Fog Lights in a Sport 3500

[Dave3500]

I've been looking around for some time for some additional lighting. Anyone install aftermarkets in their Sport model. I;m not sure of the mounting. Looked at a non sport model, one that was on a lift, looks like there was a mounting place for a factory bracket. Any ideas?Thanks, Dave

[Mopar1973Man]

You can look at what I did for lighting... It works awesome... :thumbsup http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/personal/2002/fog-lights/fog-lights.htm

[Dave3500]

You are right it does look awesome, but I have the front spoiler in the way. That's why I was looking to use the factory locations.. The trade off would be that in the summer I would lose the cooling ports!Dave :thumbsup

[flagmanruss]

Dave,

I don't think the cooling opening can make a difference since the optional factory lights fit there... with no heat issues. My truck has the factory "fog" lights and they "work" as in they turn on... but are really useless. The OEM buckets have no aiming option. I thought about cutting the plastic out but haven't got to it yet.

My truck doesn't have the spoiler, just the reciever for the pasport (radar) under there. I lifted the Lic plate to give it a clear view. Working behind the bumper is d*mn close. I wonder if the holes you mention could be used and take the moto tool to the spoiler.

I always liked the lights I mounted in my Road Runner years ago. It requred fabricating brackets between the body & the radiator support & cuttin the grill. Sorry, not a better picture. Car appears to have been photo-shy.

Russ

[Mopar1973Man]

LOL :thumbsup Yeah Russ I know what you mean... On my 73 Charger I was lucky and already had a few hole in the chrome bumper from the fractory. The hole where prefect position for a set of fog lamp t ohang just below and there was plenty of room for adjustment. There look like there belonged there! ;)

[Dave3500]

Hi Russ,Thanks for posting the pic of your shy Road Runner. What did that have in it a 383 4 speed? Still have it?Dave

[Mopar1973Man]

Russ had to dig it out again... LOL

1973 Charger SE - 383 CID - Auto 727 >

[flagmanruss]

68 Roadrunner (first year). 383- last year with no smog, just a tweek to get it by the sniffer. 8.5 compression. 727 auto, 3.23 ratio G70 14 polyglass skins (remember those?). A fabulous car on the open road. Oh, yeah... turned 3000 rpm at 70... red line was somewhere over the right hand turn signal light.

[flagmanruss]

Fog / driving lights for Dodge? What made the old 1968 lights great was the combination of power & high quality optics... My old lights were the H3 Halogen. Separate bulb / reflector in the days of all sealed beams. I wonder if that type of quality is available today. Anyrate, if one wanted to utilize the factory wiring (assuming it could handle the draw) it would have to be on low beam (am I remembering right?).The Dodge OEM light are just for show lamps that do not do anything useful. I think Geno's Garage offers a kit to up lamp them. But that retains the throw away optics & inability to aim them. The OEM lamps must be held in from the rear. I have some sealed beams in the shop that look about the same size... I'm not going to put shoes on to go outside to look tonight. But the sealed beams are made for the rubber tractor bucket. (I have some on my backhoe since the factory lights were AWOL, the spare bulbs were changed out when I swapped bulbs to mount some on a Massy-Harris Pony tractor... gone now). But the 12V bulbs are here. The sealed beams are retained by the rim... there must be some metal rims that fit... Alternately, I could spin something on the lathe. Hmmm.Russ

[Mopar1973Man]

You mean these???

Found on this page...

http://mopar.mopar1973man.com/personal/2002/fog-lights/fog-lights.htm

[flagmanruss]

Yes, Mike, those are the basic lamps... They all interchange since rubber buckets are universal. My spare bulb is still in the NAPA box #4411 PAR 36 Lamp is a GE 4411 "TRACTOR" 12v 35w 1518 (must be GE number). It is a utility light, unshielded element, multi fawceted flood light lens. I bet there's a whole catalog of bulbs... The question is if one would come up with a mount to fit in the stock space. Russ

[Mopar1973Man]

I've got a set of those 35W one myself... There OK but don't have the range as the one I've got shown which are 100W and shine out about 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile. But now there is a problem with the 100W bulbs. They get REALLY HOT. It not something you want to cram into a small area.

[flagmanruss]

Sure the power is nice but the optics... reflector shape & lens control the beam. A flood light is general illumination, of course. Only intended for short distances... They're not really intended as "headlights" as the unshielded elements have upward glare. The landing lights, spotlights, are tightly focused. Also unshielded. I don't suppose that aircraft have to worry about opposing traffic! I swear the "off-road" high beam lights in the Roadrunner would light up over a mile of straight flat interstate. It was none to much. Yes, the high power lights get hot. That really could be an issue if one uses materials (including OEM parts) not intended for so much heat. These sealed beam bulbs have the advantage that breakage would not cost a second morgage. A lot of this applies to all aftermarket "driving lights"... they can have tons of power but if the beam is not focused for YOUR task, they'll be disappointing.

[Dave3500]

At this point something is better than nothing. If a newer vehicle is following close behind me, I can see with their lights better than mine! So don't go with more than a 35w bulb in the factory location is the point, right? :nono

[Mopar1973Man]

Ummmm... 4 - 100W bulbs across the front... 2 - 100W bulbs in the rear... :rolleyes

Strange enough... Been running them for over 5 years now and NEVER been high beamed nor has a police officer said a thing about them... So I must of done something right... ;)

[flagmanruss]

Mike, your under the truck mounting you have does have the advantage of blocking upward light from those lights. Low mounting should be less obtrusive than higher lights. (Proably why the decorative OEM light are like that.) Measuring the wattage... the electrical draw... of a bulb is not the best measure unless you're comparing all the same type of bulbs. No doubt the 35 W tractor lamps are tungston filiment. The H3 bulbs give better light per watt. I believe you're right about the 55 watt. Now I do recall those old lights of mine... 255,000 candle power... were 55 W. If I was going to go to the trouble of mounting a higher powered light in the OEM location, I'd want to figure out how to aim it. 55W or 100W, quality optics. I recall having to be on my toes about dimming those high beams (set horrizontal, with a mile of range). Russ

[Mopar1973Man]

I've got a short video I could put together but the camera cant see the lights as good... But I've got a good 1/4 to 1/3 mile light path but its just as wide as a 2 lane highway plus another 50 feet over (in the ditch on both sides). Deer getters... :smart But down low seem to work really well...

[Dave3500]

What are you running for regular driving lights? Are they anything better than stock?Dave :D

[Mopar1973Man]

What are you running for regular driving lights? Are they anything better than stock? Dave :D

Those are my driving lights... LOL

[flagmanruss]

I think Mike's truck did not come with the OEM driving lights. Mine did... but I don't use the worthless decorations. I don't know about the up lamp from Geno's Garage... if it's worth doing at all. At least it would be doable.It would be a project to put a better lamp in the OEM spaces. I like "neat" gear & it would be neat to put something useful in the OEM spaces. Practically, there are lots of aftermarket driving lights (to 55W) that could go under the truck nose. For more power, it would be hard to beat Mike's landing lights. Russ