needing some input on rear facing fog lights w/ red leds

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
so I was driving in the fog the other day, I have a good socked in 10 mile stretch that's really bad, I came up behind an Audi that had a single rear facing fog lamp on the rear, I assume it was illuminated to about the same intensity as a brake light, but it got me thinking that maybe it would be kinda cool to do that with a pair of TIR or LIN 3's ( or any led head for that matter that will steady burn) I have some TIR3's laying arround and chrome bezels also, I was thinking that I could mount these directly to the rear chrome bumper, I would put one on each side to outline the profile of the truck. i was thinking i could wire them into the stock front foglight switch, but I also thought that that I could possibly try and hook the leds up to a flasher to do warning patterns? if I were to do this initialy i was going to use a headlight flasher to acheive the steady burn feature for the rear fog's and also be able to flash them a code 3 700 series flasher came to mind, but do you guys have any ideas on a flasher that works in a similar fassion that might have a better choice of patterns? what about a sound off with the multiple patterns?


so tell me what you guys think? this is just kind of a tinker project and since summer is almost here I doubt i'll be going right out and putting these on but I would want to do it before fall...
 
S

sargeek

Rear Fog Lights are common and required OEM equipment in Europe. In most EU contries, the Low Beam Headlights must be activated for the front fogs to come on, and the front fog lights must be on for operator to turn on the rear fog lights. Keep the rear fogs on a septerate switch, so you can have the front fogs on w/o the rear fogs. The HLF will work, some one will comment on other flashers.
 

Cam

Member
May 20, 2010
247
MO
Most of the time it would be a single rear fog light. Having two makes it look like brake lights.
 

Stendec

Member
May 21, 2010
816
If you put two directional warning lights that flash to the rear, the technical term for those are "tail-lights" ;)


Euro rear fogs have a distinctive, diffused beam and are steady. You may want to check out sports car racing equipment suppliers, some classes have to have a steady red light to the rear.
 

Cam

Member
May 20, 2010
247
MO
Rear fog lights are legal. As for using TIR3's and flashing them, I would think not but who knows.
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
just so every one is on the same page... I would only have the lights flashing when the emergency lights on the truck are on, the rest of the time they would just be a steady burn light that would come on with the factory fog lights that are on the front bumper.. I dont think the OS lights from whelen would be bright enough, and I'm not thinking a extra set of clearance lights would do me much good .


its like adding the rear fog lights and then getting the added functionality of the flashing lights when i need them,


another idea, would be to use a licence plate bracket , that might not allow the lights to get confused with the brake lights


as far as the legality of flashing them, its legal to have the other warning lights on my truck , these would just serve a dual function
 

Alovebaby41

Member
May 23, 2010
354
Texas
dmathieu said:
What's the legality of these lights in the US ?
Dan
As long as they aren't red or blue they should be ok such color as amber or white would or should work just fine i know that is the law in my part of the country.
 

K9Vic

Member
May 23, 2010
1,225
Fort Worth, TX
Alovebaby41 said:
As long as they aren't red or blue they should be ok such color as amber or white would or should work just fine i know that is the law in my part of the country.

Red is perfectly legal as long as it does not flash.


Blue is illegal.


White is Illegal because that is only for backing up.


Amber is a not illegal, but not a good choice as it is much brighter then red and can be confused for a stuck turn signal.


You would ONLY want to use red as a steady burn aux rear driving light, these are on many US sold European vehicles controlled by a toggle switch on some makes. They add an extra bright light to cut through the fog to be seen, they are added safety and should be standard on US made vehicles. Adding one should comply with USDOT regulations and not flash in any way and always be steady red. I believe that they should also only be on the driver side of the vehicle. Another name for them that I have heard is an Autobahn light, but that is like a slang term.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive ... _fog_lamps
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
every one still seems to be hung up on the steady burn part.. I would use the lights on steady in the fog, but I was also trying to get a little more use out of the lights as rear warning lights, yes red flashing lights are ok to have on my truck
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
well I got the project done, i changed it slightly durring the planning stages, I used a licence plate bracket I got from rwo978, and 2 red lin3's that I had, I wired them so they are a 3 function light, using a code 3 711 head light flasher , and the LIN3's set to steady. the lights are hooked to a switch on the switch box for the rear fog light operation, and they are also hooked to the brake lights so they function as extra brake lights, they flash when the switch box goes into slide 2, I usdd a diode on the 2 feeds for the steady burn. all in all I think it looks great , and I will get much more use out of it than just as the rear facing fog's


here is a video of the final product...


http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj293/shawnlayton/?action=view&current=AVI_0752.mp4http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj29 ... I_0752.mp4
 

ncranchero

Member
May 23, 2010
63
Charlotte NC
I just got a 2010 Ford TRANSIT Connect and it is factory equipped with rear fog lights, but no front. Go figure.


BTW, I've already heard all of the "ice cream truck/flower delivery/ little pink kitties" comments so save them!! :lol:
 

ncfireman1918

Member
Jun 15, 2010
35
Mocksville, NC
Not the same, but still on topic, sort of. I've got a 98 Volvo S70 with (of course) a factory rear fog lamp. I swapped that for an LED replacement bulb when it burned out, then I started feeling froggy, and drilled the passenger side lamp housing in the same location (as mentioned above, rear fog = driver's side only) and installed a second LED replacement. The rear fog switch still activates the driver's side lamp as a steady burn, but they are both connected to the LED flasher that runs my dual dashmiser with TIR6 heads on the package tray. The fog lamps flash with the dashmiser. Worked out pretty well, even if they are not as bright as LED hideaways.
 

JHEATHJR

Member
May 24, 2010
32
Buckeye, AZ
Ummm,


How do they work with the Turn Signals?


Do they flash left/right along with the trucks light, as the trucks light is a combination Stop/Turn light?


Otherwise, Looks Good.
 

Shawn L

Member
May 21, 2010
2,477
Corbett, Oregon
they dont work with the turn signals, this year chevy has the seperate amber rear signals, the lights are stock, whelen LIN3's hooked to a code 3 headlight flasher, there are 2 inputs for the steady burn,
 

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