Possible fog light retrofit, looking for input

[spaber05]

Hey gang, looking to get some input here...

I was considering grabbing a set of these new Morimoto XB projector lights and retrofitting them to the existing OEM fog housings. The Morimotos look great, are relatively cheap, are practically plug and play, and the fitment looks like it might work.

Universal: Morimoto XB LED 70mm Fogs - Complete Housings from The Retrofit Source

But then I came across these on ebay...

...and thought it might be easier to retrofit into those. Thoughts? Should I just modify OEM housings and keep the OEM look (which I prefer) or be the guinea pig and grab a set of these housings and put a proper light in them?

It looks the measurements will be tight with OEM housings and the size of the Morimotos, but the light output just looks incredible!

Thanks!

 

[bamabrock]

mount some morimoto matchbox projectors in your stock housings. You'll have to seal the back up. the LEDs are okay and those black things will have junk projectors in them.

 

[yotasavg]

I was personally thinking matchbox's would be a good fit. I think you'd have to cut those ebay ones anyway, which makes it not worth the price IMO. I though about those too, but fully custom seems like the smarter option. On the other hand, I'd really like to ditch the whole bumper lol.

 

[spaber05]

I thought about the Matchbox projectors but I like the idea of plug and play without having to deal with ballasts etc. that come with an HID vs. an LED setup.

I'd definitely be scrapping the junk ebay projectors and essentially just paying for the housings that I'd be modifying.

I don't see myself putting on an ARB anytime soon otherwise I wouldn't be considering this!

 

[spaber05]

Based on rough measurements, it appears that it will be too tight of a fit on stock fogs. It's a little tough to measure exactly with them on the truck so I might just order some aftermarket lights and see what works. Based on all the reviews, I'd really like to stick with these LED's for the simplicity of wiring them.

If anyone happens to have a fog light laying around and wants to take some measurements, let me know

 

[planomateo]

What kind of measurements do you want?

 

[spaber05]

What kind of measurements do you want?

View attachment 1457823

Wow, never was there a more appropriate designation for "ask and you shall receive"!

My main concern is mounting the LEDs on the back of the fog housing and how much room I need, particularly the 84mm measurement (red line below) that would be the top of the light between the two plastic pieces at the top of the light. Secondly, whether I could actually make the hole large enough without cutting the roof/ceiling of the reflector itself (yellow line below) is a concern (69mm as seen in diagram).

I'm just afraid without having both in front of me that it's really tough to make that call. Are those the Morimotos you have pictured?

*disclaimer, the housings pictured are not OEM but aftermarket, best I could find though.

Thanks a lot for the help, you are likely saving me from some headaches!

 

[planomateo]

I'm wishing I had a digital measuring tool right about now...

From your drawing above:

• The yellow line is odd, it's 3-1/8" in one spot and 3-1/4".
• The red line is 3-3/8".

The light is a Morimoto, I'm not sure which ones to be honest. Markings show "LH S0200179" & "F0200464 L" on the back and "04 F3 PL (E6) 0109 SAE F05 G0200160 L" on the front of the lens. I bought them for my Tundra but never got around to fitting them.

By the way, the fog light is from my 2007 LC, currently sitting in my garage as I have a dissent bumper on the front.

I took a picture of the LED light on top of the fog light so you could get an idea of the size between the two.

You can see on this picture at the bottom center of the bulb area there is a portion of the fixture that sticks out further than another portion. That is where the measurement goes up to 3-3/8", but also note that the other side of the fog light has a slight curve to it.

Here is a better picture of the 2007 LC fog light. I took the back plate off (in the picture), held in by 4 screws, and removed the bulb so it was easier to measure.

 

[spaber05]

@planomateo this is extremely helpful info, thanks!

It looks as though I could just barely fit the Morimoto XBs on the back of the housing with barely any room to spare. It also looks like the light you have that was meant for your Tundra is quite a bit bigger than what I'm looking to fit.

And yeah, a digital measuring tool is on my list now.

Thanks again, the 'mud community proves invaluable once again!

 

[spaber05]

No turning back now! Morimoto XBs ordered, will post pics when I have time to tackle this project.

 

[yotasavg]

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

 

[spaber05]

I'll be sure to take pictures as this could be a really simple plug and play option with no ballast or extra wiring needed.

Being that the projector should only extend 41mm (1.6") into the housing, I'm hoping that it will look good enough with the OEM reflector covering a good portion of that gap and I won't even need a shroud. From what I saw on TRS. I'd need to dremel along the top/bottom...a LOT...to get a shroud to work so we'll cross that bridge if we get to it.

 

[spaber05]

Will have more pics up soon but things are very promising (can't get a good pic of the finished product).

There's a fair amount of Dremel-ing needed to get everything to fit with the reflector housing (I prefer an OEM look, otherwise you could probably just take it out). They fit very snugly on the back of the housing and I think they'll end up being a really simple upgrade in place of a true retrofit. I like how they are full enclosed and weatherproof and require no ballasts etc., truly plug and play.

 

[spaber05]

End result:

There's still some fine tuning to do, but overall I'm pretty happy with the result. They have a nice cutoff and are adjustable (up/down) to aim them correctly.

For those that aren't afraid to hack up stock housings a bit, this is a great option that puts out a significant amount more light than OEM halogens. If any of you decide to bite the bullet and purchase, reach out with any questions, I took a lot of pictures along the way.

 

[bctlex]

Thanks for sharing @spaber05. Mine is cracked in the rear, where the bulb is installed, so this mod would be perfect to do.

 

[spaber05]

Thanks for sharing @spaber05. Mine is cracked in the rear, where the bulb is installed, so this mod would be perfect to do.

Happy to contribute. A couple things worth noting if you go this route:

1) Make sure you trim the reflector enough to give yourself some clearance to adjust the light up/down, I think mine are a little tight.
2) On the plugs provided, you have to trim the little "nub" a bit to get the factory clips to secure properly, they are just a little bit big for the OEM clip to go over the top of
3) Order some 70mm universal rubber boots for the back of the housing to cover things up. There's still a gap between the adjustable bracket you mount to and the light itself that can let some water in

 

[1mtomselleck]

Hey, for anyone that's been stalking this for a while and thinking about doing it, the 70mm universal fogs are on "clearance" right now from Morimoto for $70. That's the price point I was looking for. Thanks @spaber05 for pioneering this!