[Unit453]

I'm interested in using diodes to send power to the fog lights with use of the high beams. I tried to search to see if anyone has done this or not yet and for some reason I came up empty.

With all my previous GM vehicles, we'd use diodes regularly to keep ALL our lights on when we used our high beams.

Just wondering if anyone has done this or not yet.

 

[Robo]

Probably due to the TIPM (Totally Integrated Power Module) that keeps everything electrical within specific tolerances. It's so sensitive to amperage change and if a light should burn out or short out the system can shutdown that feed.

I know the Ram guys have to wire in a trailer harness with battery leads (in order to circumnavigate the TIPM) because splicing into the rear light bulbs will over power and destroy the TIPM - I've heard it's very expensive to replace, $1,100 is the cost from the dealer

So long as you use heavy duty diodes to block upstream voltage to the TIPM then wiring in battery power leads to the fogs with another light switch should work. Of course some of the wiring is always hot and the switch is just supplying the ground to turn it on... better check with a wiring diagram or test meter.

Note: On the Challenger the way it's wired-up high beams and fogs can over power the electrical system so the fogs are shut off to protect the TIPM.

 

[SpudRacer]

I'm interested in using diodes to send power to the fog lights with use of the high beams. I tried to search to see if anyone has done this or not yet and for some reason I came up empty.

With all my previous GM vehicles, we'd use diodes regularly to keep ALL our lights on when we used our high beams.

Just wondering if anyone has done this or not yet.

I did this to my 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon unlimited, and have plans to do it to my Challenger when I get around to converting the fogs to HIDs later this year.

I get my power for the fogs from the battery, and use a relay tripped from the high beam circuit to power the fogs when the high beams are on. With the high beams off, the fogs work normally.

I already converted my Ram SRT10 fogs to HIDs, and wired them to come on automatically when the high beams are on. With high beams on, the light output is phenomenal.

 

[Unit453]

I was wondering if the underhood fuse box has the capabilities to run a diode. I guess I just need time to test it out.

 

[alin]

fog on with hight beam

You just have it programmed by your dealer with the starscan in Canada it is illegal if you are in the in the USA you can do it it is a 10 minute job Happy to help you.Alain Veilleuximp:

 

[SpudRacer]

OK, I rescind my last post in this thread. I converted my fogs to HIDs last night (phenomenal impreovement), and tried to wire up a relay to the high beams circuit. No such luck this time... there is a 4 wire connector to the projector beam HID on the 2010 SRT headlight, two wires are black, and are clearly ground, the other two get varying amounts of volts ALL THE TIME. With only the parking lightrs on, one wire gets 10v, the other 11 volts. With the low beams on, both get 12v, with the high beams on, both get 12v. I'm not willing to hack into the factory wiring JUST TO SEE IF IT works. Will have to see if I can bribe a local service techie to try doing it with the StarScan.

You can see the difference between a halogen 35w fog, and a HID in my gallery. The gallery seems to be dysfunctional again... all I can post is a mini-me.

 

[S/S Dodge]

No need to hot wire the fog lamps. Just have the dealer program the drop out on the fog lamps.

 

[Unit453]

So this is an option with a starscan tool?

Spudracer, pics of the HIDs please.

 

[S/S Dodge]

It is illegal in the US, so the dealer may or may not program this for you.

 

[SpudRacer]

Closest dealership said, "It can't be done." I tried to explain it to him that you just need to change the lights setting to "export" or foreign. I looked into buying my own StarSCan tool... until I found out how much the bloody things cost.

I also did considerable research into the laws regarding this. There are federal laws regarding headlights, tail lightrs, etc... but it seems the laws regarding fdog lights and auxillary lighting are up to each individual state. Here in NC, from what I could find, you can't have more than four forward facing lights on at a time. Correct me if I'm wrong, but two high beams and two fog beams equals four, right?!

The gallery isn't working, nor is the Ram SRT10 forum gallery, here's a link to my gallery here...

Dodge Challenger Concept Photo Gallery - dscn4158_2_

 

[Unit453]

Nor would most people keep their high beams on for oncoming drivers, with the exception of the typical oblivious drivers.

I doubt the dealership would do this for me. I still have to get them to reprogram for my key fobs from turning on my headlights when I hit the unlock button. I absolutely hate that feature. Knowing my experience with dealerships from years past, they'll charge me 60 bucks just to do this. I tend to avoid them like the plague.

