Addition of rear fog lamps

[cvg]

I will be taking my 2004 Vibe with me to the Netherlands when I head there for my new job in January 2009. They require red rear fog lamps. My mechanic is willing to do the work but I have to research where these should be attached and what type. I know it's a longshot but has anyone out there had any experience with this mod?

[kowell]

Your options will probably be pretty limited since not rear light kit including fog light exists for the vibe or if they do exist it's probably a long shot to find one.If you can find a taillight kit that incorporates the white back-up lights, then you could use the 2 small rear back-up light holes on the rear bumper for the rear fog lights.The easiest solution would probably to mount them inside the trunk, on the rear window. Would this type of setup be legal?

[Wolfman213]

I have seen pics of the Voltz which required a rear red fog light. It was located on the passenger side I believe. You would probably me able to tap into your regular fog lights as far as a source is concerned and slice into the harness at the rear and find either a super bright red LED or get a red lexan cover and attach over it. I'm sure there are MUCH better ways to do this, but at least it's something to get ya thinking.

[northvibe]

I think the easiest way is to convert one of your backup lights to red w/ wiring to stay on. with drls or tails whatever the law is..

[vibolista]

The rear fog light should go on the driver's side, as I recall from my time in Europe. Maybe a very bright red LED (Prewired Superflux 4 chip LED from Ozinium.com) could be mounted through the rear side of the tail light hooked up to a switch. I would wire it to the fog light switch. The LEDs only need a 3/8ths inch hole to mount. Might be worth a try. If you install the fog in the blinker it would probably look amber. Put it in the rear (red) running light portion, but not with the brake light for obvious reasons.

[dragon64]

Don't have any experience installing rear fogs in a Vibe but do have experience with the Law in any EC country including the Netherlands regarding the rear fog lamps ECE Regulation 38, a single rear fog is require to be located at or to the driver's side of the vehicle's centreline. The drives side is defined as the prevailing driver's side in the country in which the vehicle is registered.If two rear fog lamps are fitted, they must be symmetrical with respect to the vehicle's centreline and requires a separation of at least 10 cm between the closest illuminated edges of any brake lamp and any rear fog lamp.The allowable range of intensity for a rear fog lamp is 150 to 300 candelas, (Approximately the intensity of a (27W) xx56 or 7440 type lamp. Color must be constantly red when illuminated. The allowable installation height is to be greater than 25cm from the road surface and no higher than 180cm.

[cvg]

Thank you. This is all very helpful. Do you know what the switch requirement is? A German friend said there is some requirement that the interior switch for the fog lamp has to light up when in the 'on' position. Also, several people have suggested replacing one of the existing rear lamps with the fog lamp. Is tihs allowed? thank you.

[ou.grizzly]

We are going to revisit this idea.I just quickly measured lenses on the rear bumper (it was dark and very cold out). I came up with 4" x 3 1/2". I am not sure if that is correct, if someone could measure also and check my numbers, it would be appreciated. Unless it is a 4" diameter all the way around which would be great!My idea is to find a fog light that fits to the specific measurements, install them, and wired to Toyota OEM Fog Light Switch where there is a blank on the dash to the left of the steering wheel.

[kunkstyle]

Did a quick check and it looks like 3 3/4 x 3 1/2...? The lighting in my garage sucks, but it's definitely not 4".Possibly 3.5" all the way around. The shape is throwing me off a bit.

[vibolista]

You can't use the brake light for the Fog light. It has to be separated from the brake light by some specified distance. A post above gives the distance as 10 cm. Again, if you put a bright LED in the bottom portion of the driver's side tail lamp, connected to the front fog light switch it would probably work. You would have to source an LED bright enough for this application. A good place to look is Ozinium.com , they have many choices and might find someone there for further advice. As soon as it gets warm enough around here (usually by April) I may try to figure out a good way to stick a fog lamp in the tail of the Vibe.

[Wolfman213]

^^^ typo on the site http://oznium.com

[cvg]

Just wanted to thank everyone for their useful input on the rear fog lights for my Vibe and to give you all an update. I had my local dealer install the rear fog light switch but they suggested waiting until I arrive in the Netherlands to have the actual lamps installed and wired. They were not familiar with the regulations nor the work. They used one of the empty switch slots on the left side of the console and installed a simple switch that lights up amber, per Dutch requirement, when "on". When I arrive in the Netherlands the plan is to have a local guy there install a set of rear fog lights into the back bumper. It was recommended having this done overseas where they have easy access to exactly what's required. A friend who has lived there a year checked with her mechanic and he will do the work.

[northvibe]

oh thanks for the update! glad to hear you were able to figure something out

[Whelan]

As a suggestion you could have the switch wired to the brake lamp bulb. That way since the Vibe uses a dual filament bulb, one for marker and one for braking you can simply have the switch illuminate one of the brake lamps as if it were braking thus you have a brighter lamp that is red which would more than fit the requirements.Or better yet, the Vibe has two large reverse lamps on the bumper correct? So why not put a red halogen bulb in place of the clear and run the switch to just that one. You still have clear lamps but the bulb will be red and the other one will still light up when reversing.

[vibolista]

In my almost 5 years in Europe, I never saw a car with a rear fog in the same place that the brake would light up. You could buy a small add on red lens fog light, like the fogs we add under the front bumper or in front of the grill here. I added one to the rear bumper of my old used 68 beetle I had the pleasure to own over there... along with some great Hella fogs up front. I'm sure the regs on all this stuff have significantly changed across the pond, now that the separate countries have become the E.U.

[JSCampbell]

Sorry I am so late to reply, but maybe my post will help someone else.In Germany, the rear fog light must be red and bright like a brakelight. It must also have its own switch with a yellow/amber indicator so the driver can see it is on.What I had done was to replace the driver's side backup light with a red lens and rewired to a separate switch. Just inside the back panel is a connector for the backup light which can easily be undone then the light is isolated and new wires can be run to the switch/power/gnd.If one does not wish to go through the hassle, the aftermarket shops here sell a complete kit to add on to North American imports. Cheers.

[vibolista]

Thanks, JS, I guess not too much has changed since I left Germany over 29 years ago. Looks like the TUV is still in charge. That's all you had to do to make your Vibe legal over there? Headlight mod and a rear fog? What kind of light did you have to add to the headlight?

[cvg]

Just wanted to let you all know that my car finally arrived a few weeks ago. After clearing Customs I found a nearby Car Dealer, (Ford dealer believe it or not) in Rotterdam who said he does this type of rear fog lamp replacement all the time. He had a red bulb on hand that meets the requirements of the Netherlands and replaced the driver's side rear back-up light with the red light. I had had a switch installed inside the car that lights Amber when "on" - another requirement - at my local US Dealer before I shipped the car but that Dealer wouldn't do the rest so the Dealer in Rotterdam had to redo the wiring (with some difficulty. Apparently US cars are wired differently from European cars) so that the red rear fog lamp comes on when the switch is on. It works great. The other mod I had done prior to leaving the US was to have the yellow front parking lights changed to white bulbs. There were some other things I had to check before importing the car and it met all other requirements but I haven't actually had the car officially inspected yet. That hurdle will be next...

[shemp]

I'm curious how you will get parts and/or service the car in the Netherlands. Is the Matrix sold in Europe?

[vibolista]

Yes. They include the Trix under an assumed Euro name and 11 other models as well. Pretty cool offerings, check out Toyota.de and click on 'Alle Modelle' on the top right to see all of them.