lighting trick

Does anyone know of a special relay or some other special lighting "trick", so I can turn my factory fogs on with my HI beams and LOW beams?
Thanx,
BLUTO

BLUTO said:

Does anyone know of a special relay or some other special lighting "trick", so I can turn my factory fogs on with my HI beams and LOW beams?
Thanx,
BLUTO

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If you power your fog lights directly from your battery, then you can switch them on, no matter what other lights you have on. All you have to do is to connect the fog switch to the battery (use a fuse too).

Rgds

what year is your XJ? on my 98 there is a green wire at the light switch that i tapped so my fog lights are on with both hi and low beams.

All you have to do is tap into your parking lights. If they are on your Driving lights are also on. I did that on an old car of mine. Or take the positive wire from the fog lights and connect them to the positive tn your Driving lights.

You can do it any number of ways, but keep in mind you may fail inspection...at least in VA you will. Don't ask how I know
Jeff

Jeff in VA said:

You can do it any number of ways, but keep in mind you may fail inspection...at least in VA you will. Don't ask how I know
Jeff

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Jeff is correct. I think it's a Federal reg. "Fog" lights MUST switch off when you flip to high beams. "Driving" lights MUST switch off when you flip to low beams. Any other wiring setup is virtually guaranteed to get you a FAIL in any jurisdiction that has safety inspections.

You know there had to be a reason DC wired them the way they did. Doing that way requires two relays and a bunch of other stuff that could have saved them at least 37 cents per vehicle if the regs didn't require the fogs to extinguish when you run high beams. The bean counters wouldn't have passed that by if they had any choice.

Also fog lamps have lenses that give a wide low beam pattern...when your High beams are on as well it effectively cancels out the fogs benefit.

Of course with Jeeps crappy beam pattern it's a moot point.

Factory fogs are usless, do what I did, I use my factory fogs as rock lights, mounted them inside the fender wells. They dont do much with the hi beams on. I also installed KC lights on my hood area in front of the windshield. They work perfect. Of course I live in AZ with hardly any laws I also lived in Va for a spell and know about the strick laws there, they suck.

lighting tricks

The lights that I'm thinking of using are Hella Optilux dual-beams. They would replace my stock fogs and have an "A" - "OFF" - "B" switch that I can wire from an keyed "ON" circuit. No headlight relays w/ n.o. or n.c. contacts to screw me around I'll use the factory fog lamp switch for my brushbar lights or something like that.
If I don't go the Hella route (ordering SYE set-up, gears, and TrueTracs this week $$$$$$$$$$$) then I'll probably remove the metal baffle that I read about inside the OEM fogs and get a better bulb. (Jeepin.com tech report "getting more light from your factory fog lights").

BLUTO

Re: lighting tricks

BLUTO said:

The lights that I'm thinking of using are Hella Optilux dual-beams. They would replace my stock fogs and have an "A" - "OFF" - "B" switch that I can wire from an keyed "ON" circuit. No headlight relays w/ n.o. or n.c. contacts to screw me around I'll use the factory fog lamp switch for my brushbar lights or something like that.
If I don't go the Hella route (ordering SYE set-up, gears, and TrueTracs this week $$$$$$$$$$$) then I'll probably remove the metal baffle that I read about inside the OEM fogs and get a better bulb. (Jeepin.com tech report "getting more light from your factory fog lights").

BLUTO

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DON'T DO IT! -- x 2

1) Don't wire halogen bulbs directly from the switch. It's unlikely you'll find a switch that's rated for that amperage, and the result will be that you'll burn out a lot of switches in a relatively short time.

2) Don't remove the baffle. That "mod" is one of the most idiotic recommendations floating around on Jeep forums. All it does is scatter the light, producing an uncontrolled pattern that doesn't provide the driver with any more usable light (actually, probably less due to scatter) but is enormously effective at blinding oncoming drivers.

Fog lights are intended to produce a low, wide, sharply cut off beam. Most people don't understand that -- they never drive in fog, so they think they're not getting "enough" light. If you want driving lights, buy driving lights, don't butcher the fog lights.

Re: Re: lighting tricks

Eagle said:

DON'T DO IT! -- x 2

1) Don't wire halogen bulbs directly from the switch. It's unlikely you'll find a switch that's rated for that amperage, and the result will be that you'll burn out a lot of switches in a relatively short time.

2) Don't remove the baffle. That "mod" is one of the most idiotic recommendations floating around on Jeep forums. All it does is scatter the light, producing an uncontrolled pattern that doesn't provide the driver with any more usable light (actually, probably less due to scatter) but is enormously effective at blinding oncoming drivers.

Click to expand...

OOPS! I forgot to mention one small detail , the factory FOG switch would bring on both 130W brushbar lights thru a 30 amp relay. The relay will be carrying the amperage, not my switch
Thanks for the heads-up about the "fog light mod", I'll just get the Hellas and be done with it.

BLUTO

Here's what I did..............

-H4 Headlight conversion with PIAA Xenon 85/110 L/H bulbs (by far one of the best investments made here, the H4's have a much better light)

-Hella Rally 500's with Hella 100W bulbs, wired to high beams with relays.

-Roof lights are Harbor Tool and Freight Specials $7 per pair

-Rear Rack light wired to backup lights with relay and switch (comes on when in reverse automatically and withs a switch while driving)