My Story: Cracked original fog light using GT-X's, Cracked first ebay replacement with GT-X's, and now have cracked second ebay replacement with regular Super Plasma's.

My Question #1: Will switching to HID fogs reduce the bulb operating temperature??

My Question #2: Has anyone tried the Armada/Titan fogs?? Are they glass also?? I took a look at Courtesy and they look similiar but w/ plastic lenses. Just a thought.

Discuss.

 

Man I am staying stock. I cracked my drivers side with piaa and i refuse to keep replacing fog lights. I never had a cracked fog light when I was stock and I will remain stock for here on out.............LEAVE THOSE AFTERMARKET BULBS ALONE OR KEEP REPLACING LAMPS

 

grrr....don't mention that....




it used to be a perfectly round hole about a millimeter wide but it turned into this and there's a rock rattling around in there now my PIAA super plasmas are still going strong after a year and a half of ownership, though! (knock on wood...)

 

Good question. Maybe try calling Dave B? I don't know any Titan owners, so i'm not sure if it would fit.

 

the titan ones are plastic and they're CLEAR plastic, which is even better IMO (like the 5th gen ones)...i remember hearing something about them fitting in the maximas, but i think it was the 5th gens, not the 5.5s...

 

404 - Dilemma not found. I suggest you get OE replacement parts and HIDs.

 

And then he will be replacing the lens again. The glass lenses are very fragile and any road debris will break them. I covered mine with the 3M film and they've held out for 2+ years.

 

yeah ok, i'll just pull the money out of my @$$ and do that right away....i mean seriously...not everyone has the money to just go buy new foglights AND HIDs...i know i certainly dont...as a matter of fact: i don't even have enough money to buy JUST the foglights! And the heat isn't the only thing that cracks them...the rock rattling around inside my foglight right now proves it...and that happened on a day when my lights were off...

 

I thought the 5.0 gen fogs were shallower than the 5.5 gen's. If that's right, there's no reason why they wouldn't fit.

 

well i know you could probably make them fit, it's just that you would have to fabricate some sort of mounting bracket, because those two are different..

 

That's no biggy, however, I'm not investing $200 on it now because I'll have a redline bumper on it in a few months. Otherwise, believe me, it would've been done already! If only I had known...

 

I thought the reason why they crack is the glass becomes fragile due to the eat inside the housing. I only mention HID housing because it would reduce/eliminate the heat.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Nissan really **** the bed when they went to glass in the 5.5. I guess 3M film is what you need.

 

Mine breaks during the day without the lights on. Heat doesn't have anything to do with it. That rock hitting the glass at 70 mph, on the other hand... Glass down that close to the road is a dumb idea.

 

i half agree with you....the heat ALSO helps them to crack...for example, if it's below freezing outside and you have your fogs on, the glass will obviously be more fragile, so if something DOES happen to hit them, they will have a greater chance of breaking....but like i said before, that's not the ONLY reason they crack like some people think...

 

when did this happen

 

Glass doesnt work that way. It's more fragile when it's cold, but no because of what you're saying. If there's a temp. differential between the center and the outside of the lense, it's possible that it migh crack due to thermal expansion/contraction. Regardless, 99.9999999% of the cracks are due to rocks hitting the lenses due to it's location.

 

I actually tested this heat theory out when i last replaced both foglight housings. Basically, i just didn't use the foglights for several months.

Guess what? Just two weeks into having the new lamps in, one was already cracked and the other had a chip.

 

Do HID's run that cool? If not, I'm going over to the Nissan dealer tomorrow and check out the Titan fogs just for giggles.

BTW: This is not road debris. My situation is caused exclusively by heat. Both lenses at the same time. I need to take pix. You can see where the bulb heated the center of the glass and it "shattered" right there.

 

i think yesterday...well...yesterday was when i noticed it, but since it's REALLY noticable, i don't think i would have overlooked it...either way, it happened right after my freaking bumper got all scratched up from my sidemarker falling out....i've had really bad luck lately....

 

i'm thinking the best way to protect the lens is with those 3M film =/ i put some on when i saw mine had a small hole and a crack on it and it's been holding up fine so far.

 

Can the 3M Film be bought at any auto parts store? I've never seen it before.

 

I just bought a 5.5 gen front bumper w/ fogs, and they were both cracked. So after reading everyone's posts about them repetitively cracking, I decided to just buy some clear epoxy from Pepboys, and seal up the crack in the passenger side one, and seal up the hole & cracks in the drivers side.
Came out alot nicer than i expected, I'll take pics tomorrow.

 

Agree, mine broke during the day too. My Maxima fog was hit on the edge when it cracked

Disagree, I have a 91 Honda CRX with OEM glass fogs close to the road that have been beaten for 150K miles. The glass is pitted but still no cracks, plus still has the original bulbs.

 

in answer to your question. Hid's burn cooler and wont generate as much heat as the filament bulbs. Less heat = less cracking.

 

On my 2K2, both my stock foglights cracked within the first 2 years of ownership. I replaced them both with stockers again AND added the 3M protective film and now one of the two new ones is cracked again.

Of the 3 foglights that have broken on me (again I will add that it was all with stock bulbs), 1 was a rock and the other 2 were heat related. In my cold climate for sure, I think the thermal "shock" is as much of a factor as rocks. As I said, my most recent foglight cracking was with the 3M film and there is absolutely no sign of a rock impact.

I quit using my fogs, and the one light that is still in tact has stayed that way for over a year now. If anyone has ever gotten close to these lights after they have been on for awhile like I have, you know how hot they get. I'm pretty sure that if it's raining or snowing out with the lights as hot as they are, the cold moisture hitting them causes a thermal shock that cracks the glass.

 

i bought mine from this website...

http://www.stickercity.com/store/home.php?cat=2086

they were local so i had them install for me as well.

 

where can i buy some replacement fog lights from. 02-03. Doesn't have to been the ones made by nissan, just oem type

 

I agree totally. My driver side cracked the day we had a big rain storm. I was driving home in the storm and both lights were on. Stopped to pick up something from the store. Got back in my car afters shopping, put on the fogs and only the pass. side worked. Got out to see and had a big azz crack in the drivers side. Heat is a problem......