HAW/LAW placement

FireEMSPolice

Forum Guru
Member
May 21, 2010
3,429
29
Ohio
I remember in one of the old boards, we had a sticky where members could post pictures of the ideal places to put HAW's or LAW's.


Post your hide away mounting spots here. Keep it limited to a picture with a year/make/model and maybe a little blurb about it.
 
I usually only mount them in oem factory holes, such as DLR'S or corner lamps.
 
I just installed HAW's in front and rear of my 1993 ford f 150. heres a pic of rear light, my rear light reqiured removing 4 phillip head screws.


i don't have pic's from the front. it took 2 philip heads screws and 2 7/16 bolts in side engine compartment for removal. It's not the best pic, I took a quik pic for something else,

IMG_20100922_132115.jpg
 
I have a 2007 Ford Expedition and I have my Vertex's in the fog lights and I found that the heat from the fog light bulb actually melted the dome cover on the Vertex. I ended up moving them up because I use my fog lights all the time.
 
lednut said:
I have a 2007 Ford Expedition and I have my Vertex's in the fog lights and I found that the heat from the fog light bulb actually melted the dome cover on the Vertex. I ended up moving them up because I use my fog lights all the time.
Did you notice that the LEDs in the Vertex were dimmer or did the unit stop working on you? The reason I ask is because I installed my Vertex's in my Corolla so close to my blinker bulb, I think they might actually be touching...


Thanks,


Occram~
 
occram said:
Did you notice that the LEDs in the Vertex were dimmer or did the unit stop working on you? The reason I ask is because I installed my Vertex's in my Corolla so close to my blinker bulb, I think they might actually be touching...


Thanks,


Occram~

No, the LED's worked fine. The outer lens cover on the LED just began to melt and a ran drop diformity showed up in the outer cover of the LED. The LED's to this day work fine. What sucks is I really liked them in the fog lights cause they looked nice when they were on cause of the size of the fog light housing.
 
lednut said:
No, the LED's worked fine. The outer lens cover on the LED just began to melt and a ran drop diformity showed up in the outer cover of the LED. The LED's to this day work fine. What sucks is I really liked them in the fog lights cause they looked nice when they were on cause of the size of the fog light housing.
Where they mounted above or below the actual bulb in the fog light housing? if above, try below... ;)
 
unlisted said:
Where they mounted above or below the actual bulb in the fog light housing? if above, try below... ;)

They were mounted below. I think it is because of the small housing and the high heat off of the halogen bulb used for the fog light is what did it. Thats all...
 
I'm wondering... Would it make sense to install the Vertexes in place of the foglight bulbs ? (as we are in the city most of the time, the foglights are hardly ever used)


Since Vertex have a built-in flasher, they could be activated from the foglight switch... Not bad for undercover... :?
 
TheGatekeeper said:
I'm wondering... Would it make sense to install the Vertexes in place of the foglight bulbs ? (as we are in the city most of the time, the foglights are hardly ever used)
Since Vertex have a built-in flasher, they could be activated from the foglight switch... Not bad for undercover... :?

Yes, i recommend this, even crappy haws make a nice effect by doing this!
 
triton911bj and myself just installed some in a Saab... The next time we work on it, we'll get some pics...
 
All of my HAWs in my car have been installed above the factory bulbs, this is typically avoided due to heat? I can't imagine that making a very big difference.
 
No, this is to avoid supressing the fog lights altogether, which is what I was suggesting.


So in your case when you turn your fogs on, it must become really hot in the foglight's compartment, heat to which the HAW buld is exposed.


Yep, would love to see the Saab's haw... thanks! ;)
 
Does anyone have a pic of a HAW install in the headlamps of a 03 Grand Cherokee?


I want to put the HAW's from my old jeep in the tails and headlights, but it looks like the headlamps are in a plastic casing?


That sounds noobish, but, I was looking, the actual headlamp reflector is inside a outer shell of the housing. Thats why I am asking.
 
On thoughts on HAW/LAW's on a 2006+ Civi Impala? I could have sworn I saw something that indicated the housings were too small in the rear for Strobes, and there wasn't anywhere in the front suitable to accept a bulb...
 
BigDogg795 said:
On thoughts on HAW/LAW's on a 2006+ Civi Impala? I could have sworn I saw something that indicated the housings were too small in the rear for Strobes, and there wasn't anywhere in the front suitable to accept a bulb...

Ive seen a ton of imps with HAWS, mainly in the Low Beam part of the headlights... now were they any good? eh thats debatable


brakelights are fine, i believe the reverse lights are a lil touch and go
 
I've seen a few Impalas with LAW's- both the new body style and old. No issues. HAW's in certain areas- thats another story all together.
 
