South American Spec Rear Tail/Fog Light housings

[Coolerman]

Was browsing E-Bay looking for a set of rear tail lights for a later model Cruiser, when I ran across a light that caught my eye. It was sold by a girl out of Venezuela and it looked, somehow, different. The price was $19.00 + $14.99 to ship. She only had an 82% rating, but I took a chance and ordered the set. They came in last week. They are not Toyota lights, nor are they for the US market. Here is what I got:

They are ALL plastic so cannot rust. They also have what I believe to be a "Rear Fog Lamp " bulb that has it's own set of wires. Can anyone verify that this extra bulb is indeed for a rear Fog Lamp function?
I used to own a Volvo that had this function. If you tuned on the Fog Lights then all rear and front facing lights would also tun on another bulb, or another element on an existing bulb. This would make all those lights much brighter; ie easier to see in the fog. I bought these for my truck and have already re-wired them so that when I turn on my Fog Light Switch, that extra bulb will come on. Had to of course add an extra wire to the rear chassis harness and to the switch circuit to make this work.

Thoughts?

 

[Living in the Past]

I assume it would make the tail light function brighter making them easier to for car coming up behind you. Have you pulled the lamp out and checked for wattage? Would want to be sure to have the metal shields in place or rocks from the tires would take one out pretty easy. I would also bet if you leave it out in the sun those lenses would fade pretty quick. That nice clear looking lens would be foggy and brittle pretty quick. Do you have a cruiser to do a test side by side with one original and one of these aftermarket lights? That looks like a much more modern reflector. Would be curious if just the regular tail light wasn't brighter.

 

[davegonz]

Coolerman, do you have a link to the seller or are you planning on selling these too?

 

[GA Architect]

FWIW - My Audi A4 has a rear fog lamp. Yes, that is singular because only one of the tail lights will get brighter. I think that is just a Euro thing though.

Looking at the tail light unit you purchased, it sure looks as though those extra lights could be for a rear fog light set up.

 

[Manwithtools]

Link? I'm interested...

 

[pbgbottle]

Need a pic of them lit up.

 

[Living in the Past]

For the price I wouldn't mind having a set. Have junk set of tail lights I could use the plug off of and bullet connectors for the fog lamp.

 

[Racer65]

TOYOTA LANDCRUISER FJ40 FJ45 Pair Tail Light Taillight NEW 40 series

Scroll down to see the listing.

 

[bj40green]

That little bulb (3W) next to the Brake/Running bulb (32/4W) is a "parking light". It's way too small for a fog light.
Fog lights are a European thing and is only on the left side of the vehicle and is equal to the brake light wattage, so 32W.
In other words, when driving in the fog you'll see the two running lights and one very bright fog light on the left of the vehicle. When the car in front of you hit the brakes you'll see 2 bright lights on the left and one on the right.

These same light units are sold here in Costa Rica. Not a bad quality but the seal is not that great.

Rudi

 

[Living in the Past]

Followed the link thru a couple of new listings that were sold and then no more. Probably sold out or haven't listed a new set yet. These might work well for me in Northern Arizona. Not to wet or hot. Park in a insulated garage should last a long time. Outside in the Phoenix maybe a year or two. I'll watch and see if they list anymore.

 

[Coolerman]

I'll get some pics of them lit up and compared to a regular set.

The lens seal seems to be as good as the Toyota set I have, but that is also a bad design and never really sealed well.

Rudi, the wattage on the small bulb is only 5 watts, so that would be more in line with a "park" lamp. Why does the Euro spec need yet another "park" feature? You already have that feature in the brake/park lamp. Or does the Euro spec call the rear lights that comes on when you turn on the headlights, "running lights or tail lights"? Maybe the second bulb is not as bright so that people KNOW you are truly parked and not moving? Regardless, mine will be turned on with the fog lights.

Also the reverse light only had a 5 watt bulb in it. Pretty dim. I replaced it with a 12w and it made a big difference. I guess the 50w LED bulbs would really make it bright.

One other thing: The design of the reflectors casts a strange pattern behind the vehicle. I'll try to get pics of that also.

That is the correct link to the girl I bought them from. She does appear to be sold out.

