Fog & Driving Light Options

[Blue95]

PNP Kits throw of a lot of glare, blinding oncoming drivers.
Projectors concentrate light on the foreground and out.

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I have a PNP kit in my Silverado & factory 4700K projectors in my Acura TL- and when I get in the chev. after driving the car I'm unsatisfied big time.

I'll be retrofitting some projectors in my headlights soon

I know about all this, I know that without projectors it can be glaring and isn't the perfect way to do it, but in fog lights aimed low at the ground it isn't going to blind anyone anymore then other people with Halogen fogs especially with 3000K HID's

 

[96k1500]

88gmctruck cut holes in the valance of his diesel for fogs and I believe he also did this on his 88 with light in his diesel bumper

 

[borahshadow]

ive got 2 sets of the 6in round low profile hella 500 driving lights that have the 55w bulbs new in box with wire and switch. if you decide that you wanna run them.

How deep are they? I might be interested if they fit behind the grill decently and if they don't stick out back there or draw attention to themselves.

I have those exact Blazer projector fog lights that are on theretrofitsource.com, mounted under my back bumper for a aux reverse lights! They have very good light output, I can see a good distance with my reverse lights on!

You used fogs for the AUX reverse? How far back do they shine before the cut off line? Do you have HIDs in them? Did you buy the whole kit or just the projectors?

PNP Kits throw of a lot of glare, blinding oncoming drivers.
Projectors concentrate light on the foreground and out.

You must be registered for see images attach

I have a PNP kit in my Silverado & factory 4700K projectors in my Acura TL- and when I get in the chev. after driving the car I'm unsatisfied big time.

I'll be retrofitting some projectors in my headlights soon

If I had $400 I would be retrofiting a pair of bi-xenon lights in my truck ASAP. I'd probably use the mini H1 projectors from theretrofitsource.com it's supposed to be pretty easy with no cutting. All you supposedly have to do it remove (bake off) the front lens of the headlight and then re attach it when you are done.

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By hezsus at 2011-11-10

4x100W halogen spotlights, paid 50$ for all 4, and they are brighter than my headlights, Also have some 30w ones out back for reversing.. they are 1000x better than stock but need to be brighter yet.

I just don't think that something mounted on the top of the bumper like that would fit with the style of my truck. It looks fine on yours but I don't think it would fit with my "theme"

88gmctruck cut holes in the valance of his diesel for fogs and I believe he also did this on his 88 with light in his diesel bumper

I saw that. I think that he used bigger lights and honestly I think they look a little out of place because they are bigger than the factory ones. That's why I'd like to stick with the same size as factory or smaller. A nice small 2.5" projector sounds pretty good if I had an extra $100 then I'd probably jump on that route right now...
Until then I'm still investigating my options.

I know about all this, I know that without projectors it can be glaring and isn't the perfect way to do it, but in fog lights aimed low at the ground it isn't going to blind anyone anymore then other people with Halogen fogs especially with 3000K HID's

For a pair of driving lights (aimed higher than my high beams) I might go with a PnP HID kit because I wouldn't be using them if anybody was in front of me, but for a pair of fogs I think it might still glare way too much. If it screws up the optics of the fog light then 1. you won't get the proper fog light beam pattern and 2. it might look "aimed low" but it could still be putting excessive glare for other drivers

 

[Blue95]

It is no different then running a PnP kit in your regular headlightsm they arent projectors but people still do it. same concept, the lens throws the fog pattern, doesnt matter what bulb you have in there.

 

[borahshadow]

It is no different then running a PnP kit in your regular headlightsm they arent projectors but people still do it. same concept, the lens throws the fog pattern, doesnt matter what bulb you have in there.

That's the problem with PnP HID kits, They don't throw the proper pattern that the reflector was designed for. The reflector is designed to reflect light a certain way with the knowledge that the light will be coming from a very specific location in the reflector. aka the filament in the Halogen bulb. The HID bulb emits light a different way and usually from a different location which causes the light to not reflect the way that it was designed which screws up the pattern. The pattern with a PnP kit is usually close to that of the proper halogen bulb but much less controlled and more scattered which causes some of the light to be cast upwards. That light that is reflected improperly is essentially wasted as it doesn't shine on the road and it is also the source of excessive glare for the other drivers.

That's my understanding of it at least.

 

[Blue95]

That's the problem with PnP HID kits, They don't throw the proper pattern that the reflector was designed for. The reflector is designed to reflect light a certain way with the knowledge that the light will be coming from a very specific location in the reflector. aka the filament in the Halogen bulb. The HID bulb emits light a different way and usually from a different location which causes the light to not reflect the way that it was designed which screws up the pattern. The pattern with a PnP kit is usually close to that of the proper halogen bulb but much less controlled and more scattered which causes some of the light to be cast upwards. That light that is reflected improperly is essentially wasted as it doesn't shine on the road and it is also the source of excessive glare for the other drivers.

That's my understanding of it at least.

