Schmoozer

I haven't seen much talk about this and didn't find much in a search. Maybe its common knowledge and I should know, but here goes.

Whats the difference between fog and driving lights?

Are they road legal? (I know anything over 55/60 isn't but I don't plan on getting anything over that)

Does it matter where they're mounted? I want to do three on the roof and two more on the bumper.

Can I piggy back new lights (http://www.quadratec.com/products/97035_00.htm) to my stock fog lights? (Not the just the switch, everything)

If not, what if I went to the JY and found 4 other stock fog lights (http://www.quadratec.com/products/55019_800.htm), could I piggy back those?

Just from looking at these:
http://www.jcwhitney.com/Driving-Lights/GP_2014546_N_111+10208+600008949_10108.jcw
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/ItemBrowse/c-10108/s-10101/p-100000388368/mediaCode-ZX/appId-100000388368/Pr-p_CATENTRY_ID:100000388368
http://www.jcwhitney.com/DELTA-FLEX-SERIES-XENON-FOG-LIGHT-KIT/GP_2014561_N_111+10208+600009418_10108.jcw
http://www.quadratec.com/products/97016_60.htm
It seems like the piggy backing is out but I figured the stupider the question the simpler the answer.

Thanks guys.

Metmknice

You could splice into the circuit, but the stock wiring is not that great. I would run them on a different switch/wires. As most places you are only supposed to have no more than 4 (I think) lights on at a time on the road. Off-road is different. But YMMV

Firestorm500

Fog lights have a rectangular beam that has a sharp top cutoff. You want to mount these low to keep glare and bounceback down in fog. The bean undercuts the fog.

Driving lights have a narrower, longer range beam for medium distance driving.

I would not put more than 2 lights on the same circuit. And protect them with a in-line fuse. A relay would be good for some of the higher-powered lights.

prerunner1982

Light laws may vary by state. Some require lights mounted above the hood to have covers on them. So do not allow more than 4 on at a time, etc. I wouldnt run them in the city at all, but living in the country the sheriffs dont really bother you with it. They know that there are large game (an sometimes livestock) in the road.

One time I was coming up to an intersection and the on coming car had thier brights on. I flashed my brights, which also triggered my 4 offroad lights. The other car turned thier high beams off, as did I. The car turned..... and it was a local cop. He didn't stop me though..I just knew I was busted for improper equipement or something.

Schmoozer

Yeah I've been trying to find something official but it seems to vary widely from state. In TX apparently your only allowed 4 lights on at any given time but a rack of 4 lights only counts as 2. Some states say no lights above 42" others just require covers. I'm just tired of people "threading the needle" and people that change lanes that change my following distance from at least 3 car lengths to less than a foot. I figured some roof lights aimed 15' or so in front of my Jeep might deter these people.

88fadedglory

Unless you could generate enough heat to blister (3rd degree burns) their necks, they won't notice.

Best bet: quick check your mirrors and slow down till you have the space back again. Oh, and keep your brakes in top shape, too.

Idiots like those are everywhere and you often wonder if you could find a driver's license on sale at Wal-Mart like they obviously did.

Best fog/driving lights I ever had were a pair of 12V aircraft landing lights ... 100,000 candlepower each (a 20 amp current load, btw or 250 watts). I had them mounted under the bumper on a 72 Dodge Charger (about 12" off the ground) and they could reach over a mile _UNDER_ a Hoosier fog (slightly less dense than a London fog).

Check this site out for lighting questions. Dan's a good guy at helping with lighting probs.

http://www.danielsternlighting.com/

Budd

jeepforlife

hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thats awesome!!!! i bet you felt like an a$$
i run my bumper lights in the city, cuz they are pointed fairly low and in the center of the lane. they dont cause much atttention. my roof lights... well.... they are pointed off to the sides of jeep, bright as h3ll so they dont get turned on in the city and i turn them off when cars are coming my way

housew

i found the laws on lights for maine in title29-A after about an hour of searching. this was about a month ago but from what I can remember.

1. cant be used on road if mounted above the center of headlights.
2. center of beam must be 2' or lower in respect to the road surface 30' in front of veichle.
3. can only be amber or white
4. can only have 2 fog or 2 driving lights at a time on the road.

no mention to wattage, but they did say that you can get in trouble of it being to intense. intense is defined by what the cheif of state police thinks is intense.

If your in maine or anyone wants to read it I can find it again.

Phil99

I got a warning from the 5-O for having my hella 500's on while driving in the city. They're mounted up top my roof. The cop never said anything about light covers alls he said was not to have them on. I suggest dont use yours in the city

Schmoozer

Well thanks guys. It seems like the consensus is that they need to be on their own circuit if only to have the ability to turn them off. I read somewhere that at 25' the hot spots need to be 1.5" below the hot spots of the head lights so I think that's how I'll aim them, maybe a little lower to be conservative. I don't plan on leaving them on with my lights but I don't think I'll be scared to use them in the city, just not in heavy traffic or anything. It's a little more expensive than I would like but I think I'll be ordering these: http://www.quadratec.com/products/97016_60.htm
in the next couple of days, and what the heck, these too: http://www.quadratec.com/products/97017_600.htm

Thanks again for all the input!

prerunner1982

Not really... after all he was the one driving with his brights on.. not me.