Living out in the boonies of MT, where dark is really really dark, Ive been trying to improve my lighting. After a long discussion we had quite a while ago, I ruled out LEDs and HIDS due to legalities and courtesy to other drivers. I went with PIAA lights (brightest there are in Halogen) and modded to have fog lights on with high beams. Seems strange that the low beam combination beam is brighter and better than the high beam combo. However when you pull back on the stem as to flash someone, it really lights up in the manner I think my high beams should. Anyone have any knowledge why this is?

 

That sudden loss of lighting right in front when turning on the brights does seem kind of bad at first, but I realize it's just where they are pointed. After my eyes adjust I realize I am lighting up further down the road. I also have my fog lights wired to be on whenever I want but I have brighter 9005 bulbs in the housings and it made a world of difference. Now with fogs and brights on it is perfect on dark highways.

Edit: when pulling back the stalk you are lighting up both filiments in the headlight bulb. That explains the extra brightness. Doubtful they would last too long if it were set up to run this way though.

 

Correct

 

There is this device that keeps both on, as well as fogs:

Innova Design & Distributing, Inc. - The Brite Box, Bulbzilla / Fogzilla, Diesel Turbo Lifesaver, Eclipse Sun Shade

Read good reviews on it - just cost held me back.

 

$100 bucks, holy crap.

You could build and sell them for half that and still make good $$.

I was going to quickly type up how to do it but figured someone probably already had something.. 2 minutes of Google and yup, here you go.



The left relay is for low beams, the center relay is for high beams, and the right relay is for daytime running lights if you so desire (DRL run the high beams at reduced power).

The "bright box" modification to this is to also connect High-Beam relay pin #37 (the output pin) to Low-Beam relay pin #86 (the input pin) so that turning on the high beams turns on the low beams also. To complete this properly you will also need a diode on the existing low-beam power wire (the wire coming in from your headlight switch).

If you use the DRL feature you need a 10-12v volt zener diode between the HB37 and LB36 (assuming ~1.5 ohms for 2 high beam bulbs in parallel the 1 ohm resistor will run them between 7 - 9 volts) so that the lower DRL voltage doesn't trigger the LB relay or just make sure you use a LB relay that needs at least 10v to energize (I do not recommend a LB relay that strictly only energizes above 12v because you will almost certainly drop below 12v if your alternator craps out and that would be a safety issue during a night that's already bad enough with the dead alt.)

 

How easy was it to mod the fog lights to stay on on the high beam?

 

Found this old link talking about it:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...htbox-mod.html

 

At a glance it sounds like they're bridging the high beam with the fog lights. If so that means they both turn on together.

Important part being, yes the fogs will come on with the highs, but the possibly unanticipated consequence is the highs come on with the fogs and the dash light won't necessarily tell you.

It might not, depending on the factory wiring, but you might want to check that if you haven't already.

 

Literally cut a wire and ground it-that's it

http://www.ssdiv.com/fogfix.html