Compliant 4" pod reverse light? other reverse options.

Hi, First post time in a while.

I have got a 2018 Nissan NP300, what some would probably know as a 2020 frontier.
I have added rear foglights to it by replacing the taillights, removing the factory reverse lights.

This has left me with only two 4" surface mount pod lights for reverse, but they are two glaring for use as an unswitched reverse light.
My first thought was to just get the ECE approved fog version of the lights and adjust them down but my local inspector said that that would be a bad idea and I should instead use my amber rear turns as reverse as they are legal under Western Australian regulations and leave the Aux lights on the switch.

Any thoughts or advice on where to get a combiner, I cant just use diodes as I still need in phase flashing. Maybe legal rear reverse pods?

I should note that the pod mount points are towards the centre next to the number plate.

What to do depends on your intent. If the intent is to have legal reversing lamps with as little muss and fuss as possible, then yeah, just add that function to the existing rear turn signals, which is allowed where you live. There is a product available on the American market called a "trailer lighting converter", which adapts trailers that have only one red stop/turn lamp on each side to work with vehicles that have separate stop and turn signal lights. These converters are unknown elsewhere, because red combination stop/turn lights are not legal elsewhere. Use a good quality converter, like this one, and hook it up as follows: connect the vehicle's reverse light wire to the converter's "BRAKE" input wire. Don't connect the converter's "TAIL" input and output wires to anything. Connect the converter's left and right turn signal input wires to the vehicle's left and right rear turn signal wires. Connect the converter's left and right output wires to the rear turn signal lamps. Connect the converter's ground wires to a good ground. This will cause the rear turn signals to operate exactly like a vehicle factory-equipped with combination turn/reverse lamps.

However, while the rear turn signals make legal reversing lamps, they won't help you see very much back there. If you want a lot of light while reversing, you'd want to put some reversing lamps on the vehicle. The inspector is correct that fog lamps, no matter how they're aimed, are not reversing lamps. There are plenty of add-on reversing lamps, but it sounds like you already have aux lamps you can switch on when you need a bunch of light back there.

-Virgil- said:

However, while the rear turn signals make legal reversing lamps, they won't help you see very much back there.

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And, it seems you lose a turn signal function when backing up out of a parking space. When it's angle parking, where it's somewhat obvious that you'll be backing out the same way you came in, when it's straight parking, it's harder for people to determine which direction you'll be moving in. It also seems like you'll be at a loss to see when you have your hazard lamps on and are reversing, if the flasher overrides the steady-on of the reverse function, or you'll lose your hazard function when backing-- either scenario is not extremely good.

I'd add some (legal!) reversing lamps myself.

Alaric Darconville said:

And, it seems you lose a turn signal function when backing up out of a parking space.

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No, you don't. The Australian combination rear turn/reverse lamp system works the same as the American combination rear turn/stop lamp system: put it in Reverse, both rear turn signals light up. Start the left turn signal with the car in Reverse and the left rear turn signal flashes while the right rear turn signal stays steady-burning until you shift out of reverse.

seems like you'll be at a loss to see when you have your hazard lamps on and are reversing

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Not a very common situation, and not really much of a degradation to the message: Hey, look out, this vehicle presents some kind of a hazard.

-Virgil- said:

No, you don't. The Australian combination rear turn/reverse lamp system works the same as the American combination rear turn/stop lamp system: put it in Reverse, both rear turn signals light up...

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Derp!

Of course the module you describe would do it where the flasher preëmpted the steady-on signal. I should have thought about that before I opened a reply window!

Still, the flashing 'reverse' lamp minimizes your ability to see even more, particularly when you consider you might be wanting to see most in that direction you're turning.