The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Very cool. Thanks for the info.

Wonder if they'll have a non amber version. I have a feeling their going to be amber only...

 

Bajas lenses on the existing squadrons, which the SAE version is based on, are interchangeable. They haven’t said anything but I would expect they have both. Amber SAE compliance is more challenging from an engineering standpoint than white.

 

I wish Baja Designs would just release them already

 

Thanks so much for this amazingly detailed review and specs!

 

My KC's finally showed up today. UPS must've left them in a container yard for a week or so, but better late than never. Took them out for a quick drive tonight. Very impressed so far. A nice yellow that is easy on the eyes but lights up the ditches and dead spots under the low beams very well. Truly plug and play, 20 min install from the top. I'll try to upload a pic. The parking lot is on the side of a hill so the side lighting disappears at the drop off on the far side. You can see it a bit on the embankment on the near side. That is drl and fogs.

 

Short wavelength light does an outstanding job of reflecting off rain/snow/fog so you highly illuminate the precipitation in the air causing you to see it, rather than the roadway beyond it. I regularly drive across remote two lane mountain passes at night in very poor weather conditions. This most recent crossing the main two lane pass highway was closed due to snow, so we diverted to a very remote alternative pass, the kind where there is not a single store or service station or anything of any kind and also no cell coverage on the remote mountain pass highway. Snowfall was worse than expected. We stopped to pull multiple vehicles out so they could turn around before even hitting the grade. Despite all the high powered halogen lighting tech I have packed in my truck, I could not see the road due to near white out conditions. All I could see was snowfall. While the truck can handle extreme snow conditions running new narrower than stock KO2s, it doesn't do me much good if I literally cannot find the road way. I tried to have the GF take a photo, but she was busy mumbling about how we were going to die out here or something or another and hiding under a blanket.

We very, very slowly but successfully crossed the remote pass seeing almost no one along the way. Frustrated with the lack of ability to see in these extreme conditions due to my lighting, I set out to eliminate the short wavelength light from the truck for better poor weather performance. First thing I did is cut out short wavelength light from my high powered halogen headlights by using interference dielectric coated bulbs that eliminate blue light, shown in post #1520 here. My headlights are now warmer in color than stock for hopefully better poor weather performance.

Then I wanted to do something about eliminating short wavelength light from the fogs. The KC G4s have the best beam pattern coverage area out of all aftermarket fogs tested thus far, and the amber version has outstanding color chromaticity, while completely eliminating the short wavelength spectrum. I also prefer products that are very subtle and stealthy, and it doesn't get more subtle than the KC G4s, that is until you turn them on.







The color is a very rich amber which has a wider and fuller throw pattern than all the other competing LED Tacoma fogs.

Halogens produce very little short wavelength blue light as a percentage of their spectrum. To avoid refraction in poor weather you want to try and limit wavelengths under 500nm. The KCs do an awesome job of killing short wavelength light which should translate into minimal precipitation refraction for superior poor weather performance. You can see how comparatively percentage-wise they do a great job of shifting the light spectrum out of the refraction range. Note the comparison below is normalized for peak output and not indicative of cumulative output.



The KC G4s mount identical to stock. I installed one and adjusted the cut off to match the remaining OEM fog, then installed the other and adjusted it to match the first KC. I went to take more output pics but feel my aiming was actually a bit low and didn't do them justice. I'll adjust and get more output pics this week.

The KC G4s do provide the best coverage of all the aftermarket fogs, and the amber of the KCs is outstanding. My only concern is intensity. While it is definitely a challenge to produce high output amber light from LEDs, the amber KC G4 is less than half the lux output of the white KC G4. I do have a non-standard baseline expectation though, as all my lights are much higher powered than stock.

Realistically I won't be able to evaluate how these truly perform for the poor weather purpose they are designed until I have another poor weather pass crossing experience. With my luck that should not be too far off. I have deliberately traded off some raw output for smarter spectrum, I'm curious to see how this plays out.

I'll update with more output photos soon.

You can see additional comparison info for the KC amber G4s back in post #358 here.

 

This is gonna be a great experiment and in reality you are very right about needing to physically drive the truck to see how it compares. My biggest question would be how they take active snowfall in terms of icing over and reducing your light output due to the fact they run so cold.

Interested to see the results.

