2017~2024 Fog Lights

S

Seaice

:
2016 and 2017 Grand Touring
79 years old, traded my 2016 "old man" Forrester for my Red CX 5 GT. WOW what a difference. Question: Can I install LED light bar, disconnect oem Fog lights and use their 12 volts to fed the light bar. Looking for more low beam light. THANKS, like the 24/7 community.
 
Welcome to the forum from Long Island.
I do not see any problem with that as long as the amps of the light bar is not higher than the amps of the fog lights.[emoji3]
 
I think you might be violating vehicle code if you do as you speak. You might be better off buying 2 stand alone good quality fogs and mounting them in your front bumper somehow.

I was getting gas the other day and there was a truck at the other pump getting gas too. He had 2 light bars mounted on his truck so I asked about them. I have been thinking about adding a light bar to a roof rack system on mt 2017 CX5, wiring it into the high beam switch. Truck guy indicated that it was a code violation to use those off road lights on a public highway. THIS IS SOMETHING I/YOU MIGHT WANT TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE WITH YOUR STATE DOT (note bold print for emphasis) before doing any surgery. I have seen these lights in use by lifted trucks out on the streets, and I have seen drivers pulled over who were using these lights.

Another thing to consider is intended use and speed, some do not project out far enough to be useful at highway speed and work great at low speed, not so much at highway speed. You end up out driving the lights.

I see that you are in NY and are required to have a front license plate. A company called Carr.com makes a license plate bracket with arms on it. You can mount lights onto the end of the arms and not have to do any surgery to the front of the car to mount a set of better fogs.
 
Last edited:
Road Warrior2 said:
I think you might be violating vehicle code if you do as you speak. You might be better off buying 2 stand alone good quality fogs and mounting them in your front bumper somehow.

I was getting gas the other day and there was a truck at the other pump getting gas too. He had 2 light bars mounted on his truck so I asked about them. I have been thinking about adding a light bar to a roof rack system on mt 2017 CX5, wiring it into the high beam switch. Truck guy indicated that it was a code violation to use those off road lights on a public highway. THIS IS SOMETHING I/YOU MIGHT WANT TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE WITH YOUR STATE DOT (note bold print for emphasis) before doing any surgery. I have seen these lights in use by lifted trucks out on the streets, and I have seen drivers pulled over who were using these lights.

Another thing to consider is intended use and speed, some do not project out far enough to be useful at highway speed and work great at low speed, not so much at highway speed. You end up out driving the lights.

I see that you are in NY and are required to have a front license plate. A company called Carr.com makes a license plate bracket with arms on it. You can mount lights onto the end of the arms and not have to do any surgery to the front of the car to mount a set of better fogs.
Click to expand...
 
Well said, thanks. I am actually thinking of mounting them about 8 inches to the right and left of my front plates off the bottom of my horizontal grill bar after I reinforce it. They would be low, somewhat bright and not blind on coming traffic. Current fogs seem worthless to me.
 
Your fogs might need re aiming, I installed mine after purchase (touring w/PEP). Check out the light wing @ Carr. www.carr.com

It places your lights at about the same position you mention and is a clean install, looks like it belongs there. No relation with vendor or product, just a satisfied user.
 
Road Warrior2 said:
Your fogs might need re aiming, I installed mine after purchase (touring w/PEP). Check out the light wing @ Carr. www.carr.com

It places your lights at about the same position you mention and is a clean install, looks like it belongs there. No relation with vendor or product, just a satisfied user.
Click to expand...
 
This looks like a perfect setup, would 36 inches be too wide for my CX5? What brand/part # fog lights are you using? THANKS
 
Seaice said:
This looks like a perfect setup, would 36 inches be too wide for my CX5? What brand/part # fog lights are you using? THANKS
Click to expand...

You might be misunderstanding my wording a bit. Here is the full story.

I own a 2003 Xterra that I bought new. I wanted to add a set of driving lights to it. At that time the only options were the great big brush guards that were really expensive. I saw one of those light wings on a Mercedes SUV around about that time (2004), found out what the product was and bought it and a set of Hella 500 driving lights. Used that combination for about 10 years or so until i bought a Westin safari bar that came with a free set of driving lights. Those currently ride on the Xterra. All were bought from CarID.com.

Fast forward to last fall, bought a 2017 CX5 without fogs. Bought the factory fogs and had them installed, added yellow Lamin-x filter film to them. So to understand, I have factory fogs that I aimed myself. Not hard to do, there is a small wheel attached to the fog light housing that you turn to raise or lower the beam of light. One side you can reach in and do it with your hand and the other you need to undo a few clips of the underside splash guard and reach up and find the wheel and turn to match the other beam.

That light wing is also sold by CarID, they also sell a wide variety of lights. You just have to pick a set that is the appropriate size that will look correct on the front of the car if you go with the wing. Their customer service and advisors are fairly helpful. Might also call Carr and ask about mounting that plate to your CX5. The plate is a cast aluminum, so not light weight and very rigid. And perhaps someone on the forum could offer up some suggestions for lights, either round or square or rectangular, etc. Myself, I am thinking a yellow square fog lamp about 3"-4" square, black housing.
 
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