I'm odd, so it fits.

 

Actually, "fog" lights is somewhat of a misnomer. True auxiliary lights come in several beam patterns. A "fog" pattern beam refers to a light with a very narrow (vertically) beam with a fairly wide (generally about 135 degree) horizontal spread. The theory is that if you mount a light with this pattern low enough on a vehicle, the light will light up the road a short way in front and well out to the sides of the vehicle without causing the driver to get blinded by light reflecting back off of the fog.

There are also "driving" beams with a narrower beam pattern designed to illuminate further down the road and less out to the sides. There's even "pencil" beams which are exactly what the name implies. All of these beam patterns are designed to solve specific problems and rally cars (or off-road racing vehicles) use a combination of them for maximum effectiveness.

So what the heck comes on a Ford truck? Well, some of the "fog" lamps are actually a fog pattern. The '04-'05 rectangular fog lights are actually quite decent - as were the '97-'98 units. Some of the newer round lights are pretty much useless and don't even have a true fog beam pattern.

Why do people use them when there's no fog? Generally speaking, a well designed and properly aimed fog beam will put additional light on the ground allowing better visibility for the driver - without blinding oncoming drivers. Driving beams on the other hand really tend to **** people off. How's that?

 

Not intending to jack the thread, but my question hinges on this ^^^

Any one have direct experiance with the '97-'98 fogs? If they ARE better, can they be retrofitted to a '99-'03? I hate the output on mine and have been hesitant to put in brighter bulbs cuz of the melting issues.

Any info would be appreciated as I live in NW MT and we get FOG

 

Since I've owned a '97, '99, '02, '05 and shortly will take delivery of a 2010, I think I can answer your questions. First, no, you cannot retrofit the '97-'98 fog lights (easily) to a '99-'03 truck. You can, but you need to change a heck of a lot more than just the valance and fog lights.

The good news is that I ran higher wattage (55 watt) bulbs in my '99 and '02 trucks with no problems. (Likewise in my '05.) So if you want to boost the output of those lights, you can do it relatively inexpensively. The beam pattern isn't as good as the older trucks, but it's not bad.

Need even more light? I've always added a set of driving lights behind the grill to my trucks. You can see how I did it on my latest truck in my sig.

Hope that helps.

 

What 55 watt bulb did you use?

 

If memory serves me correctly, I used 9005 Silverstars at the time. I'm currently running 9005 Hella's in my 2005.

 

Mine are on because I'm Lazy. I have it set to auto on with fog lights and forget about it. I dont think I have touched my headlight switch in 2 years!

 

Might as well jump into this. I don't have my fog lights on when I'm driving in town, but I found they really improve the side-to-side visibility on the highway when I'm driving at night and have to use the low beams due to oncoming traffic. And yep, I worry about critters jumping out in front of me in those circumstances, so I appreciate the slight improvement in early warning.

And, I've installed true DRLs, because I want the oncoming clowns to see me during the day when I'm on two-lane highways.

- Jack

 

I put 6k HIDs in my fogs and use them primarily when driving down dark, country, back roads. I rarely ever use them in town anymore.

- NCSU

 

Probably it would be. The top down, and the windows up

But some people do not aim thier fogs down, and some of them are brighter than hi beam. Kind of blinding on country roads.

I run my fogs, but they are aimed correctly. I do it because I want to.

 

Technically, a properly designed and aimed fog beam shouldn’t blind oncoming motorists. Sometimes they can though and the type of bulb has a lot to do with it. If you look closely at the factory fog light bulbs, you’ll see that the end of the bulb is painted with a sort of “cap” This prevents stray (unfocused) light from getting out as glare. Many of the aftermarket or higher wattage bulbs do not have this cap. In fact, the 9005 bulbs that many of us use don’t have it because they’re actually a high beam bulb for a 4 headlamp system. If you don’t go crazy on wattage though, this isn’t a problem.

That brings me to HIDs. Most of the HID retrofit kits don’t have a “cap” feature either – and they’re even brighter than the higher wattage halogen bulbs. This can lead to a ton of glare. True, from the driver seat of the vehicle with HIDs this can lead to lots of light on the ground, but for oncoming drivers it can be a real issue. That’s generally why you’ll see aftermarket HID equipped vehicles ticking more people off than OEM HID equipped vehicles. On the OEM stuff, the source of illumination, the lens and the reflector were designed to work in unison as a system. By the way, glare – by its very definition – is fairly hard to reduce through re-aiming.

 

Opposite lol ? No, now that's strange

 

they put out better light output they shine down low and at a wider angle than just the headlights my truck does not have fogs but my brothers and dads F150's both do and the visibility up close is a lot better and wider light beam up close

 

umm to see anything that you might not see with just your regular lights, for instance a kid running out into the street....you never know and id rather have that little bit extra light to help

 

My truck don't have fog lights so I never run around with them on. But every time I start my truck up I turn the headlights on. Whether it's sunny out or rainin. It just helps other people see you.

Now I have driven other vehicles with fog lights and it does make a difference at night. It actually makes it alot easier to see.