Aftermarket fog lights
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:46 pm
When I bought my vibe last year I noticed the fog lights didn't seem to work, and one of them had a hole in the glass lens (BTW, glass lenses? I've never seen fogs in a modern car with glass, unless it's a projector). Turns out one of them did work, it was just the one with the hole that didn't. But the light output was so low that I couldn't tell they were on unless I left my car and looked.
After a pretty nasty fog a few days ago, and now that it's warmed up, I decided to pick up a new fog lamp assembly to replace the broken one. Plus, the local U-pull now has 15 vibes!! (it had 3 when I first got the car). First fog light assembly had a perfectly clear lens, looked brand new, but I discovered the chrome reflective layer was flaking off, so I had to return it for one with a slightly less clear lens. I don't know if having the chrome flake off in the fog light is typical, but it looks like it's starting to happen in my other fog light as well.
I'm going to play around with it with different bulbs but I don't have any hopes it will be bright enough for my taste for getting light down the road on foggy or snowy days.
Since brand new fog lamps normally cost $35 each for stock, I considered going aftermarket. The fog light measures 4 1/8" top to bottom, and 4.75" across, which means anything 4" or smaller should fit. Problems is, searching 4" fog lights tends to get me lots of foglights for Jeeps and nothing else. Or fog lights that come with a rectangular U bracket (like these), which wouldn't fit well in the fog light housing, or 4 tabs on either side of the light (like this), which are not usable in the fog light housing. Any suggestions on fog light mods anyone here has done?
After a pretty nasty fog a few days ago, and now that it's warmed up, I decided to pick up a new fog lamp assembly to replace the broken one. Plus, the local U-pull now has 15 vibes!! (it had 3 when I first got the car). First fog light assembly had a perfectly clear lens, looked brand new, but I discovered the chrome reflective layer was flaking off, so I had to return it for one with a slightly less clear lens. I don't know if having the chrome flake off in the fog light is typical, but it looks like it's starting to happen in my other fog light as well.
I'm going to play around with it with different bulbs but I don't have any hopes it will be bright enough for my taste for getting light down the road on foggy or snowy days.
Since brand new fog lamps normally cost $35 each for stock, I considered going aftermarket. The fog light measures 4 1/8" top to bottom, and 4.75" across, which means anything 4" or smaller should fit. Problems is, searching 4" fog lights tends to get me lots of foglights for Jeeps and nothing else. Or fog lights that come with a rectangular U bracket (like these), which wouldn't fit well in the fog light housing, or 4 tabs on either side of the light (like this), which are not usable in the fog light housing. Any suggestions on fog light mods anyone here has done?