The LED SAE J583 Fog Pod & Fog Light Review

But if course! @Diode Dynamics has said they will have them to me in 2-3 weeks! Their upcoming fogs sound really slick and I am especially excited to see what they have in store for selective yellow, being they will be using a best in class lower color temperature 4000k LED for their selective yellow fogs which paired with the filtration lens should give a richer yellow with less filtration loss than we’ve seen from other manufactures. I look forward to trying them out and sharing the data soon!

 

Well, I'm looking forward to the updated @Baja Designs SAE lights. My Shrockworks bumper is cut out just for Squadron lights and I want SAE approved. I was going to see if the Rigid would fit without looking too goofy, but if Baja is going to make an SAE light (for real this time ) then I'll wait a bit. I will say that I won't buy them without @crashnburn80 's stamp of approval though, so Baja make sure you send him a set for testing & eval!

 

@crashnburn80 which diode dynamics lights are you going to be testing? Sport and Pro? White and yellow selective? Or just one for now? I'm really looking forward to your review/reviews on these lights! Thanks for the extensive and very thorough reviews this far! It's greatly appreciated!

 

Welcome to the forum!

I intend to test all 4 for the fog pattern, as I test all permutations with every lighting product release. Still working out the details and product availability though, so TBD. Since they are using different LEDs for the yellow vs white, and Pro vs Sport, each light will have unique LEDs unlike other manufactures that use the same LED and only change the lens color. Because of that, the best way to get accurate data would be to test each light independently.

 

That's awesome! Ya, I'm excited to see the results. I'm curious to see if the Pro models have to be aimed down significantly lower as the cut off line is quite a but "fuzzier" compared to the sharp cut off line produced by the sport series. I was told by DD that the sport series have substantially smaller chips then the Pro models and therefore have a tighter controlled beam to them. Do you have any thoughts on this? (No worries if you want to let your testing data form your opinion).

I really like that they are using 4000k chips in their selective yellow and I'm curious if you could later swap out the yellow lens for a clear one and have a 4000k fog. Do you prefer selective yellow fog lights over white ones?

 

Keep in mind your fog cut off horizon line should be well below your headlight cut off horizon, so while the Pros have softer cut offs you shouldn’t need to aim them down because of it. Correct that the Sports use smaller emitters for enhanced focus, the concept is not new. Headlight bulb manufactures have been doing this for decades with +xxx style stock wattage performance halogen bulbs, which use smaller filaments to enhance focus to drive higher intensity output without using a brighter light source. However in an LED pod, I believe DD’s TIR optics are uniquely positioned to make better and more effective use of a smaller emitter than traditional forward facing LED designs, because of their design emphasis on focus.

It does sound like you can swap lenses, meaning it would be possible to get a selective yellow light and swap a clear lens for 4000k output, I also had that thought. However you wouldn’t want to get a white version and swap a yellow lens as the color would likely result in something more green hued than the ideal yellow.

Personally I prefer selective yellow. Fogs should really only be used in poor weather conditions that call for them, and in those conditions I find I like the selective yellow better, especially over the higher color temp LED white options.

 

Specs are up on the DD page.

 

Extremely off the current topic, but any word from rigid on the tacoma specific mounts? @crashnburn80

 

Thanks for the info! And yes, I always aim my fogs 4" lower than mounting height at 25'(so quite a bit lower than low beams). In this case would you aim the pro model at the more crisp part of the cut off and not the very top of the beam then? As the soft light bleed would still be lower than the low beams I would think.

I also use my fog lights in inclement weather and heavy fog, I just haven't had much experience with yellow fogs. I do realize that the warmer light doesnt reflect off of water particles as much and should do better in theory than a cool white with a slight hint of blue and also less fatiguing. Thanks for your expertise!

 

Just to step in quickly to answer this: We would want to follow the aiming recommended by the SAE standards, which is based on the "maximum gradient" of the pattern - which itself is derived from a logarithmic equation to determine where the sharpest "step" is in the pattern. With this in mind, our Sport should technically be aimed 5 degrees down, and the Pro should be aimed 6 degrees down. That is degrees down from directly forward, not down from the max gradient at parallel. Essentially, if you center the pattern completely forward so it's dead center vertically, then aim it either 5 or 6 degrees down from that.

That's a long way of saying yes, you are right. The Pro should be aimed one degree lower than the Sport. However, this is more of a function of the height of the beam pattern. The Pro isn't too much fuzzier (gradient values are nearly identical), it's just a taller pattern overall. I think that appearance is moreso a result of how much brighter it is than the Sport in the photos.

Here is a very unscientific snapshot of my halogen Jeep JL headlamps with Pro SAE fog installed. I'm very close to the wall here, but as you can see, there's still an extremely distinct cutoff that falls below the low beam. I really need to swap my LED headlights back in...

And yes, as crashnburn80 said, 4000K LEDs on the yellow. Some of our more "conservative" staff are planning to make their own 4000K white lights, but I really don't think we plan to offer them off-the-shelf like that. No problem if that's something you want to assemble yourself though! (Or heck, buy your own LEDs and a hot air gun and make whatever color you want!)

