Rear Fog Light (1 Viewer)

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Gang:

I am in the midst of a wiring and headlight upgrade and also ordered a Hella rear fog light and Toyota fog switch. What are your thoughts on mounting the light and how to properly wire the light?

I'm thinking of mounting on DS top of bumper as under would be torn off (or try some type of removable mount with a plug, so I can take it off when I am off road).

My plan for wiring is to use a relay...but what do I do? Do I have to run heavy guage (how big?) wire from the battery to the relay, take power from something else,...any thoughts? I would love to hear from others that have done a rear fog/work light mount!

Cheers, Hugh
 
Hugh:
I mounted rear fogs (2) below the rear bumper...BUT with extra brackets top mounted (I plug the holes on top when I have them mounted underneath). I did this NOT because of them tearing off, but raather to keep them out of the salt water when launching the boat when it's in use.

That said: I used Aux fuse block (Painless Wiring, 8 circuit), wired power from there (switched circuit), and ran all wiring to the rear as concealed/protected as possible. All wiring with inside convoluted tubing (split-loom). All power wires are 12 ga., which has been more than sufficient. Switching is with the OEM fog switch. Relay mounted high inside engine compartment on firewall.

Hope this helped.
 
BKGiii:

Thanks for the response - let me make sure I understand:

- You run 12ga wire from battery to 2nd fuse block in engine or rear?
- You run light ga wire from switch to relay in engine
- then 12ga wire from relay in engine to light in rear?
- The wiring run to the light is in a loom under the car (ie not inside down the side channel/sills under the doors)

Is that correct?

(edit) I was just thinking that this has to be negatiely switched.....can someone help me with what the wiring should look like. Given battery, switch, relay and light and not tied into a different circuit (ie low beam) - how does this get wired? What wires to 30/87 and 85/86 on the relay? I'm confused already and I haven't even started !!! Help!!

Cheers, Hugh
 
if I were to do it I would prolly mount them flush on the tailgate like the OEM rear fog lights on euro spec 80's
 
One of these days I'll get around to putting the high-mount stop on a switch as a rear fog. Diodes would power it with the brake circuit normally. I've done it on another car, worked great. Many advantages, can't think of a serious downside.
 
[quote author=Scott M. link=board=2;threadid=8643;start=msg74192#msg74192 date=1071104331]
...can't think of a serious downside.
[/quote]

How about not bright enough and too high up :D.

A rear fog light has the same intensity as a 55W halogen bulb. If you are ever in a bad storm (snow storms up here) or bad fog, you will see a major difference. You can barely see running and brake lights in some storms until you are right on top of them. Have a look during the next storm, most euro spec vehicles have them (BMW, Saab, Jag, Mercs, etc)

John - I also agree that the tail gate mount is great. I knew a guy that had two in his tail gate on a 60 - looked and worked great (they were back-up lights). Sometime when I have more time, I would consider this.

....now, any thoughts on how to properly wire the relay...?

Cheers, Hugh
 
Hugh,

Actually, they are NOT 55 watt. You'll find you have a much lower watt bulb in your hella when it arrives. I can't recall, but I think it's 21 watts. Anyhow, the CHMSL as foglight is a good idea as it puts out a good amount of light comparable to a 21 watt bulb and I like that it's up out of the swirling water/snow down by the bumper when you're driving for perhaps better rearward range.

That said, I have a Hella rear fog on my 80. You can't mount it atop the bumper as the hatch will come down on it. You could mount it atop the very tip directly under the DS light, but I didn't like the cosmetice of that location. Mine's mounted below the bumper using existing holes for a bumper bracket. I think it's about a foot from the left edge of the bumper. It's semi protected there, and I leave the mount loose enough that it will pivot if hit gently. For wheeling, I pivot it forward and up out of the way.

For wiring, I ran very heavy wire inside the vehicle through rocker trim to the jack stowage area. From there, I have a relay for the fog, and one for the Hella FF worklamp on the rear roof. The fog relay goes down and out an existing rubber plug (tiny slit) then to the light itself. There's a switch wire for the foglamp that I ran next to the power wire, and also one for the work lamp.

It has worked out fine for 10 years. I'm using the metal chrome model and recently changed the bulb. The gaskets are all intact, but the reflector silver is almost gone so I'll be getting in there with some silver paint soon.

