LED rear fog lights???

I'm considering installing some rear fog lights on my vehicles, similar to what Volvo has.

For those unfamiliar with this option, it's essentially another set of brake lights (same color, size, and intensity) that is controlled by a toggle switch. Instead of yellow lights to the front, you have red lights pointing to the rear. The whole point is to make your vehicle much more visible in low-visibility conditions. I've seen them on Volvos, and they work well.

I'm posting here to see if any of you might know of some LED lights I could install. I'd prefer something pre-fab, because I'm pretty much an electronics klutz.

Me too! What about this link to make your own: http://www.theledlight.com/led-assemblies.html

The arrays are 12V, so once you fashion a pod to put them in, the wiring shouldn't be that hard. They're pretty pricey though.

Older cars with smaller/dimmer taillights are hard to see in the fog or rain! Note that these rear fog lights are supposed to be mounted below the bumper so that you're not blinding the drivers behind you. Normally, there is only a single light mounted to the left of centerline, when you're looking at the rear of the car.

gm

<FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by gadgetman on 12-12-2000 at 04:54 PM</font>

Many busses have the new LED tailights, checking a sufficiently large parts store my help. Or give a call to the local mass transit maitenance shop.

DaveH

Gadgetman,

I've not seen ANY rear-mount fog lights that conform to the standards you mention. As they come from the factory at Volvo, they're part and parcel of the taillight assembly (for those models so equipped), which is definitely above the bumper, and there are two of them, in line symmetry about the vertical axis of the vehicle (just like the other taillights).

Where did you find these specifications?

Actually, now that you mention the Volvos, I remember seeing articles in European Car and the Roundel about rear foglights in European models of cars. They did integrate the rear foglight into the rear light clusters and were not under the bumper as I had previously mentioned. I had only seen single rear foglights, even on newer models of cars. Havinng not actually seen Volvo's rear foglight(s?), I don't know if there are tow lights or if there is one light and a dummy lens for symmetry. My reference to the below-the-bumper mount was for older (pre '70) cars since I would be more interested in mounting a foglight on the earlier models. Sorry for the confusion.

Also, to correct the rest of my seemingly erronious post, the LED arrays that I had linked are white, not red, though I hadn't investigated further by calling the manufacturer about red LED arrays.

I'll just shut up now.

gm

check out these two web sites:

Whelen (emergency vehicle lights, etc) but do have a line of LED lights now:
www.whelen.com

Or better yet:
http://www.truck-lite.com/tl/index.html

These guys have a great selection of standard vehicle lighting in LED and wire-burners, even some white LED back-up lights. Wish I had money to spend there...

Went to both sites. *sigh* More than a little bit too pricey. I'll have to go to the monthly Saturday Sale at Gall's (http://www.galls.com) to see what I can find in the returns, overstocks, and closeout items. I got a great DashLaser two-pattern strobe light (yellow lens) there for $60, and an AC/DC Streamlight SL-20X for about $58 (yes, the one that retails for about $150).

Maybe I can find some good lights there.

A lot of trucks (semis, rigs) are using LEDs as marker lights now. The ones I've seen are only a single LED, though they are fairly bright. Perhaps one of the larger auto parts stores can find something at a decent price.
Galls, and other public safety equipment (police, fire, EMS) tend to have the more expensive, and too bright lights made for clearing traffic. If you get a complete kit from Galls, you'll also be paying for the power supply, and the controller for the flash feature. Maybe they can special order just the light head itself.

You should try led products from Signal Stat. They have a whole range of led marker lamps and round and oval lamps. They have one 4 inch round red led job that sells for about $20 at Napa. Hope this helps.

Nick