The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

I'm sure he'll answer but ask this in the brake thread and fog light stuff here. Helps keep stuff organized.

 

The question would be best in the brake thread, but yes they will be a great upgrade from stock. They have more cooling veins for greater internal surface area than stock, which means their cooling will be superior to stock and better resist brake fade. I wouldn’t do Cryos again unless needed for heavy towing or applications where brake warping has been an issue, since most shops won’t will not resurface Sport rotors due to the slots.

For further brake discussion, let’s keep it in the brake thread:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/brake-upgrade-stoptech-rotors-trd-performance-pads.523829/

 

sorry but another Ford F-150 owner here. I joined this forum just to be able to participate in this thread full of great information. Most google searches I've done and many of the F150/Raptor forums point you to this forum for the best information on SAE fog and driving lights. I have read all 250 pages of this thread and the matching SAE driving light thread.

I have a 2020 Ford f150 Platinum, comes factory with all LED lighting except for the license plate lights. Little about me, I drive almost 500 miles every night and am sick and tired of people driving around with their high beams on, 40" LED light bars blazing away and those freaking non SAE LED bulbs in halogen housings. As long as they can see what else matters, right????

Anyway, I am one of those guys who drives my f150 with the fogs on anytime the lights are on (bambi mode so they stay on with high beams too) for one reason. There are tons of deer I am on the look out for trying to avoid. I am thinking about changing out the factory fog lights and installing this mounting bracket.
http://www.kdfabworks.com/2018-2020-F150-Dual-LED-Fog-Light-Kit_p_507.html


Question is what 2 lights to put in there. The DD maxes are getting great reviews and KDF owner told me 2 of the DD pods will fit in there.

was also thinking about adding this before I read about the Max fogs.
https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/Ford-F-150-19-On-Dual-10-S8-Light-Bar-Kit.asp


Your thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

First of all, welcome to Tacoma World! I too came here many years ago after a string of F-150's.

As to your question(s), I'd recommend the Diode Dynamics SS3 pods over the BD kit for one big reason - the DD pods are available in street legal versions. The BD bar doesn't make any mention of beam pattern and / or legality. Based on the claimed output numbers though, I highly doubt you're going to be able to run it full time. It sounds more like a supplement to your high beams.

Getting back to the SS3's, remember there are actually 3 street legal models as long as you stick with the fog pattern: The Sport, Pro and Max. I had the selective yellow Pro and moved up the Max and am very happy with them. I don't think I'd want to run them full time though. Somebody will eventually get ticked off.

If you want my 2 cents, based on your desire to run them full time with your headlights, I'd go with a set of clear fog Sports to run full time. I'd then add a set of selective yellow Max fogs to run "as needed" on a separate switch.

 

Thank you....if I put the BD light bars in the grill they will be tied to the high beams. the description on them is spot beams but the lights they show are actually there driving combo pattern.

 

If that's the case, I'd recommend going with the spot pattern tied to the high beams. I had a 30" Diode Dynamics LED bar tied to the high beams in an all spot pattern behind the grill on my Tacoma in addition to everything else. Let's just say I was not wanting for more light. The only concern I might have on the BD product is aiming over cosmetics. It looks like they may end up slightly splayed outwards.

 

My original thoughts we to through a max fog and max driving in the KDF mount. If I wanted even further downrange light then adding to BD light bar. But I also like the idea of a white SS3 tied to the low beams, a selective yellow SS3 on the fog light switch and then I'd probably end up wanting the BD bar in the grill. As per the directions for the BD bar they can be mounted straight ahead or angled out (don't remember the degrees) which probably matches the grill slope.

Again as it sits now the I am pretty happy with the stock setup but really want to add more range to the deer spotting abilities.

 

anxiously awaiting them. reading your past posts you are a vendor but seem like an honest one.

