The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Loving my H11 Hikari LEDs. Stunning cut off and output. I use them on Lo and High.

 

I drive in snowy conditions a bit and need the low beams to get hot enough to thaw the headlights.

Do these get warm enough?

 

Short answer: No.

Long answer: No. LEDs and HID are more efficient because they convert the electricity they are fed into more light per unit of energy than incandescent/halogen bulbs. LEDs also produce heat very differently. They do not emit/radiate (significant) amounts of long wavelength/IR, which is what would be the primary source of lens heating. The physical interaction of the other wavelengths of light they emit does result in some lens heating, but visible light through a clear/non-filtering lens is not going to result in drastic tempersture increases.

Additionally, the lowbeam is further restricted in these lamps, because of the projector lens. The projector is going to trap some of the heat of the lightsource.

 

Same here (Vermont/ NH/ Maine). I've only had them long enough for 3 good storms and a few other icing conditions. They definitely do not have as much heat as OEM but they did at least melt the snow off the lenses as I was warming the truck and clearing snow off (10min or so) and they seemed to not allow the snow to accumulate once warmed up. Not sure how they'll do while driving in the super heavy stuff yet. I have Rigid 360 fogs in amber and Rigid SAE 6" driving patterns to supplement (both get really hot). I'm actually thinking of doing a heated lamp sprayer kit that my neighbor has on his FJ

 

@skierd is up north and might have ideas / suggestions for anyone with needs to combat snow / freezing rain.

 

Just installed the DD SS3 Pro, fog pattern, amber. Is there anything on the light body that shows sport or pro (besides the less defined cutoff)? I’m not blown away by the brightness compared to my OEM LED headlights and the way the packaging is makes me wonder if I got the pros (the package just says SS3, and the pro is on the sticker on the side of the box, seems like it would be easy to mis label).

 

Thanks for the fast response, I will look at the undersides of the lights. I installed one, aimed it to match my stock Fogs, than tightened it in place. And then installed the second one today and need to aim it to match the first one once the sun finally goes down.

 

I checked the stickers on the plug and they do in fact say pro so thanks for that.

 

Looks impressive!!

 

Do you know if the Max was ever released in the Selective Yellow with the lower color temp emitters, allowing us weirdos to install the white fog lens to achieve ~3800K?

 

It is not available in 4000k, only 6000k. Osram does not make the high power emitters used in the Max in 4000k, so at this time it is not possible.

 

@Baja Designs saw on the Tundra forum that you guys are set to announce news on a redesign of your SAE Fog lights. Care to share when that'll be? I bought BD before I saw this forum and thinking of returning them now.

 

Cool, got a link to the announcement?

 

Cool... i have a slight interest to see some what they offer.

There was a bit of a cringe big dick flex in their marketing department. Having their product on race and military vehicles is pretty neat but ok.

 

I've been biting my tongue since reading that. I find it a massive turn off. So much chest thumping and bro language, dismissive of cost and quality concerns which may very well be legitimate. So much superlative hyperbole. Sounds very much like another vendor I'm sour on after reading similar style posts with a condescending tone and a quick shutdown / refusal to engage on honest discussion of product weaknesses. Tone deaf is the best way I can describe it.

I went back and re-read crash's excellent and extensive review of the squadron SAE from it's debut just to remind myself how I got to this state of opinion.

I won't be a BD customer any time soon. But I guess I'm just not part of the target market as I never served in the military and I've never raced a motor vehicle and I'm pretty sure my truck is a couple of inches smaller too.

 

Quoting BD
"Squadron Sport - Raw Lumens 3,150 - Effective Lumens 2,550 - Efficiency 81%

DD SS3 Sport - Raw Lumens 2,262 - Effective Lumens 1,100 - Efficiency 49%"

DD admitted that they list the theoretical max lumens for raw lumens. Their actual led drive levels dont push for max output from their products. And given the lack of another redundant front lens in front of the optic, they don't need to push hard to reach the numbers theyre looking for.

You'll note that they want you to draw "the more appropriate comparison" between the DD SS3 and the BD SAE. And yet he compares their offroad product to DD's SS3, not the "more appropriate" BD SAE. Which in no way in hell hits the claimed out-the-front measurement given the slit-shield lens insert which blocks the majority of the lens.

I hope their redesign is actually worth considering, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

Wow. Once again Baja appears to be completely missing the point. Statements around "anecdotal" evidence that the SS3 SAE outperforms the Baja SAE, when 2 independent labs have verified those results plus my own independent testing, is a stretch. Trying to compare lumen values rather than candela which measures actual output performance discredits the outstanding performance of the TIR optics vs the lower performing legacy optics of the Baja SAE lights. Topped off with more talk of 'outdated SAE standards' and calling sharp cut offs problematic really seams like they are doubling down on their previous design strategy, which would be a mistake. Funny how they keep calling cut offs out dated when the modern F3 fog spec calls for sharper cutoffs, meaning sharper cut offs are more modern as recognized by every single lighting manufacture except Baja. And ridiculous statements about off road racing for SAE on-road products shows how out of touch Baja appears to be with an SAE product purpose.

I've known for some time these lights were under development and had high hopes Baja would come back with the outstanding product everyone expected in their first SAE fog pod launch, but their statement leaves cause for concern that won't be the case. It will be interesting to see what results with the finished product.