Paul

 

imagine being the last manufacturer to make SAE fogs lol

I’m looking at you Baja Design

 

Well, I took the plunge on the new SS3 pods. Not many places I can get a matching set of street-legal auxiliary highs and fogs from the same manufacturer! I'm very impressed with the optics on their stage series light bars, as I have a 30" example on the roof with minimal light spill on the hood. And they have a 20% Black Friday sale for the release. Looking forward to Crash's review as well.

 

That's a perfect answer for me! Thanks for talking the time to reply! Those fog lights look like they have a ton of width which doesn't suprise me as they have an 80° spread of light and that is exactly what I'm looking for. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a pair of the Pro in selective Yellow and worst case I'll order a clear lens in the future but I don't think I'll have too. I'm just waiting to hear back what shipping costs are going to be from a couple companies (Canada).

I have no plans in messing with all the engineering you guys did with these lights by replacing LED chips with others that aren't specifically designed with your TIR optics. It's my understanding that they are only going to get full potential when they a precisely designed around a specific chip. I've been waiting for this product for a while now! I'm excited to see crashnburn80's review of these but I don't think I need to wait to order. Thanks again Diode Dynamics!

 

These look great im definitely buying a set of the pro fogs

 

One degree of separation, I knew it!

Big Welcome to TW.

I'm runnin' Amber KC's & just love the wide dispersion. Only used the ditchers in areas known for heavy deer incidences. Which about now is everywhere.

 

Anyone else running into same dilemma as me? I have been waiting to purchase fogs for a couple weeks now. It’s Black Friday deals week and the two I’ve narrowed down are the Bajadesigns SAE and the Diode dynamics amber fog as. Ironically both are not even released/updated! Trying to get in on the sales/ rebates but neither one are out yet. Not sure I want to pull the trigger on both to send one back after I compare the two. I know the @Baja Designs have great reputation for being done of the best in the lighting industry but the @Diode Dynamics seem pretty clutch. Again in theory.

 

Great, I'm glad I could help! Yes, ours is around an 80 degree spread, making them very wide. They aren't as tall as some other options out there, but they're certainly not too narrow. That was just an engineering decision we made on our ideal fog pattern, after plenty of experience in night driving and when considering all the OEM fog designs on the market. But something to consider especially if you're on more than a few inches of lift. For Canada, I would check out Prolightz who ships from Canada and has great service.

I do want to clarify that part about the LEDs - you definitely cannot swap in any random LEDs. As you said, the focus is very important and these optics are designed for these LEDs. If the chip is out of focus by 0.2mm it will be up to 20% lower output/focus. Pretty crazy how important that alignment is. But if you really want to change LEDs, you would need the exact same chips in a different color, which are available from Digikey. I don't think my engineers will be thrilled I'm suggesting to modify the product, no warranty at that point, but... if you really want to try it out and make your own warm white fogs, I want to make sure you do it right.

If it helps at all, we offer free returns within 30 days, including a free return label. I would definitely suggest trying both and comparing if you have the opportunity to do so. When you're comparing good, well-built lamps, everyone has a different idea of what exactly is the best fog pattern, and how much light they need.

 

The SS3 pod by Diode Dynamics went live today. In order to select fog mounts for a specific car or truck, you have to go here:

https://www.diodedynamics.com/off-road-auxiliary-led/brackets-kits.html

 

I haven't tested the Diode Dynamics lights yet, but I think you can make an educated decision on what is best for your use case based on a few points like pattern and intensity.
1) Bajas have the tallest pattern by far and are designed to maximize uplight to the legal limit, but because of this the light intensity is relatively low, only half that of a more focused light like the Rigid D-series. Maximum uplight is also not what you want in fog but will provide a more evenly blended widely distributed area of light which will blend nicely with the headlights, once they have updated their optics.
2) Diode Dynamics lights have a more traditional fog pattern, narrower than Baja, and with their TIR optics emphasis on focus they should have much higher intensity levels than Baja and possibly even Rigid, placing that higher intensity light focused to where you need it poor weather conditions like fog.

Personally I prefer higher intensity focused output over larger area coverage and lower intensity output, but that is my personal preference. I look forward to having the data to make a more quantitative comparison.

 

Yep, bottom line is that you guys need to come up with what the best fog light beam pattern that you think will benefit customers the most. I think you hit it out of the park with the TIR optics with what appears to have good intensity, wide coverage, not too tall and not too short beam pattern (just from the photos and what your specs say). The lights look cool IMO and have direct solder copper circuit boards with a unique heat sink design and what appears to be a ton of thought and engineering involved with the production of these lights all at a fair market price! This is exactly what I'm looking for in a fog light.

Thanks for the prolightz suggestion. I've been searching for canadian companies and with their Black Friday sale and no exchange right and customs fees it will save me quite a bit of money! I'm 99% sure I'm going to pull the trigger on these tonight.

Thanks for all the technical details that you've provided! I greatly appreciate all those weird specs and info that most others don't care about. If you have any other details on these lights that aren't listed that you want to share that would be cool too. I'm not going to pretend, even for a second, that I can come up with a better light than you guys can so the most I'd be willing to do is swap a lens as long as that doesn't void the warranty. Even then though, I'm pretty sure I'll like the 3000k. I'm super excited about these lights!