This was probably the dumbest thing I've done to this Jeep. Why I got it into my head to convert a military surplus blackout tail light into a rear fog lite is beyond me! I'll admit that it ended up working quite well - the new rear fog lite is very brite, and shows much more contrast to the standard tail lites than the above pictures would suggest. Converting the surplus tail lite was a long drawn out process, but I "got 'er done." It should be good to run this here in Florida in our frequent heavy rainstorms at least. The entire project was probably less than $50, but involved a lot of attention to detail. Zorba's Jeep
Rear Fog Lite
Front Fog Lite Refurb
Converted military blackout tail-light...
... has super brite LED installed in it.
New OTRATTW rear fog lite switch installed next to existing switch
At nite: Both switches off with dash lites on.
Main fogs on.
Rear fog on as well.
I need a better picture - too many artifacts and it was starting to rain!
Somewhat better, fog lite is MUCH brighter in relation to the tail lites!I really wanted the rear fog lite switch illumination to match the white bottom that comes on with the dash lites - but I wanted the top "On" LED to be red - and that combination isn't made, so I went with red in both locations. Its wired so that the rear lite won't come on unless the fronts are also turned on, although it doesn't matter which of the two fronts are activated - the rear will come on with either.
I purchased new LED bulbs to replace the original H3 halogens. This should result in brighter fog lites and far less current draw through the anemic stock wiring - never mind what I have added to it! I found out on the TJ forum that it was possible to disassemble the fog lite lens/reflector assemblies to clean out the white deposits on the inside of the glass. Its actually quite easy to do. It was obvious when I first obtained these fog lites that they did not start life as a pair as they were in differing conditions from each other, and this was borne out with today's cleaning job. One of them cleaned up nicely with simple glass cleaner, but the other one wasn't so easy. A combination of Citrus paint stripper and phosphoric acid got the job done, neither the glass cleaner nor pure vinegar touched the deposits. In any event, both lenses are much cleaner than they were before, albeit looking slightly different as their back stories are obviously different as well! Re-assembled with 3M automotive weatherstripping adhesive.
Disassembled fog lite reflector assy before cleaning.
New LED bulb (Right) is longer than original halogen.
Halogen in reflector.
LED in reflector. The internal reflector won't quite fit over the end of the bulb. See text.
Just prior to reassembling the lens to the reflector.
Same deal installing the LED bulb in the other unit, this one has a bit of rust on the reflective surface.
Left hasn't been cleaned yet, Right has. Note milky deposits still on inside of the left assembly.
Same pair as above, but now both have been cleaned. See text.
Back in their bezels.
These red 3D printed fog lite protection grilles were starting to fade, so I painted them.
Back on the Jeep
Lights on! Yellow fog lites, the way the Gods intended.
At nite.
At nite. Much brighter than stock - the clean lenses help!
As others have reported, LED H3 replacements are too long to fit into these housings as they hit the internal reflector before they're fully seated. In addition, the LED bulbs have a pair of LEDs that face forward. Lots of guys simply break the internal reflector off, but I just bent it slightly out of the way so that it should be able to still do most of its original job of focusing the lite downward.
The red plastic lite guards had started to fade a bit - I'm sure this has something to do with the 3D print material used. So I simply painted them with left over Duplicolor primer and red paint! That should help them last a lot longer as they're now protected from the sun.
Bach on new stereo! Maybe I should get a subwoofer for this piece, if nothing else!Read on for the next part!
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