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Led light bar in place of fogs




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I use small/medium rectangular 55W halogen driving lamps in a fog lamp location, and they actually glare less than many other fog lamps, since the lens and housing/reflector shape gives a beam spread horizontally.

LEDs are different though, since the light output is direct from the source. You probably can do what you're thinking of, mount them in fog light locations and aim them a few degrees down, but I would guess that the "spot" nature of the beam (really just all the LEDs aimed parallel) isn't going to give you much benefit, at least not when compared to say, similar size 55W halogen driving lights of about the same size, mounted the same way.

I've noticed that these so-called "light bars" tend to have weak output unless a lot of LEDs are used, making them draw more than or close to the same amount of power as halogen driving/off-road lamps. Plenty of the "mini" LED light bars have pretty pathetic output, and aren't really useful as lights to see the road or terrain in front of the vehicle at even slow driving speeds.

I'm wary of knockoff lamps like these that use a similar-sounding brand name (in this case, Oslamp) to trick people into thinking they are somehow an official product of an established company (Osram). They may use 'Osram' LEDs, but for all we know, they use junk LEDs that Osram discarded for use in non-critical, non-vehicle applications.
Even if the output IS spectacular, the LEDs might be being overdriven to achieve that, so you will wind up with expensive paperweights when these finally give out in a few months when the company has changed their name and moved somewhere else.

The Amazon reviews are good, so these might be worth getting to try out, if you can use them as regular driving/off-road lamps if they don't work out in a lower fog light location, but just keep your expectations in check for the price these are at. They might actually be decent quality and last a good while, but generally it seems that the quality lamps with brand-name LEDs and warranties cost quite a bit, so i'd be skeptical of these in the long-term if not the short term.

I'd say some decent 55W rectangular driving lamps mounted as fog lights would do the trick and for a lot less money, but if you want to spend what the LEDs cost and try them out, go for it.

If you want more light output, as in, light on the road on low beam, then I'd suggest getting some quality halogen bulbs like Sylvania XtraVisions or Philips Hi-Visibility or Vision Plus, or even GE Nighthawks. That and a wiring harness for the headlight bulbs that increases the size of the wiring to the headlights and uses relays, can make a big difference in the amount of light on the road in front of the vehicle.

If you really want to spend some money, you can get HID projectors and retrofit a quality kit with bulbs and ballasts, but that can take quite a bit of time and work to do yourself, though the results can be worth it if you really want a lot of light with good efficiency.
 






If it were me, I would just buy a pair of driving/fog lamps to use with your current fogs. For standard bulbs, I love Hellas. Of you're looking for something to use offroad, a fullsize LED light bar is the best you can get but definitely can't use it on the road.
Recommendations:
1. Hella bulbs for fogs (Hella bulbs)
2. KC Driving/Fog lights ( Halogen or HID ) IMO KC's are 100% worth what you pay for them. 23 year warranty that they actually keep and easy to install.
3. LED Light Bar ( Amazon Special or Rigid ) I've had the OPT7 for a year now with no issues, but rigid is the best {alot} of money can buy.
 






rigid is overpriced. The truth is all LED's are made in China.....
rigid just puts them together a little better then some.
Look on youtube for reviews of the various LED lights out there. And they WILL blind people if your not aimed right plenty of useful light in the new generations of LED chips.
My LED bar is only 32" & I had to almost point it to the ground to stop blinding traffic.
 






rigid is overpriced. The truth is all LED's are made in China.....
rigid just puts them together a little better then some.
Look on youtube for reviews of the various LED lights out there. And they WILL blind people if your not aimed right plenty of useful light in the new generations of LED chips.

Was that aimed at me or the OP? Either way you shouldn't use a LED light bar on the road at all because unless it aimed straight down the fogs on them will still blind you. (And because it's illegal) Also while Rigids prices are pretty steep, you get what you pay for IMO. They are by far the sturdiest and brightest, and a lifetime warranty that is the best I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. With that said, I bought an Amazon special and it was almost as bright at 1/10th the cost. Unless you're going to be abusing it, the cheaper options are probably the better options.
 






Hey everyone,

Thanks for the responses! I recently did a projector install on my headlights and was real happy with it. http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=438923

Doing projectors in the fogs might yield the best results although I'm currently not siked up enough to spend another 250 bucks.

I will add that I don't want to add extra lights to front of the car. This explorer is our family ride and it has more of the luxury SUV vibe and I don't want to ruin that. I would want to put whatever light in place of the fog light or in the existing fog light housing.

For the sake of knowledge for anyone else looking at something similar. Here are a few options I found.

TRS LED fog light $170
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/complete-headlight-fog-light-housings.html

Rigid LED fog lights $279

http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/50481

TRS matchbox projector kit. $270
Smaller projector housing, my fog lights are so big that I might could fit the same full sizer projector that I put in my headlight.
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/c...ox-fog-light-stage-3-kit-h1.html#.VpqEy_krLIU
 






Didn't notice you had a HID writeup on the site. Surprising you're still not satisfied with the light on the road and need auxillary lamps.

I'd say you might not want to go with Oslamp or similar LED bars then, since they are more for the rugged off-road look and will definitely look out of place on a luxury SUV.


I would say for actual use as fog lamps, halogen still works best in terms of useful light in the visible spectrum when there is fog, rain, snow, etc. HID and even LED have too much light in the blue/white spectrum that disappears on wet roads or causes glare in fog or show.

That said, you could still improve the factory fog lamps, either just getting better aftermarket light bulbs for cheap (though I'd still stick with the Sylvania Xtravision/Philips Hi-Visibility for cheap and avoid the Silverstar, even to "match" the HID blue/white light), or getting aftermarket projector fog housings.


If you're really just wanting more light, or to use the fog lights as auxillary headlights or cornering lamps for a slightly wider beam, yeah, you'd probably need HID or LED fogs since the HID headlamps overwhelm a halogen beam in normal conditions.


TRS has standalone Morimoto LED fog lamps for just $100 that might work:

https://www.theretrofitsource.com/closeouts/morimoto-xb-led-fog-lights-type-nissan.html#.VprIiWddGHs


or you can install something like the Hella Micro DE fog lights, $133:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0ZQR39H7E5Q8G5A8WEF4


You might also consider those $170 Morimoto XB LED fogs at TRS if you can get the Ford version to work, either using 2012+ Explorer or 2005-2007 Ranger mounting hardware and filler panels from other Ford models. Use the stock round halogen lamps to figure out how to make it work, then throw in the LED lamps.
 






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