The ultimate foglight upgrade H11 (not LED or HID)

Odd, they fit in my 16 SR.

 

Unrelated to the thread...major dittos for the Honeymooners avatar

 

Wrong forum. This stands true for 2nd gen. The Subaru fogs do not fit without modification.

 

Interesting. I assumed that the OE part number between the two generations was the same but apparently I’m wrong.

 

All good. Regarding the fog housing, you’re correct. The only assumption I can make is a difference on how it’s mounted on the 3rd gen. Sounds like this is a better alternative for the 3rd gen!

I took one for the team and mocked it up, did some measurements, and found the best spot to remove material is the bottom tab on the Subaru fog housing. I took my time and used a fine hand file, which was still fast, and removed ~4.2mm.

Mounts up correctly now. Which led to discovering another issue. The Subaru housings were meant to be mounted with screws at all 4 points to stabilize the legs of the mount. Without, they’re springs. Barely pushing on the front of the housing causes them to fall out of the mounting slots in the bumper. Bummer, I’m with the OP and off to find another solution.




Here’s also more detailed shots that I was looking for beforehand.

 

The 12-15 and 16+ fogs are interchangeable, they use the same mounts on 12+ 2nd Gens and 3rd Gens and aftermarket suppliers do not differentiate between them. I haven't looked to see if the OEM 12+ fogs and 16+ TRD fogs have the same part number. Morimoto sells the exact same part number for 12+ Tacomas fogs as they do for the Subaru.

That is a bummer you filed that down! Sorry I didn't respond sooner. The Tacoma fogs are held in place by tension using those mounts, if you look at the OEM fogs they have the same screw holes for no purpose mounting to the Tacoma, also held in place by tension. While the gap is slightly narrower on the Subaru fog mounts than OEM if you push them into place they will fit without modification to the bumper or the fog. I didn't modify mine. The OEM bumper mounting plastic is flexible, and will flex to accommodate the mounts. The 3rd gen uses the same mount.

I'm not sure if you can save them by adding some washers in front and behind the part you trimmed with a small bolt holding them together. Then notch the plastic on the bumper for the bolt if it interferes. You could then restore the tension to hold them in place if the washers were the correct size.

I'm not sure what Toyota was thinking on these mounts as it is seriously the suckiest fog mount I have dealt with.

 

Noticed that, and I did mount it without filing it. Few things wrong with that. Bumper will mold to it in time/heat, and the Subaru fog mount is slightly higher vertically (resulting in the housing being lower). Lastly, the legs still act like springs and it pops out even if not filed, just a little harder. Was curious, so I tried it on the other side.

Besides, I strongly believe that a part should be made to fit and never forced, and if unable shouldn’t be used ever.

Now, I’m already going back on what I said and working on ideas with an L bracket and bolts/washers along with mounting them on the backside of the slots. All without any mods to the truck and it would solve all these issues AND evens up the lens to the facia!

Toyota failed all-around with the fogs!

Thanks for all your hard work and research. Based around it, I’m running your entire halogen headlight setup. And now I’m hell bent on running halogen for the fogs.

 

The fogs are by far the most difficult light on the truck. Keep us posted with what you come up with. I will likely make a batch of glare capped H9s modified for the OEM Toyota fogs, but the OEM fogs do a poor job of glare control, so they won’t be very street friendly for oncoming traffic.

 

A quick indoor output shot of the Subaru fogs with Amber H9 bulbs under the stock 3rd gen projectors.

Just headlights:



And with the fogs



I think these are going to do what I want them to do, which is to have some extra side projection but also give more forward visibility and edge definition in snowy conditions. Thankfully I have about 5 months to go for that...

Also, note the height difference between the 2nd gen and 3rd gen fogs. My truck still has the stock suspension and as far as I can tell so does the 2nd gen.



My guess is that the Subaru fogs will project further, but maybe not wider, on the 3rd gen vs the 2nd, and will probably be a better upgrade for 3rd gen owners. Thoughts?

 

Do you have any interest in testing a rear fog light?

 

Do you have a setup in mind?

 

I have some factory Toyota/Koito rear fog lights. They are used in Europe on various models of the 1989 - 2006 Hilux PU. They use a 21W bulb and are built to flush mount. Pics if you want?

 

Cool idea if you live somewhere that sees frequent fog, and OEM would be the way to go, as the idea with rear fogs isn’t to blind the person behind you like some LED companies would promote. Not really sure what there would be to analyze/test though.

 

I've always been curious how much output they have, how much glare, etc... and just like everything else, can they be made functionally better in anyway.

 

I used a hitch mounted brake light last winter:

Bully CR-007A Tail and Brake Light https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AY2BR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_9ZchDb8XHFEEJ

The one I received does not flash with the turn signals, but does flash with the emergency flashers.

We do get some fog, but we also get lots of blowing snow, ice fog, and generally poor visibility in winter in the interior of Alaska. I didn’t want an LED because as you can imagine the back of my truck is often covered in snow and/or ice so the heat from a halogen or incandescent bulb would be more likely to keep it ice free and clear. The supplied 1157 bulb was fairly dim. Fortunately a 2357 bulb drops right in and is roughly 2x as bright. It’s a good match for the brightness of the stock taillights if a slight bit brighter without being extremely brighter or glare producing. I’ve followed my wife driving my car and it really makes the truck a lot more visible without being obnoxious.

True rear fogs should have their own switch and only be run in heavy fog or other low visibility conditions fwiw. They are pretty bright and distracting as they are bright all the time, not just when on the brakes.

 

pics plz.

 

I wonder if they have the same pattern as a brake light? Time to read/brush up.

@crashnburn80 If you change your mind, I'll send you a light to test, on me.

 

Would there be a benifit to running the rigid fogs with the upgrades harness?

 

The rear fogs have a similar but tighter pattern:
http://dastern.torque.net/Rearfogs/Rearfogs.html

I’ve got some more info in some SAE docs I could try and dig up.

No benefit. The harness increases voltage and available power. Halogens increase intensity and output with voltage. LEDs can operate at a very wide voltage range with no changes in output and consume less power than stock.

 

@crashnburn80 this is incredibly informational, post on Tundras.com as well....