The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

@crashnburn80 was wondering if you could link the yellow max on the first post? Or consolidate it along with the white review? I refer to it every now and then and have to search manually for it. First world problems, I know.

 

Yes I saw the beginning of the post. Before this thread I knew something was wrong because the Cali Raised just didn’t work.

That white beam with the Cali raised in your pic is way better then my ambers from them. Mines more of a blob.

I’m not sure if I missed something but what I’m not seeing is real world use in the conditions their design for. I haven’t seen or come across any videos of driving in fog, snow, or just bad weather driving. With the comparison of different beams and Company’s. The reason I bring that up is because my knowledge before was more light reflects back. I understand a little more about the cut off line and aimed low but the Max’s seem to produce hell of a lot of light.


Anyways I’m excited and curious to see how the yellow on the Max’s, with the cut off performs in help seeing through heavy fog.

 

Thanks for the reminder, done! Added and linked to the original Max post.

I've seen a few videos of individual lights, but trying to compare different lights operating under real world conditions driving in an uncontrolled environment in poor weather is going to be extremely difficult to have a useful comparison.

Here are some screen shots from a KC video comparing KC Pro6 light bar in 5000k vs their amber lens in fog. Not fog lights and not selective yellow, and being in an uncontrolled environment it isn't a perfect comparison, but will give you some idea.

5000k


Amber


Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQheqka2veE&t=224s

 

Again a big thank you to @crashnburn80 for the awesome post filled with very helpful info. Spent hours reading his info on this and the Headlight forum.

This prevented me from being misinformed and purchasing crap. Also focusing on what product I really needed.

So, I installed the DD SS3 Sport Fogs today on my stock 2020 TRD Sport.



I watched 2 methods on how to install these on YT for the 3rd Gen Taco. You can install either via the wheel well or remove the grille. I decided on the grille removal method. Was amazed at how easy it was to remove the grille to access the OEM fog's. Had only basic tools, my 7 y/o son and a dimly lit underground parking lot to work in.




Followed @crashnburn80 aiming advise by tightening the fog brackets to about 90% and then installing one DD Sport at a time. Then simply matching the OEM fog alignment. Once aiming was complete I simply went back with the Allen key and tightened them up so they would not move anymore. Then re-installed the grille.





The fitment of the SS3 sports was fantastic on my truck and I'm very happy with the looks and more importantly the functionality as I live in a very rainy, dark and dreary area of Canada (Vancouver).



Thanks to Diode Dynamics for a quality product. Was a premium to purchase in Canada but I feel it was worth it. For fellow Canucks you can purchase them here if interested. https://www.prolightz.com/

 

I must say, for someone so into lighting, I’m pretty disappointed in your garage lighting

 

LOL. The garage lighting is fantastic. 21 x 100w equivalent HD 90+ CRI 3000k LED bulbs for a 2 bay garage spread in a grid pattern. 33,600 lumens in output, more light than the entire rest of the house combined. 50% of the lighting is concentrated over the the work areas at the front of the garage opposite of the doors, which is why it looks a little sparse by the door. Now the install on the other hand could definitely be significantly improved using proper conduit, but I need to drop some of the ceiling to replace the drywall and insulate the ceiling from the flat roof deck above so it hasn't been high on the priority list.

Home lighting thread here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...lighting-using-leds-hirs-and-halogens.574930/

 

Damn and here I thought they were just some regular old plain Jane 60 watt incandescent bulbs...

 

Now that would be disappointing for sure. But no, every room in the house has the lighting optimized, though I need to revisit the lighting in the kitchen now that better quality ultra high-CRI LED lights are available as mini compact halogen replacements.

 

I PM you

 

Got my SS3 Sports in today. Hope to install them this weekend. Damn they're bright! And this is just hooked to a little 12v tool battery.
Thanks again @memario1214

 

Wait till you get them installed and properly aimed! Of course getting them out of your living room will help too.

 

I'm not the only one that runs vehicle lights in my house!

 

I really wish companies would not promote fog replacement products that are not SAE compliant, as the average consumer does not understand they are replacing a legitimate fog light with something that is not compliant and intended for off road use only, blinding other drivers on the street.

 

BD has some clever marketing going in, they only state "fog pocket" kit not fog light replacement. As in, replace your stock SAE fog light with our non-sae light in the factory fog light location.

I love their products but shame on them for the deceptive marketing.

 

There seems to be a pattern here. If so, next we can expect a disclaimer from BD stating that it's not their fault.

 

Cali does the same thing. The terminology used is technically accurate. I realize they don’t have an S1 SAE fog product, but looks like a case could be made for developing one.

 

I may have missed it, if so, apologies in advance...

Is there a comparison between the DD 6” Stage Series SAE fog and the Rigid SAE 6” fog? I’ll be using the better of the two in my Dissent front bumper.

 

Baja Designs just don't give a damn.....

 

You didn't miss it, I haven't tested any 6" fogs.

For fogs I have a strong preference toward selective yellow for poor weather performance which the light is intended for. The DD Stage series fogs are not yellow, they are amber. The stage series product line is also not optimized with 4000k emitters, they use 6000k so the losses will be higher with a 6000k emitter filtered down to amber vs what you see in their selective yellow SS3 fogs with 4000k emitters with only small filtration loss to get to selective yellow. The Rigid lights are a proper selective yellow. Rigid also uses high color temp emitters, but in this case they are filtering down to selective yellow, which should incur less filtration loss than filtering to amber.

You can compare the output specs here:
https://www.diodedynamics.com/stage-series-6-sae-dot-amber-light-bar-one.html
100 degree wide beam, 74 lux @ 10M

And here:
https://www.rigidindustries.com/sr-...lective-yellow-surface-mount-pair-906704.html
68.4 degree wide beam, 101 lux @ 10M

By the specs the Diode Dynamics light has a much wider beam and lower output intensity vs Rigids less-wide beam but higher output intensity. It is a bit of a toss up, but I'd opt for selective yellow over amber and choose the Rigid light in this scenario, if cost isn't a factor as there is a major price delta.

That being said if you are not interested in low color temp fogs for optimizing poor weather performance and wanted to go with 6000k white, I'd go with the Diode Dynamics as the clear choice.