Fog lights with 15000 lumens

[Allanrock59]

I am in the process of making my own fog light for my mustang 2024.

I have different LED configuration that I am looking at and I don't need to have it SAE compliant. But I am wondering if having fog in the 3000k at around 15k lumens would be illegal for street use?

When I look at after market fog, they all seem to be in the 1800 lumens range. Since fog light are pointing low they should not interfere with other driver on the road, thus my 15k setup.

Regardless switching led to around 1800 lumens is not a problem.

All your thoughts will be well appreciated.

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[MAT1955]

@Allanrock59 ...... sounds cool but I have a question when you say 15K lumens do you mean 15,000 lumens? If so, awesome, but you should ensure they are set low enough to be considered "fog" lights, not "driving" as 15,000 lumens is serious power and distance. I use one of the brightest scuba lights and it is rated at 5000 lumens. It will put a 12 foot circle on a reef wall from 30 feet away at 90 feet. On land you can't look at it directly without temporarily blinding yourself.

 

[smurfslayer]

1k is enough to temporarily blind someone up close. For reference, Baja Designs Squadron pros are 4900 lumens each. The squadron ‘sport’ are half that. I used those for chase lights on my Raptor. They hurt to look at from about 60 yards away.

Baja also makes SAE fog lights at 2400 / light, and they’re pretty respectable.

My point here is that at you’re looking at something 6x as powerful.

Yes, they absolutely will mess with oncoming drivers, notably on hills. as you crest a hill and start coming down, the fixed beams angle down right into the oncoming driver’s eyes. Normal headlights aren’t typically that powerful to cause a problem, but if you’re carrying weight / cargo and changing the aim of the lights, you will not have many on road friends.

 

[Allanrock59]

@Allanrock59 ...... sounds cool but I have a question when you say 15K lumens do you mean 15,000 lumens? If so, awesome, but you should ensure they are set low enough to be considered "fog" lights, not "driving" as 15,000 lumens is serious power and distance. I use one of the brightest scuba lights and it is rated at 5000 lumens. It will put a 12 foot circle on a reef wall from 30 feet away at 90 feet. On land you can't look at it directly without temporarily blinding yourself.

Yes it was 15000 lumens

 

[Allanrock59]

1k is enough to temporarily blind someone up close. For reference, Baja Designs Squadron pros are 4900 lumens each. The squadron ‘sport’ are half that. I used those for chase lights on my Raptor. They hurt to look at from about 60 yards away.

Baja also makes SAE fog lights at 2400 / light, and they’re pretty respectable.

My point here is that at you’re looking at something 6x as powerful.

Yes, they absolutely will mess with oncoming drivers, notably on hills. as you crest a hill and start coming down, the fixed beams angle down right into the oncoming driver’s eyes. Normal headlights aren’t typically that powerful to cause a problem, but if you’re carrying weight / cargo and changing the aim of the lights, you will not have many on road friends.

Well I guess I was aiming way too high. I will be bringing it down to about 2100 to 2700 lumens as around the same as a few off market seller.

Thank you for your advice.

 

[smurfslayer]

No problem. Not trying to lumen-shame, or anything...

;-)

 

[akawease]

Where are you putting your fog lamps? Just would like to see what it would look like?

 

[Allanrock59]

Where are you putting your fog lamps? Just would like to see what it would look like?

They will be placed where the fog light should be but I won't make a round hole like a regular fog it will have the same look as the light beam.

I don't know how you call that part but the fog will be place in the solid part on the upper part of that piece.

 

[Allanrock59]

1k is enough to temporarily blind someone up close. For reference, Baja Designs Squadron pros are 4900 lumens each. The squadron ‘sport’ are half that. I used those for chase lights on my Raptor. They hurt to look at from about 60 yards away.

Baja also makes SAE fog lights at 2400 / light, and they’re pretty respectable.

My point here is that at you’re looking at something 6x as powerful.

Yes, they absolutely will mess with oncoming drivers, notably on hills. as you crest a hill and start coming down, the fixed beams angle down right into the oncoming driver’s eyes. Normal headlights aren’t typically that powerful to cause a problem, but if you’re carrying weight / cargo and changing the aim of the lights, you will not have many on road friends.

If I look at a certain site where they sell FOG light they have this model

Fog Yellow Max

12,500 cd

125 lux

3,500 lm

7,920 lm

3000K Yellow

the 2 lumens are measure and raw. So basically you can buy a FOG light that will have at least 3500 lumens

Also since you seem pretty knowledgeable about fog. Do they have any restriction when doing offroad. The LED I was planning on using can generate 5000 lumens each at 12V with 3.6A each.

 

[smurfslayer]

If I look at a certain site where they sell FOG light they have this model

Fog Yellow Max

12,500 cd

125 lux

3,500 lm

7,920 lm

3000K Yellow

the 2 lumens are measure and raw. So basically you can buy a FOG light that will have at least 3500 lumens

Also since you seem pretty knowledgeable about fog. Do they have any restriction when doing offroad. The LED I was planning on using can generate 5000 lumens each at 12V with 3.6A each.

