LED Fog Lights

[djcraig]

Ok guys, I'm looking into getting some LED fog lights. I've found 18, 27, and 68 SMD LED H11 bulbs. Does anyone have any experience with these bulbs?

 

18 LED

 

27 LED

 

68 LED

 

What do you think?

Edited June 11, 2010 by djcraig

[mr_maenpaa]

Ok guys, I'm looking into getting some LED fog lights. I've found 18, 27, and 68 SMD LED H11 bulbs. Does anyone have any experience with these bulbs?

 

18 LED

 

27 LED

 

68 LED

 

What do you think?

 

 

if you get these make sure u post pics, and give a good review of how they work im curious

[Dj Freddy D]

if you get these make sure u post pics, and give a good review of how they work im curious

 

 

I bought the 27 LED and I regret even considering buying them, my maglite flashlight is brighter

[bbf2530]

Ok guys, I'm looking into getting some LED fog lights. I've found 18, 27, and 68 SMD LED H11 bulbs. Does anyone have any experience with these bulbs?

 

What do you think?

 

Hi djcraig. :D While those companies will certainly sell the bulbs to you, they will not work properly in the factory housings. Yes, they will light up, but they will not provide proper illumination, at least not if you want fog-lights that actually are usable for driving in the fog (as DJ Freddy states above).

 

Short story? The reflectors in the factory housings are not designed to properly disperse the light from an LED bulb. Whether they are LED's, standard halogen, HID's etc., all bulbs disperse their light differently. Therefore, the reflector system must be specifically designed for the type of bulb being used.

 

The Fusions headlight and fog-light housings are designed for standard halogen bulbs, so they will not work properly with LED's (or HID's).

 

Not trying to tell you what to do, but if you want fog-lights that are usable for illumination purposes or in the fog, those LED's will be essentially worthless. If you just want them for show (or to say they are LED's) then they will work for that use.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

Edited June 18, 2010 by bbf2530

[djcraig]

Well looks like I won't be getting them. Thanks for the replies, I was kinda afraid that would be the issue. Have any recommendations for bulbs? I'm not too sure I want to purchase another HID kit for my fogs.

[bbf2530]

Well looks like I won't be getting them. Thanks for the replies, I was kinda afraid that would be the issue. Have any recommendations for bulbs? I'm not too sure I want to purchase another HID kit for my fogs.

 

EDITED for clarity

 

Hi djcraig. :D To try and help answer your questions, I need to ask what you are trying to achieve with any type of new fog-light bulbs and if any of the fog-light bulbs are burned out at this time? The reason I ask is because if aimed properly, there is nothing wrong with the factory bulbs that come in the fog-lights.

 

Again, not trying to tell you what to do, but here is my advice/opinion: Leave the bulbs alone for now, and replace them when they burn out. At that time, you can either replace them with regular halogen replacements or go for the extra money for an HID kit. In the end, they are fog-lights and designed only to throw a low-aimed light in foggy (i.e. low speed) conditions. They are not high beams or driving lights that are meant to light up the entire road.

 

Just my personal advice, for what it is worth.

 

Whatever you decide to do, good luck. :beerchug:

Edited June 18, 2010 by bbf2530

[xmech2k]

Again, not trying to tell you what to do, but here is my advice/opinion: Leave the bulbs alone for now, and replace them when they burn out. At that time, you can either replace them with regular halogen replacements or go for the extra money for an HID kit. In the end, they are fog-lights and designed only to throw a low-aimed light in foggy (i.e. low speed) conditions. They are not high beams or driving lights that are meant to light up the entire road.

 

Wrong!!! In my morning commute, I regularly see several cars with HID headlights & foglights, and they are some of the fastest cars (And trucks) on the road! It's not foggy or raining, and sometimes it's even light out already. I don't know how much, but it's obvious that there is a significant amount of horsepower to be gained with this simple modification. :happy feet:

[bbf2530]

Wrong!!! In my morning commute, I regularly see several cars with HID headlights & foglights, and they are some of the fastest cars (And trucks) on the road! It's not foggy or raining, and sometimes it's even light out already. I don't know how much, but it's obvious that there is a significant amount of horsepower to be gained with this simple modification. :happy feet:

 

 

Hi xmech. :hysterical:

 

Yes, I also see the same "high powered vehicles" driving in my area with the front ends lit up, at all times and in all types of weather. :shades:

 

Thanks for the laugh and good luck. :beerchug:

[xmech2k]

Yeah, sorry bbf, I just can't restrain myself sometimes. Now, tgif, just gotta cut the grass (so it won't interrupt my Sat-Sun) then it's finally beer-thirty! :beerchug:

 

Hopefully djcraig has a sense of humor on this subject! Me, if I really felt I needed to upgrade the lights, might just look into those Sylvania Silverstars, or whatever they're called. I find I can see just fine. But as an aircraft mechanic, I personally wouldn't want to complicate, and add more things that can fail to something as important as my headlights. Just how long do those HID ballasts last anyways?

