The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Which part if you don't mind me asking? Most of it is just connecting wires

 

Yes I got the pros. My wife pulled into our driveway right as I got home and said they were way brighter(not happy being blinded) lol.

 

You are free to disagree. It’s totally a preference in my opinion as I’m sure the DD brackets will be just fine for the life of the lamps. For me, I did prefer the 2 piece design and felt I could snug them up better. Also the 2019 only has one screw If it had two, I would definitely want to be able to use both in the bracket.
Plus the DD won’t rust right!

 

The SS3 pro fog light is the only change I've done to the truck that my wife even noticed (without prompting, or seeing me actually installing it). I've swapped the dash clock, changed headlights to LED and back again, changed suspension, etc.

"Are the headlights supposed to be this yellow?"

 

What gauge wire is best for building a harness for 2 lights that are 45 watts each? 14 gauge? The power will be connected under the hood and the lights will be in the bed, so maybe 10'-15' of wiring between power source and lights. I know to use fuses and relays, just not sure on what gauge would be too light.

https://www.superbrightleds.com/mor...ed-14-awg-two-conductor-power-wire/1575/3638/

 

Should be fine

 

14 AWG will be good. You could even do 16 AWG if you wanted, but 14 AWG would be better. With halogens you want to run the largest gauge possible for performance as reduced voltage drop from heavier wiring increases output. That doesn’t apply to LEDs.

 

They'll be LED's.

 

I realize, I was just pointing out a difference in wiring selection based on the light source.

 

I've had my new Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro Fogs in for almost a week now. That's been enough time to get them installed, play with the aim several times and use them in a variety of weather conditions. (No snow unfortunately.) I thought I'd post in with my thoughts on these lights, so here goes.

Pros: Simply stated, the output on these things is awesome. To say that they're intense would be an understatement. The beam spread is more than adequate. The pattern saturation is dense and without any obvious hot or cold spots. The color temperature is also just about perfect. (I can't wait to try these in some heavy snow or rain.) The lights themselves are beefy and appear to be very well made. Nothing cheap about the housings, lenses or wiring at all.

Cons: The horizontal cutoff is not very well defined. Said another way, it's fuzzy and allows a good deal of leakage above the actual cutoff. (This appears to be very similar to the problem BD ran into with their SAE fogs.) If you look at the pics of my SS3 Pros against the garage door, the cutoff isn't anywhere near as sharp at the SS3 Sport versions. What this does is force one to only use the lights on a "as needed" basis instead of being able to leave them on much of the time - as I did with my KC G4's.

Here's some pics:




Speaking of aiming, these are a bit of a pain to aim. This is mainly because there isn't an "aiming screw" as you'd find on the OEM's. Morimotos or KC G4's. One is forced to remove two 10mm bolts on each side and pull the front of the inner fender liner down to access two Allen Head bolts from below that lock the aim in place. My advice is to get them fairly snug on your initial install, but not so tight as to prevent movement. Then manually adjust them by pushing on the top or bottom of the lens until you're happy before fully tightening them. The aiming may take a few tries.

The Mounting Brackets were kind of interesting to install. As you may have read in @crashnburn80's posts, he found the mounting for 3rd gen trucks is slightly different than for 2nd gen trucks. But DD says these fit 2012-2019 trucks. (Mine is a 2014.) The tabs that slip into the front bumper fit sort of tight. But it's the tabs where the attachment screws go in that are a bit odd. The screw holes in the bumper are just a bit farther apart than the holes in the brackets. This means you have to start the screws on slight angles, them straighten them out as you go it. All of this while laying on your back. Then when you look closely at the cutoff, you'll see that the inside / center is a bit higher than the outside. Said another way, it's not perfectly level. Maybe they split the difference between 2nd and 3rd gen trucks?

Possibly because of this slightly tilted cutoff or more likely because of the leakage / spill over at the cutoff, even after repeated re-aiming attempts, I've gotten flashed 3 or 4 times. (Full Disclosure: I do have the Ultimate Headlight Upgrade in the truck, but virtually never get flashed.) Based on the amount of selective yellow light that's lighting up signs down the road, I think it's the poorly defined cutoff causing glare for oncoming divers.

In summary, I think these are awesome fog lights. They totally blow away the OEM halogens, Morimotos and to a lesser extent, the KC G4's. (I've had all three in this truck.) I would like to see a better defined cutoff and thus less glare though.

 

Thanks for the review! I think you'll love them once you get the chance to try them out in bad weather. I am really happy with the color we were able to achieve on the yellow.

Just to comment on a few of the critiques:
Both the Sport and Pro version of our lamps meet the gradient requirement (sharpness) and the total glare requirement for on-road use. This is defined by SAE standards, and we have internal testing facilities in order to ensure our lights actually meet those requirements. It's certainly higher than factory lamps due to the greater overall output of these lights, but it is within the requirements. In yellow, it's actually quite a bit lower than the requirement. You can use them in any way you'd like, but it is completely legal and acceptable to use either version of our lamp on road.

