Has anyone figured out a fog light mod for 4th gens yet?

[BrianDye]

Searched around, and 99% of the posts are for the 2nd gens.

I want to keep my fogs on with my high beams, especially since I plan on running HIDs in the fogs. On my 2nd gen it was as easy as cutting one of the prongs off the fog light relay, has anyone done it yet on a 4th gen?

I know I could add wiring/relays/switches etc and do it myself, but I want to retain OEM function with the headlight switch, and not have extra switches in my interior.

Im great with wiring, im just not great at wiring diagrams and deciphering them to even see if there'd be a way.

*Also, does anyone know if Sport Tracs share the same fog light housings? Theres a pair on eBay right now for half the price of the other ones, but it just says Explorer Sport Trac not just Explorer, and then most of the ones that say Explorer, dont list the Sport Trac.

 

[banditxp]

i have been trying to figure that out for two years now. i did it on all my old cars but these new cars/trucks with the CAN bus suck!. i found the relay but cant figure out how its being triggered/powered. normally they just cut the ground to it but thats not whats happened when i started it with a multimeter.

 

[BrianDye]

That sucks! I figured as much, I don't know anything about can-bus except that it seems to make any modification/aftermarket accessory 10x harder to install.

I wish I knew a little more in the electronics field so I could try some stuff and see if I couldn't get it to work somehow. Or have a bunch of extra relays and cut random tabs from each one and try them all, LOL!

 

[MotorCityFats13]

I rarely ever use my brights but with such a large selection of switch styles and laser engraved markings and the million places to add or hide a switch this is not a huge deal breaker.... this reminds me of back when ford didn't let you even turn on the lowers with out the headlights on

 

[BrianDye]

That was an easy mod too, getting the fogs on with only the parking lights. Before these wonderful canbus days

I use my brights a lot, dark neighborhood roads, highway entrance/exits are very prone to deer along with my few miles before I get on the highway. Had to double-foot stomp the brakes when I had my Edge earlier this year, came about 6" from smoking a couple deer that decided to jump across the street while I'm doing 50 at 3am coming home from a 12 hour shift at work.

 

[BrianDye]

I wonder if there would be a way to add a switch and relay which would turn the fogs on when the headlights or parking lights are on, and just totally bypass the stock fog switch, so basically they turn on with my parking lights and stay on with them, low and high beams, but turn off when I turn the headlights/parking lights off. Does that make sense?

 

[MotorCityFats13]

makes total sense.... you would run a jumper wire from the parking light pigtail to the fog light pig tail.... I would still add a relay since I don't know how much juice can flow through that circuit.... only problem that I can see is when the hazards are on you might get flashing fog lights... I really don't know what lights flash but if one does not tap that one.... I somehow think that the 194 bulb on the corner flashes with the hazards.... you could also tap an interior light like the one that powers the gear indicators on the shift Assembly but add a relay to that one for sure!

 

[banditxp]

I use my high beams every time i drive at night. When you live out in the country or drive out in the country a lot you are asking to hit something if you dont have good lighting.

Far as by passing that what i was going to do. I was going to add a relay that gets triggered by the high beams. Would be easy to do. Just need to make sure the ground is always on to the fogs by the fogs and if so you just need to send 12v to them to light them back up. But i still rather do it the right way but looks like with CAN BUS crap you have to bypass it.

 

[BrianDye]

Definitely a mod im going to have to try sometime soon. First project still needed is plugs and wires, then new fog housings. I am going to try the new LED headlight bulbs, watched quite a few reviews, and I am very interested. Gonna go with a set in my fogs as well if I like them, or if they arent quite as good as HIDs, ill throw the LEDs in the fogs and then HIDs up top. The LEDs look pretty promising though. I like the idea of plug and play as well, no relay harnesses needed, no ballasts either. Fan built into the base of the bulb that keeps them cool, etc.

 

[banditxp]

Definitely a mod im going to have to try sometime soon. First project still needed is plugs and wires, then new fog housings. I am going to try the new LED headlight bulbs, watched quite a few reviews, and I am very interested. Gonna go with a set in my fogs as well if I like them, or if they arent quite as good as HIDs, ill throw the LEDs in the fogs and then HIDs up top. The LEDs look pretty promising though. I like the idea of plug and play as well, no relay harnesses needed, no ballasts either. Fan built into the base of the bulb that keeps them cool, etc.

well dont forget with our headlights when you do LEDs or HIDs unless they are Bi-Xion you will loose your highbeams.

Far as the foglight override i will prob do that in the next couple weeks and i can make a write up for people to follow if it works good. Should be easy. just some wire, relay and some connections.

 

[BrianDye]

The LEDs have a pretty promising high beam. (They have a whole seperate LED board on the bottom side which functions as your high beams) Coolest part is, they seem to keep both the low beam LED and the high beam on at the same time, rather than how stock bulbs switch from low to high. Let me know if you make that write up, id love to follow it. Helps going into a project with some knowledge, lol.

 

[banditxp]

The LEDs have a pretty promising high beam. (They have a whole seperate LED board on the bottom side which functions as your high beams) Coolest part is, they seem to keep both the low beam LED and the high beam on at the same time, rather than how stock bulbs switch from low to high. Let me know if you make that write up, id love to follow it. Helps going into a project with some knowledge, lol.

can you link me to those LEDs? i want to find out the lumens for them to really make sure they are brighter then normal bulbs.

 

[BrianDye]

The link is on my PC and I'm not home at the moment, but the 76w LEDs are supposedly up to 10,000 lumens. The pair I want is the 60w, which should be around 7800 lumens. I take that with a grain of salt though because most companies put out false numbers or absolute best case scenario numbers.

I believe the brand was XKGlow or something. They were running a sale advertised on FB which is how I found them.

 

[BrianDye]

They just posted another set on FB, the 76w set puts out 5000lm each. They also posted beam shots, somewhat close to a wall but the LEDs blew halogens out of the water, even the brights on the LEDs were nice and high unlike the crappy BIXENON HIDs.

 

[BrianDye]

well dont forget with our headlights when you do LEDs or HIDs unless they are Bi-Xion you will loose your highbeams.

Far as the foglight override i will prob do that in the next couple weeks and i can make a write up for people to follow if it works good. Should be easy. just some wire, relay and some connections.

Was doing some deep digging...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=3035370&postcount=3