The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

Not true at all. Observe.

 

It’s a conundrum for sure. It’s mostly turning into the unoccupied left hand side roads. If there’s a car there, it’s no challenge to see things. I wonder if a rock light setup in the front wheel well could work. Slider mounts would probably be too low.

I think by definition and need, there’s nobody in the line of projection when I need them. It’s tempting to just go the ‘spot light for a minute’ solution with ditch lights but I’d prefer to stay legal.

 

If you still have a factory front bumper I know an SSC1 will fit the bumper insert here. You'll have to trim the aluminum on the flush mount or the ribs on the bumper insert.

 

I may have to revisit that spot. I think I ping’d Meso about an option there, but it was low priority.

I’ve been working with fusion360 again lately so I’ll post up something if I ever get to it.

 

Previously I had them mounted here, which I do not recommend because it interferes with the lower bumper lightbar mount and you have minimal surface to work with. But gives you an idea of size with a trimmed down flush mount bezel.

 

If the light itself is thinner than the ribs, I might be able to cad something that straddles the ribs and fills the gaps.

I’m a big DD fan, but I might look at other vendors too.

 

Are you running the stock trd fogs still? They are a super wide pattern. I use mine for cornering occasionally and work perfectly. I also run the tungsram platinum bulbs which are great.

 

Actually no. I’m using DD selective yellow. I wonder how the spread compares to oem.

 

So… if you didn’t have the light bezel/flange, the light itself would fit between the ribs there?

 

You can see the Toyota OEM fogs have some of the widest patterns available.

 

Well, I can’t remember if mine were halogen or led, whatever the OR comes with from factory. I think I recall the DD SSC’s are 95 degrees, so pretty comparable to Toyota oem.

I guess I’ll do some careful measurements today. Where these might go has probably 5-15 degrees of tilt off straight forward, call it ten. So a 90 degree pattern would get me 55 degrees of angle to the side. If I’m going to go through the trouble of 3D printing a mount, I can probably tweak that some more.

 

My golf uses the fogs to do this, but it also uses a can bus to control everything. Ford transit vans also seem to have a dedicated light for this in the headlights, i would assume that these are also can bus contrled.

 

I have no experience with CANBUS systems, other than a tiny amount for a tuning gauge in an aftermarket application. I'm grateful that Toyota uses very basic control methodology, makes things easier to add without compromising factory function.

 

@RushT What about mounting the "cornering lights" on the leading edge of the running board or on the frame under the bumper? If you choose the SAE fog pattern it shouldn't cause any issues. If mounted on the frame or lower crash bar up front it would likely blend in well cosmetically speaking and you could angle them outward instead of forward facing (like it would be in the bumper) to give you side illumination. On the running boards depending on the type you could mount them at maybe a 45 degree angle so it's still somewhat forward facing but low enough that it shouldn't bother anyone, but they would get beaten up if you don't have mudflaps. Mounting them in either of these configurations would provide light at the wheel which would be helpful off road as well vs in the bumper.

Edit: None of this topic is "legal" so it's more about managing safe lighting practices for the sake of other drivers. I like this idea, but haven't really dedicated any time for research.

 

There's also these knuckle pod mounts, but they won't help until after you've started turning.

 

Fwiw, I pulled out my trusty tape measure and monkeyed around the truck yesterday.

option 1: front crash bar cover. Cut and place. Could probably 3D print an angle assist.

option 2: ribbed plugs near headlight. A more invasive cutting project, but better overall placement aesthetically. Would need to do more sophisticated 3D printing.

options 3-n: well lights, slider mount, A-pillar cop light, under-mounts, etc. all seem subpar.

Also, I did pop on my fogs this morning and they do have quite a bit of spread. I’ll try them out the next time I’m confronted with my challenge. An existing solution that I already have would be best.

I also sent DD an email question. If they had a 3” version of their lightbar, that would be a great option. I also asked if they could load their 30” bar with fogs.

 

Who makes these?

 

Gate Keeper Offroad I think.

edit:

https://gatekeeperoffroad.com/colle...er-3rd-gen-knuckle-pod-light-mounts-1996-2002

 

Closest thing they'd have off the shelf are the SSC2 lights.

 

The issue with mounting them any higher than the fog lights is that it will be just about impossible to aim assuming you're using an SSC2 or SSC1 SAE Fog pattern. This is especially true if you are angling them towards the sides. If you're at a stop light in the left turn lane and your left light is on it will be distracting to oncoming traffic from your left side or if the turn lane has 2 lanes and you're in the outer lane, the light would be shining right at the car next to you.

If you want them to be useful on the street without bothering other drivers, you'll have to mount them low. That's why all cars that had turning lights had them very low in the bumper or panel. The objective of turning lamps is to illuminate the ground in the direction you are turning to spot objects like curbs within about 10ft or less and behind the forward lighting. SAE J582 is the standard for cornering lights, but I don't have access to the entire file. I did find that per J582 that the lamp cannot be any higher than 760mm or just shy of 30". Now I know we aren't trying to comply with SAE guidance as an absolute, but it is a good reference at the least.

As for the 3" version of a Stage Series light bar. It doesn't make sense for them to offer a 3" version when the SSC2 fills that void with updated tech. You'd probably have to order fog light lenses separately for the 30" SS light bar. My guess for why DD doesn't sell the Fog light lens as an option on anything larger than the 12" is that intensity would be too much for SAE regs and it would more likely be used improperly by users because all they see is SAE so they think they can always use it. I know that isn't you, but there are plenty of other drivers that misuse their lighting already.