Fog Lights or Rear Aux Lights

I was given a complete set of Autobahn 55W H3 Halogen Fog Lights and after testing the lights out I think they would make great rear facing lights on a bed bar or possibly additional fog lights on either side of my license plate in the lower valance.

SHOULD/CAN I SWAP HALOGEN BULBS OUT FOR HIDS?
I have a couple extra HID kits laying around and was thinking about just buying a set of H3 5000k bulbs to put in the existing solid glass housings. I was curious if the HID bulbs would fit or if I might run into any other complications with using HIDs in these housings that were made for halogens. Any input is greatly appreciated.

WHAT WILL LOOK/FUNCTION BETTER?
My other inquiry is strictly in regards to aesthetics/functionality. If I put them in the front I would Lamin-X my stock fogs to match and put amber bulbs back in the side markers and running lights (currently running all super white bulbs to match 6000k HIDs in fog and headlights). I was injured back in '06 during deployment to Iraq and I now suffer from moderate night blindness. Additional lighting up front is always welcome, but the rear facing lights would be great for work around the ranch. I don't always have a spotter with me at night when checking cows, and I have gotten myself into some precarious situations due to my inability to see at night. As I write this, it seems to me I need lights up front and in the back. So what would you do in my position?






Please forgive my feeble attempt at a MS Paint mash-up.

 

I like having the auxiliary back up lights a lot. I recently removed my auxiliary fuse block to upgrade it, and I've missed that extra since. HID would not be a particularly good application for reverse lights, they're just not suited to it. It takes too long to come up to power (intensity), and they are not necessarily fond of being turned on and off a lot.

Certainly, please don't put PNP HID kits in those lights mounted up front, that design will blind people much worse than your headlight PNP kit already does (though not any worse than your fog light kit).

Being that they are Bosch, they might be reasonably good fog lights. But, most people misunderstand fog lights. Fog lights (including the factory ones in our trucks) are only meant to light up the first 30-40 feet in front of the vehicle, to help you see in very bad weather at low speeds (30MPH, say).

At 60MPH, I believe that is 88 feet per second. At highway speeds, by the time you see it in the fog light area, you're not going to be able to stop in time. You'd be better off putting your money and effort into headlights--like a projector retrofit. If you want better distance seeing for empty roads, you need actual driving lights.

ETA: From a functional standpoint, you'd be better off with amber corners/turn signals. They also won't pass inspection in any state that has them, as the only white bulbs you can have are the headlights and reverse lights.

 

I would mount these, how they are, as reverse lights. They are bright enough for your needs. I have ones similar mounted in the same way, I love them.

 

Iroc, you bring about a good point when considering the range and speed at which fog lights are best suited. Then taking in to consideration that Forester is using a similar setup for backup lights, I think I will just fab up a bar using the lights as is since I was kind of leaning that way to begin with. Oh, and I do have retrofit Morimoto D2S Minis all blacked out with euro style LED running lights along the bottom. I have no complaints with my headlights or PNP fog lights, just hoping to shine a little extra light on the white lines, but I imagine I will manage. Thanks for all the input.

 

They should work great on the back. I just ran fused constant-hot power back to a pair of relays in the rear cargo cubby. The relays are operated directly off the driver's reverse light.

Be careful as well about getting too much foreground light in the front. Glad to hear you have the projectors (didn't see them until you pointed them out). Too much foreground lighting at speed will also diminish your long-range vision. You should already have a ton of light up front, if you need more just to see the lines I would maybe consider trying to fab up something strictly for the lines... but that's going to be a lot of work. Not sure where I'd start, maybe trying to build a custom LED emitter or something.

Another thing you could try is the 9005/9006 bulb in the factory fog housing (can't remember which one, but get the one with the black tip for glare protection). It might give you a little more uniform light than the HID. HIDs in an improper housing can tend to give off very splotchy light that won't help (this may or may not be the case). Either way, the HIDs in the fogs have no glare protection for other motorists--worse than the headlights.

The factory wiring should take the 9005 bulbs, as they are 55W and I believe the circuit has a 15A fuse for both bulbs.