Replacing fog lights with something useful

[coconut1]

Hello gentlemen.

I got some really good advice on this forum in the past when I was trying to upgrade the headlights on my jeep, so i'm back for more.
I live in a third world city with really bad/non existent street lighting and no automotive lighting regulation beyond my conscious and a sens of good tast

So I just pulled the trigger on a 213 toyota prado TXL. This is the third world toyota branded cousin of the lexus gx460. Looks like this https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toyota_Land_Cruiser_Prado_150.jpg

I had 2 questions

1) The car comes with some halogen fog lights , Toyota part number 81210-0W050. Fog lights are useless to me. Is there a legitimate(non Chinese bling crap) way to change these to some small driving, or flood lights to use on back roads.

2) The top of the headlight assembly is showing some yellowing. Is this something I can fix and control with a 3M headlight Restoration kit, or are new headlight assemblies in my medium term future.
I did some research and lights assemblies seem to be about 300 a pop.
http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_G_201302_TOYOTA_LAND+CRUISER+PRADO_KDJ150L-GKAEY_8101.html
Also what would be the best bulbs for this assembly and would an upgraded harness be worth it ?

Thanks for any help guys

Marc

 

[-Virgil-]

The car comes with some halogen fog lights , Toyota part number 81210-0W050. Fog lights are useless to me. Is there a legitimate(non Chinese bling crap) way to change these to some small driving, or flood lights to use on back roads.

No. Those are the only lamps that will fit directly. Anything else would require fabrication of mounts, and plus you'd have a hard time finding a "driving" lamp of that size with performance worth having.

The top of the headlight assembly is showing some yellowing

Geeze, already and it's only a few years old! That's unfortunate.

Is this something I can fix and control with a 3M headlight Restoration kit

Temporarily and repeatedly...

http://www.toyodiy.com/parts/p_G_201302_TOYOTA_LAND+CRUISER+PRADO_KDJ150L-GKAEY_8101.html

From that link, it seems this vehicle has reflector type HID low beams. Are they D1R, D2R, D3R, or D4R bulbs? And what bulb is used in the high beams? The parts page only says "55w".

would an upgraded harness be worth it ?

Definitely not.

 

[coconut1]

Thanks for responding Virgil, appreciate it

No. Those are the only lamps that will fit directly. Anything else would require fabrication of mounts, and plus you'd have a hard time finding a "driving" lamp of that size with performance worth having.

I was afraid you would say that. I was hopping there would at least be a a half decent flood option, it would come in handy when camping, or tailgating at beach parties.

Geeze, already and it's only a few years old! That's unfortunate.

I blame the Caribbean sun and the previous owner for probably not keeping it parked under a mango tree.

The low beam seems to be a d4s Harison bulb

For the high beam It looks like an 9005 hb3.

Thanks Again

PS You where right about the hella 500s. I got a pair cheap from a friend and slaped them on an old landcruiser as an experiment. The beam is way to narrow to be useful as a high beam supplement in the city,but adequate for spotting goats 150 yards down the road in the country.

 

[-Virgil-]

Oh, excuse me, I didn't see the entirety of that parts sheet. Looks like there are multiple headlamp options -- with/without HID low beams. If yours has the HID low beams, then just keep using the existing bulb; there's no upgrade and unless the vehicle has been driven an inordinately long distance at night, your original bulbs shouldn't yet need replacement. The high beam upgrade would be this bulb with the base trimmed according to these instructions.

 

[coconut1]

Thanks for the information Virgil.

Mine does have the hid projector low beams. I'm stocked as it will be the first time I drive HID and projector type headlights. everything up to now was 7 inch round halogens
.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

"Driving or flood" leaves me with questions as to application. But if the goal is seeing the ditches alongside the road, would auxiliary low beams help? I know this is a blast from the past, but I think they are still legal. I was thinking coconut1 might just give up on those little round decorative "fogs" and try mounting something in the space just inboard of there.

I have a set of Cibie Series 95 Booster Beams on a Crown Vic (which also has StarrHID headlights). Putting them on with low beams gives me nearly as much useful light as flipping the headlights to high beam. They require careful aiming, as you do not want to blind oncoming drivers, and you do not want too much foreground light. I drive through two short tunnels on the way to work, and it's interesting to see the light changes on the walls when running different combinations.

