The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

As memario said, the changes are just on the production process here, no changes to the design. Just more test points and inspections. You can still swap lenses and everything.

Great idea with the automated lighting functions. I'm sure we will see more of that over the next 10 years. BMW and Audi already sort of do this with their "high beam boost" function, which adds an extra high beam when you hit a certain speed on the highway.

This is my personal opinion: you should really be using fog lights in... fog. They are not meant to compliment your distance vision, they're really for use when you literally cannot see anything in front of you, by illuminating the foreground and sides of the road. Personally, I only use mine in inclement weather, and slow driving when there's not much street lighting. In those situations, brighter is absolutely better. I definitely turn them off when I'm on the highway at speed, in clear weather. How you choose to use them is entirely personal preference, but it's a bit odd to me to see this argument comes up so frequently about distance vision, when the correct application for these lights is in the name: fog lights. There is a reason they shut off when high beams are activated - they are not intended to add to your distance vision.

If you ARE looking to improve distance vision, I would strongly recommend the Driving optic, which can be used legally in most states as auxiliary high beams. They're fantastic for that.

 

Yeah, I think I didn’t intuitively understand that before joining this forum. I thought fogs were cool, more light is better, and might as well leave ‘em on all the time. I realize now far more about the intent and purpose of vehicle lighting after reading all of the excellent content posted by everyone. Given my driving patterns I have near zero proper need for fog lighting so it’s not the best place for me to spend since stock with a good quality bulb is halfway decent. So thank you to everyone for helping me understand this.

 

If you're using the fog lights for it's intended purpose (Fog) then there's no reason for complaint. They aren't built for distance.

 

Some people not educated in lighting like to aim their fogs at the height of their headlights because they think it adds to the low beam output. this annoys me the most. little do they know fogs are supposed to be 4" below the height of the fog position in the bumper. simple geometry, fog lights that are aimed higher than its mount position will rise with distance and blind oncoming drivers.

let us educate each other

 

Right. Each light pattern is designed for a very specific purpose and as others have mentioned, fog lights are designed for just that, fog/poor weather. If you are looking for a distance light an SAE J581 aux high beam driving light would be a better choice. Fogs are intended to help you find the edges of the roadway in a short wide pattern so you can navigate your vehicle in poor weather at slow speeds. They are not 'aux driving lights' as many people tend to use them for. People intrinsically like foreground light, hence why you see so many drive around on with their fogs inappropriately, but that is detrimental to night distance vision. I've driven on some remote mountain pass highways were the conditions were so bad, I couldn't determine where the road was. Distance vision doesn't matter because you cannot see distance anyway, I wanted all the foreground light possible so I could find the edges of the road.

Automatic fogs as your propose are not as simple either. The reason for loss of distance vision with excess foreground light is your pupils constrain due to the near field light. Turning that foreground light off does not instantly restore your night distance vision, it takes time for your pupils to re-dilate to restore your night vision. Fogs also do not typically provide any benefit at slower speed in clear weather, unless maybe you are in an area where an animal may jump out on the road, or on a trail where they can help with close area situational awareness. Having improved night vision is going to be better than having the fogs turn on and off automatically based on speed. That said, automotive manufactures are doing some awesome things with automated lighting technology way beyond simple on/off. Check out this promo video from Audi, it is a few years old and the technology has been available in Europe, but I believe just recently this matrix LED technology has been approved for use in the USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5bBEfphebI

 

https://www.polestar.com/uk/polestar-2/safety/
Polestar, the offshoot brand from Volvo, is doing some wild stuff with their lighting. Not sure if that's making it to the US but the European market is getting it for sure.

 

I have an 09 tacoma and want to get clear bajas. i found a deal on them for around the same price. i’ve heard great reviews on these lights but what makes the “better than baja” how’s longevity on these? are they able to take the beating that my bajas i have can take? and what’s the lumens on the sae ss3 fogs vs bajas sae for early second gens?

 

Very similar to Audi's matrix LED headlamps. The technology is coming to the US, the governing bodies are just a bit slower here.

I have to ask why? They are among he lowest performance fog options and way over priced for what you get.
Baja: raw lumens 2480, lux @18' 121 lux.
SS3 Pro: raw lumens 5796, lux @18' 497 lux.

If going white, Bajas come in 5000k whereas the SS3s are 4000k or 6000k. The SS3 Pros are 4x+ higher intensity for the same price as the Bajas. Let that sink in, four times plus higher intensity. There really isn't a comparison here, unless you really wanted the 5000k, where the better performing 5000k KC G4s are not available on the 05-11 trucks.

 

I ordered DD SS3 Pros on 5-22 and they’re still backordered... anyone else in the same boat?

 

I finally got to use my SS3 fog pods on a dark as hell state road. The wide beam is crazy, and the cutoff is great. There is hardly any light bleed vertically. I love the contrast of the headlight and 3000k fog compared to the 5000k or 6000k fogs. I'm just waiting for some heavy rain to come at night time. Its all been during the daytime.

 

How much are you beating up your lights exactly?

 

uh may have dropped them once or twice installing them and had alot of tree branches wack them.

 

thanks. i’m kinda leaning towards these for my fogs and putting bajas everywhere else. but i just don’t want to get these and have issues. their fairly new. has anyone had issues with these failing, or leaking? how’s the over all build quality. i haven’t seen many people talk about this.

 

Got my SS3s today. Install went smooth until I realized the mounting area holding the driver side fog seems stripped so now the fog light shakes around

 

I had the same issue.Not sure if it's the right thing to do. But I wrapped the screw in teflon tape. Helped it a little bit.

Would like to know what everyone else is doing.

 

Lame that Toyota decided a metal screw should screw into plastic. I’ll give the Teflon a try though

 

Alright, let's try this again. These photos are meant to showcase the correct color profile (I may need to angle the lights down a bit), as my previous post was with the wrong color temp LEDs. First photo is headlights only, second is headlights + DD SS3 Pros. @Diode Dynamics was very quick about sending the replacement set after finding out about the production error in my previous set, so props to them for that. @memario1214 was also incredibly responsive and helpful throughout the whole process - you guys should all buy your lights through him. The build quality is excellent (like way better than stock), and the correct color profile is much easier on the eyes.