 

[Hal H]

Here's the other point - when you need the foglights (for obvious visibility conditions) the last thing you want is to have the high beams on.

The fog/mist will reflect back the light into your eyes, actually making visibility out ahead worse.

Plus, most states have that regulation of no more than 4 headlights / fogs on at one time. Low beams + fog lights, or Low + high beam for a total of 4 high intensity lamps (as opposed to parking lights or running lights).

 

[Unit453]

True and I'm aware of that, however, on dark roads, I'm a fan of more light. And that's the main reason for inquiring about this.

I'm not really concerned with the lighting laws. I'm not exactly running HIDs in conjunction with PIAA off road lights around town.

 

[Hal H]

I can see your point, especially on the back roads around in FL, where more light can certainly help.

Yesterday, I was on a road trip from Portland to Seattle for the day, and some Bozo in a 4 x 4 Toyota pickup had those #&@! fake HID lights (the blue color light and crazy intensity was a giveaway) in standard incandescent housings...proper HID lights (and housings) don't have that effect, but the faked ones do.

Even during the morning ~ 9:30am on the sunny day, he had those lights on while behind me in the lane, and I swear after those lights nailed my eyes, I was seeing spots after he changed lanes to merge onto other freeways.

I guess he wanted to world to see his fake HID lights all the time, whether or not they needed to be on - these "types" have to show them off all the time (and the high beams weren't even on). It really is a pet peeve of mine.

If I had the ability (and a rifle), I would have shot those lights out, guaranteed.
hate them that much (and getting blinded by them).

It also reminds of the BMW drivers that had the fog lights on all the time in the 80s, especially in rainy weather. The glare was awful (and there was no fog). It was the "fashion" among BWM drivers back then to announce themselves, everywhere.

 

[Unit453]

I'm not a fan of that either. I've been driving lifted diesels for the last decade. Being a fan of the GM Duramax and having owned 3, I've always installed expensive HID kits in the stock reflector housings. The light output did wonders on back roads. It was like a super nova. I used to use a diode, which was very common with GM trucks, to keep your low beams and fog lights with your high beams. I had the low beams angled down so low that I never got flashed, which was a good thing. The problem with lifted trucks though is when you get behind someone at a light, you're really burning the paint off their bumpers and glass. The stock Silverado reflectors were a pretty decent match with beam pattern and light cut off. The GMC refractors, well, not so good and those tended to scatter light terrible. So, the housings and cut off really do make a difference. I also only used a 4300k in pure white. I wanted more light, not that retarded blue ricer look.

I was just wondering if use of a diode could allow the fogs to stay on with the highbeams. I dont think the stock lights are all that bad. I wish I would've gotten HIDs but this is my first Chrysler product and I have no idea how anything works yet.

I really like the car but the throttle hesitation blows and I think the tranny short shifts and it feels quirky. It's got great power but it almost feels like you either have to baby it or get in it to have it shift where I want. There is no in between. My lights also dim when I tap the brakes and I don't know if this is a wiring short or fairly common with these types of cars. After reading here, it seems that I'm not the only one either.

I bought some Phillips Extreme for my company car, being an '11 Ford CVPI and covering the roads that I do, it made a noticeable difference, especially the high beams. I will end up getting a set of those for the Challenger at some point. I have a 2010 and just rolled 5000 miles so I don't really drive it much.

 

[Hal H]

My lights also dim when I tap the brakes and I don't know if this is a wiring short or fairly common with these types of cars. After reading here, it seems that I'm not the only one either.

I have the factory HIDs - the IP light flicker is common on these cars (I notice it @ idle whether or not I have the brake pedal depressed). I don't see it in the headlights, but then HIDs probably won't show that effect like the incandescent (halogen) lights may.

The main thing is with the Indiglo style IP lighting and the white gauge surrounds, you can notice any change (flicker) in light intensity. A lot cars are designed to allow the alternator to "coast" and with the lowered drag of the alt, it frees up some load off the engine, and little more MPG might get squeezed out.

Some makes even have clutch style drives on the alts, so they behave more like an A/C compressor and switch on/off depending on load.

 

[Kean]

....I agree with Hal's comments.

Personally, I would go with high efficacy halogen bulbs like the Phillips X-treme Power you mentioned or something similar like the Osram Nightbreaker Plus. I have the OEM HID's but have used both of those bulbs in other vehicles and they do make a noticeable difference.