I still have not gotten around to installing a set of true long range driving lights on that car (it's on my "when I retire" list), but I find the aux low beams are helpful in patchy light fog, enough that you don't want high beam but not super heavy where you crawl along with fog lights on. And they really do add to the low beams for seeing what is alongside the road.

 

[coconut1]

Hi Hamilton

I should have been clearer. I asked a general question to see if there was anything wort getting to replace the factory fogs. I live in Port-au-Prince Haiti, fog is a foreign concept here. The closest thing to fog light conditions I see are torrential downpours during the 3 month rainy season ( the kind where the wipers cant keep up and birds get knocked out of the sky).

Virgil brought up a good point that a reflector that size would struggle as a worthwhile driving light.
I will probably have something like hella rally 4000 compacts as real driving lights fitted.

What i had in mind was maybe something to supplement my lights

• crawling up a trail or quasi destroyed city "street"
• parking in sketchy small streets with unfinished curbs and coverless storm drains and no street lights
• loading /unloading setting up camp on a beach

So long story short yes supplemental low beams are the direction i would want to go with theses if at all possible.

The only people i have found that make a drop in plug and play replacement for the factory fogs is morimoto.

https://www.thеrеtrofitsourcе.com/c...oto-xb-lеd-fog-lights-lеxus.html#.VwmZJfkrLDc

I have a pretty good idea what the opinion of these from the senior members here will be, and it,s still a fog light

Marc

 

[-Virgil-]

morimoto

Garbage. Do not buy.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

The only people i have found that make a drop in plug and play replacement for the factory fogs is morimoto.

I have a pretty good idea what the opinion of these from the senior members here will be, and it,s still a fog light

Morimoto should be dropped in to a recycle bin, not on a vehicle.

It's a NOTHING light since it's plain junk.

 

[Hamilton Felix]

Coconut1, now I have a better idea of the driving challenges involved. Years ago, I had a set of much used clear Cibie 175 fogs on a 1978 Saab 99 Turbo that were becoming a bit sandblasted. I moved them to the extended bumper of a one-ton International 4x4 truck. The 8 degree vertical by 120 degree horizontal pattern is a great fog beam. Even with many miles on them, they were a big help for seeing to the sides while going around very sharp turns at very low speeds offroad.

Your mention of parking reminds me of a feature on that old Saab: It had backup lights on all four corners. The reverse lights on the front corners shone to the side and back. They actually helped one to parallel park at night. A bit of flood light to the sides is a Good Thing when squeezing around boulders and trees offroad.

Sounds like you really do want an auxiliary low beam. The Cibie Booster Beam and Hella XL are out of print and difficult to find, and don't even think about the rare and elusive Sylvania Xenarc X1010. But a couple of standard sized low beam headlights in standard sized buckets.. well, that concept offers a number of possiblities. I have heard Virgil recommend the Bosch Compact 100 fog as being, well not exactly an aux low beam, but closer to it than other fogs.

 

[calflash]

Although it won't fit like an OE assembly, perhaps a JW Speaker 8801 low beam would be a possible install? The 4x6 dimension will likely/possibly fill the OE fascia hole if the existing fog assembly and bezel were removed.

 

[Alaric Darconville]

Or the 90mm Model 90?

 

[coconut1]

Hi All
I as having some problems with my computer and could not get my reply's to post.
Anyway

@ Virgil and Alaric thank you for confirming my suspicions about morimoto

@ Hamilton thank you for the suggestions. I was really hoping to find something drop in for for the original fog light buckets. The problem is nobody reputable makes an auxiliary light bracket for the stock Prado bumper. I will have to go custom or try and make something fit. I'm not sure how confident i am in the universal liscence plate mounting ones either.

@Calflash and Alaric Ohh I like those suggestions but it would be hard to get thos to mount properly. The mounting tabs are different and would need to make a something custom. Pretty hard in Haiti.

I think i'm just going to have to leave them alone and keep my stock lights and lenses in top gear

Thank you everybody for the awesome feed back.

Marc

 

[HorizontalHunter]

2) The top of the headlight assembly is showing some yellowing. Is this something I can fix and control with a 3M headlight Restoration kit, or are new headlight assemblies in my medium term future.

I used to Sylvania headlight restoration kit last year on my 2001 Xterra and it has held up well.

Bob