Fog Light Lens'

[Bill Kemp]

Just thought I'd mention.....
I had a pair of 90 watt fog lights hooked up the same way using only the Ford wires. Later I hooked them up with the PIAA wireing harness and seperate switch so I could have them on all the time or any time. When I used the seperate harness the lights were noticeably brighter.

 

[RytM1]

DChinn, welcome to the site. I originally had some "budget" fog lights in the bumper slot, but had to replace them because they were drowned out by the PIAA's (1552's and headlights). Plus it looked kinda sh*tty when you look at the front of the truck, 4 white lights, and 2 yellowish ones. Due to it being a little cold when I installed them, all I used was some 3M double-sided adhesive tape. When it warms up, I'm planning on getting under there, taking things apart, and mounting them with bolts. They have a wide beam pattern, which compliments the pencil beams of the 1552's, and light up a lot of road. No fancy wiring either, just used the PIAA harness and switch. The only problem I ran into was that I had to make my own brackets because the PIAA brackets didn't get the lights high enough to clear the edge of the bumper slots.

 

[drmoore71]

i just finished installing my 1552's in the factory fog slot on my '95. all i can say is WOW!! these suckers are bright! nice change from the factory fogs that i could baarely tell when they were turned on. i need to fiddle with the aim a bit, i drove around for 30 minutes or so, and was flashed by only one person, but i still think they might be a bit high. hey, jack...did you just follow the directions on the box for the aiming, or did you do a little "eyeballing" as well? the piaa instructions for my 520's were fine, but these just seem, like i said, a little high.

 

[RytM1]

Doug, I just eye-balled them against my garage from about 30 feet away, and tried to make sure they were aimed straight out. I must have done it right, no one's complained yet. Glad you like them.

 

[mattadams]

Here's the aiming instructions if you need them...
Always park on a level surface, so the light is shining about 25' to a solid wall. Measure to the center of the light (height).
For fog's, the center of the beam should be about 3-4" lower then the height of the center of the lamp. For driving lights it should be about 1-2". Since yours are mounted so low, I'd say 1". So if the center of the lens is 2' off the ground, the beam should be 1'11".

 

[Stephen S]

Rytm1, I love the look of those PIAAs you put in the stock location. But, you wrote that you got PIAA model 1552's and 1450s. What's the difference between these and the PIAA 1500, 1500XT, or the 1400. I can't find any 1552 or 1450 on PIAA site or any online distributor. What's up??? Does it have something to to do with the superwhite bulbe upgrade you mentioned??

 

[RytM1]

Thanks Stephen. If you check the PIAA group purchase thread, Matt Adams has links that will take you to the proper pages of PIAA's site. To my knowledge, the 1400, and 1500 are only series numbers. The last two numbers seem to be a code for the light color/beam pattern, for example:
Ion crystal fog - #1551
clear driving - #1552
Ion crystal driving - #1553
The superwhite upgrade is seperate, and has nothing to do with the numbers above. As far as the "XT" code, I really can't help you on that, maybe Matt would know. Drmoore71 just bought a set of 1552's, so I'm sure they still sell them. A lot of online distibutors don't list all of their products, but if they list any PIAA's at all, they can probably get them for you if you call them. Hope this helps.

 

[Stephen S]

Rytm1, thanks a bunch, I didn't think of it that way, nor did I notice those codes for the color and beam pattern on PIAAs website until I read what you wrote. I can be a little slow at times. But thanks for clearing that up for me.

One more thing, I'm interested in putting a pair of 1552s (with the superwhite upgrade) in the same place where you have your 1450s. With your experience, will the 1552s fit nicely between the license plate and the edge of the bumper slot, or are the lights too wide?? I don't have factory fog lights, so I need to put them somewhere else. Do you think this is a good spot for them?

 

[RytM1]

Stephen, you hit it on the head, the 1552's are gonna be too wide for the bumper slot with a license plate. One way around that though, is if LA does not require a front license plate, remove it, and the bracket, and you should have the room. Also, check PIAA's site, they have a few Series that are comparable in size to the 1400 Series, and may give you some more options. IMHO, the bumper slot is a "safe" place to put them, because they are pretty much protected by the bumper, and won't accidentally get "dragged" over obstacles like they would if they were under the bumper.

 

[Stephen S]

I'm sorry to hear that the 1552s won't fit with a plate there. I also agree that the bumper slot is a safe place for the lights. LA doesn't require front plates, but I have this in it's place:
Dead Link Removed

It was designed, not to be as wide as a licence plate is, to allow room for future lights on either side. I left about 6 and 3/8 inches on either side of the plate to the edge of the bumper slot. I know now that it isn't enough for the 6 inch wide 1552s. What do you think? I suppose I'll start looking for a different PIAA to put there. I'm interested in a pair of driving lights, so do you (or anyone else) have a suggestion for a PIAA driving light that is equal to or better than the 1552s in brightness and overall performance???

Thanks a bunch for your help!!

 

[RytM1]

I don't have experience with any other PIAA's. They offer a few lights the size of the 1400's with a driving beam, but not sure how many have the "long range" driving beam like the 1552's.

 

[Stephen S]

You're right Rtym1, I've been doing some checking and it seems the only lights that PIAA has that have what I want (superwhite, driving beam) are the 910s and the 1552s. I believe that the 910s look great, but they are too tall to fit in my bumper slot, while the 1552s will be a squeeze on the width. But on PIAAs website, they list the standard unit system width as 6 inches. But on the tiny numbers you can hardly read, the width is in millimeters. When I convert their mm measurement to inches, I get 5.82 inches. The space I have available for the lights is 6 and almost 3/4 inches. Maybe it'll be just enough to get them in there. What do you think?

 

[RytM1]

Hmmmmmm, sounds like it should work.