What are the best "plug and play" Led cubes for the bumper mounted fog/spot lights? Looking for something I can just plug into the existing wire harness.
I think anything would. IIRC it's two wires. Neg and Pos. And all vehicle LED's would have to run at 12v.
I had different plugs on mine and had to hardwire them. It was stupid simple. I used crimp splicers and heat shrink tubing.
I bought the KC slimlite fog lights. They have 2 kits. They have a 55 watt kit that’s plug and play and a 100 watt kit. I bought the 100 watt, and it’s almost too bright for street use. The 100 watt one you should run a separate relay for
They do have fog pattern LED lights elsewhere in their catalog, as does Rigid, but they aren’t shaped like the factory lights. I’ve also seen reviews suggesting a lot of those LEDs don’t get hot enough to melt the snow that accumulates on them.I so wish they made an LED version. The 55W kit is tempting just because I don't have to screw with a harness. But the Hella halogen lights I have (which are driving lights, not fog) look so damn brown compared to all my LED I can hardly stand it. Maybe I could do the 55W kit with an amber lens cover and then at least it would look like it's a different color on purpose.
They do have fog pattern LED lights elsewhere in their catalog, as does Rigid, but they aren’t shaped like the factory lights. I’ve also seen reviews suggesting a lot of those LEDs don’t get hot enough to melt the snow that accumulates on them.
The KC bulbs are just regular H3 bulbs, so you could retrofit an LED into the housing, but it will severely impair the optics.
I do think the 100W and 130W bulbs actually do have a slightly bluer color temperature, as the filaments are physically hotter, and the color spectrum of blackbody radiation perfectly correlates with color temperature. But it still will get you nowhere near the color temperature of most LEDs.
The longer wavelengths of the warmer (lower temperature) lights like halogens and incandescent bulbs are actually better at penetrating fog and snow, as the individual snow and fog particles more effectively refract light with shorter wavelengths. (Meaning that blue light is more easily scattered by fog and ice particles than red or yellow light.)
I have since put the KC Gravity drop ins the Daylighter housings. I use combination of driving and wide 40 beam patterns. They are spectacular.Old school KC Daylighters in black.
I recently got a set of Baja Designs SAE fog lights and I absolutely love them.
Oh for sure. I couldn’t agree more. Having the ability to change the lens from clear to amber is pretty awesome. Just seems to be an all around user friendly operation.I really like how they arrange their site so you can shop in specific lighting zones. Wish more manufacturers did that. KC has a lot of that info available, but it's kinda buried and not as idiot proof.
Oh for sure. I couldn’t agree more. Having the ability to change the lens from clear to amber is pretty awesome. Just seems to be an all around user friendly operation.
You would probably like the KC Gravity G4 ambers. clear when off, very nice deep amber when on. Not super bright but they work nicely as a fog light. Can also get a white version too but I am partial to all the amber/yellow options.My only problem is that I've gone with a pretty traditional look with my LJ (aluminum 15" wheels, round lights, weighing a future interior swap to tan/spice, etc) and BD's just have too modern of a look to them. Super nice, quality lights, but lights of that type, from any brand, just look out of place on mine. I like LED performance, I just want it in a traditional looking body.
You would probably like the KC Gravity G4 ambers. clear when off, very nice deep amber when on. Not super bright but they work nicely as a fog light. Can also get a white version too but I am partial to all the amber/yellow options.
Edit: well, I guess I am going to eat these words. I'm on their website now and when you go to the G4 pair pack kit, it only lets you choose white (even though description says white or amber). That sucks.
Yeah, not sure what the deal is. I don't like messing with lamin-x either. It works fine, but kind of the cool factor with the G4s is the clear-when-off look, and dealing with lamin-x is a pain and buying sheets of that stuff is pretty expensive too, especially when you already spent so much on the lights. KC is definitely weird about their light options in general.That is odd. There's always lamin-x, but I hate having to do that kind of thing to a light in that price range. I find KC's decision-making on which lights they offer amber covers in somewhat baffling. You can get them for the flex eras, the 6" slimlite and 6" gravity, but nothing else.
On a slightly off topic note, I will probably be putting the Gravity Pro6 in white on my A-pillars, as driving lights. I'll likely tie them to the high beam and a switch, for dual operation and will probably keep amber covers in the toolbox just in case I ever feel like running them that way. The flex eras are awesome looking but since they aren't SAE and I can't legally tie them to my high beam, I sorta lost interest in them.
I don't know how important the legality aspect really is, it's just something that bothers me. Obviously if you see someone coming you shut the high beams off anyways, so I'm not really sure how important it really is for them to be SAE driving lights. But I'd rather it be than not be, so that influences my decision on what to buy quite a bit, in my mind at least.I used the 6" slimlite LED on my A pillars. They are a multi-LED which is what I said I don't like the look of just a few posts earlier, but with the rock guards on, you can't tell at all that they're not a single-element light. The performance on paper looked better to me than the gravity pro 6, the pattern was slightly different but not in a way that mattered to me, and it wasn't as pricey, Not SAE though.
Just curious because the legality angle has never really gotten much of my attention (I just assumed it was all not street legal and shopped accordingly)...but when you talk about wiring through the highbeams AND a switch, are you saying that both have to be on for the lights to come on, or an either/or? I used to have mine wired so the high beams had to be on AND i had to flip a switch, but when I swapped them over to another rig I didn't take the time to tie into the high beam circuit.
Yeah I feel the same way with most the lighting accessories for Jeeps. They are always too square or too “modern” in their designs. It’s why I always steered away from most light bars and such.My only problem is that I've gone with a pretty traditional look with my LJ (aluminum 15" wheels, round lights, weighing a future interior swap to tan/spice, etc) and BD's just have too modern of a look to them. Super nice, quality lights, but lights of that type, from any brand, just look out of place on mine. I like LED performance, I just want it in a traditional looking body.
Yeah I feel the same way with most the lighting accessories for Jeeps. They are always too square or too “modern” in their designs. It’s why I always steered away from most light bars and such.
I got the round bezeled BD squadrons but I ended up ordering a set of the angled round bezels that are use for the tacomas because I like the style more. I’m not sure how well you can see them in the pictures.
Hope you find some that you like.
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