Redstone

Has anyone ever thought of the idea of removing the rear left hand side reverse light and putting a fog light in that spot on a 5th Gen Maxima using a bright LED for the fog light since the reverse light lens is clear. Pretty much the same concept which is used on the new Lexus RX 430 SUV with the clear taillights with LED's inside. I am assuming you might have to use new wiring for the fog light and get a relay and switch and all that other stuff to make the fog light functional.

Tell me what you think guys. I think I might give it a try. I know most European cars like Audi's, Mercedes, Volvo's etc have rear foglights. But if this turns out successful I might be the only on with a 5th Gen Maxima with a rear fog light that is functional and can be used in severe weather as an added safety feature.

03on18s

iTrader: (10)

how often are you backing up in severe weather? doesn't seem worth while to me...

Redstone

03on18's let me explain a bit more. The purpose of the rear fog light is not for the driver to see while reversing, but instead for other drivers to see you in situations like heavy rain, snow, fog and so on. This can be an added safety feature to avoid a rear end collision in sever weather where visibility is poor. And like I mentioned in the original thread, the fog light itself would be bright red perhaps as bright as your brake lights. I am sure at some point most drivers have seen a Saab or Audi or some other type of European car on the highway with a bright red led light on the left side of the car in the tail light cluster. For people who do not know what this means they might have thought there was some type of electrical wiring problem with the car. It's actually a rear fog light which comes standard on most european cars , but since it's not required in the U.S most people are not aware of this.

To sum it all up imagine yourself driving through an area with sever weather perhaps on a highway. The back of your Maxima looks stock like every Maxima on the road. The person driving behind you can see you, but visibility is very poor. You then turn on the switch for the rear fog and "bingo" you car stands out and the car(s) behind you can see that red light very clearly much more clearly than your normal tail lights.

SEmy2K2go

iTrader: (10)

Or you could just put your hazard lights on

Maxceler8

Oh yeah, I know what you mean. I've seen those -- bright as heck man! And kinda annoying if you've gotta follow one for a while......last gen Auroras had them also IIRC

redstradic

i really wouldnt call it a rear fog. the main purpose of the light was to be used when parallel parking. thats why its mostly on European cars.

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Really? I do believe that some of those rear "fog" lights are really for driving in conditions where visibility is poor and ya need to keep other drivers aware of your presence ahead of them.... why would ya need a bright light for parallel parking? I'm not sure I understand the rationale here....

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

My buddy had a GTI he bought used and could not figure out how to turn his rear fog on. He drove it for years wondering about why other GTIs had it, but his didn't...

restradic it is a rear fog light, bright so traffic following you can see you, not the dim lights you are thinking of.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

My dad's MB has rear fog lights and parking lights. He's able to turn on only the parking lights (the front is a dim headlight and the rear is a tail light) on the side that is away from the curb. Those have nothing to do with the rear fog light, which is separate and as bright as the brake lights.

EDIT: nice post pull there...

Puppetmaster

iTrader: (48)

Back to what redstone asked... if ya really think ya need it for the driving conditions that you face, it might be a good idea. If I'm ever driving in fog that thick, I'd be grateful to people who did have something like that. Its your decision and your money. I say go ahead if ya need it and post some pics...

Check if its legal too, although I don't see why it wouldn't be... since every other new vehicle seems have some sort of auxiliary light in the back, be it for reversing, parallel parking, or fog.... does it really matter?

PTNR

iTrader: (2)

these lights are good only if used correctly and as intended for bad weather. too many times i've been behind someone who has this light on and the weather is fine. really annoying to have to follow in traffic. some people have it but have no idea what to do with it. idiots.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

Couldn't agree more PTNR, but it's ovboius that redstone wouldn't be one of those...

NYPD-Arnold

iTrader: (8)

Pontiacs always have them.

Redstone

Hey Guys thanks for the comments. I think I might give it a try and post some pics to show everyone how things came out. Oh and that dim headlight that CCS2K1Max was reffering to on the front of the MB is actually a "city light". In most cases it usualy a 194 or 168 type bulb, I think the come in either 5W or 8W. "City lights" are actually the equivalent of parking lights in the United States. Just a different name and they are clear not amber since most of the time they are found only on Japanese or European cars. Sometimes when foreign cars are built for the U.S market, the light called "city light" is eliminated altogether and the wiring is combined with the front turn signals. So in the U.S that car would have amber parking lights which share the same housing and bulb as the front turn signals(double filament type bulb), but in Japan and Europe most of the rest of the world the lighting set up would be slightly different.(i.e city light/parking light as a separate bulb and clear in appearance and the front trun signals as a separate bulb). Most of the time this switch done to accomodate marker lights on U.S spec models.

In Japan all the cars have clear parking lights. They don't use amber. In Europe also same thing applies. In fact Europe is where you'll find the term "city light" used most frequently because in some cities in Europe you cannot use your headlights (high or low beams) while driving in certain cities. Instead you'll have to turn off your low beams and leave just the city light/parking light on. And the "city light" has to be clear like I said earlier because in Germany for example it is illegal to have an amber parking light.

Now for folks with the 02 and 03 Maximas, if you were to ship your car over to Europe then you would not need a headlight conversion from U.S spec to European spec because the 02's and 03's have city lights already (just above the front trun signals). NOt sure what they would do with the rear side markers on the 5th Gen since that is red. Perhaps changing it to amber like the front side markers would do the trick. And finally my original idea of the rear fog light would come in handy cause guess what? You would need that too. Just my 2 cents on that matter.

Thanks Guys!