Weather can make a difference in our ability to drive safely on the road, and being able to see the roadway better in inclement conditions makes for peace-of-mind driving.
Fog lights are basically an improvement over your vehicle’s low beams, and really help your road visibility in bad weather. a good pair of fog lights has a narrow vertical beam, meaning they illuminate the roadbed in front of your vehicle in a tight pattern. a wider vertical beam would just reflect glare off the fog, rain or snow back into your eyes, making a bad situation even worse.
Fog lights should be mounted as low on the bumper as is practical, and often you’ll see fog lights mounted below the bumper. this is fine as long as the driver has some guarantee the vehicle will never be in a situation where the unprotected lights are smashed against a curb or other obstacle.
Take into consideration the ride height of the vehicle when determining where to attach fog lights. if your sports compact has been lowered, installation below the bumper is a risk. But a 4x4 with a lifted suspension or an oversized wheel/ tire package that rarely sees severe off-road conditions may be able to get away with tucking a set of lights below the bumper.
The best spot, obviously, is to mount fog lights as low on the bumper as possible, but where they will be protected as well. traditional fog lights are usually mounted under the front bumper about 25 to 60 centimetres from the ground.
There are two important issues to address when installing fog lights. the first is to minimize the amount of return glare into the driver’s eyes; while the other is to minimize glare cast into oncoming drivers’ eyes. in addition, both these issues must be accomplished while putting as much light as possible on the road. aiming the lights is vital for proper performance and for safety on the road.
Most fog-light kits are designed with the do-it-yourselfer in mind, and quite often for an individual with little to no vehicle wiring experience. as such, kits are designed to be plug and play and will come with pre-assembled wiring harnesses. Following the instructions, connect the hot side of the harness to a 12-volt source such as the battery or power point and to the corresponding relay point. Connect the light side of the harness to the lights and to the relay marked for the light or load side. in some cases it might be necessary to connect a ground wire.
The last step involves running the wiring to the switch inside the vehicle.
To do this, follow the path of other wiring through the firewall. Make sure all connections are secure and that all wiring is either taped or ziptied to ensure it does not interfere with any moving parts. turn on power to the lights and now it’s time to adjust the beam.
The top of the beam 10 centimetres below the lamp centre at a distance of eight metres from the front of the vehicle with the lamp facing straight forward. however, some modifications may be necessary to minimize glare.
As to choosing which fog lights are right for your vehicle, the old saying applies; you get what you pay for. a good quality set of lights make all the difference. Piaa has been a leader in the automotive lighting industry for decades, and they have many fog light models to choose from.
The 520 series, one of the best fog lamps on the market includes all wiring. Check out www.piaa.com for the complete line of fog lights or ask a CTP sales team member today.
Article written by: Ian Harwood - "The Truck Guy"
Corporate Sales and Operations Manager for Custom Truck Parts
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