 

Welcome! A few things to consider:
1) It is only SAE compliant/legal to run one set of fogs/aux lights at a time. So for the dual light setup, consider what you are trying to achieve. You mention you were thinking about light bars but then considering fogs. Fogs are a short range wide pattern light, they won't help you spot deer in the distance, they might help catch kamikazes at short range to the sides of the roadway. The light bars are a distance light which will help you see further down range. These products compliment each other and are not really an either/or scenario.
2) The Max fogs are higher intensity but the SAE fog Pros have a slightly wider pattern, that is taller with more light spill above the cut off. This would be better for dear spotting, but worse for oncoming drivers if you are running your fogs all the time.
3) For a long range light, higher up mounting near the headlights is better, the fog location is not ideal to mount a distance light. If you went with the 2 fog mount, you could consider adding some SAE driving lights, the Pros are the highest output that is street legal, the Max is available in a driving pattern, but output intensity is too high to be legal. However, unlike fogs, driving lights are not used with oncoming traffic so as long as your state doesn't have inspections that may not be an issue.
4) Diode Dynamics has fog kits for the 2020 F150 that come with the fogs, which would save you money over buying a 3rd party kit and lights separately, plus it is designed specifically for the SS3s.
https://www.diodedynamics.com/ss3-led-fog-light-kit-for-2015-2020-ford-f-150.html
5) The Max fogs are very impressive to say the least, but if you are driving with them on all the time that is a lot of foreground light which isn't good for distance vision. You mention using the fogs to help with animal spotting but did not mention for use in poor weather. For poor weather use selective yellow will be more ideal. If deciding on the Max I'd get selective yellow to soften the color temp of the foreground light. If going for the Sport you might consider white for best animal highlighting.
6) The Baja dual light bars are not street legal and also not an SAE pattern. Since that isn't a pattern or product that would be run with oncoming traffic in a state that doesn't have inspections that may not be an issue. The open reflector design will have a lot more light spill in all directions, which will be better for deer spotting than a more focused driving light.

With your setup, I'd consider both the DD SS3 fog kit and the Baja grill light bars, noting that the later is not street legal.

For long range in dear spotting, the BD grill kit is more ideal IMO. The fog location would work, but higher is better for distance lights. And while Baja calls their combo light a 'driving light' it is not the same as Diode Dynamics driving lights, which are a true SAE pattern as covered in the SAE J581 thread. The SAE driving light pattern is a focused beam of high intensity light designed to project distance and cover the entire roadway ahead, but minimizes peripheral light which isn't beneficial on road. Baja's driving light is an offroad light, with lots of peripheral light spill which is beneficial off road for obstacle awareness, but would also be beneficial for spotting deer off the sides of the road way.

Your notion of 2 fogs to switch colors is interesting. If set on running fogs all the time you might consider a white Sport fog to give you with width but not go overkill on foreground light, and a yellow Max fog for poor weather use. Then when activating the fog switch have a relay turn off the Sport fogs and activate the Max fogs.

 

Thank you crashburn80.....you have done an amazing job here. about your item#4. If I can achieve what I wanted without doing the light bar then #4 is automatically ruled out due to installation. Looking a the DD directions for their kit you have to pop off the fender flares and the valence panel between the grill and bumper. Since the dealer buggered that up doing the front camera recall I wanted to avoid removing those if at all possible. The KDF dual mount or Rigid/KDF single pod mount don't require removing those items. If I end up putting the BD light bar in then it won't matter since I have to remove those parts anyway. After reading all the pages of both of your SAE threads I understand what BD is calling driving combo is NOT a SAE driving light. Other similar option is Rigid has a grill light bar mount that I could have two 6" SR series SAE driving lights in the same location. Liked the BD mount over the Rigid as BD is 10" bars vs 6' bars of the R

Thank you again. appreciate it greatly

 

Thank you for the detailed reply, I didn't respond sooner because I was on my 500 mile nightly run to Chicago dealing with all the people who should be reading about SAE lights.

I really was meaning that as a compliment.

