Rear foglights/tail light replacement

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[Chris]

I've been thinking about installing some rear fog lamps in my car lately. I want to do this because the tail lamps really take away from my modified tail lights. Also, I've noticed in heavy snow, that I won't see the car in front of me until they hit their brakes. I'll generally notice European cars that have rear fogs, I'll see from quite a distance further than your normal tail lamps. When i install the rear fogs, I'll be disconnecting the tail lights (not brake, just tail). These too will be LED.

I picked up these LED oval trailer lights to play with, I want to see if they're bright enough: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120666905626




I think I'm going to set them as outboard as possible:



Although I was considering setting them inboard a bit:



This is just something I'm "playing" with... I don't think I'm going to permanently install them, as I want some square ones instead. I got these to see if I like the "idea" that I'm playing with in my head. I'd like to get some JDM rear fogs from a Honda or Mitsu, but the pricing is ludicrous!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/JDM-CIVIC-CRX-SHUTTLE-REAR-RED-FOG-LIGHTS-COMPLETE-OEM-/300445758246?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item45f3f67326

[94 olds vert]

If your going to do it. I'd do it like the second pic.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

have you thought about going through the part between the tail lights and the bumper cover?

im pretty sure where you wanna go thru theres the bumper core there and its gonna put up a fight (or press em in if its rusty as mine!)

maybe some thinner ones. theres LED trailer lights for trailers with open backs that are like 1" wide and like 12" long. AND when theyre off, theyre white. guess it doesnt help with a lipstick coloured car tho.

to me, they should be under the middle section of one of the tail lights, but wherever you wanna put em.

could a guy just modify the inside two bulbs of the tail lights to accept a larger brighter bulb?

[Chris]

Really? I like the furthest outboard ones the best.

The rear fogs (on E-spec cars) are mounted in the lower bumper, or integrated into the tail lights. I don't like the ones that are integrated into the tail lights.

Integrated:



In the bumper:





This is what the brake lights on my car currently look like. The tail/parking lights are OFF in this picture. You can see they're modified:



And the tails are unmodified:

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

ahhh yeah i see you got it dun already. lol i been rollin that one in my head for a while. im really thinking of getting an HID kit for my car, high n lows. then do a high plus low beam conversion and on top of that we have these really cool lights at my work called a Rigid LED light bar. i want a 20" one in the opening of the grill. lol

[Chris]

Don't get HID plug and play kits, if your going to put HIDs in your car do it right.
And I wouldn't recommend HIDs for high beams (coming from first-hand experience)

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i want to modify a plug n play kit to work with a single bulb for high and low. i know it wont be properly aimed, but i honestly drive on the highway like 2 times a year. and neither of those times is at night. lol

the PIAA plug n play kits for HID seem to be made better than all the others, they all seem to be the same chinese junk in the same box with different pictures on it.

at work we supply the Beemers kits, and we order in PIAA ones if people dont want those cheapo ones.

[Chris]

So then why bother?

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

for the HID lows, the color... thats about it. im sitting patiently to see if i can get a free kit. otherwise i get them for just short of $100.



we were board at wurk and comparing pictures.... this is one we both took. other guy has a sony Alpha 390 or some shit.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

how about a light up hitch cover?? fast, easy and you can get one with a chevy bowtie on it!

[Chris]

Yeah, those are pretty fucking gay. And to be legal you need two rear tail lights in the US.

I already have the oval LED lights that I'll be playing with. They're Sound-Off O6 LED lightheads, for use in emergency vehicles. They have both TIR and Linear optics, and they're BRIGHT AS HELL. I might stick with these unless I can find some of the EDM rear fogs for CHEAP. I don't want to commit to an oval hole in my rear bumper just yet though. I need to see if I can find another maroon Lumina rear bumper (so if I change my mind, I can swap-out).

Anyway, here are the lights:







And here's a good reason for rear fogs in VT. My cell camera doesn't do the white-out justice, but see that little dot in the middle of the picture?





That's a car. And I didn't see the tail lights until I was about three car lengths behind it. For reference as to how fast that car came up, I was doing 75, they were doing 40.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

well you know you wont be rearended, but whats to say about rear ending someone else? those lights look REALLY bright and yeah, i wouldnt be sure about an oval hole in a lumina bumper either, these cars are kinda square

[Chris]

I'm not too worried about hitting someone, I know how the car handles and will react and try not to push its limits. It's all the other idiots on the road that don't know how to fucking drive that I worry about. The brake light modulator, and the brightness of the LEDs seem to REALLY help with the idiots behind me.

[Chris]

Alright, I said fuck it and put some oval holes in my bumper. I can NOT justify the price of OEM rear fogs, and then having to do a LED conversion on top of that. I think it came out pretty good... I disconnected the tail/parking lights in the OEM housings, but left the sidemarker light connected (it didn't look right without it connected, and it gives me more side illumination than just the Sound-Offs). I have the lights angled up and to the inside, since the rear bumper on the Lumina is curved down and to the sides this throws the light behind the car. With the dual TIR/LIN optics they have a great wide-angle and straight on illumination. These fuckers are BRIGHT!!! I can clearly read road signs on the other side of the interstate in my rear view mirror.

Pictures!!!

[Chris]

Well FML, I JUST found these.... They're the shape as the OEM lights, but only 3" x 5" (OEM are 4 x 7). Too late now, bumper is already cut. Maybe I'll put some on the 9C3...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Truck-Lite-Stop-Turn-Tail-Grommet-Mount-Lamp-Kit-/320632389297?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4aa72dfeb1