Propickup Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/150744
ARB USA IPF 840 Purpose built for foggy conditions or foul weather, the 85W IPF rectangular fog light kit from ARB 4x4 Accessories is ruggedly built and designed for off-road and commercial use. Each 6.6-by-3.5-by-2.7inch light has a hardened yellow glass lens in a rugged aluminum housing with an adjustable pendant-style mount. Limited two-year warranty. www.arbusa.com; (866) 293-9078 KC HiLites SlimLite Known for their off-road racing lights, KC Hilites' 100W 6-inch KC's SlimLites have a 23-year (sans bulb) warranty and are an ideal fog light for contractors' trucks. The SlimLite's thin profile allows them to easily fit many popular brush guards, light bars, sport racks, OE and aftermarket bumpers. www.kchilites.com; (928) 635-2607 PIAA 520 Series The 6-inch 520 Series from PIAA has graced the fronts of many pickups and SUVs over the years because of its performance. It's available in both driving and fog lens configurations with chrome or black steel housing. The light uses an 85-watt H3 Ion Crystal for projection through a fogpatterened, hardended glass lens and delivers a full 80-degree side-beam spread for edge-to-edge road coverage. www.piaa.com; (800) 525-7422 VisionX OEM LED Vision X's LED fog lights are a great replacement for the OE fog lights in today's full-size pickups. VisionX's OE 3-watt LED technology produces three times the light output of the 35-watt factory fog lights and last up to 50,000 hours. Each light has a narrow beam pattern that provides a tight beam pattern for great distance while a polycarbonate "fog" lens can be snapped on for inclement weather use. www.visionxusa.com; (800) 994-4460 For applications where mounting room is tight, try a pair of Warn's W2030F fog beams. These compact lights measure just 2 by 3 inches, but the 55-watt halogen bulbs provide 66-degree bar-shaped beams of bright light. A wireless control switch allows for easy installation without drilling through the firewall. www.warn.com; (800) 543-9276 MULTIPLE USES Fog lights have other practical uses in the construction and landscaping trades. In ProPickup's auxiliary lights buying guide, Editor Bruce Smith points out that when mounted on the rear bumper they make great backup lights and when installed higher up on a rack, the wide beam pattern makes for a serviceable work light. Fog lights also work exceptionally well as a poor man's portable flood light, too. Connect 20 feet of double-strand or twisted 14-gauge wire to a fog light with an auxiliarytype plug on the other end. Then the light can be used under the hood or truck or positioned as a light source for other work. IMPROPER USE While using fog lights for an auxiliary lighting source when visibility is less than 400 feet is an aide to automotive safety, improper use can cause problems. According to a study by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), while nighttime use of fog lights is high, driving conditions do not usually warrant their use. Drivers often use the lamps to supplement headlights at night and to add a "cool" factor to their vehicles during daylight hours. According to Rob Camp – a Portland, Oregon, area automotive insurance agent – drivers using fog lights improperly can be a danger to others. "Fog lights are designed to help drivers see and be seen when weather conditions severely reduce visibility," says Camp. "Running with lamps on when weather conditions are clear can have the effect of dazzling or temporarily blinding other drivers, which can lead to accidents. It is also a good idea to make sure that they are properly aligned." This is particularly true of work trucks, which often have a significantly higher ride height than automobiles, meaning that fog lights on those trucks could be shining directly into other driver's eyes or their rear view mirrors. So if you can see farther than a football field down the road, keep the fog lights turned off. LIGHTS: FOG Warn W2030F them) and aimed so the cutoff line of the beam is about the middle of the low-beam headlights' pattern. The best way to aim the lights is to park the truck on a level surface 25 feet from a wall. Measure the distance between the center of the fog light and the ground. Place a horizontal mark on the wall at that height. Visual aim is made with the top of the fog light beam about 4 inches below the lamp center at 25 feet with the lamp facing straight forward. If you drive over a lot of narrow, winding country roads, angle the passenger's-side light slightly to the right of the low-beam headlight's center so the fog light illuminates even more of the road side. Also make sure they are wired so they operate either independently and/or in conjunction with the low beams to keep within the legal requirements. Never use fog lights with high-beam headlamps or auxiliary driving lights as this can blind oncoming traffic. (See the chart for a rundown on state regulations.) propickupmag.com PROPICKUP 73 ProPickup_2013BB_Lights Fog.indd 73 8/6/13 10:16 AM