I do have the rock shields. The all plastic lights appeals to me due to the constant rust issues with the OEM metal lights. Only time will tell how well they hold up to the sun, but for $34.98 delivered to my door they are hard to beat!

 

[Landpimp]

Normaly the fog is on the left but have seen some that seem to use both or 2 of the lights.

Maybe they are more like a city light, like the euro Hellas have, small extra bulb to make them more of a daytime running light

 

[Mace]

Sidetrack, where are you getting 50W LED backup lamps?? My 7w LED is stupid bright!!!

 

[Downey]

Sidetrack, where are you getting 50W LED backup lamps?? My 7w LED is stupid bright!!!

A thousand years ago Downey sold a 50 watt halogen back up light bulb to replace the original equipment 18 watt bulb (same mounting configuration as an #1157 bulb). It was about 3 times brighter than a stock back up bulb, but generated heat, so Downey warned to have buyer drill small vent holes in their back up light housing to vent the heat. These were Osram #64170 bulbs, as seen in ebay #151409343810.

 

[Coolerman]

I was referring to the 50W halogen bulbs you can buy. Don't know what the lumen output of the 50W halogens are but surely someone makes an LED replacement reverse light that would match it?

Like these? Pair of Sencart 1156 Ba15s P21W 3100Lm 50W 10 x Cree XPE LED Car Bulb White Reversing Lamp Signal Light

 

[Mace]

I have a set of these and they are bright as heck. HUGE upgrade.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/7w-cree-w-radial-leds-35-shipped.572721/Watt LED

I cannot even imagine that the ones you posted were actually 50 watt. More like "as bright as a 50W bulb"

 

[Coolerman]

Found this on Wikipedia:

In Europe and other countries adhering to UN Regulation 48, vehicles must be equipped with one or two bright red "rear fog lamps", which serve as high-intensity rear position lamps to be turned on by the driver in conditions of poor visibility to make the vehicle more visible from the rear. The allowable range of intensity for a rear fog lamp is 150 to 300 candela,[18]which is within the range of a U.S. stop lamp (brake light).[7] Rear fog lamps are not required equipment in the U.S., however, they are permitted, and are found almost exclusively on European-brand vehicles in North America—Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes, MINI, Land Rover, Porsche, Saab and Volvo provide functional rear fog lights on their North American models. Some vehicles from non-European brands which are adaptions of European-market offerings, such as the first generation Ford Transit Connect, come standard with rear fog lights, or vehicles with European market counterparts, such as the second generation Chrysler 300, have an option for them.[citation needed] The final generation Oldsmobile Aurora also had dual rear fog lights installed in the rear bumper as standard equipment.[citation needed]


Single rear fog lamp on aMercedes M Class
Most jurisdictions permit rear fog lamps to be installed either singly or in pairs. If a single rear fog is fitted, most jurisdictions require it to be located at or to the driver's side of the vehicle's centreline—whichever side is the prevailing driver's side in the country in which the vehicle is registered.[18] This is to maximize the sight line of following drivers to the rear fog lamp. In many cases, a single reversing lamp is mounted on the passenger side of the vehicle, positionally symmetrical with the rear fog. If two rear fog lamps are fitted, they must be symmetrical with respect to the vehicle's centreline.[18]

Proponents of twin rear fog lamps say two lamps provide vehicle distance information not available from a single lamp. Proponents of the single rear fog lamp say dual rear fog lamps closely mimic the appearance of illuminated stop lamps (which are mandatorily installed in pairs), reducing the conspicuity of the stop lamps' message when the rear fogs are activated. To provide some safeguard against rear fog lamps being confused with stop lamps, UN Regulation 48 requires a separation of at least 10 cm between the closest illuminated edges of any stop lamp and any rear fog lamp.[18]

 

[Living in the Past]

Well that clears things up. I need to install some before I drive over to Europe again.

 

[Coolerman]

New person selling them on E-Bay now:
74-83 Toyota Land Cruiser Fj40 OE Stop Lights Pair

 

[Living in the Past]

They aren't the same. Yours had clear lenses with modern style reflector housing. These just look like the standard style with the fog light and plastic housings.

On a side note on a trailer made from a early seventies Toyota pickup I just bought the tail light housings have the hole for the second light in the tail light/brake light section. One still had a plug that fell out when I removed the light and the other was MIA. Didn't have a light be was made to except one.