There’s a few concerns here.
1) legal. In the US, for example, only factory fog/driving lamps or “SAE” approved are road legal. If cited for an inspection ticket, the SAE label on the lamps would be sufficient for acquittal about 98% of the time. There are some jurisdictions where the law simply doesn’t matter in the US, and you generally know when the first few cases are heard. YMMV up north.

2) practical. As I mentioned above, once you start getting above 500lm it’s more than enough to make you see spots for several seconds. It’s all fun and games until you blind some oncoming driver and they start to weave into your lane.

Also, the 8-10k threshold for lumens is enough to bounce back on you. Road signs, even some street signs, create more visual noise for you making it harder for you to see, not easier.

3) Beam. (not Jim) if you are campaigning a true wide beam fog, you absolutely should have a vertical cut off. The rear facing lights on my Rap are wide cornering - throwing light in every direction. They’re 2400 LM each and when I had them on the front were fantastic for illustrating road side critters, but absolutely SUCK in actual fog because they create a white out - like your high beams. Ditto for snow, or dust.

if they’re spots, you won’t have as much coverage of the area you’re not aiming at. But you will get more forward projection. If you check out the lights on my Rap, I have 6x squadron pro lights, 4 of them are amber covered. Those are combo lights spot/corner and aimed very low. They’re great in fog but I still dim them in oncoming traffic because again, easy to night blind an oncoming vehicle.

Now if I’m not concerned about oncoming traffic or revenuers - off road, etc. :
I use all the forward facing unless it gets dusty. if that’s the case it’s headlights and the 6x low lamps. You speed and hoon in heavy dust at your peril. Once the dust settles or I’m in front, if it’s low light I fire them all up.

 

[Allanrock59]

There’s a few concerns here.
1) legal. In the US, for example, only factory fog/driving lamps or “SAE” approved are road legal. If cited for an inspection ticket, the SAE label on the lamps would be sufficient for acquittal about 98% of the time. There are some jurisdictions where the law simply doesn’t matter in the US, and you generally know when the first few cases are heard. YMMV up north.

2) practical. As I mentioned above, once you start getting above 500lm it’s more than enough to make you see spots for several seconds. It’s all fun and games until you blind some oncoming driver and they start to weave into your lane.

Also, the 8-10k threshold for lumens is enough to bounce back on you. Road signs, even some street signs, create more visual noise for you making it harder for you to see, not easier.

3) Beam. (not Jim) if you are campaigning a true wide beam fog, you absolutely should have a vertical cut off. The rear facing lights on my Rap are wide cornering - throwing light in every direction. They’re 2400 LM each and when I had them on the front were fantastic for illustrating road side critters, but absolutely SUCK in actual fog because they create a white out - like your high beams. Ditto for snow, or dust.

if they’re spots, you won’t have as much coverage of the area you’re not aiming at. But you will get more forward projection. If you check out the lights on my Rap, I have 6x squadron pro lights, 4 of them are amber covered. Those are combo lights spot/corner and aimed very low. They’re great in fog but I still dim them in oncoming traffic because again, easy to night blind an oncoming vehicle.

Now if I’m not concerned about oncoming traffic or revenuers - off road, etc. :
I use all the forward facing unless it gets dusty. if that’s the case it’s headlights and the 6x low lamps. You speed and hoon in heavy dust at your peril. Once the dust settles or I’m in front, if it’s low light I fire them all up.

You really know your stuff. Thank you.

Well I live in Canada so IDK. For the SAE I need to pay 99US to get the spec. I will do it since I prefer being legal and who knows maybe selling a few ;)

As for the FOG Light I will be using 6 LED with a maximum power of 300 lumens each in the 3000K instead of the 5000 lumens I originally plan. So a max of 1800 lumens. I know that having light higher than 3000k will totally be useless in snow/fog etc. I live in Quebec city trust me I know lol. You it's the dust me it's the snow. The lenses are elliptical and I can focus them more downward and can also put a horizontal cutoff so it won't go too high and a vertical so it won't go too wide.

Also I am not planning on having a regular round hole like most fog have. My design will be just like the regular light of the Mustang and I will put them in the solid part of that piece where the fog usually goes (Sorry I am French and I don't always have the right name). Personally I believe that it will look better.

Again thank you for all your input it's very well appreciated.

 

[akawease]

Just send photos when you are done. Much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Allanrock59]

Just send photos when you are done. Much appreciated. Thanks.

will do

 

[CarmeloS]

Here we go

 

[REV745DH24]

Questioning the situation in the fog with 15000k light would blinding white clouds in front of you? Will you be able to drive through the clouds blindly white! I’ll be pondering on the capabilities!???

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