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New Fog Lights – PIAA to Rigid
Monday I tackled a bus project that was way overdue. The bus came with PIAA fog lights when we bought it seven years ago. As far as I know they were original and the driver’s side lens was cracked when we bought it. It has had pieces missing from the lens for quite a while and the passenger side is cracked now too. LIke I said, it was way overdue.
The PIAA lights work well and you can turn them on as white or yellow. They not only work well but they are also very expensive. I could replace the lenses but they are pricey too and the lights would still be over 20 years old.
I wanted LEDs to supplement the old Ford headlights that are way too dim for me. Jeff Rowe’s son Josh had some smaller LED lights on his Jeep and gave me the link. I looked them over and they probably would have worked fine but I ultimately decided on the six inch Rigid spot/flood combo LED lights that Peter mentioned and ordered them from Amazon.
I ordered a U shaped cradle for the light so I could mount it correctly.
The PIAA lights mounted with one bolt. I could have mounted the new light with one hole but the old hole was too high anyway. I figured I might as well drill two holes for each lights so the cradle could be mounted more securely. The cradle has slotted holes so you have some movement side to side.
I moved the windshield wiper tank to keep from drilling into it and to give me a little more room to work.
Here is the finished product.
It is very dark here so I turned the lights on about 10:00 PM. This picture is just the headlights. You can see how dim the old Ford headlights are even when it is very dark.
This is just the new LED fog lights. Wow! What a difference but I may need to adjust then downward a little.
This is the head lights and the new LED fog lights.
I am very please so far.
Davy
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17 Replies
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Nice job Davy they are very bright it’s like a football field , that’s what I did on my other coach
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Wow! Certainly a big improvement …
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Nice job Davy…
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Thanks. Thanks to Jeff for helping know how to drill through the stainless with no problem at all.
After seeing how bright they are I am thinking I would like to wire them into my house 12 volt side so that I could turn them on and leave them on at night when I need lots of light. You talk about hunting in the deep woods in style.
I am thinking of situations when I have my tent up in less than stellar neighborhoods, which are great neighborhoods for tent revival. I have never had any one mess with the bus but the tent is a target sometimes at night. Men love darknes when their deeds are evil. No one has ever messed with the tent when it is bathed in plenty of light.
I suppose I could wire them to two separate sources, one house and one chassis, as long as I made sure only one source was on at a time. They presently work only with the key AND switch on. With the key off I could run them from the house side when needed at night. Am I thinking correctly?
Davy
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Davy, wire them with a DPDT (Double Pole, Double Throw) switch with a center off. (on-off-on) That way they would be off in the center position and would work on either the house or chassis, but never on both.
P.S. Love your License Plate -
Thank you. Thanks on the license plate too. I have a PC plate I need to get mounted too.
The current fog light switch is a rocker with on-off-on but I do not know if it can accept a feed from two different sources. I assume it currently has one feed and then two switch legs that were previously going to the yellow fog light and the white fog light in the PIAAs. I will check it out. Anybody know?
Davy
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Good job! Thanks for posting.
DKO wrote: “Thanks to Jeff for helping know how to drill through the stainless with no problem at all.“
Can you share the drill through stainless steel secret with us?
DKO also wrote: “The current fog light switch is a rocker with on-off-on but I do not know if it can except a feed from two different sources. I assume it currently has one feed and then two switch legs that were previously going to the yellow fog light and the white fog light in the PIAAs. I will check it out. Anybody know?”
You should be able to put Triple FoxTrot’s DPDT “on-off-on” switch before the existing “on-off-on” switch so that the existing switch can get power from two different sources. After thinking about it more, Triple FoxTrot’s DPDT switch could be a “on-on” switch because you can switch the lights off with your existing switch. Having two “on-off-on” switches will result in two ways to have the light “off”, which might end up being confusing. Make sure whatever you do, everything is properly fused.
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I have had a pair of those for a little over a year and they are almost too bright to use.
Lights up a white concrete highway for what seems like miles.
One driving spot on the drivers side and one difused for the right side to cover the shoulder and the ditches.
Love em
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Mr. Brown … any idea of what this looks like to oncoming traffic?
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Davy,
You can use the switch you have that provides power to the yellow side OR the white side, but you will change the wiring.
It should be wired now where the power (+) comes into the switch at the center terminal with the white bulbs on one outside terminal and the yellow bulbs on the other outside terminal. You can see that it allows the electricity to flow to one or the other, but not both.
You need to change the wiring so that the single wire to the LED lights is placed on the center terminal, the coach powered wire you removed from the center will now be placed on one of the outside terminals and then you will run a new(fused) wire from a hot (+) feed from the house to the other outside terminal.
This will allow power to come from one side or the other to the center (lights), but not from both sides. What you have is a single pole double throw switch SPDT. You had Single pole (power) Double Throw (white on one side yellow on the other side), but all you have done is flow the electricity the opposite direction. Single pole (Lights) Double Throw ( positive power from coach on one side and power from the house on the other side)
If this explanation is confusing, let me know as my email is open and I will draw you a diagram of the wiring, photograph it and attach it.
Hope this helps.
Fred
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I was expecting drilling throug stainless to be a chore even though it is very thin there and is hidden when the bumper is in position. It ended up that I fretted for nothing.
Jeff said, I’ve bought very good bits and standard bits from Home Depot and Lowes. Cheaper ones just dull quicker. Just don’t overheat bit. It is Fine to turn fast, just on and off with pressure on drill to control heat.
I bought a good bit from lumber yard and followed Jeff’s directions. The four holes were drilled in a snap. I could have probably used an old bit from my tool box but for a few dollars I did not have to worry.
I get what you are saying about a second switch.
Here is the back of the current switch.
There is a two wire plug on the bottom with a hot and ground then three wires on blades that probably correspond to the three wires at the bumper. There are 5 open blades. I did not have time to remove it and test all the blade positions.
Davy
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Fred,
I was writing my post when your last one went up. A diagram would probably help me a lol if you would be so kind. I must of got lost some where down the line. My email is open.
Thanks,
Davy
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Dick, I have never seen them coming down the highway.
But going up the 160 toll road (the George Bush Turnpike in Dallas) at night with all the white conctete roadway and all the over passes, when I turned them on it was like daylight down the road.
Lights up road signs for ever down the road.
They are so bright I turned them off to keep from blinding trafic coming and going.
Out on the open road like Montana and Wyoming they are super.
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I drive all over the country and use them all the time they are the best, I think I was the first one to put those in and they are very bright when coming toward them !!!!!! You have to have commen cents when using them!!!
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Good job Davy!
Has anyone removed the PIAA lights from an H3 of my vintage? I don’t see an easy way to get to the bracket to unbolt them and then install the Rigid lights.
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