Aftermarket fog lights

Body kits, spoilers, lights, and anything on the exterior of the vehicle
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bigdoug
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: Detroit Area, Michigan

Aftermarket fog lights

Post by bigdoug »

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?
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MacGyver
Posts: 340
Joined: Sat Apr 30, 2016 2:45 pm
Location: Ottawa (09 Base)

Re: Aftermarket fog lights

Post by MacGyver »

https://www.amazon.com/Morimoto-Type-LE ... oto+xb+led This is what I want for my 09, I'm not sure if they will fit 03-08, but at any rate, the stock foglights or any similar knockoffs using halogens are just pointless. Get something with a real punch. Or install an LED lightbar behind the lower front grille.
2009 Vibe Base
bigdoug
Posts: 80
Joined: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:36 pm
Location: Detroit Area, Michigan

Re: Aftermarket fog lights

Post by bigdoug »

Problem I have with those is I'm not exactly sure how the fox lights would fit in the stock hole in the bumper without mods, especially with those tabs on either side of the light. Plus, $170? Ech.

Some of the ones I was looking at included:
this, but has some bad reviews.
these, but a bit on the small side, a bit long, and where's the brackets?
these, the square brackets might be able to fit on the flat part at the bottom of the bumper hole with some mods.
fog hole.jpg
fog hole.jpg (54.67 KiB) Viewed 1864 times
That's the hole, passenger side. On the driver's side, the washer fluid tank's right behind it. Not a lot of spots to mount lights that have tabs that stick out to the side. There's the flat spot on the bottom where a bracket might screw into. At the moment though, money's a bit tight so I'll have to wait on those.

For now I am staying with the stocks and tried putting a 2005 in the passenger side. Doesn't seem to make that much of a difference, here's the light pattern on a building with the headlights blocked off.
headlights.jpg
headlights.jpg (69.74 KiB) Viewed 1864 times
I had pictures on how the 2005 was modified but I can't find them. Also, the fog lights weren't staying in the bumper because the tabs weren't locking, so I used a screw and a washer and drilled carefully into the black caps on either side. When I find those pictures I could put them up as well.
Ugetmyvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:23 pm

Re: Aftermarket fog lights

Post by Ugetmyvibe »

My 03 base drivers side is burnt out. Anyone know a good aftermarket bulb? I'd rather have a bright LED than another halogen
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