ARB 4" Bumper Fog Light LED Upgrade (1 Viewer)

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This is definitely the beta version of this project, but so far I am really happy with the results. The reviews of the ARB fog lights are pretty "meh", and fitting in another brand of light isn't exactly straight forward. I got these lights off amazon (LINK HERE) for around $55. They are intended for a Jeep JK and get excellent reviews; I can see why. After I installed and aimed them, they made the headlights look pretty pathetic (HID upgrade for them next).

I welcome anyone to chime in on better tactics or materials on this, but for a little work and a massive fog light upgrade, this IMO is worth the effort.


This is the start of the process. Do not remove the entire plastic fog light filler piece. A portion of this will need to be removed to match the LED light bezel. I used a Dremmel rotary saw bit and had good results. Cleaned up the burs with grinder bit.

20160518_100258.jpg


Remove the LED light from the outer bezel. There is a 4mm allen (adjustment) screw and spring that need to be removed, and pop out the tabs to remove. The mounting wings will need to be removed to fit into the ARB housing. I used a grinder with a cutoff wheel and made short work of it.
20160518_100303.jpg


Once you have the tabs removed, place the LED bezel into the ARB housing, this will show you what you need to remove from the filler piece. I found a small Pyrex glass tupperware dish made a perfect guide on the backside when I was cutting to keep me from wandering with the bit (as much). Below should be your final result.
20160518_102200.jpg


Now I forgot to take some pictures during the next step, I will try and grab a couple tonight. The idea now is to take the bezel and fit it into the ARB housing. A couple things to remember. Make sure the adjustment screw is pointed down, you will need this later. I used a construction adhesive to glue in the bezel. I am not really satisfied with the results, but so far it works. The glue was clear, not black, and CAN peel away from the plastic more than I would like. Finding the perfect black, sticky adhesive is going to be the key to this. Lastly, I used a ~1" bolt and used the ARB housing mounting tab and glued the bolt to the back of the LED bezel. This should help provide some extra support for the bumps. The end result is this:

20160519_105732.jpg


Has great aim and cutoff. Like I mentioned above, I would love any input on a black heavy duty adhesive that would work well with plastic.
20160519_105740.jpg
 
Could you use something like liquid nails to attach a sheet of black thick plastic, with a four inch hole in the middle, over the back of the fog light hole, then mount the led fog light bracket to added black plastic and have the light free floating through the original hole?
Here's the only pic I found in my photobucket where i measured for this a few years ago. The plastic glued to the back side would hide the gaps. Then again, that may look like crap.
 
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Nice mod. One comment though, that's a lot of money for very little lumens. Ever think about something like this (I can't vouch for these, never seen them in person):

http://www.amazon.com/TTX-LIGHTING-...463682211&sr=1-2-fkmr1&keywords=round+auxbeam

More than twice the brightness (and less watts) for a fraction of the cost. I only mention this as I went through a similar exercise for the OEM bumpers recently and tried to get the highest lumens I could find. Sometimes you have to dig for the brightness stats but it can be worth it.
 
Nice mod. One comment though, that's a lot of money for very little lumens. Ever think about something like this (I can't vouch for these, never seen them in person):

Amazon.com: TTX LIGHTING - 4 Inch 27W Round LED Work Light 30 Degree Spot Beam DC 9-75V 2430 Lumens for 4X4 UTV RZR Teryx Rhino Jeep Tractor Truck fork lifter Boat (Pack of 2): Automotive

More than twice the brightness (and less watts) for a fraction of the cost. I only mention this as I went through a similar exercise for the OEM bumpers recently and tried to get the highest lumens I could find. Sometimes you have to dig for the brightness stats but it can be worth it.
The ones he posted have a well defined cutoff not to blind other drivers whereas the ones you posted are more offroad lights. I have some of those $20 amazon led lights on my polaris ranger and they are great, especially for the price.
 
Ever think about something like this

There are a lot of lights that will put out more lumens, but as bamabrock stated, having driving lights that give a good amount of light but do not blind oncoming traffic is a necessary distinction. There are likely other great options for lights, but these have a fantastic cutoff on the top and bottom which might be overall less lumens, but focused much better. I will post up some night photos.
 
Could you use something like liquid nails]

Maybe, I read through a bunch of labels at the hardware store, I think it really needs to be something more sticky like tar than like silicone to attach well to the plastic. I would be happy to try anything else that gives a strong hold.
 
Good call on the light leakage. The lights I posted are probably pretty bad for that. The set of LED lights I installed in my bumper will only ever be used when there is no traffic around and off road so the cutoff wasn't a primary concern. Lumens and how far down the road I cold illuminate was my main objective.
 
Lights are holding up great. Silicone is working great, I think it provides a little shock absorbing effect. Keep thinking I will switch to black silicone, but I never really think about it. Definitely worth the money and the little bit of fabrication.
 
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Amazon.com: TTX LIGHTING - 4 Inch 27W Round LED Work Light 30 Degree Spot Beam DC 9-75V 2430 Lumens for 4X4 UTV RZR Teryx Rhino Jeep Tractor Truck fork lifter Boat (Pack of 2): Automotive

I bought the above lights but shop that installed my ARB bumper tried but did not work so I bought the Jeep lights . It is installed on a Gx470 though and need to rotate the light for the proper aimView attachment 1476020
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How is your bean pattern not completely sideways?
 
How are these holding up a year later? I have an ARB sitting in my garage waiting to go on my LX, and I went ahead and ordered the amber version of these lights along with some black-drying JB weld:

Amazon.com: J-B Weld 50139 Plastic Bonder Body Panel Adhesive and Gap Filler Syringe - Dries Black - 25 ml: Automotive

to try a similar install to yours. Just want to make sure they're not junk before I start hacking them to pieces.

I've installed these as well but used bolts and two nuts on each side through the original mounting piece to install them. The lights have held up very well through water crossing and lots of mud.
 
IMG_2744.JPG

I too used the same led lights. I used some Devcon 2-part plastic adhesive that literally welded the plastics together. I used one small machine screw on one corner although I don't think it is needed. VEry little of the adhesive was visible once I trimmed the plastic close to the housing. Total project took around 3 hours.
 
View attachment 1529566
I too used the same led lights. I used some Devcon 2-part plastic adhesive that literally welded the plastics together. I used one small machine screw on one corner although I don't think it is needed. VEry little of the adhesive was visible once I trimmed the plastic close to the housing. Total project took around 3 hours.
How are these lights holding up? I'm about to do the same. Do you have any better pics of how you mated the lights to the cutouts?
 
How are these lights holding up? I'm about to do the same. Do you have any better pics of how you mated the lights to the cutouts?

Holding up great. No issues holding aim. Still way brighter than my headlights and much sharper cutoff. I’ll get some photos to share.
 

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