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HOW TO: LED Foglights

Discussion in 'Lighting' started by jo35, Feb 2, 2014.

  1. Feb 2, 2014 at 9:16 AM
    #1
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Orlando, FL
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    Maxtrac Spindles Bilstein 5100 shocks @.85 Eibach springs Dakar leaf pack 1" block 3 degree shims Bilstein extended 5100 shocks CB spacer Method double standard wheels 285/75/17 Terra Grapplers BHLM w/ HID's and custom LED fogs 2011 color matched sport grille
    Here are LED Foglights from Tuff Led on Amazon. They are very high quality and boy are they bright. I wanted to fit them in my stock foglight holes like this guy did http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/lighting/305548-cheap-led-fog-lights-swap-out-your-stocks.html, however I wanted more of a plug and play approach which requires no mutilation to stock components. I bought them from this amazon here http://www.amazon.com/Tuff-LED-Ligh...358819&sr=8-2&keywords=Tuff+LED+Lights+2+X+4" .



    Step 1: As you can see, the mounting tab on the bottom of the foglight will not allow it to fit into the stock foglight hole.
    20140121_182537_zpse83d0815_51dbf49d031d299ab3eef4acc4c7dbd56eec9828.jpg
    20140121_182540_zps63e4f829_e337b97367ae9c1cd396ccb3f8b02da7e294ef80.jpg


    I used a hand held saw and cut right throught he lightweight aluminum like so. I held them in a vice with a towel over the lense to prevent breakage.
    20140121_182740_zps03d65da9_8e13b502b33d40796696d43b6962fba048e0f13c.jpg
    20140121_180505_zps3c5bc8a9_c8589f9f570fce8709c265f3b3fe175dc560f81d.jpg
    I ran them over my grinding wheel to smooth the cut out a bit.
    20140121_180935_zps78a0b72e_b1ea7639b7cba7f29ac028e0f513c05e7112501f.jpg

    Here is the piece that came off.
    20140121_180657_zps30f3f9a7_56b458dcf20b7f69861d802dd8114e3cdebcdd57.jpg


    Step 2: The cutting will leave you with some bare aluminum So i used some black duplicolor touchup paint i had laying around to paint the aluminum. It came out pretty well.

    20140121_181421_zps20276166_24a9c6afb4511b65ea712f0e97f63a9613807e70.jpg

    Here is one done and painted and the other with the tab still on.
    20140121_182553_zps60a032da_293d051a61a5073629e590948bda3691013b0c56.jpg
    20140121_182605_zpsa4d54aee_436fb907c3517e934de59ca39517591452f3becb.jpg

    Now both are cut and painted. You can see the tabs that were cut off beside them

    20140121_184625_zps7cdab362_d0b4a3f108eccc9aada2991985b6e0a090d92c7a.jpg


    Step 3: The next thing to do is wire the foglights. I bought a pack of two h10 extensions on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H6ZHYS/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and cut them in half.
    20140123_154416_zpse34c617f_980388433a21d79bed0db13621005df11148d7ea.jpg
    20140123_154613_zpscc3019ca_dfc7cfd5fc4154b54bebbcf87abe2a762acbaec8.jpg
    I used the female ends and soldered them to the wires of the foglight. Red to red and black to black.
    20140123_154754_zpsf1fa8168_bd4f7f5fb7acdd8a284bbba193589b4b456824c9.jpg

    make sure you don't make the cord too long like I did at first because the Male end on your truck reaches all the way up to the foglight, no need for the extra wiring. Here they are on my first attempt... too long but still functional.
    20140123_172505_zpsaa0ba825_7822326864a32da36ca7939f30942ad47ec4694e.jpg
    I cut them again, shorter this time, stripped the wires, soldered, heatshrinked, wrapped in electrical tape, and then put a wire tube around it to maintain the professional look.
    20140130_180727_zpsb1f27294_5bb35bd70eed3a3e42a648b142703d2f2105feec.jpg


    Step 4: Next step is to unplug your stock foglights and test the connection of the new foglight. Make sure they work before proceeding any further.


    Step 5: Put your foglight in the hole (wire coming out of the bottom of the foglight towards bottom) and make a mark on each side of the foglight housing where the two stock holes are in the foglight hole. These holes are the two tabs that you press on the stock foglight to get it out.


    Step 6: Take your foglights back to the workbench and drill the two holes that you marked on each. Only drill through the outermost shroud. Don't drill all the way through or anything like that.
    20140130_182651_zps79cc35a8_2e7cd8c35de8802aedf0ca26cef35f351f89c2ae.jpg
    20140130_182655_zpse0febbf6_90110a3d7f3a499d264dff1b12de888f06698d66.jpg

    Step 7: Thread a zip tie through each hole, the thick head end of the zip tie sticking out of the hole you drilled a half inch. Put them into your stock foglight holes and zip tie them in. You can see here how it is done. The circled parts are the zip ties:

    7701d137-50c4-43fb-8211-1657a1fba625_zps_f56c3b11e70782043a2095e7721e9eded57f4b50.jpg

    The skinny end of the zip tie will come out of the fog light shroud and over to the back of the foglight hole near the connection then wrap around and zip into the thick head of the zip tie where the hole is.
    I will post pics soon of what it looks like all done on my truck. Like i said, the beauty of this mod is that nothing is hardwired onto your truck and you can remove these and install your stock fogs again in about 2 minutes flat. No mutilation of your truck required.
     
