Hi-beams and foglights

[Dax]

Sorry if this has been posted before (tried a search and came up empty). Is it possible to have the foglights stay on when the high beams are turned on? I did a mod when I had my Tundra that let me have them both on. Anything similar for the Vibe? Thanks!Dax

[Psychobroker]

Hmm, I didn't realize the fogs turned off when the high beams are on. I guess I don't use my highbeams enough LOL.Sorry for the useless reply, but I'm curious as to why one couldn't use both, besides the fact that oncoming traffic would be thoroughly annoyed

[AKLGT]

well i'm still trying to figure out how to wire the fogs so they come on independantly of the headlights. i want to have them on whenever i want, not just when the head lights are on.

[Dax]

Well...this was partly an assumption on my part. While I didn't exactly get out and look, I turned the fogs on and off with the hi's on and there was no difference. I'll have to do a formal check tonight. It would be nice if they were to come on, as it really helped a lot on my old truck.Dax

[wicked1981]

I noticed that when I turned the hi beams the fogs urned off. I was driving on a dark dark road in the middle of nowhere so turned on high beams and I thought I saw the fogs go out turned off hi beams thought I saw fogs come on turned high beams on fogs went out. Now I saw this while driving havent tried to get out and looking.

[joatmon]

The fog lights control is run through our friend, the DRL module. There is a Green w/ Orange wire coming out of the DRL module. It connects to the fog lamp switch on the turn signal lever. When you turn the fog lamps on, you connect the signal coming out of the DRL module to the "FR FOG" relay, which is in the under hood fuse block. When the relay closes, then 12V is supplied to the fog lamps from the 15A FR FOG fuse, also in the under hood fuse block.When the DRL module wants to let you turn the fog lamps on, it puts out a ground on that GRN/ORN wire. If you were to cut that wire, protect the end that goes to the DRL module and then ground the other end of the cut wire (the side that goes to the fog light switch) you could turn on the fog lamps anytime you wanted to.The down side would be that you would have to remember to always manually turn them off or you'd kill your battery.If you got another relay, you could wire it up so that the fogs only worked when the key was in ACC or IGN, like in http://forums.genvibe.com/zerofile/3000/fog.jpgthat pic doesn't show the DRL module because it would be out of the circuit, but the wires would easier to get to/identify at the DRL module than by taking the steering column apart.I haven't done this because it isn't a big deal for me, so no guarantee, but if you try it and it works let us know

[Dax]

Hmm...I wonder if that additional relay trick will work keeping the fogs on even with the high-beams going. It's worth a shot for me! I'll post a follow-up when I get around to it. Thanks alot!Dax

[Jahntassa]

Salsa is correct, in most states it is illegal to have the fogs and hi-beams on at the same time (except in like, Arizona, probably).You could connect the Green/Orange wire that joatmon is talking about directly to the parking light control, so they'll come on and off with the parking lights, but not shut off with the hi-beams. The parking lights are a switched ground, so you wouldn't even need a relay to do it, If you take off the cover on the steering column (one screw underneath, two behind the steering wheel, turn the wheel to see them) there's a connector on the left side near the turn-signal lever, there's a green/white wire that is the parking lights. Tie the Green/orange to that, and voila, foglights whenever the parking lights are on.

[joatmon]

That sounds like a lot better way than what I came up with.

[Jahntassa]

I did the same thing in a similar manner on my 93 Probe. It was a bit easier because the switch for the Fogs was in the center console.. All I had to do there was cut the wire that was feeding the switch, tap into the illumination wire going into the same switch (it lit up), and bingo, fogs whenever the parking lights are on.Because the Vibe uses negative switching for the lights, you can't just tie into the illumination wire behind the radio, which is why I suggest just tying to the parking light wire right at the top of the steering column.. It should give you the desired effect, and make it so you can't accidentally leave the fogs on.

[kaybeejay]

Why would you ever want the Fogs and high beams on at the same time?Fogs are ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE USED IN THE FOG. High Beams are NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE USED IN THE FOG.The two lights serve two different purposes for two very different conditions - please don't use them both at the same time.Toyota/GM probably wired the Vibe to prevent people from trying to drive with both on - because you are NOT supposed to drive with them both on.

