The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

I wonder what the darker lens of the max would look like on the sport/pro 4000k emitters. Possibly a darker yellow closer to 2500k?

 

I believe the op showed this somewhere in the thread but it has an undesirable green hue.

 

Im in for next DD sale . Sold my sports, got my eyes on some Max's and SSC2s!

 

The output color will obviously be darker yellow, but may not fall in the legal chromaticity window for output color. It will also incur larger losses than the highly optimized sport/pro yellow optics.

 

Soooo nice.

 

thank you for imparting your knowledge.

 

Here are a couple vids of the Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro yellow fogs in action:

 

Nice vids @HikingMano

 

Jeez, thanks ... Now I have to know those lights exist?! As if lighting for the truck wasnt enough

 

Having had the Pros on my Tacoma, I can answer that concern. Properly aimed, they will be great, but may bother an occasional oncoming driver. The Sport would be a better choice if you run your fogs all the time due to it's "tighter" horizontal pattern. The Pros have as lightly less well defined horizontal cutoff and that's what bothers some oncoming drivers.

I gave my Pros to my son who runs them all the time in his 2013 Scion tC. Nobody flashes him, but his fogs are mounted much lower to the ground. I went to the Max model because absolute power is kind of neat. Proper aiming is even more critical with the Max, but they have a better defined beam pattern than the Pro. I get flashed every once in a great while, but don't run them all the time.

 

Yep, I agree. I didn’t want to spring for the Max because I don’t run fogs if it’s just dark when there is heavy opposing traffic (and therefore lots of light on the shoulders anyway), and I don’t often have to drive in fog/snow where I live. Poor visibility conditions are less frequent for daily driving, more for travel.

I did properly aim mine, as you can see in the vids, and I only use them if I’m out on an unlit road with little or no traffic, where I want to light up the shoulders to spot wildlife hazards. That’s usually only when it’s late at night to or from home.

Edited to add: and obviously, they’ll see trail use.

 

Hi all, I am considering the Baja Designs Squadron Sport WC amber Fog Light Kit for my Taco. Are they really just plug and play? How can they have such a higher output using the same wiring? Is this the best option out there?

 

They are plug and play, however BD squadron sports are not street legal. If you want high performance fog lights, the current frontrunner are diode dynamics ss3 max, followed by the pros and sports. These options are also plug and play and are 100% street legal.

@memario1214 is running a 15% off sale on his site on all diode dynamics products until 6/4.

 

Correct! Just to clarify for the OP, the reason being "street legal" is so important is that the BD fogs have a very poorly defined horizontal pattern with lots of up light. This translates into annoying glare for oncoming drivers. Don't be that guy.

 

Here's a link to Dan Sterns page on how to best aim headlamps/fogs/auxiliary lights.

The Pros have a bit of a softer cutoff, which may make them harder to aim, just take your time.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/aim/aim.html

 

I didn’t have any issues aiming mine. As suggested previously, I tightened the mounting bolt on each to maybe 90-95% so I could adjust the tilt from outside. But I didn’t bolt my fenders back up until I made all the adjustments and was satisfied they weren’t too loose. You will see a little bit of a gap between the bezel and the bottom of the lamp, if it’s aimed correctly.

My fogs sat around 31 1/4”, so I set top of the cutoff 4” below that at 25’ distance. That results in the illumination pattern you see in my vids. You’ll notice the signs and other reflective objects situated higher up aren’t blaring when the fogs come on.

 

Thanks for all this information, it is very helpful! My Pro's arrive today

 

There are some factors when adjusting the fog lights such as if you have a lift and how much of a lift. Whether it's stock height or lifted you'll have to play with adjustment a little to get it where you like it. Pay attention while driving once you get them on and initially adjusted. You're looking to see if you're distracting other drivers (though sports cars don't count since the roof is the same height as your fog lights lol) and if that is good you can see if adjusting them higher or lower will suite your needs as long as other drivers are bothered.

The general rule of thumb is 2" of drop at 20'. IE assuming the top of the cutoff 6" in front of the fog light is at 24" off the ground the at 20' it should be about 22" or 23" at 10'. On the Pro it is a little difficult to find the hard cutoff at 20' as they have more light bleed than the Sport or Max. So like I mentioned above you'll probably end up tweaking the adjustment a few times to get it right where you want it.

 

Me in June: