Rigid SR-Q Alternatives

Hello,

This is my first post, but I've used the forum on multiple occasions for help purchasing flashlights. Based on the wealth of knowledge, I was hoping to get some insight on my inquiry.
I purchased an all steel rear bumper for my 2017 Tacoma and it came with cut outs for flush mount Rigid SR-Q lights to serve as auxiliary backup lights. I don't feel that I need more reverse lighting, so I was thinking of using their red diffused lenses (Rigid Part# 90164) and wiring them to only come on in hi mode when I activate my fog lamps, thereby serving as rear facing fog lamps that are common in Europe. I live in an area that gets pretty bad fog in the mornings during certain times of the year. I have also already verified that this is perfectly legal in the state of California.
My issue is that $300 seems like a hefty price to pay for 2 lights with 4 led's each in them. I was curious if anyone knew of a suitable alternative for these expensive lights. I would prefer to use the cutouts that are already on the bumper. The cutouts are a rectangular shape with a centered "ear" at either side. They are 2" tall, and 5 1/4" wide. The center of the "ears" is 5 3/4" wide.
I realize that this cutout was specifically made to fit this specific light, but if there are any alternatives that someone could enlighten me with, I would be very grateful!
Thank for any help!

Legendaryacura88 said:

I purchased an all steel rear bumper for my 2017 Tacoma and it came with cut outs for flush mount Rigid SR-Q lights to serve as auxiliary backup lights. I don't feel that I need more reverse lighting, so I was thinking of using their red diffused lenses (Rigid Part# 90164) and wiring them to only come on in hi mode when I activate my fog lamps, thereby serving as rear facing fog lamps that are common in Europe. I live in an area that gets pretty bad fog in the mornings during certain times of the year. I have also already verified that this is perfectly legal in the state of California.

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You need to use real rear fog lamps as rear fog lamps. You can't just put red lenses over white lamps and call it good, safe, or legal. Yes, in California rear fog lamps are legal, but your plan does not involve rear fog lamps.

Also, wiring them to come on automatically with front fog lamps is not useful and may lead to situations where they are on unknowingly.

Welcome to this corner of the board.

Your idea has a couple of basic problems:

1. Having rear fogs come on with the front fogs is wrong. They need to have their own switching setup, very preferably something more thoughtful than just an on-off switch that works whenever you feel like it. Ideally you set it up with a latch-type relay so that when you switch off the ignition or the parking lights, the rear fogs switch off and stay off til they're deliberately activated again. You're talking about lights that will directly throw a whole lot of glare in the following driver's eyes, and no matter how sure you are that you would never forget and leave them on in traffic/in clear weather...yeah, you will. Sooner or later. We're all human.

2. Rear fog lamps are not just "rear facing fog lamps that are common in Europe". The rear fog lamp function is not at all the same as the front fog lamp function, even if we ignore the color difference. Read more info here A rear fog lamp is a rear fog lamp. A red light that isn't specifically engineered, built, and certified/approved as a rear fog lamp...is not a rear fog lamp. You can't just "decide" a random red light into a rear fog lamp; that's not how it works. The light distribution of a rear fog lamp is not the same as the light distribution of any other lighting function. And furthermore, a red lens over 6000K white LEDs is also not the right way to make red light with LEDs.


Don't know what statutes you read to determine that your idea is "perfectly legal in California", but no, it isn't -- not as described. You don't have to abandon the idea or make major changes to use it, you just have to use real rear fog lamps and set up the switch/control circuit appropriately. The good news is that you can get good LED rear fog lamps for a lot less money than those Rigid SR-Qs. For example, these good US-made units (variety of compatible brackets here).

Alaric Darconville said:

You need to use real rear fog lamps as rear fog lamps. You can't just put red lenses over white lamps and call it good, safe, or legal. Yes, in California rear fog lamps are legal, but your plan does not involve rear fog lamps.

Also, wiring them to come on automatically with front fog lamps is not useful and may lead to situations where they are on unknowingly.

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Being in the US I am not well versed in rear facing fogs, but liked the idea of adding them. It was my understanding that they are red lights that illuminate as bright as the brake light, but they're on full brightness whenever activated.
The Rigid lights I was looking at are marketed as a tail/brake light option, which is why I was hoping to make them work in the provided cut out in the bumper.
I am definitely open to any suggestions of adding a different type of light to the provided cutout.

As to your second point, I'm not understanding how this would be an issue. My factory fog lights are activated by a switch on the stalk and, when turned on, a light illuminates in the cluster to indicate the fog lights are on. If I tap into this circuit, how could they inadvertently turn on without my knowledge?

Again, not trying to be confrontational, just looking for help in completing this project.

-Virgil- said:

2. Rear fog lamps are not just "rear facing fog lamps that are common in Europe". The rear fog lamp function is not at all the same as the front fog lamp function, even if we ignore the color difference. Read more info here A rear fog lamp is a rear fog lamp. A red light that isn't specifically engineered, built, and certified/approved as a rear fog lamp...is not a rear fog lamp. You can't just "decide" a random red light into a rear fog lamp; that's not how it works. The light distribution of a rear fog lamp is not the same as the light distribution of any other lighting function. And furthermore, a red lens over 6000K white LEDs is also not the right way to make red light with LEDs.

Don't know what statutes you read to determine that your idea is "perfectly legal in California", but no, it isn't -- not as described. You don't have to abandon the idea or make major changes to use it, you just have to use real rear fog lamps and set up the switch/control circuit appropriately. The good news is that you can get good LED rear fog lamps for a lot less money than those Rigid SR-Qs. For example, these good US-made units (variety of compatible brackets here).

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Thank you for this information! I wasn't trying to imply that I could throw ANY light to comply with the statutes I found, just that rear facing fogs are legal in California. I appreciate the link you provided, but that assemble is a bit large to fit into the cutouts provided on the bumper, and I'm not entirely sure how it actually mounts. That being said, what do you think of using this: https://catalog.hella.com/catalog/product/view/id/33352/s/2NE 003 734-091/
I've heard good things about Hella and I believe the dimensions will fit the cutouts perfectly.

Also, I apologize for the delayed responses. As of this post I should have cleared my mandatory moderator review time.

That linked Hella unit would be fine -- it's an actual rear fog lamp.

The Rigid lights I was looking at are marketed as a tail/brake light option

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I'm sure they are, but there's sometimes a large difference between marketing and the truth. This is one of those times. Also, while rear fog lamps are brighter than standard tail lights, and can look roughly about the same brightness as brake lights, these two bright red light functions (brake light, rear fog light) have different intensity distributions -- they aren't the same.

As for the switching: still no. The rear fog switching must be separate from the front fog switching, for the same reason that the brake light switching is separate from the headlamp switching -- different lights for different uses. Directly from the technical regulations: "Front fog lamp means a lamp used to improve the illumination of the road ahead of the vehicle in case of fog or any similar condition of reduced visibility. Rear fog lamp means a lamp used to make the vehicle more easily visible from the rear in dense fog." Two different tasks, seeing vs. being seen. There are plenty of situations when you might legitimately use the front fogs without the rear fogs, and vice versa. Note that front fogs are not much use in improving your safety; rear fogs are much more effective at keeping you out of crashes -- so sure, you could use your existing front fog switch if you disable the front fogs by removing their bulbs or unplugging them!

To read up on how rear fog lamps are properly hooked up and switched, see UN Regulation 48, section 6.11.7 and 6.11.8 (on p. 56-7 of the linked reg). "Main beams" means high beams, "dipped beams" means low beams, "position lights" means parking/tail lights, and "circuit-closed telltale" means there has to be an indicator light visible to the driver as normally seated when the rear fogs are switched on. As you can see from 6.11.7.2 and 6.11.7.4, your idea to just add them into the front fog circuit is a no-go.