fog lights behind grill

[94xlt4.0]

has anyone mounted fog or offroad lights behind the grill in a 93-97 ranger? or even the newer ones for that matter? im just looking for ways to mount them up in mine

 

[96Greenster]

Ive seen them on a 96 but with billet grille, They look badass!!! But if you have a regular grille I dont think youll get much light. But hey, who am I. If you do mount them let me know the result! Laters.

 

[94xlt4.0]

yeah i do have a billet grill and i always liked the look on the f150s so im just trying to find ways to do it

 

[AllanD]

Mounting fooglights behind the grill converts them from "tool" to a decor/style item

The effectiveness of Foglights is in direct proportion to how low you can
manage to mount them

Everything on my truck is about function, my truck is a "Tool"
Anyone who builds their truck for "style" is IMO... well you
probably don't want to know...

I often challenge people to look over my truck and find the one single
concession to "style" on the entire truck

It's not the pushbar or the 1/2acre of aluminum diamond plate on the truck,
it's not the seats, interior or anything else, it's all about the function...
everything I've done is about function

Wanna know what it is? a 4.0 badge from a Jeep Cherokee I mounted to
the top left of the tailgate opposite the factory "Electronic fuel Injection" badge.

That all being said I can see the attraction to mounting
them "out of harm's way"...

Mounting them under the bumper is best but they are
very vulnerable there.
I've given serious thought to mounting them on a rotating shaft
so I can rotate them into a storage position...

AD

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Behind the late 90's - early 00's honeycomb grille they are still very functional.

I think lights mounted behind any other style of grille would be a waste though... you couldn't even see them that well.

 

[AllanD]

If you believe that you don't really understand what foglamps are supposed
to do or HOW they are supposed to do it....

Wide flat beam with a complete cutoff.

they are supposed to light the road BELOW the level of the
suspended water droplets this limits how much water you are
illuminating and thereby reduce the ammount of glare you
reflect back at yourself.

The idea is that the lamps have a wide lateral pattern,
but are sharply cutoff above a line.
the idea is that if they are mounted LOW they illuminate the road
without illuminating the water droplets, snowflakes or airborn dust
that you are trying to see through.

Mounted high they just add more light to the low beams that already aren't doing the job because of their POSITION and make the situation worse.

Ever been blinded by a reflecterized sign?
Were you tempted to turn your high-beams on when that happened?
unless you say yes, you lack a logical explanation for why you want
to add more light to the low beams.

foglamps are in essence an "extra low beam" mounting them high
is like mounting a sump pump in your attic or a radio antenna in
your basement.

I had a conversation yesterday with someone who aimed their DRIVING
lights so they shined on the road and so "wouldn't blind oncomming drivers"
Proving only that they were clueless about what driving lights are...
"Extra High" Beams.

this is WHY most states require that foglights switch off when the high beams are switched on and that driving lights ONLY function with the high beams.

People who disagree and wire their lights so that they function otherwise
only prove their own ignorance.



aiming foglamps?

If I put the swimsuit model of your choice absolutely naked 100feet
ahead of your truck and you had properly aimed foglamps on your truck
you should remain absolutely "in the dark" about how she shaved her
bikini area because those lights shouldn't illuminate anything higher
than her knees.

Really good driving lights? you should be able to tell the difference
by light penetration what kind of breast implants she has...

Do you understand now?

AD

 

[Jason]

Some people like style. Get over it. I understand that you like your truck one way but why the 10 paragraph diatribe answering a question that no one asked?

I would just mount them on bushings with longer bolts. But don't expect them to light up much.

 

[AllanD]

Because seeing people in oncomming traffic with their foglamps
(without there being any fog) on so they can show everyone
that they HAVE foglamps looks like ass.

The only people you impress by doing that stuff is other people
with the same thoughtless disregard for function.

the rest of us are left with a profoundly negative impression of
people who do that...

Have it your way.

AD

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The only fogs I have been around are the ones put on from the factory in the airdam on my F-150. Never been in fog yet that I really needed them, but I do run them often at night because they light up the shoulder better on the highway. Had I had them on one night, I might not have picked up and chucked a good sized whitetail doe across the other lane at car windshield height. I had just met another car so I had the dim lights on (so the fogs would have been on as well if I had them turned on) and it went to run in front of me, probably would have plowed into my front driverside wheel well but it turned at the last minute to run with me. I saw a flash of something, and knowing they don't normally hunt alone and there may be more up ahead I put on the skidders. As I slow down it gets into my headlight range so I can see what I am up against... and then it cuts me off. Shoulder and head hit the bumper, it spun around and the butt caught the trailing edge of my front wheel well and the whole works went spinning past the bottom of my window. I don't have them on for looks, I have them on to not only protect me and my truck but others on the road as well.

However, I also have driving lights mounted on both trucks, pretty much the same lights on both rigs (Hella 500's/500FF's) They shine about three times farther than the highbeams on my F-150 and make the sealed beam headlights on my Ranger look like flashlights.

I only run them on gravel roads and late at night on the highway, if I see any sign of a vehicle they are shut off right away, I don't wish their power on anyone but trouble seeking deer.

