Hey Guys - Who Likes the 2nd Gen Fog Light Set-Up?
 

I for one find these lights nearly useless - even after upgrading to "super bright" LEDS. Add to this the non-functioning dummy cornering lights that Lexus left us with and you have one ugly cluttered looking lower bumper cover. What could one possibly do to improve this look?

I am glad you asked...

1) remove all lights
2) remove bumper cover
3) cut out mountings
4) make a mesh backing
5) fill with gap sealer foam
6) trim the foam, bondo, sand, bondo, sand...and at some point very later; paint :cool:

I'm watching this despite my ever-growing love for the OEM fogs.

Plus one for me as well... Really interested in this but I still want my fogs

Just a quick question, since you're effectively deleting the OEM fogs, do you have a replacement in mind? Also, could one adapt this method to "mold in" a different set of fog lights, instead of the OEMs?

Great thinking! Any reason you decided to keep the running lights on the bumper?

I dig the idea here, could look really good once complete. :thumbup:

I've done this with other cars and it can make a huge visual impact on the car.
Yes, you can mold-in different fogs, although it is often a big challenge to get it to look right with the stock bumpers. Lights are typically one of the things you design around, not leave to the end as an afterthought.


One method for making any fog lights better, is to get your hands on a set of extra fog light housings and then score a set of Hella Micro DE fogs (xenon ones if you're a baller) and retro fit them into the stock fog housings. I say the Hella Micro DE's because they are a super small package with an impressive output and can be had in both fog and driving. With the size of the DE's you can theoretically retrofit in a fog and a driving light into the stock 98-00 fog housings. I've done this on other cars and used a custom harness and relay system spliced into the factory high/low/fog wiring for amazing output results.....

....Just sayin!

Visually this will look nice. Wondering how well it will hold on that first driveway that flexes the cover.

curious to see what this would look like after paint. i admire the initiative.

btw, the lights aren't useless. the foglight output is only meant to illuminate the ground immediately under the headlight's beam and is, obviously, only beneficial in foggy conditions. they are not meant for you to see beyond the low/hi beam output. they also make the car appear lower to the ground when lit due its position.

You could always cut back the recessed edge with a dremel and then find a donar bumper to hack apart and create plugs for those holes. From there, using the same method as the OP, but with a product like LORD Fusor142 as your bonding agent rather than bondo/foam, to secure the plug to the wire mesh would allow a lot more flex. It would also be a lot less likely for a wholesale ejection of the plug like with the bondo/foam.

I can confirm the foglights illuminating the ground haha. My purple HIDs look awesome since they create a sort of purple-to-white fade when used in conjunction with the stock HID headlights (the only time they're used lol). Now, how functional are purple foglights? They aren't (least output of all the colors), but they look pretty good, and for my first "intensive" DIY mod, I love 'em. I wish someone could put up a DIY on how to get a light bulb (5w LED?) in the dummy fogs, so I could get a more even look to them.

Absolutely. Once you got the mountings cut out you are only limited by your imagination. I could go back later with a 2 or 3" hole saw if I wanted to add little halo lights, but it might get messy, esp. getting through the mesh...:eek2:

Hmmm, yea that would work; I'm sure there are many ways to do this. I don't think the "plug" is gonna pop out though since I am filling and blending into the surface of the bumper. If I smack something hard enough for them to pop out - I prob. have bigger issues at that point...:rolleyes:

Well, they were useless to me. Anyway, believe it or not we have had rain here in SD for the last 2 days which has slowed down my work. I got the final coat sanded last night but had to put the cover back on to drive to work. Sooooo, I'm gonna do the last touch-ups, prime, paint this weekend :)

Already happened this morning (and will happen every morning) pulling out of my driveway :thumbup:

Thanks. I am def. no wizard when it comes to body work but I am pretty pleased with my results so far. I'm just gonna rattle-can it but I got the best stuff from automotivetouchup paint. Their paint products use factory paint codes for a nearly perfect match.