fog light add on

[01DeepBlue]

Hello, I'm new to this site and I just bought a 2001 dark blue Sport Trac 4x4. It came with no fog lights from the factory. I want to add the Ford factory setup to my truck. I know I need the right radio bezel, switch, and fog lights. What I am wondering though is if the harness for the switch is behind the bezel or if it does not exist at all. Also, I would like to know if the harnesses are there for the fog lights behind the bumper. I appreciate any info that any of you can give me on this.

 

[gtyates]

To answer your question, nothing is in place that you need!! I had to add the fog lights on my '05, even though it is the XLT model it did not come with them. I found a Ford kit on Ebay and had a friend do the install that has an auto shop. He said the hardest part of the job was drilling out the holes in the bumper. As far as the switch, he was able to cut a hole in my existing bezel and mount the switch the kit came with. It looks great and functions perfectly!

 

[01DeepBlue]

When you say nothing is in place what do you mean exactly? You didn't elaborate about any of the specifics other than the bezel. My main concern is the wiring harnesses. If they are not there then I have to run a separate harness. I'm hoping the truck already has the harness and that the factory switch will just plug in as well as the fog lights in the bumper. Can anyone provide some info on this?

 

[gtyates]

Sorry I was not clear. There is no wiring or connections in place. The Ford kits has all the relays, and harnesses, but from the factory there is nothing on the truck itself.

 

[01DeepBlue]

I assume that the Ford kit doesn't use the factory switch in the radio bezel. Does it come with an aftermarket switch or something?

 

[gtyates]

Yes, the kit has its own switch. The guys that installed my kit used that switch, but did cut a small hole in my bezel and placed the switch there. The switch itself comes "pre-mounted" on a metal bracket but is easy to remove and place wherever you want it in your truck. Mine is to the left of the radio. Again, I did not do the "labor" to install mine (though I did look at the instructions), but the Ford kit is straight-forward and the instructions are pretty clear about where to tap into factory wires, etc.. My fog lights are wired so they come on with my low beams, and they work with both the auto lamp setting and the regular low beam setting. The main reason I had the switch installed is so I can turn the fog lights off when not needed, plus the city I work in has an ordinance about not using "aux" lighting unless it is inclement weather. They do not enforce it unless the police are looking for a reason to stop you though.

 

[01DeepBlue]

Thanks for the help gtyates. Do you know if you had to splice into existing wires or were you just able to plug into terminals off of the headlight switch or fuse box? Was the switch that it came with meant for underdash mounting?

 

[gtyates]

With the kit most of the wiring is "stand alone". About the only splicing was tapping into a wire that runs off of the headlamp switch that serves as the "trigger" to turn on the fog lights. The fog light kit powers directly off the battery, so again, the wiring is pretty much stand-alone. And yes, the switch and mounting plate are designed to mount at the bottom of the dash. Since I have the full console this would not work for me, so that is why it was moved up to my bezel. But I actually like the bezel location anyway.

 

[just1me]

Some actually do have part of the wiring for the fog lights. Though it may not have come with fog lights, the dash wiring may be there behind the bezel. I know it is in some Explorers, and Rangers. If you remove the bezel you may see a plug in a blank slot with wires running to it. The Sport Trac fog light switch works by applying ground to the relay coil. If the plug is behind the bezel it will at least run to the C144 connector at the inner firewall. All that would be needed then is to extend 2 wires through the firewall to the relay the light blue/black, and tan/orange.

 

[gtyates]

Just as a further fyi. On my '05 there was no wiring in place anywhere. And mine is an XLT model. The guys that did my install had to use the entire fog light kit, which did have all of the required wires in it. The only time I have been lucky enough to have wiring in place was on my wife's old Nissan Quest van back in the 90's. Her van did not have the factory cd "slave" unit, so I found one on Ebay. It was a simple plug and play install as the wiring was in the dash taped up. But again, this is the only time I have been lucky to run into this. As a side note, my brother is an auto appraiser for a major insurance company. He said one of the most maddening things he deals with are wiring harnesses. He said the foreign manufacturers generally use one harness regardless of the options on the vehicle, but the US manufacturers use a different harness depending on options. So if you were adding fog lights to your Honda or BMW it is plug and play, but no so for us 'Trac guys.

 

[gtyates]

Here is a write-up from the mysporttrac website on installing a Ford fog light kit: http://www.mysporttrac.com/mysporttrac/projects/MikeEgan/Fog.html

 

[05dakotatrac]

Yeh 01-03 needs the radio bezel changed to include the switch check the sticky at the top for getting dual fog switches might come in handy later that way. As for wires they are not pre-wired from the factory the kit mentioned includes all wires and switches needed.

 

[01DeepBlue]

Thanks to both of you for the help. I know sometimes harnesses are in place for easy add ons and they have been hit or miss in my Ford vehicles over the years. I haven't pulled the bezel off yet to see if the harness is there but I really wanted to use the original fog light switch in another used original fog light bezel since the dealer kit switch is very cheap looking. I saw an original type kit on Ebay that uses the stock fog lights and has a better looking switch. I might consider that one.
The write-up was very helpful gtyates. The pics are a good resource for my fog light project.

 

[01DeepBlue]

05dakotatrac, what do you mean by dual fog light switches? Also, where is this sticky link you mentioned?

 

[05dakotatrac]

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=320489

That's a link to the sticky

 

[hma360]

I just picked up an 01 sport that didn't come with fog lights, but did have the wiring for it hidden behind the radio bezel. I swapped out the old bezel and replaced it with one from a junk yard that had an opening for the fog light switch. I was able to simply slide the switch in. and seemed to work. The light turns on in the switch itself. I kept reading that the wiring to the actual fog lights themselves was not in place, but just out of curiosity I went to take a look and found this connector behind the front bumper.

So does anyone know if this is the connector for the factory fog lights?

 

[05dakotatrac]

That is where the thermometer probe plugs in for the optional over head console