HAW's work well in the brake, reverse, and headlights in my 07. Try to put them as far forward as possible in headlights, though, so they can be seen from the side.
 
New to this site. Could use some help with rear HAW LED suggestions for installation on 2010 Charger. From what I have read here, LED HAW units are not getting positive reviews. Can you double up LED/HAW in a Charger or is it not recommended for covert only lighting? Are the rear tail/back up light housings too small for heat from strobes? Thanks.
 
I put haw strobes in the backups of chargers and don't have a problem as long as the head is drilled out thru the reflector.
 
From what I've learned on this board, LED should be good as long as you use same color LEDs in tail lights (I.E. Red LEDs in Red Tail lights or Yellow in Yellow.)


I'm not a big fan of strobe as they are not, IMO, that effective in daylight.


Again, IMO, Halogen is best for visibility however they draw a lot more power and they heat up more than LEDs. You can use clear bulbs in any color lens and they are still effective. Only problem with Halogen is, I haven't seen many HAWs in that setup, mostly Strobe and LEDs.
 
Strobes provide the best balance between day and night use. Led haw haven't reached the level of a decentely powered strobe.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Station 3
jim556 said:
New to this site. Could use some help with rear HAW LED suggestions for installation on 2010 Charger. From what I have read here, LED HAW units are not getting positive reviews. Can you double up LED/HAW in a Charger or is it not recommended for covert only lighting? Are the rear tail/back up light housings too small for heat from strobes? Thanks.

I've seen strobes in the reverse lights (newer style, no line in the middle) that look great. We got 2 Chargers this year with SOS LAW's in the brake and reverse lights. Look awesome in an X pattern, but the white over powers the red when brake/ reverse go at the same time. I'm not a fan of LED HAW's, but the SOS universal HAW's are very good.
 
Or how about the SOS LAWs in a 2008 Toyota Highlander. I am considering purchasing them, but I'm not sure where to put them, based on the room available and the ability to be seen better. I have seen some other models of the LAWs in headlights and wasn't impressed. I believe it was a Ford F-250 that had them. Seemed like the large headlight reflector spread the light out too far and resulted in poor light distribution.


I have seen some older model Highlanders are used in Toronto for Chief's vehicles and they have surface mounted the Vertex to the front fenders, but that's the only thing I have been able to find. i have also seen the Aspen Colorado had purchased some Hybrid Highlanders that are exactly like mine, but don't know what they have in them......
 
HAW/LAW Placement - 2009 Dodge Charger (Police version): I just obtained a 2009 Dodge Charger. Has anyone mounted Whelen Vertex LED's or HA238 or 239 strobe tubes in the small corner lights on a 05-09 Dodge Charger. The stock "tear drop" shaped corner lights are amber with an amber reflector. Various custom online autoparts vendors (www.everythingcarparts.com) offer replacement corner lights with clear lenses or clear lenses with amber borders. My thought would be to order the clear replacements, install an amber marker light bulb and add a clear LED insert (or strobe tube) for better intersection or subtle urban crosswalk coverage.
 
Late model CVPI...pop out the headlight and place the HAW, Vertex, whatever, in a hole drilled in the corner/marker light. Fantastic intersection warning. It's the perfect spot for the Vertex and focuses all light to the side of the vehicle.
 
LED hide-a-way
 
When I took out the front housing for the amber running light, there is NO room to mount anything in that housing. The housing itself, butts up against the headlight housing so putting anything on the back side is almost impossible, but the housing istelf isnt wide enough to put anything of protrudance in that area. I will take a look at the site you recommended to see what they are recommending as a replacement!
 
I put 2 SOS Undercovers in the back-up lights of a 2010 Fusion. They are ok at night but virtually invisible during the day. Has anyone doubled them to increase the output? Did it make a significant difference? A video would be great.
 
ranair911 said:
I put 2 SOS Undercovers in the back-up lights of a 2010 Fusion. They are ok at night but virtually invisible during the day. Has anyone doubled them to increase the output? Did it make a significant difference? A video would be great.
The first gen undercovers or the latest model SOS offers (with different lens options?)


I have a set of clear SOS universal undercovers mounted on a vehicle as corner "strobes" - bright as snot both in daylight and nighttime is blinding.
 
They are the newest ones. I found lens #2 generated the most light from where I had to mount them. I think I will double up on them in the one housing and see what it looks like. If that works I will get another set. If not I will use a slow tlf instead because the white in the back-up lights is brighter and totally washes out the SOS amber, even at night. I saw your review and videos of the various haws and think I might expecting more light than they can produce.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Forum Statistics

Threads
55,150
Messages
454,445
Members
19,718
Latest member
M18Leaf