  2. Feb 2, 2014 at 9:53 AM
    #2
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Maxtrac Spindles Bilstein 5100 shocks @.85 Eibach springs Dakar leaf pack 1" block 3 degree shims Bilstein extended 5100 shocks CB spacer Method double standard wheels 285/75/17 Terra Grapplers BHLM w/ HID's and custom LED fogs 2011 color matched sport grille
    Here are pics as promised. They are probably 3 times as bright as my stock fogs. Now I just need to get some lifetime Led bulbs for my headlights then I'm good 2 go.

    20140202_122136_zps1939dd37_9a62c585e7794fcc49b705a206c6c8a77018218c.jpg

    20140202_122148_zps7285aa87_74f5e2c1d91103bd8fa5659d721dd3c71720db07.jpg
     
    Kuntrykid likes this.
  3. Feb 2, 2014 at 10:03 AM
    #3
    Asianguywithatruk

    Asianguywithatruk Well-Known Member

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    Cool mod man. I've been having this idea for a while but never got around to it. One question thought... How the heck do you aim them?
     
  4. Feb 2, 2014 at 10:05 AM
    #4
    anders99

    anders99 The Sailing Member

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    How bright are they. I read some of the Amazon reviews and am kinda skeptical because there are so many 5 stars. So many I think most may be fake.
     
  5. Feb 2, 2014 at 10:06 AM
    #5
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Maxtrac Spindles Bilstein 5100 shocks @.85 Eibach springs Dakar leaf pack 1" block 3 degree shims Bilstein extended 5100 shocks CB spacer Method double standard wheels 285/75/17 Terra Grapplers BHLM w/ HID's and custom LED fogs 2011 color matched sport grille
    I haven't aimed mine. The only way to really aim them would be to put a shim on the back of the unit against the stock hole to aim it lower. They cut throught the fog really well, they are just so bright that you don't want to have them on in front of oncoming traffic. Fog is never that bad here in FL so I did it mainly for looks.
     
  6. Feb 2, 2014 at 10:07 AM
    #6
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Maxtrac Spindles Bilstein 5100 shocks @.85 Eibach springs Dakar leaf pack 1" block 3 degree shims Bilstein extended 5100 shocks CB spacer Method double standard wheels 285/75/17 Terra Grapplers BHLM w/ HID's and custom LED fogs 2011 color matched sport grille
    They are wayyy brighter than I expected. Probably twice as bright as my stock high beams
     
    Kuntrykid likes this.
  7. Feb 2, 2014 at 10:09 AM
    #7
    anders99

    anders99 The Sailing Member

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    Taco SOS Offroad Concepts hybrid front bumper Iggy Corp. Switch panel Famous Fab ditch lights and cb antenna mount Pioneer Appradio 2 Halo Led Headlights Led Taillights 3'' toytech spacer lift on front end Toytec AAL on rear AFE cold air intake 4Runner Stock
    Sweet thanks reason I asked is because there are 126 reviews for the product, 109 are 5 stars. Will have to do this sometime.
     
  8. Feb 3, 2014 at 11:02 AM
    #8
    Chris24

    Chris24 Well-Known Member

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    how many people flash you from this? seems like it would be way too bright for oncoming traffic since the beam can't be aimed or adjusted.
     
  9. Feb 3, 2014 at 2:40 PM
    #9
    penguins_cc

    penguins_cc Well-Known Member

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    This looks cool but would a spot pattern be preferable to the flood pattern for a fog light? I don't know the answer, I'm asking.
     
  10. Feb 3, 2014 at 3:40 PM
    #10
    rondog

    rondog Well-Known Member

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    Crazy, I just bought a pair of LED lights today for my bumper and I was going to use the existing fog light wires but couldn't figure out what kind of connector it was. Thanks for the Amazon link!
     
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  11. Dec 28, 2014 at 1:01 PM
    #11
    88JayPizzle

    88JayPizzle Well-Known Member

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  12. Dec 29, 2014 at 5:24 AM
    #12
    mattvivsound

    mattvivsound Well-Known Member

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    photo of the lights 20-30ft from the wall.
     
  13. Dec 29, 2014 at 6:13 AM
    #13
    808TacoMan

    808TacoMan HAWAIIAN

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    Toytec Ultimate lift Coilovers Toytec AAL No diff Drop 5% Tint all around Morimoto 2Stroke LEDS High and Low Morimoto Fog Lights MESO Key FOBs
    Sub'd for output
     
  14. Dec 29, 2014 at 6:17 AM
    #14
    geekhouse23

    geekhouse23 The "Liftman" - @DrFunker

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    Looks good +1
     
  15. Dec 29, 2014 at 6:21 AM
    #15
    808TacoMan

    808TacoMan HAWAIIAN

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    OP what is the actual diameter of the lights?
     
  16. Dec 29, 2014 at 12:29 PM
    #16
    88JayPizzle

    88JayPizzle Well-Known Member

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    just headlights on
    [​IMG]



    with fogs on
    [​IMG]
     
  17. Dec 30, 2014 at 10:39 AM
    #17
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Hey guys!

    The lights are 4" in diameter.
     
  18. Dec 30, 2014 at 10:40 AM
    #18
    jo35

    jo35 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Wow nice truck. I love the grille! It's cool to see someone doing this. My instructions and pictures paid off!
     
  19. Dec 30, 2014 at 2:18 PM
    #19
    David K

    David K Well-Known Member

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    The light output looks great, but they are not fog lights anymore, are they? Driving lights/ flood light perhaps since fog lights are wide (cornering) beams and not long distance.

    Thanks for the write up and photos. I was considering HIDs for these weak factory fog 35 watt halogen bulbs just to improve the actual fog cutting and wide beam cornering advantage.
     
  20. Jan 3, 2015 at 8:04 PM
    #20
    n.gardner

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