Need to replace fogs but which way do i go?

[maduro]

Hey guys. First time posting here but have spent quite a bit of time searching around here for some direction. I'm amazed at how intensely detailed everything is around here. Great!
I really need to replace my factory fogs on our '03 Yukon SLT. They put out no light whatsoever. We've been caught in some bad snow storms & fog & those lights suck. I was about to buy a full PIAA fog light kit but a friend told me I may be able to change just the bulb & improve the output. Please excuse my ignorance but I've done a lot of research before posting but I just need confirmation from the experts
1. Can I in fact swap out the factory bulbs for something else, keep the housing & get a noticeable improvement?
2. If so what do you recommend?
3. Would I be better off ripping out the factory fogs & buying a kit? I'd say my budget for the kit would be around $200

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond!

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

yes changing a bulb can help but whats the condition of the lenses? are they hazed?

 

[maduro]

1 lens is in good shape. THe other I had to replace because the OEM fell off somewhere & I lost it & that one is fogged up a bit. Not sure how I can clean it without it falling off again.
If you think replacing the bulbs would be an easier/cheaper alternative can you please recommend some bulbs?

Thanks again

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

well i will say good lenses is one of the key things i dont care what type of bulb is in there if a lens is milky or dull it wont output light very well , there is a headlight cleaner on the market that does a great job in cleaning lenses . but you said fogged up? is there water inside? is there anyway you can post pics of said fog lights also post a link if you could of the kit you speak of and no problem

 

[chauncey0337]

Look into the p1 fogs from ebay. They're all metal to withstand the heat of bulbs and heard they have good output. Also, might think of changing to hids.

 

[maduro]

Here are the pics

I may or should replace the right-side housing. Like I said I lost the OEM lens so I found replacements on e-bay & they turned out to be plexi-glass machined to fit the OEM housing. This experience has taught me that plexi-glass isn't really meant for any type of lighting.

 

[Donnie Yukonie]

yea that lens dont look to good i would look into this p-1 fog jae is talking about or just replace the hazey one and buy better bulbs either way its your call id hate to tell you to spend your money one way and you not be satisfied

 

[DenaliAK]

Having had the P1's, I'll say two things: They are an improvement, but there are better lights, too. I know some people have had good luck with them, but mine basically came apart at the seam. They were held together by a screw, but the seal was gone. Pretty cheesy construction IMO. Personally, I'd ditch the OEM fogs, get some new DEPO ones, and put some 35w HID's in them.

Too bad you can't use the round fogs like I've got. With HID's they are like off-road lights...insane amount of light. Can't drive in traffic with them at all, though, or I'd blind the crap out of people.

 

[maduro]

Having had the P1's, I'll say two things: They are an improvement, but there are better lights, too. I know some people have had good luck with them, but mine basically came apart at the seam. They were held together by a screw, but the seal was gone. Pretty cheesy construction IMO. Personally, I'd ditch the OEM fogs, get some new DEPO ones, and put some 35w HID's in them.

Too bad you can't use the round fogs like I've got. With HID's they are like off-road lights...insane amount of light. Can't drive in traffic with them at all, though, or I'd blind the crap out of people.

Would you guys mind posting a link to these "p1's"? Would really help in eliminating the guess work when searching. Depo? Not familiar with them. Will I be keeping the same design/shape & not need new mounts? Again sorry guys about my ignorance but I just want to be sure before I start ordering stuff online that I either don't need or won't work/fit.
I also called PIAA to see what they had in terms of bulbs & they recommended this: http://www.shopatron.com/products/productdetail/part_number=PIA18880/353.0
The rep said that although its rated as 27W because of the way they combined the gases it really equates to 50W. How true is that? Bottomline is $50 sound right for a set of bulbs or can I get better or equal for less?

Thanks again!

 

[chauncey0337]

The p1's are smaller than your stock fogs so you're going to have some unused space where the fogs are. But you can get them for different bulb sizes, 880(stock) or 9005,9006.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-P...Parts_Accessories&hash=item484810449c&vxp=mtr

 

[DenaliAK]

The P1's are also a projector, which gives you a fairly narrow beam of light, albeit generally brighter and more controlled. But not everyone wants that. It's like going from a flood light to a laser...smaller beam, but more intense and focused.

DEPO lights are just a brand of OEM replacement lights. They tend to be high-quality but way cheaper than actual OEM lights. They are a direct fit, no special brackets needed. Just look up your year/model truck and depo fog lights and you'll find a bunch.

PIAA bulbs are good bulbs, but if you want max light (and nowadays cheaper light), try a set of 35w HID's. You can get an entire set with everything you need from DDMtuning.com for $45 or something like that, which is probably cheaper than most "high" quality replacement bulbs.

 

[maduro]

The P1's are also a projector, which gives you a fairly narrow beam of light, albeit generally brighter and more controlled. But not everyone wants that. It's like going from a flood light to a laser...smaller beam, but more intense and focused.

DEPO lights are just a brand of OEM replacement lights. They tend to be high-quality but way cheaper than actual OEM lights. They are a direct fit, no special brackets needed. Just look up your year/model truck and depo fog lights and you'll find a bunch.

PIAA bulbs are good bulbs, but if you want max light (and nowadays cheaper light), try a set of 35w HID's. You can get an entire set with everything you need from DDMtuning.com for $45 or something like that, which is probably cheaper than most "high" quality replacement bulbs.

