lt4dogman

Has anyone changed out their fog lights, I mean taken the factory ones out and replaced them with something like PIAAs. I assume they are a beetch to get to and the whole assembly, turnsignal and foglight has to come out. I have been toying with the idea of replacing mine with a small PIAA rectangle fog light, a small round driving light and a SuperBright 12 LED amber semi marker light for a turn signal. I want to use the fog and driving light instead of the flip-ups for night driving. Has anyone ever tried anything like this or am I the only one that crazy? I think it would involve fabricating a housing out of aluminum sheeting that would fit behind the factory lens cover. Any insight would be appreciatted!! I just hope that I don't have to take the bumper off to get to them!

Jet-Jock

Hmmm, just changing the foglamp bulb is real easy. There is a small door directly underneath them you can use a coin or screw driver to open it. The bulb rotates one half turn to lock. If I remember I used a floor jack to bring that side up a little bit making it easier to have better access. I just raised it a little bit not enough to bring the tire off the ground.

You seem to be talking about a complete mod. So I'm not sure about that.

redfast

Shouldnt be bad if you realy want it. You may have to make some brackets too. You could buy that kit from corvette central that replaces the front licese plat with two fog lights behind a clear cover.

CentralCoaster

I'd like to do this, rather than putting some round uglys in the license plate area. On the early C4s, I've heard the entiire front bumper has to be removed to get to the fog light housings... and they're one piece, so I'd have to cut it and mount the off road light in place of the fogs. I don't think mounting them in the existing plastic housings is an option, they would probably melt. My dad had a set of PIAAs and accidentally turned em on with the plastic covers in place. He realized his mistake when the covers melted through.

lt4dogman

I just thought with all the advancements in aftermarket lighting it would be possible to have some really bright lights without spoiling the overall looks of the car. I guess this would make a good winter project.
Yesterday afternoon I gave the lights a good look and it looks like the front bumper would have to come off to do what I want to do. I can't see any way to get the housing out without taking the bumper off. Maybe someone who has done body work on a late model C4 could help here. I've never had mine apart so its hard to tell, but it doesn't look like I can get the housing out thru that little hole on the side. And I wouldn't want to break one of those little plastic housings, they are $220 each!!! I'm pretty sure if I built an aluminum housing & brackets, it would have to be vented or do away with the stock lens covers altogether, as those lights do get really hot. Wouldn't want to melt one of them, they are about $80 each!
Dan

1996man

i have very much wanted what you do....(be able to use my running lights and fog lights for night driving) i have though about the idea of sooner or later just making all new assemblys so i can run H4 bulbs in all of my lights.... running, fog, side marker ect. then i could have 130W driving lights and fog lights! and never even have to flip over my headlights!

Nathan Plemons

Has anybody ever thought about mounting something in the front air dam? They make air dams with vents cut out for brake ducts, etc. It's possible that the lights could be a little too low...

Perfusion

That's actually not a bad idea...the only thing would be whether or not the airdam is rigid enough to support the lights (I'm sure it is). Other things to consider would be road hazards (stones, etc.), but I don't know if it's any worse 3" lower than where the stock fogs already are, and then the inevitable contact between the airdam and a parking lot "bumper". It'd be a shame to trash an expensive set of PIAAs while parking.

Nathan Plemons

I'm just thinking that it's much easier to get to and very easy to remove and replace if it turns out to look like crap. It would be more fragile so you'd have to be very careful with it.

CentralCoaster

IMO, theyd be too low of course, scrape easily, but worse, the beam would be blocked by the bottom edge of the nose, and they'd be so low they'd be useless. If theyre mounted at road level, they wont illuminate the road, only trees and fences...

scorp508

Illegal. You can get pulled over for not having proper lighting. Headlights must meet a certain DOT height requirement.

lt4dogman

Looks like I'm not the only one who's thought about this. There is another thread going about this right now and somebody said that the front bumper has to come off to really get at the foglights. I think a set of the small round driving lights, a small rectangle fog light and a LED turn signal could easily fit where the fog/turn signal light is now.

Who has had their front bumper off , how much was involved in that? Looks like it shouldn't be that bad, but you really don't know until you do it.

lt4dogman

How high is this height requirement ??

scorp508

Oh boy I'd have to look it up. I want to say something in the 13" area. I'm not near my car right now, but it probably close to the bottom of the current headlight setup.

lt4dogman

If its 13 inches then that will not be a problem for only having lights where the fog/sig lites are now.
I really don't know how well those laws are enforced, I think pickup truck headlights aren't supposed to be over 35" according to a friend of mine, but I see them everyday higher than that.

Justardnck

The law is true but it varies from state to state, Mass is tough on laws like this... Florida is very relaxed about them. Check your local and state laws befor spending the time and money.

CentralCoaster

I remember reading the CA laws, and they had different height req's for the different lights, but didn't define fog light vs parking lights, etc. But the wattage alone is probably illegal no matter where they're mounted.

They're legal on the street as long as they're not turned on.
More importantly though, who gives a **** if it's illegal! How many of us are running around with no front plates or illegal tint, or tires sticking out the fenders, or smoked lense covers... yet the cops don't enforce these... so do you honestly think they'd care about lights unless you're blinding them with em?