Cheers

 

I certainly have the same concerns about icing, it will really just depend on how sticky the snow is. If snow sticks to the front of the truck, the lights will not produce the heat required to prevent icing and will likely get covered given enough time. If it is a drier snow, it may be a non-issue. The fogs are the most challenging lights on the truck IMO, as every solution makes a compromise somewhere. We'll see how they do.

 

I did get to use my KC's in a heavy wet snow a few days ago and I think that is the weak spot with these. They definitely have no deicing qualities. I think you will be disappointed it that regard. I took them for a drive around the local lake during the storm and after a few miles the output was a soft yellow glow. I had to stop every few miles and scoop slush out of them. That is the only regard in which I feel that they are inferior to the OEM. Granted it was a heavy wet snow and barely freezing, 32s degrees on the dot, more like flying slush. Big chicken feather flakes as my Dad would have said. I had to have the wipers on at fast intermittent even at 20 mph, so it was coming down pretty good. On a positive note they do not reflect off the individual flakes at all. I don't think it would be an issue in drier, colder snow. I'm very happy with the output on in general, as well the as the overall increase in visibility to other drivers. They definitely stand out. I do notice an improvement on misty roads and don't find my eyes twitching around on dry asphalt like I did with the OEM. The amber is definitely easier on the eyes, especially the peripheral vision on the interstate. I haven't tried them in rain or dry snow yet.

 

Got to try out the KC's in an ice storm tonight and they did great! The clear ice didnt even disperse the beam much! No pics of the beam on the garage wall bc it timed out and I was ready to go inside but it was basically unchanged. This is them with close to 1/4" of ice on them. Pretty impressive imho.

 

That's awesome to hear! Thanks for this feedback!

 

Did you compare the

$124 pt413-42191 fog light (black), 1 pack

pt413-42191 fog lights? i bought the amber Morimoto not really happy with them

 

Yes, see post #560.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...fog-light-review.554813/page-28#post-19408787

There are links in the original post right next to the yellow output photo to all the amber/yellow pod options covered in the thread.

Are you not happy with the output intensity? True amber light source fogs are not going to have the intensity of a white or yellow fog. Both Rigid and Baja should be releasing their yellow fogs in the next month or two which will be quite a bit brighter than the amber options.

 

I meant did you test the Toyota LED fogs here’s the link https://parts.toyota.com/p/Toyota__/High-Performance-LED-Fog-Lights---Black/69550310/PT41342191.html

on the Morimoto not really happy with the beam pattern it’s too narrow and not high enough. They don’t feel like true fog lights, I should’ve gone with a clear option. They’re good in the rain and snow, but it doesn’t rain and snow often enough around me to keep them in.

 

Made in China - Ewwww!
Also only $110 here
https://trdshop.carlocktoyotaoftupelo.com/oem-parts/toyota-led-fog-lights-black-pt41342191

 

Got it, I misunderstood what you were asking. No I have not tried those yet. I did try the other Lexus OEM fogs here which another member sent me for testing and I returned them afterward. Being OEM fogs I really would not expect them to beat out the higher performing fogs in this thread. If looking at plug and play options, I think KC G4s are the best bet for color quality, pattern coverage and output intensity. The Morimotos have a very narrow pattern as do most the aftermarket fogs, KC has the best followed by Rigid, whereas KC projects wider than Rigid does.

 

Here is a clip of the Rigid Amber pods on the freeway in light rain. So much easier to see the road in these conditions compared to the white version. Was having a work conversation so had to put the music over.


https://youtu.be/ndX9cZ6OZ3E

 

Nice! Those would go great with some Osram AllSeasons 85/80w H4s.

 

Why is this not a sticky, yet "2020 Tacoma Teased" is....

Can me make this happen?

@ColoradoTJ
@tcBob
@4x4Runner

 

Ordered these today to replace the Morimotos (that cost $100 more) I installed a month or so ago. I generally only use my fogs for poor weather conditions, not as a regular supplement to the low beams. Can't wait to see how they look. May still go with the Rigid amber fogs, but it's way cheaper to try the H9s first.

Still thinking about the H9 low beam mod, but I don't drive a lot at night and it's mostly in the city when I do. A night trip up to the mountains may change that perspective though.

Thanks so much for all your work in this area. I've learned a LOT about vehicle lights in the last few weeks.