Fog Lights

[jasoneg]

My actual fog lights seem very pitted.  I added LED bulbs, but they are still very dim, or maybe I should say they don't throw light very well. If I just turn the fog lights on at night in the driveway you cant even tell they are on. I tried polishing the lenses, but it didn't help.  Is this just normal or should I just buy some new fog lights? The actual fog light itself, not the bulbs.  Its an 08 Edge.

[dabangsta]

I guess it depends on what your expectations are. They are really only obviously on if your headlights are also on as a small strip down low and to the sides. They aren't driving lights, they don't throw, they don't add light up high, just low to the ground and close. I found that H11 LEDs made them worse. I don't actually drive in fog, but use them to illuminate the ground close to the car when going slow. They also help illuminate animal eyes that headlights might not.

 

My 2012 Fusion has the exact same fog lights. They are sorta pitted but maybe not that bad. They are available on the aftermarket for $25-50 each.

 

This a day shot on a wall:

 

 

fog lights only:

 

[Samurai Edge]

30 minutes ago, dabangsta said:

I guess it depends on what your expectations are. They are really only obviously on if your headlights are also on as a small strip down low and to the sides. They aren't driving lights, they don't throw, they don't add light up high, just low to the ground and close. I found that H11 LEDs made them worse. I don't actually drive in fog, but use them to illuminate the ground close to the car when going slow. They also help illuminate animal eyes that headlights might not.

 

 

Exactly what I use mine for as well.

 

They call them " fog lights " but in reality they only make things worse.  Adding more light, or certainly driving with high beams on in the fog scatters so much light you might as well just shut your eyes and hope for the best.

 

The term " fog lights " is a misnomer that has stuck around for far too long.

[dabangsta]

They add a slice of light way down low that doesn't illuminate up high, they are effective fog lights.

 

If you are going to keep the LEDs, you need to clock them correctly (turn them if they have that adjustment) to get the best light out of them. It helps to know how the projector fog light works.

 

There is a slot the light goes across between the bulb and the lens:

The projector lens actually flips the light (so any changes made to the slot or gate will affect it opposite, add a hot spot on bottom will add it to the top of the projected beam).

 

Most of these I saw in the junk yard (when working on a project, that I abandoned as it was counter productive) were pitted (with them being low to the ground and not protected behind a lens like the headlight).

 

The pitting on mine (mocking up some LED rings, which were actually brighter than the fogs, so I didn't finish it) is not quite as bad:

Just the LED ring in, this is why I didn't go forward with it (you can see the halo in an artifact way up high):

With fog light on, compare no halo with halo. This is what a non focused non projected light would look like, not a good fog light at all:

What that non shaped (by fluted lens, projector beam, capped and reflector, etc) low power LED looks like:

Edited Friday at 04:03 PM by dabangsta

[jasoneg]

On 10/30/2026 at 10:58 AM, dabangsta said:

I guess it depends on what your expectations are. They are really only obviously on if your headlights are also on as a small strip down low and to the sides. They aren't driving lights, they don't throw, they don't add light up high, just low to the ground and close. I found that H11 LEDs made them worse. I don't actually drive in fog, but use them to illuminate the ground close to the car when going slow. They also help illuminate animal eyes that headlights might not.

 

My 2012 Fusion has the exact same fog lights. They are sorta pitted but maybe not that bad. They are available on the aftermarket for $25-50 each.

 

This a day shot on a wall:

 

 

fog lights only:

 

Yes, I agree. The H11 LED's are worse than the halogens were honestly.  At least with the halogens I could tell the fogs were on. If I turn on just the fogs at night without the headlights now (just as a test), you don't even know they are on.  

[jasoneg]

On 10/30/2026 at 12:03 PM, dabangsta said:

They add a slice of light way down low that doesn't illuminate up high, they are effective fog lights.

 

If you are going to keep the LEDs, you need to clock them correctly (turn them if they have that adjustment) to get the best light out of them. It helps to know how the projector fog light works.

 

There is a slot the light goes across between the bulb and the lens:

The projector lens actually flips the light (so any changes made to the slot or gate will affect it opposite, add a hot spot on bottom will add it to the top of the projected beam).

 

Most of these I saw in the junk yard (when working on a project, that I abandoned as it was counter productive) were pitted (with them being low to the ground and not protected behind a lens like the headlight).

 

The pitting on mine (mocking up some LED rings, which were actually brighter than the fogs, so I didn't finish it) is not quite as bad:

Just the LED ring in, this is why I didn't go forward with it (you can see the halo in an artifact way up high):

With fog light on, compare no halo with halo. This is what a non focused non projected light would look like, not a good fog light at all:

What that non shaped (by fluted lens, projector beam, capped and reflector, etc) low power LED looks like:

No orientation (clocking) on these as far as I can tell.  Had to clock the high beam, but that is a different style bulb, its flat with led's on each side.