[aschaldy]

2016 Dawn of Justice edition.
My factory driving light housings were melted from the factory halogen bulbs to I replaced them and put in LEDs. Many people have posted about how much of a pain it is to replace these because you have to access them through the panel in the wheel well. I actually found an easier way with the removable panel next to the lights. Took me 10 minutes per light to remove the old housing and install the new one. And there is plenty of room to get to the screws that hold them in. Super easy and super quick.

 

[FiatPower]

Hey thanks! I have a pair sitting in boxes waiting for a little warmer day, and I've been looking at how to get to them.

 

[aschaldy]

Hey thanks! I have a pair sitting in boxes waiting for a little warmer day, and I've been looking at how to get to them.

I used a stubby screwdriver handle with the torx bit in it to remove the light housing screws. The drivers side is a little tighter fit to get to but still pretty easy.

 

[Marek K]

My factory driving light housings were melted from the factory halogen bulbs to I replaced them and put in LEDs.

Not to split hairs, but those aren't driving lights. They're fog lights; meant to put out a very short-range, wide, flat beam. For dense fog. So just the opposite of long-range driving lights.

Are you driving around with them on all the time? That might be your problem with the housings melting.

LED bulbs put out a lot of heat, which is a problem unless they've got a really good heat sink.

 

[Mrsig]

Nice job!

 

[Nev]

Very cool. But you don't have access panels if you have the FCW collision system as the radar pods are sited there.

 

[FiatPower]

Not to split hairs, but those aren't driving lights. They're fog lights; meant to put out a very short-range, wide, flat beam. For dense fog. So just the opposite of long-range driving lights.

Are you driving around with them on all the time? That might be your problem with the housings melting.

LED bulbs put out a lot of heat, which is a problem unless they've got a really good heat sink.

Mine did not so much melt, rather they corroded to hell inside. I suspect the vents allowed salt brine to get in - in fairness I've just realized mine is missing the plastic center splash shield under the engine, and that may have contributed.

Real fog lamps are yellow to avoid dilating your eyes from reflected light - contrary to all the modern BS about white and blue lights, your eye is most effective with the colors of daylight. Rather than driving or fog lights, these things are best called "decoration". I still want them to work, and find them helpful on the kinds of unlined backroads I often drive, and the narrow gravel lane we live on.

 

[Marek K]

Real fog lamps are yellow to avoid dilating your eyes from reflected light - contrary to all the modern BS about white and blue lights, your eye is most effective with the colors of daylight.

Fog lights certainly did tend to be yellow in years (way) past, for that reason. But there's been a lot of debate about whether yellow gives any advantage over white. That's halogen white, at about 6000K.

Certainly in recent years (past 30 years or so), almost all OEM fog lights on quality European cars have been white.

I do agree that the more blue a headlight (or fog light) is, the more eye strain it causes. Plus you're cutting out a lot of the light spectrum; so while a bluish 8000K light may look bright (because of the glare it induces), it's actually putting out less total light.

Rather than driving or fog lights, these things are best called "decoration".

Like I said, our 2021 Trailhawk has the optional LED headlights; with the fog lights being LED too. The headlights are so good, that I don't find any need for auxiliary lighting. Plus here in Colorado it's foggy so seldom, that I've never had a chance to try out the fog lights in actual use.

Still, since this is a Fiat-designed vehicle, I'd expect the fog lights to be rather good -- since in Europe driving in fog isn't a trivial matter.

And at least these OEM LED fog lights seem to be excellent. Here's what the fog light beam pattern looks like in the garage -- at about 5 ft distance, and about 45 degrees out from center line:

Extremely wide and extremely flat, just as they should be. The top of the pattern is right at 18" off the ground, which is the center height of the fog lights -- just as it should be.

This is actually the first time I've really examined the fog light beam pattern. I'm really quite pleased...

Since you've got reflector housings, the reflectors are what form the beam pattern. I'm not sure how LED bulbs will work in those. If they use the reflector housings, the beam pattern is likely to be affected quite radically; since LED bulbs have completely different optical qualities than halogen. Maybe the LED bulbs form their own beam pattern..., independent of the housings...? I'm still skeptical you're going to get a good "driving light" beam out of them. But it'Il still be better than just the crappy OEM halogen headlights. I understand you're going to use these for sparsely-traveled gravel roads, but just be careful about glare to oncoming traffic...

 

[FiatPower]

Fog lights certainly did tend to be yellow in years (way) past, for that reason. But there's been a lot of debate about whether yellow gives any advantage over white. That's halogen white, at about 6000K.

Certainly in recent years (past 30 years or so), almost all OEM fog lights on quality European cars have been white.

I do agree that the more blue a headlight (or fog light) is, the more eye strain it causes. Plus you're cutting out a lot of the light spectrum; so while a bluish 8000K light may look bright (because of the glare it induces), it's actually putting out less total light.



Like I said, our 2021 Trailhawk has the optional LED headlights; with the fog lights being LED too. The headlights are so good, that I don't find any need for auxiliary lighting. Plus here in Colorado it's foggy so seldom, that I've never had a chance to try out the fog lights in actual use.

Still, since this is a Fiat-designed vehicle, I'd expect the fog lights to be rather good -- since in Europe driving in fog isn't a trivial matter.

And at least these OEM LED fog lights seem to be excellent. Here's what the fog light beam pattern looks like in the garage -- at about 5 ft distance, and about 45 degrees out from center line:


So extremely wide and extremely flat, just as they should be. The top of the pattern is right at 18" off the ground, which is the center height of the fog lights -- just as it should be.

This is actually the first time I've really examined the fog light beam pattern. I'm really quite pleased...

Since you've got reflector housings, the reflectors are what form the beam pattern. I'm not sure how LED bulbs will work in those. If they use the reflector housings, the beam pattern is likely to be affected quite radically; since LED bulbs have completely different optical qualities than halogen. Maybe the LED bulbs form their own beam pattern..., independent of the housings...? I'm still skeptical you're going to get a good "driving light" beam out of them. But it'Il still be better than just the crappy OEM halogen headlights. I understand you're going to use these for sparsely-traveled gravel roads, but just be careful about glare to oncoming traffic...

Our Renegade has the factory HID option, the main lights are pretty brutal and the fog/driving lights are hardly necessary. I won't put LEDs in them due to the inability to locate the LED emitters where the filament was, and consequent poor beam pattern.

 

[Marek K]

Our Renegade has the factory HID option, the main lights are pretty brutal and the fog/driving lights are hardly necessary. I won't put LEDs in them due to the inability to locate the LED emitters where the filament was, and consequent poor beam pattern.

Fog lights. They're definitely fog lights.

Other than that, I agree completely.

The OEM halogen headlights are pretty crappy. I don't blame aschaldy for wanting to augment them. I just don't think the way to do that is with the fog lights.

Aftermarket headlights, yeah. There used to be some aftermarket HID headlights available for the earlier Renegades. That might we worth looking into.

 

[FiatPower]

I put the new fog lights in today using this method to access them. I also pull off the small access panel in the front of the fender liner on the driver's side, as that side is more difficult to get at. It worked well and was a pretty easy job. I still have to set the beam height, but hope to do that tomorrow.

 

[FiatPower]

I never got to experience driving the Renegade with functioning fog lights before (due to the corroded reflectors), and they are quite effective. They light up the area low and to the sides, which I always appreciate in part because of all the suicidal deer around here.