Adding a rear fog light

I have the tail-as-turn modules, leaving my stock turn signal locations totally unused. There's the option to utilize them as extra reverse lights, but I have no need for it, and I don't want to drop all that coin on LED reverse lights because of that. I was thinking of buying a single red LED bulb and putting it on one of the sides, and wiring it up completely independent to become a rear fog light. For those that live in country's with these standard, are they actually useful? I'm just pondering with the idea and wanted to hear what you guys have to say.

I brought one back from England years ago and mounted it on my old Chevy commuter car. Never got rear-ended. They do make your car more visible in fog and rain. I'm not sure Jaguar still puts these lights on US-bound cars but you would frequently see them in use during those conditions.

I have the tail-as-turn modules, leaving my stock turn signal locations totally unused. There's the option to utilize them as extra reverse lights, but I have no need for it, and I don't want to drop all that coin on LED reverse lights because of that. I was thinking of buying a single red LED bulb and putting it on one of the sides, and wiring it up completely independent to become a rear fog light. For those that live in country's with these standard, are they actually useful? I'm just pondering with the idea and wanted to hear what you guys have to say.

I was actually thinking the same thing of getting the brightest possible red led to put in the turn location.

I was thinking getting one of these and make a bracket for it.

https://www.amazon.com/iJDMTOY-2011-up-Impreza-Crosstrek-Mounting/dp/B01GSWXDPC/ref=pd_sbs_263_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01GSWXDPC&pd_rd_r=BB6YE28NC963WDY5269Y&pd_rd_w=YjMEd&pd_rd_wg=QCYkK&psc=1&refRID=BB6YE28NC963WDY5269Y

I've seen them in action when driving in Europe. They are very useful in some conditions, but can be really annoying if not used correctly.

 

They are intended for really poor visibility conditions, like pea-soup fog. If used when visibility is better, they can be blinding to following traffic.

 

Ideally, you would have only one, mounted on the driver's side. It should be slightly less bright than your brake lights. There should be a dedicated switch so it does not automatically come on with the front fog lights. If you have two rear fog lights, people may confuse it with your brake lights.

I've seen them in action when driving in Europe. They are very useful in some conditions, but can be really annoying if not used correctly.

 

They are intended for really poor visibility conditions, like pea-soup fog. If used when visibility is better, they can be blinding to following traffic.

 

Ideally, you would have only one, mounted on the driver's side. It should be slightly less bright than your brake lights. There should be a dedicated switch so it does not automatically come on with the front fog lights. If you have two rear fog lights, people may confuse it with your brake lights.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Only one on the drivers side, and I'd just have it wired directly to the battery for complete independence. Only thing I have yet to look into is if I can find a plug that the bulb fits into, so I don't have to hack into the factory harness.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Only one on the drivers side, and I'd just have it wired directly to the battery for complete independence. Only thing I have yet to look into is if I can find a plug that the bulb fits into, so I don't have to hack into the factory harness.

Maybe you could take power from the front fog light circuit, but wire in a normally-open relay. Then have a momentary contact switch somewhere on the lower dash that engages the relay. The effect would be the rear fog would stay off unless you turned on the front fogs and hit the momentary contact switch. When the ignition or front lights were switched off, everything would reset to the default "off" state. Just a thought.

Maybe you could take power from the front fog light circuit, but wire in a normally-open relay. Then have a momentary contact switch somewhere on the lower dash that engages the relay. The effect would be the rear fog would stay off unless you turned on the front fogs and hit the momentary contact switch. When the ignition or front lights were switched off, everything would reset to the default "off" state. Just a thought.

Maybe, but that's a lot of extra effort. Now that I think about it, an add a circuit on a switched power source would be great, since the LED draws so little power. Then it'll turn off with the car if need be. It'd get so little use anyways, but this is more for a fun project, and to make it a little more unique.

Maybe, but that's a lot of extra effort. Now that I think about it, an add a circuit on a switched power source would be great, since the LED draws so little power. Then it'll turn off with the car if need be. It'd get so little use anyways, but this is more for a fun project, and to make it a little more unique.

That would be simpler. Try to use a fairly bright light source (without being obnoxious, of course ). The light needs to be brighter than you might think to punch through thick fog, or it won't help much.

All the cars in our current fleet have rear fog lights and they are super useful on hazy PNW commutes.

 

Of course, most Americans have no idea what they are and think that your brake lights are on.

 

Legacy uses a hybrid set up and just by adding a bright LED into a special housing to back up lights, I am not sure if you can achieve the same results . Rear Fog Lights have different reflectors and different lens area.

 

Here is what JDM rear fog light looks like. They are inbedded with back up lights on what is passenger side for US.

 

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e391/tgunal/Subaru%202015/20141114_144700_zpshyebtlmx.jpg

I added one to my fifth gen. Easy wiring

I added one to my fifth gen. Easy wiring

 

Really? What did you do?

 

Sounds like you just added a generic rear foglight which has nothing to do with the OEM set up.

 

Please do share.

Really? What did you do?

 

Sounds like you just added a generic rear foglight which has nothing to do with the OEM set up.

 

Please do share.

 

I used the drivers side reverse housing...swapped bulb for a red led and wired to a switch in the cabin. Easy wiring and nothing looks different. I only have one reverse light now but that's a non issue

Pic

Before I learned about these, I thought for the longest time that all older Mercedes had horrible tail light wiring, because it looked like their drivers side brake lights were always on.

 

As others have said, it seems to be more of an annoyance than a benefit unless used in extremely thick fog. If you're goal is to avoid collisions, you can't beat a strobing third brake light.

I'm already there with the third brake light, as I just installed it a few days ago. There's a few instances a year where it rains so damn hard, it's very hard to see cars in front of you until they hit the brakes. These are the instances where I would use a rear fog light.

I used the drivers side reverse housing...swapped bulb for a red led and wired to a switch in the cabin. Easy wiring and nothing looks different. I only have one reverse light now but that's a non issue

 

Considering that the OEM reverse light is pretty weak it's kind of true - dark and darker.

Since the reverse reflector bowl is removable,I wonder if maybe can replace it with a fog light reflector or maybe a Mini H1 projector bowl?