety" - but WHY exactly?

Obviously, there are regulations (somewhere) that won't allow both or else the manufacturers wouldn't wire them that way. I don't think there's any vehicle that I've owned where you could run fog lights with the high beams.
I couldn't find any specific answer to that question as I was overwhelmed with the amount of specifications that ALL lighting must be within.

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/...cess.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/49cfr571.108.htm

I don't make the laws & regulations - but somebody does and they do it for specific reasons. The vehicle manufacturers must comply to those rules/regulations.

 

Thanks luk8272 and mws4ua. I think when I get around to it, I'm going to look for a different place to tap off of to try and keep the fogs on when either the low or high beams are on.

 

As posted, it wouldn't make sense to have high beams on when fogs are needed since the moisture droplets (which is what fog is) would be reflected back to the driver, making it actually more difficult to see. In addition, the beam pattern on fog lights is probably in the area of 35 degrees or so, and since they are mounted down low, do absolutely nothing for night time driving except light up about twelve feet in front of your bumper. Next time you are in fog, hit your high beams and compare visibility to low beams and fog lights on. Of course, driving with fog beams is now more of a fashion statement than anything else..especially with kewl yellow or blue/purple ones..

 

What's wrong with the method I posted in the cheap/free thread?

Maybe you didn't read my post. It's nice to see that the edge of the road drops off 12 ft in front of me when going down a back country road at night, or see a rock protruding out of the ground getting back to/from a hunting spot at night. Regardless, there's lots of times when you want as much light as possible aimed forward. Why else would people add their own fog lights, driving lights, light bars in the bumper, light bars on the roof, etc?

Oh, and I personally have extra lights on my car to fill in the dark spots closer to the car caused by running the high beams. They work fine for lighting up a couple hundred feet in front, but anything closer than that can be damn near invisible. Especially on a wet road. Having extra lights (fog, driving, or otherwise) helps fill that void and make better visibility in general.