[mr_maenpaa]

Hi djcraig. :D While those companies will certainly sell the bulbs to you, they will not work properly in the factory housings. Yes, they will light up, but they will not provide proper illumination, at least not if you want fog-lights that actually are usable for driving in the fog (as DJ Freddy states above).

 

Short story? The reflectors in the factory housings are not designed to properly disperse the light from an LED bulb. Whether they are LED's, standard halogen, HID's etc., all bulbs disperse their light differently. Therefore, the reflector system must be specifically designed for the type of bulb being used.

 

The Fusions headlight and fog-light housings are designed for standard halogen bulbs, so they will not work properly with LED's (or HID's).

 

Not trying to tell you what to do, but if you want fog-lights that are usable for illumination purposes or in the fog, those LED's will be essentially worthless. If you just want them for show (or to say they are LED's) then they will work for that use.

 

Good luck. :beerchug:

 

i have HID's in both my head, and fog lights and they seem to work great compared to the stock bulbs... so im not sure what you mean they work properly with HID's

[akirby]

i have HID's in both my head, and fog lights and they seem to work great compared to the stock bulbs... so im not sure what you mean they work properly with HID's

 

HIDs need special reflectors to direct the light down the road and to not blind oncoming drivers. Using HIDs in reflector housings not designed for them means you don't get the same focused beam as you would with factory HIDs and you also risk blinding oncoming drivers. Factory HIDs have a very clear cutoff and self levelers to prevent that.

[mr_maenpaa]

HIDs need special reflectors to direct the light down the road and to not blind oncoming drivers. Using HIDs in reflector housings not designed for them means you don't get the same focused beam as you would with factory HIDs and you also risk blinding oncoming drivers. Factory HIDs have a very clear cutoff and self levelers to prevent that.

 

 

hmmmm, i understand that but i cant see there being that big of a difference i posted stock vs HID pics and the cut off is the same level... maybe the 2010 fusion is special

[djcraig]

akirby, what year focus are you speaking about? Because the 2010 models have a projection headlamp housing and HIDs will work just fine in them. Where as the 1st gen Fusion has an open housing where HIDs will not disperse the light correctly which blinds oncoming drivers.

[akirby]

akirby, what year focus are you speaking about? Because the 2010 models have a projection headlamp housing and HIDs will work just fine in them. Where as the 1st gen Fusion has an open housing where HIDs will not disperse the light correctly which blinds oncoming drivers.

 

Projector housings will certainly help and they MIGHT be ok, but anytime you put HID bulbs in a non-HID housing you simply can't predict how it will perform regardless of whether it's a projector housing or not. There is also the issue of it not being self-leveling which is required for all factory HIDs. There is a reason they're not DOT legal.

 

Read this.

 

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/tech/bulbs/Hid/conversions/conversions.html

[djcraig]

Ok

[xmech2k]

When I was going to adjust my foglights, thanks to the 'great' factory settings they had for looking at the road 2 feet in front of my car, I was wondering, how do foglights really work? And therefore what would the proper aim be?

 

Found this at cartalk: Do foglights work?

 

Very informative, and another reason, in conjunction with Akirby's informative link, if you take the time to read it all and understand it, to not put HIDs in your foglights.

 

So I aimed my fogs so the cutoff of the beam went straight ahead and they are incredible in the (gasp!) fog and rain! I think that dispersed beam the HIDs would give would create that false sense of being better by making everything near the car really illuminate when you test it out after installing, but reflects off the fog and blinding you when you really need it.

 

Unfortunately, there will always be those who believe the other side of the story, that HID kits are better and that anyone serious about their driving should have them, your car isn't cool without them, a wing makes your family sedan faster or handle better, etc. Just like a friend told me what he taught his teenage daughter about dating: That boy will tell you anything you want to hear to get what he wants. They want these guys money, and are happy to take it.

[akirby]

your car isn't cool without them

 

Unfortunately I fear this is the vast majority of the HID upgraders. There are obviously some who are doing it for a perceived improvement in lighting performance, but I suspect that is mostly just an excuse to rationalize making a cool appearance upgrade.