Custom Inspire-style fog installation (w/pics)

[striktlyaccord]

Finally got this long-awaited project taken care of.  Had a good shop do the cutouts in my 03-05 front bumper and do some research in order to construct very durable custom brackets for the housings.  The cutouts are complemented with some black rubber door edge guard material around the perimeter, and rather than having the lenses directly flush in the bumper itself, they are slightly recessed because the curvature of the bumper would have had them shining too far outward.  Even with them recessed though, the light output still shines pretty far outward, more so on the driver's side.  The workmanship didn't come out perfect, but it's pretty damn good compared to what I've seen others do.  And when used with just the parking lights, it looks dope.  But boy, do the fog lights make the lenses fucking hot to the touch!  Ouch.  Pics:

[timot_one]

Looks great Dave.  I really like the way you have them mounted.  What kind of bracket is epoxied to the bumper in this pic?

[Lemonjelly]

Looks great Dave. Good job!

[ibcnunv]

what bracket is that?  


great work...

[k24low20z]

it looks good dave why didnt you just do the 07 conversion? you can prob adjust the fogs with the screw on shroud of the fog..

[Rich01]

Looks great Dave, about time.

[Mike]

Looks awesome Dave!

[striktlyaccord]

Thanks for all the compliments.  For people asking about the brackets, I'm sure too sure exactly what they are because I didn't make them.  All the work was done by a local tuner shop.  However, I do know that the one with the epoxy on it is a very hard plastic, not metal.  I'm sure sure about the bracket on the other side because it seems to have been covered in some sort of shrink wrap-type material.  They're durable though.

it looks good dave why didnt you just do the 07 conversion? you can prob adjust the fogs with the screw on shroud of the fog..

I opted out of doing the 06-07 conversion because I don't like the grille design as much as the 03-05 bumper.  Plus, if I went the 06-07 route, I wouldn't have been able to reuse my Grillcraft grilles because the grille openings are shaped differently.  I like my grilles too much to be without them, which is also why I scrapped the idea of using oem-type fogs for the Inspire-style ones.  Thanks for the idea about aiming the fogs too.

[CYANiDE]

Know what kind of rubber they used? Seems like a neat idea as long as it can withstand heat of the foglight itself.

[striktlyaccord]

Know what kind of rubber they used? Seems like a neat idea as long as it can withstand heat of the foglight itself.

If you're referring to the rubber used around the perimeter of the cutouts, it's basically just door edge guard.  I shared this idea with the installer because I've seen people use it for exhaust cutouts before.  It should withstand the heat from the fog light lenses... I hope.

[alpha]

I like it.. Looks clean!

[CYANiDE]

Know what kind of rubber they used? Seems like a neat idea as long as it can withstand heat of the foglight itself.

If you're referring to the rubber used around the perimeter of the cutouts, it's basically just door edge guard.  I shared this idea with the installer because I've seen people use it for exhaust cutouts before.  It should withstand the heat from the fog light lenses... I hope.

I'm definitely going to look into it. I'll PM you in a few weeks and ask you how they're holding up. I have a bit of gap in my fogs, and this would complete the look without have to cut my bumper or even taking it off.

[striktlyaccord]

Two random questions that I have now that I've had these fogs in for a while:

1.  Anyone know why the oem fog light wiring comes with two relays?  My black relay ended up breaking, and today I replaced it with a new one, and in doing this I discovered that if you unplug the second (grey) relay, the fogs still work normally.  What's the purpose of the second relay??

2.  Anyone have any idea if there's a different relay bracket to use for cars equipped with the v6 6-speed strut bar?  The bracket that comes with the fog light kit (if you buy the complete kit) will not work with the v6 bar because the bar doesn't have the proper holes drilled into it (which are also holes that are used for the throttle cables bracket in the i4s, so my throttle cables haven't been hooked to anything for a while either).  Therefore, the relays cannot be mounted as suggested by the oem installation guide.  Any ideas on what to do or if a different bracket exists?

[timot_one]

1.  I just answered your question in your PM, but to share the knowledge here, I'll post again.

There are 2 relays because the OEM fog lights are designed to turn on with the headlights only.  They are supposed to turn off when you turn your high beams off.  One relay is to turn your fog lights on and essentially step up lower current to higher current to power your fog light bulbs.  The other relay is to turn your fog lights off when you turn your high beams on.  

2.  I drilled a hole in the V6 STB to mount my relays.  I found it to work just fine.

[striktlyaccord]

Yeh, I got your pm, thanks.  You switched your wording though... I think you meant to say the fogs turn off when the high beams go "on", not "off".  And I remember you saying that you drilled into your v6 bar... did you still use the oem relay bracket though or not?  Because the bracket's shape doesn't look like it'll fit over the horizontal bar of the v6 bar itself.