You are right and I am not knocking you at all, a retro fit kit is the correct way to run HID's. But as you can see many people just use PnP, aiming them as low as possible is best, also using a housing with a glare shield is great too.
I am just saying that glare can come from halogen lights too if not aimed properly or some idiot is running 100W lights on the road, they may be DOT rated but that doesn't mean it is ok to run them.
I have my HID's aimed low as possible and they are 4500K so they aren't a dumb color. if I were to run some 5x7 fogs in my bumper they will be 3000K HID and aimed as low to the ground as possible to help me see in bad conditions, I may even get lights with little visors on them to aim the light at the road.

 

[Mean Green]

You used fogs for the AUX reverse? How far back do they shine before the cut off line? Do you have HIDs in them? Did you buy the whole kit or just the projectors?

Yes, I have the blazer projector fogs for aux reverse lights. The light up whatever is behind me very well. I have em' aimed pretty high so they shine an easy 100 yards very good at night with the original GE halogen bulb. I think they are a very good fog light. I bought them quite a few years ago with a different purpose in mind, one of which I still can't remember lol Anyways, I've been on theretrofitsource.com several times doing research for a projector retrofit into my 94'. And I seen the blazer fogs on there, there prices are pretty high. A set pops up on ebay every once and a while and there always priced right around 45-50.

Also the Mini H1 projector is the projector I'm going to use to retro-fit into my low beams, so when I have my high beams on (being the Mini H1 is a bi-xenon projector) I will have 4 high beams. The mini H1 is a very good little projector, they have a 2.5" lens and that is the perfect size for our headlight housings. They also can be had with in a DS2 or a 9006 flavor, so that is also very nice. They can be had on ebay for right around $100 shipped, which is WAY cheaper then TRS.com! The only other real alternative is the FXR projectors, which is also a good unit. I'll be doing this before not to long!

 

[borahshadow]

Yes, I have the blazer projector fogs for aux reverse lights. The light up whatever is behind me very well. I have em' aimed pretty high so they shine an easy 100 yards very good at night with the original GE halogen bulb. I think they are a very good fog light. I bought them quite a few years ago with a different purpose in mind, one of which I still can't remember lol Anyways, I've been on theretrofitsource.com several times doing research for a projector retrofit into my 94'. And I seen the blazer fogs on there, there prices are pretty high. A set pops up on ebay every once and a while and there always priced right around 45-50.

Also the Mini H1 projector is the projector I'm going to use to retro-fit into my low beams, so when I have my high beams on (being the Mini H1 is a bi-xenon projector) I will have 4 high beams. The mini H1 is a very good little projector, they have a 2.5" lens and that is the perfect size for our headlight housings. They also can be had with in a DS2 or a 9006 flavor, so that is also very nice. They can be had on ebay for right around $100 shipped, which is WAY cheaper then TRS.com! The only other real alternative is the FXR projectors, which is also a good unit. I'll be doing this before not to long!

Baron, Me and you think a lot alike on a lot of subjects (specifically lighting)! You had mentioned TRS is another thread so I went and looked there the other day (That's when I saw the blazer fogs.) I had already decided to do exactly what you just described. Mini H1 in the low beams. I compared the Mini Ds2 as well and the comparison pictures I saw I actually liked the light pattern of the H1 better. On eBay do they come with all the HID bulb and ballasts as well? on TRS it says the the projectors don't actually require cutting of the light usually. It said that they have a threaded stud which you run through the existing 9006 hole and that anchors the projector in place. You do have to take the front lens off though. Are the Mini H1 on eBay the exact same thing? with the 9006 retrofit provisions and all?

BTW on TRS the blazer fogs are $45 if you don't get them with all the HID stuff. With the HID stuff it's >$100 Maybe I need to start saving and make my next mod two sets of Blazer fogs (one for the front and one for the back to replace the cheap lights that I've already got back there) and a mini H1 set for the headlights! It sounds like I could do all three for just over $200.

I've been looking into it and it looks like the Hella DE Fog lights are actually lots better than the Blazer fogs but they have a price tag to go with it. They run about $130 usually. It appears that the blazers are still much better value.

 

[Blue95]

I wish I would have known about how cheap this stuff can be had, I didn't know doing it the right way was so easy.
I would love to be able to get a realy projector kit that goes right in the headlight housing with no cutting.

 

[borahshadow]

I wish I would have known about how cheap this stuff can be had, I didn't know doing it the right way was so easy.
I would love to be able to get a realy projector kit that goes right in the headlight housing with no cutting.

Yeah from what I've read there should be no cutting or minimal cutting. Some of the kits require you to widen out the 9006 hole slightly but that's minor. The hardest things should just be baking the lens open, making sure that it's aimed correctly, and then making sure you get the lens sealed back on there good AFAIK.

I didn't know that it could be done for <$200 though. That's assuming that the kit on eBay is really the same thing as TRS has. On TRS it's more like $300 but that includes really high quality ballasts (almost instant on like OEM) and high quality bulbs. With the eBay kit you'd have to get your own HIDs which would probably end up being DDM which should be fine really.