No go - Baja Designs Tacoma/Tundra fog kit on '13 cruiser

[CharlieS]

Just reporting back on an idea I was trying. I saw that some people had put the BD fog light kit from the Tacoma into their LX and wondered if the same kit would work in the land cruiser. It didn't.

The '13 cruiser factory fog mounting brackets are much more widely spaced than the Tundra/Tacoma setup. By a lot.

The brackets are way off from fitting, and even the lights themselves are small for the opening. It might be passable from a usability standpoint, but the aesthetics are kind of bad.

I'm trying to decide whether I want to try to bend up some brackets and try them anyway, or call it a loss and sell.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Too bad, but not unexpected. The pre-2016 LC's fog lights are considerably larger, so it makes sense that the mounting brackets would be different, too.

(I do suspect the Squadrons will work with the 2016+ LC models.)

Any other mounting options you're considering (for the Squadrons)?

 

[CharlieS]

Custom brackets are the only thing I can think of. Basically larger versions of the Tacoma brackets. The idea is right, the size is just wrong.

The gap is around 1.5 CM, although it looks larger in the photo. I'm not sure how noticeable it would be in an installed position?

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Custom brackets are the only thing I can think of. Basically larger versions of the Tacoma brackets. The idea is right, the size is just wrong.

Even if you mount them, won't you also have gaps all around the lights? (Between the lights and the surrounding plastic.)

 

[CharlieS]

Yes, that is what I was trying to convey above - they'd function fine, but look goofy.

 

[TheGrrrrr]

Would it be possible to fabricate a combo mount/bezel that would solve both problems? I'm not a fabricator, but it seems like such a solution would be at least as popular as some of the other things I have seen fab'd up and sold.

 

[CharlieS]

Probably.

I'm not much of a fabricator, so I don't know. The light companies I've talked to (Baja Designs and Diode Dynamics) have zero interest in the landcruiser due to the low volume compared to other vehicles.

The easiest thing to do would probably be some sort of 3D printed thing, but I'm also not capable of programming the thing...

 

[hankinid]

I found the same answers after a lot of searching and calling. My fix was simply a pair of PIAA 47W 3K incandescent bulbs. Around $45 for the pair.

 

[CharlieS]

Hankinid,

That's what I should do - just keep it simple.

I have Hikari LED bulbs in there now, which work well enough, but I suspect probably have too much scatter in the incandescent reflectors.

I was going to run the BDs through my switchpros, so I can turn them down to lower brightness for on road use, the crank them up for use offroad.

I was just reporting back to save others the hassle.

 

[molanginaeda]

The fog light on 2013-2015 has a bigger diameter. Maybe you can try this mounting kit for 2nd gen tundra to fill up the gap? If gap still exist, you can use rubber strip around the bezel.

Baja Designs

This will not be plug-n-play solution. You still need to make a custom bracket which I think it’s not hard to customize.

 

[CharlieS]

I had some brackets made up. I made cardboard templates and had a local shop build them for me out of stainless steel.

Note: This is not a cheap way to go despite their very reasonable labor rate ($165 to fab up four brackets).

The left side ones are the Tacoma kit from BD, the right side are the ones I had made.

This allows the BD lights to fit in the factory fog light surround.

There is a significant gap around the edge, which I think would make this a showstopper for many folks. Someone clever with a 3D printer could probably make a cool adapter, but that isn't me.

I'm happy with them.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

That's great. I bet some $5 worth of weatherstripping from Home Depot would fill that gap nicely.

 

[CharlieS]

Agreed. I actually purchased some rubber weatherstripping, sort of tubular stuff, with 3M tape on the back from Amazon. It didn't want to stick to the light for some reason, so I just said to heck with it, at least for now. I'm happy with the functionality and relatively decent fit, and can live with the slightly off aesthetics. I doubt many non-enthusiasts would even notice. Crusier fans will probably scowl at me, but they're few and far between around here.

Also, painting or powdercoating the brackets would help it disappear. I may do that in the summer (I've been looking for an excuse to buy a DIY small scale powdercoating setup).

 

[hankinid]

Agreed. I actually purchased some rubber weatherstripping, sort of tubular stuff, with 3M tape on the back from Amazon. It didn't want to stick to the light for some reason, so I just said to heck with it, at least for now. I'm happy with the functionality and relatively decent fit, and can live with the slightly off aesthetics. I doubt many non-enthusiasts would even notice. Crusier fans will probably scowl at me, but they're few and far between around here.

Black caterpillar edging material might be a solution...

 

[CharlieS]

Black caterpillar edging material might be a solution...

Hankind, can you share a link? I tried googling that and didn't get any results that made sense.

 

[CharlieS]

Also, if you want to add BD lights, I just discovered that you can buy the angled bezels separately.

You don't need the Tacoma/Tundra kit if you are going to fabricate brackets anyway.

The bezel is really the only thing in the Tundra/Tacoma kit that is of value for the Land Cruiser install, helping it to match the angle of the stock trim ring.

Then you can pick whatever BD light you like, without being constrained to the Tacoma/Tundra kits.

Baja Designs Squadron, Angled Bezel SKU:447113

Baja Designs

This Squadron bezel is used for filling angled gaps and also acts as a deflector to prevent glare when mounting your lights above your hood. This bezel will work with Squadron / Squadron-R products and allows you to utilize our uService technology.

www.bajadesigns.com

Compatible Products:

• Squadron Sport
• Squadron Pro
• Squadron Racer
• Squadron-R Sport
• Squadron-R Pro
• Squadron-R Racer

 

[hankinid]

Hankind, can you share a link? I tried googling that and didn't get any results that made sense.

I just googled "black caterpillar grommet"...measure the thickness of the piece as the grommet comes in different sizes.

hth

 

[CharlieS]

Thanks. I'll try to find it.

 

[CT3]

Any further insight into how this setup has worked? I’m game to give it a try

 

[CharlieS]

It is a great upgrade.