TA fog light upgrade
06-25-2009, 03:50 PM
#1
TA fog light upgrade I am not sure exactly where local tradition would put this, so feel free to move it. But hey, lights are electrical...
It's pretty much universally accepted that the TA headlights are less than ideal. I noticed that I had a fog burned out, and that the lens were in bad shape after 160,000 miles of road rash. So... a chance to repair is a chance to upgrade, right?
I ordered a pair of Hella Optilux 2500 Angel Eye lights from (pick your favorite vendor...). I couldn't care less about the LED ring, but they're about the right size, and with 55W H3 bulbs they ought to be bright enough to eliminate the need to ever turn on my air brakes - I mean popup headlights. The kit comes with a wiring harness, including a toggle that will let you turn on either the halo light or the driving light. I tossed the harness and switch into the spare parts box. All you need from the kit is the lights and the brackets.
We started by removing the factory fogs and spending some time examing the brackets to figure out how to modify them. Turns out it's pretty simple.
Use a cutoff wheel to remove the "bucket" the factory used to wrap around the light housing. Picture one shows this in progress. If you're a neat freak, you can use a bench grinder to cleaen up the cuts. I did, but left a bit of a rib to add rigidity to the now "L" shaped bracket. Picture two shows the modified bracket next to the original. Note that I shot this before I cleaned it up...
According to Hella, their bracket attaches at the "top" of the light. We don't care. We mounted it upside down. Picture three shows the new light bolted to the modified bracket. Note that Hella kindly included a molded boss in a spot that is perfect for a bolthead. Notice the hole we drilled into the modified bracket. This was done to allow us to run a bolt to give us some up/down adjustment. Picture four shows the assembly from the rear.
Picture five shows the assembled units. Notice that we took the spring off the factory adjuster, stuck it over a bolt and ran the bolt through the modified brackets. Use this to adjust your beams and then put on a jam nut. It won't budge.
Picture six shows the finished product. The lights are well centered in the factory holes and they're MUCH brighter than the fogs. I'll get out after dark and see if they eliminate the need for headlights, but I will not be suprised if they do.
The pictures could be better, but all I had with me was my iPhone.
It's pretty much universally accepted that the TA headlights are less than ideal. I noticed that I had a fog burned out, and that the lens were in bad shape after 160,000 miles of road rash. So... a chance to repair is a chance to upgrade, right?
I ordered a pair of Hella Optilux 2500 Angel Eye lights from (pick your favorite vendor...). I couldn't care less about the LED ring, but they're about the right size, and with 55W H3 bulbs they ought to be bright enough to eliminate the need to ever turn on my air brakes - I mean popup headlights. The kit comes with a wiring harness, including a toggle that will let you turn on either the halo light or the driving light. I tossed the harness and switch into the spare parts box. All you need from the kit is the lights and the brackets.
We started by removing the factory fogs and spending some time examing the brackets to figure out how to modify them. Turns out it's pretty simple.
Use a cutoff wheel to remove the "bucket" the factory used to wrap around the light housing. Picture one shows this in progress. If you're a neat freak, you can use a bench grinder to cleaen up the cuts. I did, but left a bit of a rib to add rigidity to the now "L" shaped bracket. Picture two shows the modified bracket next to the original. Note that I shot this before I cleaned it up...
According to Hella, their bracket attaches at the "top" of the light. We don't care. We mounted it upside down. Picture three shows the new light bolted to the modified bracket. Note that Hella kindly included a molded boss in a spot that is perfect for a bolthead. Notice the hole we drilled into the modified bracket. This was done to allow us to run a bolt to give us some up/down adjustment. Picture four shows the assembly from the rear.
Picture five shows the assembled units. Notice that we took the spring off the factory adjuster, stuck it over a bolt and ran the bolt through the modified brackets. Use this to adjust your beams and then put on a jam nut. It won't budge.
Picture six shows the finished product. The lights are well centered in the factory holes and they're MUCH brighter than the fogs. I'll get out after dark and see if they eliminate the need for headlights, but I will not be suprised if they do.
The pictures could be better, but all I had with me was my iPhone.
Last edited by Dirty Dog; 09-08-2012 at 08:13 AM. Reason: Picture links no longer worked. Updated them.
06-26-2009, 01:58 AM
#5
Jusr drove home from the theater. The new lights are plenty bright, but we have them aimed low enough that they were not blinding anybody. They light up in front of the car great, but don't light up the shoulder of the road at all, so headlights are still needed. I hope someone will come up with a non-popup replacement for a reasonable price. That $1000 for the only set I have seen seems a bit steep.
06-26-2009, 01:16 PM
#6
Just drove home from the theater. The new lights are plenty bright, but we have them aimed low enough that they were not blinding anybody. They light up in front of the car great, but don't light up the shoulder of the road at all, so headlights are still needed. I hope someone will come up with a non-popup replacement for a reasonable price. That $1000 for the only set I have seen seems a bit steep.
Street Scene Driving Lights
Westin Driving Lights
They are all 55W H3 bulb lights. The only difference I see, other then the LED ring, is the Hella lights have steel housings and the other two have plastic housings. I gotta figure out which ones to get!
One thing is for sure though, any of these housings with some HIDs would be so bad *** it wouldn't even be funny!
Trending Topics
06-26-2009, 07:49 PM
#9
Hella 90's My Hella 90's produce more usable light than my high and low halogen sealed beam conversions with H7 bulbs together. You don't even realize the head lights aren't on.
Ed
They cost about 140.00 or something like that.
They are very wide but they have the shield in them that prevents them from blinding oncoming traffic. See the last picture.
Ed
They cost about 140.00 or something like that.
They are very wide but they have the shield in them that prevents them from blinding oncoming traffic. See the last picture.
06-27-2009, 03:14 PM
#11
Copy & Paste Moderator
Good work. 
I've added this to the Lighting FAQ:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...hting-faq.html
I've added this to the Lighting FAQ:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/appearanc...hting-faq.html
07-20-2010, 03:45 AM
#16
No, you have to remove them, but with a little bit of practice you can remove them without pulling off the bumper.
They sit right up against the styrofoam on the bumper support, so there is no way to get in there from behind.
For a while when my headlight motor went out, I used these instead of headlights. I flattened down the sides of the bracket and bent tabs that could fit the new foglight. I played with the bends and had the lights facing a little more towards the right and left than the center. It worked nicely but I got tired of them constantly burning out - make sure you use a relay.
They sit right up against the styrofoam on the bumper support, so there is no way to get in there from behind.
For a while when my headlight motor went out, I used these instead of headlights. I flattened down the sides of the bracket and bent tabs that could fit the new foglight. I played with the bends and had the lights facing a little more towards the right and left than the center. It worked nicely but I got tired of them constantly burning out - make sure you use a relay.
08-04-2014, 03:23 PM
#20
Teching In
Dirt Dog, is it possible to put some type of HID bulb in these? I have HIDs in my low and wanted a glass foglight that could take a HID bulb or a compatible bulb. I presently have DDMtuning fog kit 35w with 880 6000k that melted the middle of my plastic fog light lens. (02 T/A).