If I disable the bambi mode and put a SAE fog and SAE driving light there it is legal, correct? If not just about every Volvo semi tractor is illegal because the majority of them have a dual light pod with a fog and a driving light in there. Having both sets of aux lights on would be the illegal thing, but no inspections in OH and the driving light would go on and off with the brights.

On the F150 to remove the grill you have to remove the valence panel between the grill and bumper and on the lariats and above with fender flares you have to remove them before the valence panel. I thought I have KDF's dual pod instructions but didn't when I originally posted. He sent them to me and he recommends just removing the bumper (seems easier and less chance of plastic damage) so that could apply to the DD f150 set too. The biggest problem I see with the dual pod KDF setup is getting the lights adjusted correctly with the bumper off because it will be very difficult with it back on. Got to get the hardware tight enough the don't move on their own but still adjustable with some elbow grease.

aesthetics definitely DO come into play, hence buying a platinum instead of a XL but I want the best possible equipment that doesn't destroy the look of the truck. Not going to cut holes in the grill to mount a light behind it no matter how much of a flame thrower it might be.

Thank you for your recommendations.

 

I would absolutely get the SS3 Max's, don't even bother considering Baja Designs you'll be severely disappointed. I have the Pro's and my buddy has the Max's, they truly are worth the extra coin if you are willing to fork over the money. I personally would get the Selective Yellow. We have the SAE Fog Pro Selective Yellow on our Subaru Ascent and I prefer to have them on any time the headlights are on. I notice on long night drives that I have less eye strain because it lessens the amount of perceived white light on the road compared to running low beams only. Also it does a fantastic job of lighting up the ditches which has prevented us from hitting a few critters.

My buddy has both the clear and yellow lenses on his Legacy (he drives a total of 150ish miles a day for work). He noticed an increase in output after swapping the clear lens on for summer use but when he gets caught in rain or fog he wishes he had the yellow. There is a very big difference in poor weather visibility between the clear lens and the selective yellow lens. FYI

Not the greatest comparison but here are the SS3 Pro vs SS3 Max. I don't have any driving shots of the Pro's, but I think you can tell the difference.

SS3 Pro SAE Fog Selective Yellow. Wall is 100ft away, headlights off, the aim was a little high when I took the photo and they are aimed lower now.



SS3 Max SAE Fog Selective Yellow. This is obviously while driving during a pretty good snow storm. The Max, even in yellow almost completely drown out the headlights (OEM Subaru LED). They are absolutely amazing fog lights!

 

Also, for your aux high beam situation I would consider the Diode Dynamics Stage Series light bars as well. They make them in 6", 12", 18", ect in 6" increments. You can get them in an SAE Driving pattern and have different lenses you can swap out if you want to. I think the are smaller height wise than most light bars so they may fit better in the grill location as well.

 

This is a good option for narrow grill openings. Two 6" driving bars are SAE compliant (as long as they're not activated at the same time as the fogs, which is why it's a good idea to activate them with a high beam tap because that will disable your fogs automatically). Though I'd guess that their output is much lower than the BD set. They only pull about 30 watts each.

 

https://streamable.com/15oklm
https://streamable.com/bayn6w
^dash cam footage

4-5 year old projectors (morimoto h1 7.0s) paired with ss3 sports. pretty amazed my headlights are still almost always the brightest on the road

 

Before (or actually if) I make any comparison shots with the new SS3 max selective yellow fogs I need to take a minute and adjust the factory fogs. Pictures should show the LED is in the top of the housing and reflecting out. Top of lense is 24", hot spot coming out is at 23.5" and cut off on the wall is at 19.5" . Now I think that would be right if the wall was 25' away but it's only 6' away. So, is the drop linear, 4 inch at 25 feet equal an inch at 6 feet???

 

Yes the drop is linear. Precision is less at short range, 12’ 6” with a 2” drop would be better. Otherwise 6’3” is the distance you’d want for a 1” drop.

 

I know that I'm over thinking this. Do I take the drop from top of lense, the hot spot line at 23" or the cut off at 23.5"?

Thank you