For those that remember I installed some sweet Carbon fiber Hella Optilux fog lights about a month ago.. Tonite on the way home I noticed one wasn't working so when I got home I pulled out my maglite and took off a small cover on the bottom of the light. The whole thing was full of rust and what was left of the bulb holder. There's no way it can properly ground I am pretty sure the light will never work again.. Kinda pissed they only lasted a month. The weather has been wet and they have been subjected to alot of water but I was under the assumption they were sealed.. guess not. Guess that can go on the Waste of Money mod list. Anyone have any suggestions for a low profile type light the might actually hold up to a little water. I loved having the fogs it made it much more enjoyable driving on them really dark rainy nights. Here's the original thread

 

Hellas are great lights, but the Optilux ones are one of their cheapest lines made in asia. Not the usual good German quality.

 

Now ya tell me:pat: haha I am looking for suggestions on some replacements.

 

Here is an Ebay auction for the Hella FF(free form)driving lights I use for my high beams. They use an H7 bulb which I switched to a Philips Vision Plus H7 and it's very bright. Hella also makes them in a fog light.

PIAA are also a great light but can be sometimes pricey.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33709

Paul

 

whoa buddy them FF lights aren't too cheap neither. If I could figure out a way to get a new bulb holder that would fit up inside there I could fix this one I think.. that's a long shot though.

 

Less than a hundred bucks for quality lights?

I guess you would cringe at the five hundred that my HIDs cost...lol

 

Joey, I have hear this about the Optilux line too.
Not upto the high German standards of the main Hella line.

My Hella 500s may be inexpensive, but they have never petered out on me, and are water and moisture free inside.

 

I had the same problem with mine when they were mounted on the front air dam, they filled with road grime and water.

I rebuilt them but I got a SWWWWWEEEEEET deal on a set of PIAA driving and a set of PIAA fog light which, if I ever get any free time will be mounted on my 4runner.

 

I had these mounted on my 88 until I put the 4000's on.

http://www.hellausa.com/maineng/lev1b/lev2bb/lev3bbc/micro_ff.html

THey are very small and put out some great light for fogs. I would highly recommend them. They were installed on my 4runner for over a year with-out any complaints.

Martin

 

Joey,

I have a set of used PIAA 959's that I used to have on a Toyota factory brushguard. I bought the 520's when I went to the Smittybilt a few years back. The 959's have been in a drawer ever since. I have the PIAA wiring harness and switch that came with the 520's unused (I was too lazy to change it out). These are the under mount model, so if you have an extra set of holes in the middle of your brushguard, these would be the ticket. All aluminum housing and nice thick glass lens. They have a few stone nicks on the lens. I had them on for about a year or so.

If you are interested, PM me.

 

There is no excuse for after market vehicle lights to go bad within a month. It doesn't matter how little you paid for them.

Have you contacted Hella to see if they will just replace them? They are a pretty good company. Customer service should be some sort of priority for them.

 

Ive got the otipluxes and they arnt the best but they do work. I cant say much about wear and tear yet.

 

I have a problem with the funky little piaa fog lites and cat eyes that they sell at auto parts stores, frankly, they dont do crap.

I have a neat alternative-- the air vents in the front valence on my 98 tacoma are almost exactly the same size as 95 camaro high beams. Those little bastards are fricking bright and they work good . I put two on my tacoma and since they are an H4 configuration, you could put the crystal blue bulbs in them and they would be even brighter!! i drive a lot in the snow so i need lights that light up everything or else you just cant see.

just a suggestion-- oh and the lights are only 29.99 each!

Tim

 

Duffdog can you post a pic of your Valance with these installed? I have no clue what that one looks like off the top of my head. Thanks

 

Beleive it or not I bought a pair of fog lights made by Pilot. They cost me $19.99 at AutoZone. I have installed these in the air dam on each side of the license plate (same place that they are factory installed on a 3rd gen). I had to do a little "Dremelling" to fit them flush. I have had them for about 2 months now and I am very pleased. They give off decent light and are completely sealed. They are also surviving all of the wonderful Chicago elements (extreme cold, salt, snow, etc). For $20, you can't go wrong.

These are the lights that I have here:

Pilot Fog Lights

And check out the rest of their lights, they have a big selection:

Pilot Lighting Products

Like I said, the fogs that I bought werte only $19.99. They had some of the other styles from $19.99 to about $34.99.

 

Oh one other thing, the Pilot fogs didn't come with a relay, but Pilot makes them too. I picked that up for $3.99 at AutoZone as well. It does come with an illuminated rocker switch, however, I took Corey's advice and went with the OEM Toyota switch - that ran about $15 including tax.