Fog Light Repair (hit giant tumbleweed on I-70 in CO)

On my way back from a solo road trip I hit a giant tumbleweed on I-70 in Colorado. Damn thing was easily as tall as the hood of the truck. Not much damage, except it broke the mount for my driver side fog light and the light no longer works. So now the OEM fog on the driver side is just kind of dangling by the wiring behind the bumper.

I’m looking for some advice on how to troubleshoot/repair this issue. I was hoping that the light still worked and I could just epoxy the mounts back together and go, but no dice. I was happy with the OEM setup on my 2020 SR5, so maybe I can buy a replacement fog from another member who upgraded?

Anyway here’s a couple pics. TIA for any advice.

 

Perfect time and excuse to get a set of LED fog lights!

Or head to the for sale section and see what's out there! Good luck!

 

Search Results for Query: fog | Tacoma World

 

It sounds like it is still intact and functioning?

The fog is held in by two tabs and one fastener. It can be access by reaching down the gap in the front surround with the hood open. See if you can't just reinstall it?

Also, unplug it from the harness as letting it dangle could cause a short or a ruined connector.

 

It’s still intact but not functioning. I haven’t yet done any testing as to whether it’s just the bulb that failed.

 

I can't remember if there is a second tab that the fastener can go through? From your pic, it doesn't look like it.

When I had a fog taken out by a rock, I had offers from a bunch of good TW folks within a half hour at killer prices and had the replacement installed within a couple hours of noticing the damage.

 

I just pulled the dangling fog from your advice about risking damage to the connector. It looks like there are four tabs that hold the OEM fog light in place but there is only a screw on one of them. The failure point was the bulb and the mount with the screw.

 

You'll have to feel around, but you might be able to use that other tab if there is a matching on in the bumper.

 

Yeah I think I might be able to reinstall the light if I screw through a different tab. The fog mount has hood in each tab (that weren’t used) but it looks like the bumper doesn’t have pre-drilled holes otherwise.

Any downside to doing so?

 

I have new fogs to install (my passenger side got taken out by a rock). You can have my driver side if you pay for shipping from AZ. I'll PM you.

 

Something doesn't seem right about that pic. These are what are on my 2017 with four relatively symmetric tabs. The bumper side looks like only three can be used, so you might need a new fog assembly.

 

TW folks coming through in the clutch!

 

I think you’re right. I just took a couple pics on the passenger side and I think the other tabs (which are pre-drilled) don’t line up very well for providing sufficient support.

 

This is an amazing offer, thank you! I’ve sent you a follow up.

 

The fog is only held in with one screw that is to the right. The other two tabs on the left just slide into the holder tabs on the bumper.

 

Thanks! I think I got it now. It was a bit of an optical illusion.

Your two tabs are at the red arrows and the green arrow is pointing to a boss for the fastener:



You could try to install a fastener here, but I think you'd need a nut to properly secure it. You could do that if you pull the black bezel and have a helping hand in there.

 

In the end, at least your bumper and light mounts didn't take any damage.




You don't need to pull the hosing to swap bulbs, so the only time that you would have to remove the nut would be for future damage.


I could see myself going either way, but the the replacement is the easier route.

 

Too true! I was so relieved it wasn’t a big enough deal to involve my insurance.

East of Denver I was getting over into the left lane to pass someone on my way back from the west coast. Just as I got over this giant tumbleweed was barreling onto the freeway. On first examination (near dusk) I thought I escaped with no damage. I didn’t even notice the light missing initially.

 

You really can't beat that, all told.

 

just replace them with some DD ss3 fogs or similar while you are at it.