NCTRNL

It rained here in KC last night and my fogs, with super plasma PIAA's, were steaming like crazy. The glass is VERY warm to the touch and the HID's aren't warm at all.

Gsilk

i'm glad my 2k has plastic lenses. maybe the only advantange over 5.5 gens (aside from HID thefts)??

hotrod37

mine cracked the other day the car was in my heated garage (60 degrees F) and the outside temp was 4 degrees f. I started my car in the garage and let it run for about 5 minutes with the lights on before going to work. When i came home that night i noticed one of my fogs was cracked.. I just thought it was from a stone but maybe not

umnitza

iTrader: (20)

As silly as this sounds but by having a protective layer of film on it, it will minimize the expansion and contraction of the glass.

Maxxxed

iTrader: (3)

wow, you have a heated garage!! That's awesome. I have so many projects pending because my garage is so freaking cold... (I live in Buffalo, NY).

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

It is silly, because it doesn't work. I have the stock bulbs in my 2002. After the first one broke, I bought another and covered both with Xpel. Now the other one is cracked. It doesn't work.

Zero Deuce SE

Wouldn't that theory depend on the expansion/contraction rates of both materials?

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

Yes it would, plus the fact that the entire surface of the glass is NOT covered by the film.

Zero Deuce SE

That may or may not be what caused your lens to crack. I use Xtreme white 55W bulbs in my fogs and they have been through lots of rain. It rained like crazy on the Gulf Coast today and I drove from New Orleans back to Northwest Florida. I had the fogs on the whole time and I don't see any cracks on my lenses. The glass is fairly thick. The only time any of my foglight lens on my previous cars has broken was because of an impact with a rock.

MannyNJ2k2max

iTrader: (3)

i used the luminix film and still cracked one and film was showing burn marks from the fogs in a mtter of weeks...

Triple8Sol

iTrader: (29)

My driver's side fog has been cracked for awhile, but it's definitely because of a rock. I really doubt it's from heat for most people...

bigdo26

iTrader: (3)

Been thru 95 degrees to -5 or so, no problems cracking. My new driving lights went down to -20 this past week and there were no problems with that either... maybe I got a good set of fogs tho

umnitza

iTrader: (20)

But if you cut it yourself, wouldn't that be YOUR fault?

The bottom line is that on most cars this works, maybe your glass is too thin.

The expansion characteristics of plastic is vastly different than glass. Did you apply it properly to your fogs? Were your fogs warm when you applied it?

Not disputing it, merely saying that it requires more factors. Xpel is one way to help it.

StonGard is even thicker and will have even different expansion and contraction properties.

FanaticMadMax

That is specifically why I don't mess with the bulbs, cuz putting something higher output gonna either melt or crack the lens. As for those you guys with heated garage, I hate to say this but it's definitely a BAD IDEA TO HAVE. Why??? Because it can acclerate the rust on your car, supposely if you were driving back from a road with snow that just got salted. With snow/salt on the rockerwell, the heat will accelerate the process and start corroiding the paint. I read it somewhere on consumer report. If I find it, I'll type in the details what it said.

Audtatious

One of mine was cracked before adding the PIAA's. Now both are cracked and have holes in them. Pretty nasty.

hotrod37

Yes my max sits right next to my 69 camaro and wifes 99 max

hotrod37

Well when it snows (and they do use salt here) and i bring the car back into the garage I just wash it and yes I do rinse out the wheel openings and above the wheel lip on the fender with high pressure warm water (2,500 psi pressure washer ). I live in the northeast and I know what salt will do. I take very good care of my cars. When i got the 2002 I was driving a 90 max that i bought new. That car had over 250,000 miles on it and it ran and looked like a new car.
I gave that car to my son who has been driving it for over two years the car now has almost 300,000 miles on it and has never had any motor work and doesn't leak or burn a drop of oil.

my02black6spdSE

mine cracked....but because I hit a bunny.... DOH

Quidproquo

I think it's the shock factor. I drove for over an hour at night with the fogs on... Then had to drive through a flooded area. The hot lamps never even crossed my mind. When I got home, I noticed a nice lense crack from top to bottom!!! There was no impact mark anywhere on the lense. This was definitely from dipping the hot lamps into the cold water.

I've bought 2 sets of fog light kits from Nissan already (they're cheaper than buying individually, and I've used them all anyway). Why oh why didn't they use plastic lenses like the 00 -01s?!?!?

Jaws

Yup. Broke my first lens, replaced light, added film, now both are broken again. Its a flawed design.

2002 Maxima SE

iTrader: (3)

I meant that the lights have a lip that does not get covered by the Xpel, only the front of the light. Cutting has nothing to do with it. I'm sure that the Xpel will stop all but the biggest rocks from cracking...but it certainly won't stop temperature differences.

I get where you're coming from, but we would need an ENTIRE glass cover to stop heat differences. It would have to be one piece and fit like a cup over the front of the foglight.

Another solution may be a lesser wattage bulb so the glass does not get as hot.

Zero Deuce SE

You tried the deep water fording trick with your fogs then. I reckon they're not amphibious.