 

[94xlt4.0]

If you believe that you don't really understand what foglamps are supposed
to do or HOW they are supposed to do it....

Wide flat beam with a complete cutoff.

they are supposed to light the road BELOW the level of the
suspended water droplets this limits how much water you are
illuminating and thereby reduce the ammount of glare you
reflect back at yourself.

The idea is that the lamps have a wide lateral pattern,
but are sharply cutoff above a line.
the idea is that if they are mounted LOW they illuminate the road
without illuminating the water droplets, snowflakes or airborn dust
that you are trying to see through.

Mounted high they just add more light to the low beams that already aren't doing the job because of their POSITION and make the situation worse.

Ever been blinded by a reflecterized sign?
Were you tempted to turn your high-beams on when that happened?
unless you say yes, you lack a logical explanation for why you want
to add more light to the low beams.

foglamps are in essence an "extra low beam" mounting them high
is like mounting a sump pump in your attic or a radio antenna in
your basement.

I had a conversation yesterday with someone who aimed their DRIVING
lights so they shined on the road and so "wouldn't blind oncomming drivers"
Proving only that they were clueless about what driving lights are...
"Extra High" Beams.

this is WHY most states require that foglights switch off when the high beams are switched on and that driving lights ONLY function with the high beams.

People who disagree and wire their lights so that they function otherwise
only prove their own ignorance.



aiming foglamps?

If I put the swimsuit model of your choice absolutely naked 100feet
ahead of your truck and you had properly aimed foglamps on your truck
you should remain absolutely "in the dark" about how she shaved her
bikini area because those lights shouldn't illuminate anything higher
than her knees.

Really good driving lights? you should be able to tell the difference
by light penetration what kind of breast implants she has...

Do you understand now?

AD

thanks for the lecture but not anywhere in that post did you answer my question or provide any useful information pertaining to this thread. have you even seen the light output of lights behind a grill? its not as bad as you may think. the honeycomb grills allow the most light through but the billet grills dont restrict too much either. and with them right behind the grill who's saying they cant be aimed right?

 

[AllanD]

A subway train can't fly (or at any rate shouldn't

Foglights work best when the beam is aimed so it's LEVEL to any
practically measured distance.
IF they are mounted high they by definition are being shined high,
OR they are being aimed downwards to prevent glare either of
which reduced their effectiveness.

I'm trying to tell you that the lower you mount them the better they work.

Here in the US the laws reflect when they must operate
(off with the high beams in most states)
In europe there are laws that specify WHERE they are mounted (height etc)

Those laws aren't exercises in arbitrary authoritarianism they are based
on functional reality.

You can still mount them any way you want to.
I'm advising you that if you mount them low they work MUCH better.

but again have it your own way.

I can tell you the truth, if you refuse to believe it you are on your own.

I've done my job.

You've given me the finger.

have a nice life.

Me? I just like my lights to LIGHT THINGS rather than simply "look good".

AD

 

[Jason]

You've given me the finger.

have a nice life.

AD

Since you are a fan of correctness, he gave you two fingers.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

has anyone mounted fog or offroad lights behind the grill in a 93-97 ranger? or even the newer ones for that matter? im just looking for ways to mount them up in mine

I think what Allan is getting at is for best results mount fog lights low, and since he dosen't touch on offroad lights I will say mounted at grille height (although in front of the grille) works great in my little world, they are high enough to shine over most vegetation that I can go over but not so high they get caught in my garage door. Do keep them back from the grille, they do put off some heat, but not so far back you block the radiator.

 

[AllanD]

If you want lights to mount behind the grille you want DRIVING lights,
not "fog" lights.

Foglights with their wide beam pattern are NOT "Driving" lights which is
what you really want for "offroad lights" (If you use the wrong terms
you create misunderstanding)

Again mounting "Fogs" at grill height makes little sense as all they'll do is
throw more light somewhere the headlights aready are lighting up.
That's why offroad racers mount their driving lights HIGH they don't
normally use "fog" lights" and if they do mount fogs they mount them low
take the chance they'll get "wiped off"...

Multiple light sources at different positions improve the lighting effect...

simply adding more watts or lumens downrange doesn't always
do what you want it to do.

there's an effect I haven't gotten onto yet Parallax...

for making the parallax not only visible but obvious I personally recommend
YELLOW fogs because they work better, but if you have yellow fogs mounted
as low as practical, and the headlight low beams on everything bigger
than a pea shows as a yellow dot with a white tail... Parallax.

you can see the texture of everything in front of you to a startling degree...
It's a really neat effect... that you'll NEVER see if the fogs are mounted "high"

It happens because the yellow light reflects off the front of anything that
sticks up and the white headlights shining in from another angle lights
the shadow that the yellow light can't get to...

High mounted (roof level or above) white lights increase the effect.

there's some really cool stuff you can do with the right lights
mounted in the right positions.

 

[daniel3507]

so if i understand this correctly, for best function, yellow lights down low and white up high? or do you just use the low beams and not need roof lights except for to see distance. i gotta find a picture of this.