AK,
Awesome info/details. Thx. I'm on DDM's site now & reading the troubleshooting guide (being thorough about this before I buy). They mention some issues that our vehicles may have after installing their HID's, I wonder if those issues may be related just to their product or HID's in general. 1 example is:
1. turning on fog's will cause rear wiper to pulse on/off
Can anyone comment on this?

 

[01HDtahoeNJN]

ak dishun out the light info haha nothings changed around here lol

AK,
Awesome info/details. Thx. I'm on DDM's site now & reading the troubleshooting guide (being thorough about this before I buy). They mention some issues that our vehicles may have after installing their HID's, I wonder if those issues may be related just to their product or HID's in general. 1 example is:
1. turning on fog's will cause rear wiper to pulse on/off
Can anyone comment on this?

ill never ever buy ddm after what happened to me

 

[maduro]

ak dishun out the light info haha nothings changed around here lol



ill never ever buy ddm after what happened to me

Please share your experience. I'm about to pull the trigger on a kit but not sure if i should go w/ddm. I found some stuff on amazon & may go there. Not sure

 

[DenaliAK]

Yeah, the rear wiper kind of thunks like it's thinking about going when you turn on the fogs. It happens, not sure why. There's a fix somewhere on here, but it's more complicated than it's worth in my opinion since the "problem" doesn't hurt anything. It momentarily engages the wiper when you hit power and that's it. It doesn't actually wipe or turn the wipers on or anything....lol.

DDM has gone downhill, and I'm starting to not recommend them unless someone is just trying to go for the cheapest kit. They are now having orders shipped directly from China, and they are taking forever, getting beat up along the way, or sometimes outright never getting across the border because customs is starting to treat imported HID's as an illegal street product.

For a super cheap kit, I don't have other recommendations. You could try any old ebay kit and hope for the best. If you're willing to pay a little more for higher-quality stuff, than you want to go here: good lights

 

[maduro]

Yeah, the rear wiper kind of thunks like it's thinking about going when you turn on the fogs. It happens, not sure why. There's a fix somewhere on here, but it's more complicated than it's worth in my opinion since the "problem" doesn't hurt anything. It momentarily engages the wiper when you hit power and that's it. It doesn't actually wipe or turn the wipers on or anything....lol.

DDM has gone downhill, and I'm starting to not recommend them unless someone is just trying to go for the cheapest kit. They are now having orders shipped directly from China, and they are taking forever, getting beat up along the way, or sometimes outright never getting across the border because customs is starting to treat imported HID's as an illegal street product.

For a super cheap kit, I don't have other recommendations. You could try any old ebay kit and hope for the best. If you're willing to pay a little more for higher-quality stuff, than you want to go here: good lights

Ak,
Not sure if I should thank you or what; Yesterday I ordered a Kensun kit from Amazon for $65. It had pretty good reviews mostly based on customer service. Many reviewers seemed to have issues w/the ballasts but Kensun always came through for them. But after reading your post this morning I went to RFS & saw their kits. Their quality & craftmanship seems to be far & away much better than Kensun. I really like how the harnesses are wrapped w/a braided insulator. The ballasts seem to be well protected & solid. Yes its more than 2x the cost of the others I already ordered!!! But I was sold. I immediately cancelled the Kensun's & went for the morimoto's. So I hold you personally responsible for forcing me to fork over the additional $80+ jk
I went w/the heavy duty relay harness but then I saw that it requires one of the leads to go directly to the battery. I never felt comfortable connecting anything directly to the battery. Is this normal? Is this how you have yours? Or anyone else here?
Bottom line; many many thanks to you & everyone else that replied & put up w/my many pestering inquiries. This place rocks

 

[DenaliAK]

The short answer is yes, your harness is going to hook directly to the battery terminals. They are designed that way to bypass the stock wiring which can be too wimpy to take the heavier load of HID's. It's honestly pretty much the point of getting a harness. That and it provides a constant, non-fluctuating power source. It's not a big deal, honestly. Wiring it is pretty straight-forward. They'll probably ship it with some sort of instructions, too.

The retrofit source guys have awesome customer service, too, if you need it. They pretty much rock in that area, so if you encounter problems, call them up.

I am not responsible for your choosing to buy quality parts.

Now, if you really want to spend some money, check out the prices of the D2S Xenarc Cool Blue Intense bulbs....lol. That's what I have, and just the bulbs cost more than my headlights themselves.

If you haven't figured it out, I'm a light fanatic.

 

[chauncey0337]

AK,
Awesome info/details. Thx. I'm on DDM's site now & reading the troubleshooting guide (being thorough about this before I buy). They mention some issues that our vehicles may have after installing their HID's, I wonder if those issues may be related just to their product or HID's in general. 1 example is:
1. turning on fog's will cause rear wiper to pulse on/off
Can anyone comment on this?

Post #5
http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10815

 

[DenaliAK]

Now I remember why I chose to ignore this issue. Good Lord that's a lot of work to "fix" a problem that seems to have no real negative effects. I was done reading at step 3...that's too much work right there for me. No way I would've gotten to step 27....

 

[chauncey0337]

Now I remember why I chose to ignore this issue. Good Lord that's a lot of work to "fix" a problem that seems to have no real negative effects. I was done reading at step 3...that's too much work right there for me. No way I would've gotten to step 27....