Most Toyota Tacoma owners are split between the dilemma to stay with their factory halogen fog lights or upgrade these with LED ones, are unaware of the conditions under which turning on fog lights is a requirement, or is totally illegal to turn these on. They also don’t make any modifications to the existing lights themselves as they consider the replacement process is a tedious task. In this article, we are going to shed light on all these topics one after another and fully guide you about it. Read through the article and be more aware to make the right decision for your Toyota Tacoma today!
What are Fog Lights?
Since fog settles at a level near the ground, fog lights are designed to illuminate the road or pathway near the ground level. They are mounted at a level lower than the headlights and tail lights and are designed to shine through fog, mist, snow or rainfall. Also, when you are off-roading, fog lights can illuminate the immediate track you are driving on during the night times. Rear fog lights are also available made to alarm the driver in a vehicle following you regarding your presence on the road during times of adverse visibility. During low visibility conditions, fog lights can turn out to be a lifesaver.
When Should You Use Fog Lights?
Using fog lights under bad weather conditions such as during thick fog, snowfall, rainfall or sandstorm is a crucial step for a driver to take to ensure the safety not only of himself but of others on the road as well. However, the fog lights should not be turned on at all times as this may render unsafe driving conditions for oncoming drivers. For instance, they may cause blindness for other drivers. In fact, in most countries, it is illegal to turn on fog lights during times of high visibility. Moreover, during poor visibility situations, turning on high-beam headlights can further reduce visibility as the lights are reflected back from the thick fog or mist cloud. Fog lights are designed to cut through the mist, fog, or dust and enhance the visibility of the road for the driver. Please note, however, fog lights are never a replacement of the daytime running lights (DRL) or the low/ high beam headlights.
Is Replacing Halogen Fog Lamps with LED Lights Really Beneficial?
Knowing about the vital role fog lights play during reduced visibility conditions, it is important that the owner of the vehicle keeps these lights in running condition. While fog lights usually come with factory halogen bulbs, the life of these lamps is not much longer. Once they burn out, replacing these halogen bulbs with newer ones will not solve the issue, in fact, start a cycle of continuously replacing lights after a certain time. A wise decision to make will be to replace these halogen bulbs with aftermarket LED Fog lights. Not only LED lamps last longer but also provide improved illumination for you to drive more safely and confidently on road under poor visibility conditions. Additionally, LED lights don’t produce much heat and are more sustainable in their outputs and the cherry on the top is that they add a rather modern look to your Tacoma.
With LED Factory Mart, you can rest assured that the LED fog lights are manufactured in a manner that the light shines through the fog or mist rather than getting reflected back. The LED chips are designed in a way that maximum illumination on road is provided and the focus of the light output is the same as that of the halogen lamps. If you have made up your mind to carry out the modification in your Toyota Tacoma, do have a look at the durable LED fog lights for the Tacoma truck by LED Factory Mart here!
How to Install Tacoma Fog Lights?
The replacement of Halogen Fog lights with LED lights is not a time-consuming process rather it can take hardly 20 minutes time. You may not need external assistance for the process and can carry it out in your own garage. We will guide you about the procedure herein.
The LED bulbs should be H11 which means that they should have an L-shaped socket so that it can fit inside the factory housing. You can follow the simple steps mentioned below to get your job done!
- Open the hood of your Tacoma.
- Insert your hand inside the hood down until you can feel the fog light housing.
- Rotate the bulb and slide it back.
- Once the bulb is out, disconnect the wiring harness.
- Now insert the H11 LED bulb through the front of the housing (Inside the hood), it will push through the tabs.
- Rotate it and it will get locked into its place.
- As a last step, plug the wiring harness back again and you are good to go!
For a visual description, follow this video
See, what a simple procedure it is to change your stock halogen fog lamps with LED ones that have a cleaner and brighter output as well as it gives an enhanced appearance to your Toyota Tacoma without compromising on the safety requirements.
You may also desire to replace the whole fog light kit including its bracket, lights, and wiring adapter, or just the mounting brackets. Even if this process would not require a lot of modifications, you can check out this link for the details of changing fog lights kits for the 2016-2022 Toyota Tacoma.
In a Nutshell
All in all, fog lights are vital for safe driving on roads under misty or foggy weather conditions, but keeping them on under all conditions is not only a violation of the legal rules in most countries but it also poses a safety threat to other drivers on road owing to the fact that they may blind or dazzle them. Also, it is important that burnt out halogen lamps be replaced with LED ones as they are more outlasting, brighter and cleaner. The procedure doesn’t require expert hands, rather it is a simple plug-and-play kind of process. LED Factory Mart provides a variety of fog lights for Toyota Tacoma that are durable and have excellent illumination properties, you can visit the website anytime to place your order and upgrade your vehicle!