The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Assembling the SS3s in the vehicle mount kit was super simple. Aiming is also very easy if you mount them correctly and don't over tighten things.

The vehicle mounts have a square shaped plastic bracket that that surrounds the pods with 2 mount points that allow the light to pivot for aiming. Very simplistic and effective design, though it does seem like it would reduce some airflow for cooling efficiency.



The mounts have slotted mount points, allowing you to move the light forward or backward in the bracket. Too far forward and the light face will interfere with the vehicle bumper, possibly not allowing enough adjustment for correct aiming. Too far back and the light will be too deep in the mount, and the light body will interfere with the mount limiting aiming adjustment. I placed mine right in the middle.

Tips for aiming
When inserting the mounting bolts to connect the SS3 to the mount, don't make them overly crazy tight. I tightened mine 80-90% of what you would if you never wanted the lamp to move ever again. This allowed aiming with some force applied to the light bezel from outside the vehicle making the process very simple. Obviously you don't want it to be easily moveable, but you can make it tight enough it won't move on its own, but still will be moveable with sufficient force applied directly to the light.



SS3 with Tacoma fog mount installed.


Important to note that on Tacomas, only the upper screw mount should be used for the lamp to sit level. On 2nd Gen there are 2 screw mount points, but the lower one does not line up with the mount. Use only the upper one (just like 3rd Gen) and everything will line up.


There should be very slight gapping around the front of the light surround. If you pressed the light forward to make contact or sit flush, you would loose the ability to tilt the light to aim it correctly.


The SS3s were very easy to convert from SS3 pod to Tacoma fog by simply changing the front bezel and adding the fog out bracket with two bolts. They were also very easy to aim matching my existing fogs aiming in the process I described earlier. Overall the install was very simple and painless once the appropriate screw location was understood.

 

Comparing the SS3 Pro selective yellow to the Rigid D-series selective yellow in the 12-15 Rago wide angle mount.

D-series wide angle mount left vs SS3 Pro forward mount right


The combined output above is too wide to fit in a 1x iPhone 11 Pro camera optic.

Using the wide angle camera optic, the wide angle optic does not do as well in low light conditions. However, you can see the Rigid D-series in the wide angle Rago mount (for 2012-2015) have just a little more width in coverage to the left outside shoulder than the forward facing SS3s, but it is pretty comparable. Keep in mind the SS3s spec a best in class 80 degree beam width, the D-series are much narrower at 52 degrees, the D-series are being aided in width by the side angled Rago mount (only available for 12-15). While one should not rely on photos for intensity comparisons alone, you can see the Pro (right) has a slightly taller pattern and higher intensity. There is center pattern overlap, which favors the left side thats to the SS3's wider pattern projecting to the left. The Rigid D-series with a narrower pattern and aiming left does not return overlapping pattern light to the right, meaning only the left side gets the overlapping pattern thanks to the wider angle SS3 optic. To state that simpler, the SS3 has a best in class wider angle optic that will provide more overlapping intensity in front of the vehicle.



With headlights. Headlights are high powered 85/80w +30 Osram Hyper H4s running on a standalone harness.


The SS3 pattern width is very impressive for a forward facing mount, the width comparison is closer matched than I expected. While slightly outdone in max width with the Rigid Rago mount for 12-15, the SS3 makes up for it with 44% higher output intensity by my measurements, and much higher operating temperature for better resistance to cold weather icing.

When I compared the Rigid D-series in the wide-angle Rago mount to the Rigid 360 series in the forward mount, I chose the D-series because they were higher intensity, wider shoulder coverage and higher operating temp. The new Diode Dynamics SS3 Pros are nearly comparable in shoulder coverage, 44% higher intensity and far higher operating temp for better icing resistance while offering a more stock looking OEM mounting solution.

 

Lightwerkz is having a 20% off sale. So I’m between the Toyota Led fogs for $125 or Dd SS3 sport fogs for $160. Opinions?

 

Go pro or go home

 

I considered it but I am also building a Lexus RX350 retrofit with CBI Osram bulbs so they will be stupid bright so I figured I'd have mercy on the oncoming drivers and buy the sports.

 

Sports are 2x the output intensity of the Toyota LED fogs while also having a larger pattern. See the Toyota fogs here:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/posts/20419703

 

I run pros as well as rx350s. You won't regret the ss3s either way you choose to go

 

First time seeing these OEM Toyota Rigid fogs in person. At the Toyota dealer and they are on the Sequoia Pro and Tundra Pro. Based on the looks of the optic I’d speculate they are F3 spec, which is a short and wide pattern like the DD Sports and OEM Valeo LED fogs.

Edit: Although the lens appears to say F.

 

I wonder if Toyota has specs they want to stay within that they made Rigid comply to?

Which ultimately diminishes performance I'm sure...

 

Toyota seems to prefer an intensity gradient beam pattern, where the pattern is higher intensity at the top and lower intensity at the bottom, as shown on the OEM Valeo Toyota LED fogs, and on the Rigid Tacoma Pro LED fogs. Similar in concept to what Rigid did with the 360s with the higher intensity pattern up top and the lower intensity pattern below but the 360s just had dual pattern intensity and not a gradient like Toyota's OEM options.

 

That two-emitter design is very unusual. I don't see a reason to use those at all unless you're super bent on OEM only parts.

 

It is, what is also interesting is the use of the projector style optic for pattern spread, like Valeo but on the smallest scale I've seen in a fog, vs using the more common ribbed spreader optic typically found on a pod.

 

Consolidated the SS3 mounting and comparison posts into the original review post.

 

Anyone gotten the SS3 yellow fog sports and "wished" they got the pro's?

My usage would be street driving, thinking the extra light might be good for occasional deer avoidance on flat highway driving.

I have read claims that the sports travel further? Their lux readings at 10m appear close (slight edge on pro), so does that mean the sport are more efficient at "projecting" further?

 

The sports use smaller emitters which provides better focus. In the fog pattern, the Pros will project farther as they are higher in output resulting in a higher intensity pattern. They also have a taller pattern covering more area.

The Sports project further in the Spot pattern. Spots are a highly focused pattern and one of the ways to improve focus is shrink the light source. The Sports have smaller emitters vs the Pros larger emitters, meaning they will be more focused in a highly focused pattern, which increases beam intensity providing greater distance projection.

The key differences being the fog pattern is a very distributed pattern which benefits greater in output intensity from higher output in this case whereas the Spot pattern is highly focused which benefits more from greater focus.

 

Thanks Crashburn80;

I just bit the bullet and got the Pros with 20% off. Shhh... these are for a Tundra.

 

@crashnburn80 Nice writeup on the diode lights - have had mine installed for a month now and they never fail to disappoint as I'm driving around with them on in the back roads!
Keep up the good work!

 

I missed the 20% off sale by a couple days.

 

No you didn't. Go to lightwerkz right now.

 

I was too early... Bought them before the sale started from another vendor at 5% off.