DougM
 
Anyone have any pics of their additional "reverse" lights in the lower tailgate? I'm curious as to how this looks!

Thanks.
Ali
Happy Merry
 
Doug:

Thanks for the clarification - all good points. For wiring the relay, do I just wire it 'the opposite' of a + system (ie negative 12v goes to where you would wire +12v)?

Cheers, Hugh
 
Hugh:
-
You run 12ga wire from battery to 2nd fuse block in engine or rear
?
Actually, I think the wire from my battery to the aux fuse block is 10ga....might be 8. My aux fuse block is mounted in engine compartment, on the firewall.

You run light ga wire from switch to relay in engine
correct - 14 or 16 ga, if I recall
then 12ga wire from relay in engine to light in rear?
Yup

The wiring run to the light is in a loom under the car (ie not inside down the side channel/sills under the doors)
Yes...the worst part of the job..fishing wire / loom through rails, etc. to make sure it was protected.

As for 30/87 and 85/86 terminals..I always refresh myself with Christo's aux lighting diagram - http://www.sleeoffroad.com/technical/tz_lights.htm and Daniel Stern's - http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/relays/relays.html

Note: as I currently have it wired, I did NOT use ground switching. If you choose to do so, Christo's and Daniel's write-up address this.
 
Fantastic - thanks for the links!
 
I have my fog light on the DS rear built into the bumper. The holder was from an old Honda Civic and it required a bit of cutting into the frame to recess it in. It looks factory and works well (off its own swtch on dash) and two wires running back and underneath.
The picture doesn't have the fog light shown but shows the other (Left) side that has an extra rear light (55W) that helps when reversing or camping (manual switch)

If u need to I can find a picture of the fog.

Lal
brendan.lally@mail.com
PS Was in UK for 6 years hence reason for fog light
 
[quote author=alia176 link=board=2;threadid=8643;start=msg74396#msg74396 date=1071143893]
Anyone have any pics of their additional "reverse" lights in the lower tailgate? I'm curious as to how this looks![/quote]
Do you mean this?
 
Lal:

That's a nice set-up. Is it just plastic that you had to cut into, or is there some steel in there as well?

Cheers, Hugh
 
Scott,

Wow, that's neat. I wasn't aware of this feature. I was under the impression that someone has installed back up lights near the license plate lights or something like that! I could be mistaken of course.

Ali
 
Scott,
the setup on the scanner poster is whats commonly seen in the UK - they recess in those fog lights into the rear bottom tailgate (presume as they add 'others' bits to make them UK compliant).

Hugh - for the fog light (where it was positioned) I had to cut into the frame x-member on the back (that the bumper goes onto) to have it flush. (Going further R would have been better)

The extra rev light on the L wasn't as well done and u can see the gaps on the trim. It wasn't that well positioned either (if it went more to the L would have fitted better) as its not flush. I'll eventually either re-trim it or replace with custom bumper and get them added more professionally.

The easiest way is to take off the rear bumper and all its components. Find a (junkyard) fog light and play around with different positions to cause the least hassle (cutting etc.). U may have to get a bracket made up for holding it in. Not as difficult as it sounds.

Lal in CO with 96 FZJ80
 
[quote author=Scott M. link=board=2;threadid=8643;start=msg74860#msg74860 date=1071228535]
Do you mean this?
[/quote]

Scott, I'm just gonna guess..........but I think I scaned that pic ages ago :flipoff2:
 
You can also see a nice clear pic of the OEM location if you look through the (great) photos on the yourphoto.com site (in the Prismo 2003 section?). It may be Drexx's cruiser that has them.

Pic not posted to respect the copyright notice on the pic :)

Cheers, Hugh
 
[quote author=Landpimp link=board=2;threadid=8643;start=msg75063#msg75063 date=1071263169]
Scott, I'm just gonna guess..........but I think I scaned that pic ages ago :flipoff2:
[/quote]And I saved it all this time! I figured whoever scanned it would recognize it. I was planning to do that to my truck with LED lights, but I think the high-mount stop light will be quick and cheap if I ever get to it.
 
>> Pic not posted to respect the copyright notice on the pic <<

Hugh,

If someone posts another's pic (copyrighted or not) and the "post" is just a link (img tags) to their picture on their web site, is that considered wrong? I do this all the time, without explicit permission, but almost always with credit given.

-B-
 

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