A note on fog lamps…. Their main purpose is to illuminate the area immediately in front of and to the sides of the vehicle (to illuminate lane reflectors/markings, the edges of the roadway, etc.). Obviously, in inclement weather the distance you can see can be severely hampered and you are mostly relying on what you can see in the foreground. ….fog lights help with that. However, in a scenario where your vision is otherwise unhampered by weather, additional foreground illumination does not necessarily equal “better” lighting. In fact, more light directly in front of the car can have an opposite effect on the distance you can see at night. ….causing your pupils to constrict due to the brightness from the added light that is directly in front of you.

Having said all of that I will say that many of the OEM fog lamps on cars today are woefully inadequate in regard to performance. The Challenger is no different in that respect IMO/IME. In fact, most of the time I can barely tell they are on (yes, I am guilty of leaving mine on sometimes). Using them as auxiliary lighting for distance viewing is really a waste of time IMO. ….and adding HID’s, over-wattage bulbs, etc. to fog lamps only make matters worse (for both performance and safety of others). Personally, I would look into aux/driving lights made specifically for this purpose.

On a side note, HID kits, "hyper" white/blue/over-wattage bulbs, etc. are pet peeves of mine as well. I travel 30 miles of dark canyon roads ~3-4 times per week and the problem only seems to be getting worse (imports/domestics, family/modified cars……..it seems everyone is hopping on board the train).

 

[SpudRacer]

The gallery is working again. Here's my photos:

1. Stock fog lights and DRLs on

2. One fog light stock, and the other converted to HID.

3. Both fogs HID and the stock HID headlights on. These were 4300K bulbs which appear to be an exact match to the factory HID headlights.

 

[Hal H]

A note on fog lamps…. Their main purpose is to illuminate the area immediately in front of and to the sides of the vehicle (to illuminate lane reflectors/markings, the edges of the roadway, etc.). Obviously, in inclement weather the distance you can see can be severely hampered and you are mostly relying on what you can see in the foreground. ….fog lights help with that. However, in a scenario where your vision is otherwise unhampered by weather, additional foreground illumination does not necessarily equal “better” lighting. In fact, more light directly in front of the car can have an opposite effect on the distance you can see at night. ….causing your pupils to constrict due to the brightness from the added light that is directly in front of you.

Having said all of that I will say that many of the OEM fog lamps on cars today are woefully inadequate in regard to performance. The Challenger is no different in that respect IMO/IME. In fact, most of the time I can barely tell they are on (yes, I am guilty of leaving mine on sometimes). Using them as auxiliary lighting for distance viewing is really a waste of time IMO.

I think that part of this is the increased lighting of HIDs vs. the Halogen lights...the HID put out brighter/whiter color light.

One of the things I've done on occasion (in really heavy fog/unlighted roads) is cut off the headlights and run with the park/running lights and fog lights only to better see the lane markings and edges of the road. There are some ridge-top back roads I've been on that get really socked with fog that is literally knee level from the ground...having the low aimed fog lights w/o headlight glare has been helpful.

 

[Kean]

I think that part of this is the increased lighting of HIDs vs. the Halogen lights...the HID put out brighter/whiter color light.

One of the things I've done on occasion (in really heavy fog/unlighted roads) is cut off the headlights and run with the park/running lights and fog lights only to better see the lane markings and edges of the road. There are some ridge-top back roads I've been on that get really socked with fog that is literally knee level from the ground...having the low aimed fog lights w/o headlight glare has been helpful.

....I see where you're coming from. Personally, I have also tried them with my headlamps off in the past (just to get an idea of how they performed) and wasn't too impressed. I think the basic fact is that most OEM fog lamps these days are simply too small, poorly situated and/or don't have an optimum beam pattern to make them all that effective for this purpose. btw, I agree that this is where HID headlamps can actually be more of a hindrance (i.e. producing more backscatter than regular halogens in some situations). I’ll have to try that sometime considering the circuit in these cars is designed to allow you to run with just the parking and fog lamps on.

On a side note, I have been thinking of replacing the stock bulbs in my Challenger and my DD (Forester) with a selective yellow alternative (if I can find a good one) to see if that helps. It's common in my area to get early morning fog in certain spots during my 60 mile commute.