From your photo, it appears that the lamps need to be angled down further if possible. It appears the cutoff is about at horizontal, but it should be just below that. I suspect this is why you are being flashed by other drivers. The Pro model should be angled down almost as much as physically possible in the bracket. I would recommend removing the lamps completely, aiming them all the way down in the bracket, then reinstalling. As you said, it's not too easy to aim once they are installed, but installation should only take a minute.

Aiming is certainly the biggest challenge on these lamps so far. We are adding a "warning" note in the box to make it clear they need to be aimed down, but we are also looking into options to help with aiming for future iterations as well. Again, thanks for the review and feedback!

Thanks,
Paul

 

Good information and awesome lights! Thanks!

As far as the aiming, I actually started with them all the way down for my first test drive - and got flashed twice. I then aimed them up just a tick because all the way down (at least on my truck) just seemed just too far down. On the test drive with this position, I didn't get flashed. Go figure.

We're supposed to get some snow the next two days, so I'll be out gathering some more feedback!

 

Hmm, that's pretty surprising to hear. The yellow pro is about 20% lower than the glare requirement, and I haven't seen any other reports of people getting flashed on the road with either version. I'm honestly not sure what to tell you there - I would guess that you're lifted... or you have aftermarket projectors with clear lenses that produce zero upward light, so they fogs look brighter in a relative sense... but it doesn't seem that is the case on either count from the photo you posted.

This is going to sound bad, but honestly, other drivers may not be the best judge of whether lighting is compliant. After all, I see people report getting flashed with factory LED headlight setups all the time. Personally, I haven't been flashed at all with my Pros in my lifted Wrangler, but I did get flashed pretty often with only the factory LED headlights turned on (which are very nice on the new Wranglers). The fact is, LED lights are much more intense than halogen, and even with them fully compliant, other drivers may not be happy, particularly if you're driving at an upward angle towards them, etc. But I can assure you that the Diode offerings are fully compliant for use on the road, in both versions.

Anyway, it's totally up to you at the end of the day. If you're interested in swapping those out just let us or your retailer know. I do sincerely appreciate the feedback and I've shared your review with my engineering team to see how we could make improvements - particularly regarding ease of aiming and installation. Thanks!

Paul

 

@Diode Dynamics what's up with the 8 year warranty? I'm liking the reviews on these new fogs but wondering why the warranty is so much less than most of the comparable fogs from the other manufacturers.

 

Paul,

No, the truck is not lifted. As for the headlights, they're OEM housings with @crashnburn80's Ultimate Headlight Upgrade running Osram All Season 85/80 bulbs. Yes, they're more powerful than stock, but I've run them for 3 years now with literally zero flashing. I'm thinking about doing the Fog Lights Anytime mod so I can test running with just the fogs on. If they flash me then, it's the fogs.

I do agree with your statement on some folks flashing other cars just because they don't like the new style or color headlights. Then again, some of them are borderline obnoxious anyway. And on bumpy roads, some folks just don't understand that a sharp cutoff bouncing towards you will look like that person is flashing their high beams at you. Ah yes, idiots.

As far as swapping them out, you'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands. I love them!

 

This was discussed in some detail a few pages back, but basically I prefer to keep a time-based warranty rather than "lifetime," which in truth does not guarantee any specific timeframe for a warranty. I have been burned on "lifetime" warranties I could not use in the past. Our warranty is a clear time period, and it is extremely easy to actually use. For most warranty claims, we cover postage both ways, and we ship the replacement unit to you first. Our warranty is also transferable. So, there are quite a few features that we offer with our warranty that others don't, even if they advertise more years or "lifetime." I believe this is pretty competitive, and I do appreciate your feedback.

Thanks for clarifying and confirming. Totally agree on the "bumps in the road" issue - though I've been on the receiving end and it definitely can look like someone is flashing their high beams when that happens!

Anyway, thanks again for the feedback, and just let us know if we can help you at all with them. Otherwise, I'll stay tuned for your update after some bad weather.

Paul

 

Just my .02, I don't trust in electronic "lifetime" warranties anyways (shoes/clothing and furniture even less so). I've yet to find a single manufacturer to ever agree to a swap/replacement/repair when it's been longer than 3 years, they always find a way where "they were used outside of normal operations" or something stupid and do not cover. Also, if you read the fine print of most warranties like that, they refer to the "life" of the product and provide some length of time in there and not to the length of when you own the object or until you are dead.

Overall, I got my SS3's last week, haven't installed them yet, but the quality is definitely there when you hold them. Hoping I find the time for the install tomorrow and aiming and I'll post up on shots.

 

I would like to say that Rigid does offer SAE driving lights. Now as it compares to yours I have no clue. I have a friend that has their SAE driving lights bar it's like 12" or something like that if I recall.

 

Rigid has a few SAE driving lights options in different forms, but the specific D-series that was being compared were not an SAE light.

 

@crashnburn80, Have you already done the DD fogs review in full and I missed it?