[joatmon]

I almost never use my foglghts, and I understand that there are probably laws prohibiting fogs with high beams. Seems like hi beams are blinding enough to other drivers anyway, it doesn't seem like the extra light from fogs would significantly worse, I guess I don't understand why there are laws against fogs with high beams. I mean, if fogs are blinding to other drivers, then there should be laws against them too, right?

[Dax]

Quote, originally posted by kaybeejay »Why would you ever want the Fogs and high beams on at the same time?Fogs are ONLY SUPPOSED TO BE USED IN THE FOG. High Beams are NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE USED IN THE FOG.The two lights serve two different purposes for two very different conditions - please don't use them both at the same time.Toyota/GM probably wired the Vibe to prevent people from trying to drive with both on - because you are NOT supposed to drive with them both on.Any extra light on the road is nice for my less-than-perfect night vision. I DO want to use them at the same time, so thanks for helping me answer my question. Next.Dax

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I almost never use my foglghts, and I understand that there are probably laws prohibiting fogs with high beams. Seems like hi beams are blinding enough to other drivers anyway, it doesn't seem like the extra light from fogs would significantly worse, I guess I don't understand why there are laws against fogs with high beams. I mean, if fogs are blinding to other drivers, then there should be laws against them too, right?My question is, you're not supposed to have highs on when there's oncoming traffic anyway? Given that, you'd only be using your lights when oncoming trafffic is nonexistent, tus negating the theroy that it's distracting to other drivers....hmmmm....

[roddney1]

Seems to me that too many people are LIGHT CRAZY these days! Why not mount a set of "aircraft landing lights". You should be able to see for miles! LOL

[Jahntassa]

Can we please NOT get into a discussion about the "ethics of foglights". There's another thread that's about six pages long on the subject. He just wanted to know if it's possible and how it's done.The subject of Foglights, their uses, and how stupid people are, has been discussed muchly in another thread, so please, stick to the topic at hand..Thread: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=574

[Psychobroker]

agreed

[kaybeejay]

Quote, originally posted by roddney1 »Seems to me that too many people are LIGHT CRAZY these days! Why not mount a set of "aircraft landing lights". You should be able to see for miles! LOLLights are an important topic.Lights are a safety feature, they are the medium with which vehicle operators communicate, lights tell a driver if its their turn to go or to stop. Lights tell you when something is broken in your car.Lights are a standard feature on all vehicles and should be the same for all vehicles. When we as owners customize our vehicles to the point that our lighting is no longer standard and we are possibly jeopardizing others - then we need to be held accountable.The DOT takes lights pretty seriously - it would be wise for us to follow suit.Aircraft landing lights would be pretty cool - and probably legal as long as they were amber or red. IF they were blue - then you would run into mucho problems.

[kaybeejay]

Quote, originally posted by Dax »Any extra light on the road is nice for my less-than-perfect night vision. I DO want to use them at the same time, so thanks for helping me answer my question. Next.DaxIf your night vision is so bad, why not go all out and figure out a way to turn on all three lights at once? (High beam, normal, and Fog)In my Honda I had discovered that if I hold down the high beam wand, that BOTH the normal headlights AND the high beams will engage at the same time - therefore lighting up both the distance and the regular range. It was a cool discovery - but I had to keep my hand on the wand to pull on it.You must drive alot of rural roads to justify using the high beams with fogs and going thru the trouble to make the mods. I hope you aren't using the highs on normal roads.

[AKLGT]

when it's foggy here and i have the highs on, i can't see a darn thing! but when i have them on regular w/ the fogs, they work great! so, don't know about where you are driving or what kinda fog you've got there, but i can definitely notice a difference b/w the lights. btw, i have aftermarket driving lights in place of teh factory OEM fogs.

[Jahntassa]

Quote, originally posted by trdvibe »when it's foggy here and i have the highs on, i can't see a darn thing! but when i have them on regular w/ the fogs, they work great! Yes...this is pretty much the result you'll get. The fogs are lower to the ground than the lo-beams so they can illuminate "under" the fog. High-beams in fog will pretty much destroy any chance of seeing the road.I wouldnt' mind being able to run the fogs seperate from the lo-beams so on REALLY foggy days, I can just run the fogs, and see more road than fog.

[ragingfish]

I was messing with my remote starter today, I decided to wire in the fogs to the starter, so whenever my car is running in "remote start" mode, the fogs are on. Prettier and spookier than just having parking lights on...and I LOVE spooking people with my remote starter!