Originaly I posted this in another thread, but then I thought I'd make it a thread of it's own to maybe garner comments or suggestions or other's pictures .... plus ... then I can re-find it.

Yesterday (Saturday), I was gonna make or fab some steel mounts that would have mounted my recently rediscovered once misplaced NIB old Unity H-1 Fog lamps in front of the bumper between the guards and license plate. But there were those holes from long ago, and so I decided to put them up on top of the bumper yesterday. Thinking was they are likely safer there too. Between the bumper and the aluminum apron of the grille shell, it was a real PITA to get to the bolt heads under there with a 5/8" wrench. I ended up with a few (wrenches) out there, but I got them tight enough for now. I even tried a crows foot, but it was a 6 point type that didn't slide onto a hex from the side like a plain old open end will.

Went to wire up a relay, switch, etc, and I found some wiring issues where I had replaced the front signal / parking light socket a few years ago using crimp type connectors, so I got sidetracked fixing that.I'll finish wiring later, supper time caught up with me.

But then, I thought I might go this other way below. They'd still be behind the face of the vertical bumper guards. I played with drawing some.

 

Welp, I got them wired and working, then after dark took it to a local car wash to use the side of the carwash as a backdrop / screen to aim both my head lights (they got buckets replaced last week) and the fog lights. Head lights did look good lighting up the road in front of us, some slight bit brighter than before the relay kit was added I think. Come December when I take it for inspection I'll put the light aimer to work .... I might have them a little bit low being cautious / conservative. Fog lights are aimed low I know, but I tore up my hand (skin is thinned over the years) working with a wrench in between rear of bumper edge & grille lower (Wife was not pleased when she saw the hand) getting the bolts tight .... so there is an excellent chance I'll lower them from up on top of the bumper to in front of bumper either side of the license plate.

And an update today the 14th, I did a lot of measuring, test fitting, and got the brackets made. They are painted and drying, they'll bolt on the bumper lower lip and extend over to a second bolt at the frame, diagonal like. Once dried good, I'll bolt them on, run two wires, and call it done. They'll be might near located exactly as depicted in the lower picture in above post.

In other news, I didn't cut or scrape skin off like yesterday, but I did cook some skin today. OUCH! Today's blister on the left index finger is a good 1/4" tall x 1/4" x 3/8" oval wet looking balloon. Probably will bust in my sleep.

And an update today the 15th, After my walk, then an hour or so digging through my big bolt box (I really need to sort them all out) I took my new mounts out and attached them. I had drilled the holes 7/16 to allow adjustment with the good grade eight 3/8" bolts, lock washers, etc. Took awhile of adjusting, but they are ready for the lights, and "dead on ***** accurate" as she said. Had to be as they are beside the bumper guards, and close to the bumper in back of them. Tomorrow afternoon Wife has a visit with her friend / hairdresser so I'll get them in place, wired, and good to go then while she's gone.

 

Finished up today, things been getting in my way, but they work exactly as intended now. There is a dedicated switch for them, but they'll only come on if the park lights are on ... which includes with head lights. For example .... if they are on and the head lights are on and I get out at a gas station and turn the head lights off they'll go off too. They can be used alone if the park lights are on too.



I used 16 gauge wires for connections at 30 and 87, I had a bunch and it'll handle over 13 amps. I used some 16 gauge for 85 & 86 but that's overkill, 18 or 20 would be fine, even 22 .... but I had a bunch of the 16 as I said. In side the housings is a small gauge wire for the ground side of the bulb, it is riveted to the housing in back. I did upgrade to a 16 gauge black wire to ground the bulb in the housing with a 3/16" screw/nut.

These lights are only 35 watt incandescent fog lights, but I have noticed some same sized 4.5" 50 watt halogen wide beam light bulbs just browsing., and my wiring can handle those too. Halogens would be whiter light and the head lights are halogens now.

Just a thought.

I do like them though ...............

 

Recently as I was working under the hood, using my good step stool, I found that it was a snug fit between those fog lights in front of the bumper and I need to use it there often enough for it to matter. So today I moved them back to where I first put them, above the bumper between the guards, and my step stool poses no danger to them.


Update, going back I am.

 

You know fog lights have I think it was a max height of 18 inches as the light needs to get "under the fog".
I know hard to do on a real 4x4. I had to mount mine under the bumper on my 86 K5 Blazer and driving lights went up on the light tabs on the grille guard.

Also white light is also not good for fog as it reflects back at you and not forward.
That is why you see yellow fog lights as they tend not to reflect back as much in the fog.
Just saying

Now in the "do as I say not as I do" dept.
I added fog (clear lenses)/ driving lights to my 81 F100 4x2 and to keep them out of harms way and not liking the look above or below the bumper I mounted them in the bumper.
Lights are from LMC to fit their bumper with lights in it.
You cannot buy a 80-86 bumper with lights in the bumper like you can for yours so I had to make them fit.

Dave ----

 

You did a great job of it too I think.

Our several '70s F-350 mail hauling trucks had Perlux fog lights, hung under the front bumper. If was foggy out at night, they helped a bunch. We had to keep on schedule you know.

I've used amber ones about always but these were in the box they come in and had the clear, and well, I'm not so apt to be driving this truck in real fog like I once might have, and really this was the only one of my stable they'd look right on. I have some rectangle lights, but they didn't look so right, so off they came and back into a box they went, they is why my bumper had the holes already. These are just 35 or 37 watt "fog" sealed beams, wide dispersal, but narrow in height. Kind of "fill in" light.

I've done some looking, not going for 100 watt aircraft landing lights, but might yet get some 50 or 60 watt Par 36 driving light sealed beams, I ran my wiring and a relay with that in mind. Usually I aim the right to the right of center, and left to left of center to maybe help spotting deer or bear or cows before they get in the road.

Easy to change, but I love the old Unity housings. Might still get me a couple 4415A bulbs ... or I might even have a couple on a shelf (I should look). I might well put them back in front of the bumper. Amber would both look and work good down there. I have already been re-evaluating my step options as it is. Today I look at my hands tore up again from reaching in to find the bolts and turn or tighten them through the narrow gaps that exist between bumper and grill. Only found one wrench that will work and then can only get one flat worth of turn at a time. I kept my brackets, will be a really easy move. Adjustments will be hugely easier too.

Appreciate the comments I do!

Updated 11-24-2025 .... After I once again tried adjusting them mounted above the bumper ... and find that getting a 5/8" wrench to the bolt heads without tearing skin off to get a wrench under the rear lip of the bumper and the grill apron ... and then get enough grip to tighten or loosen it ... is still impossible. So today I cleaned and repainted the stout brackets I had made for in front of bumper mounting today and the lights went back in front of the bumper beside the tag today, then I added some disconnects in the feed near the bulbs to ease replacement if needed due to breakage or burn out and they are very readily accessed with any 5/8" wrench or socket for easy adjustment.
I'll just be extra careful with that step stool, or I'll just build an alternative.

 

Today I was running a few errands and took the opportunity to run by a buddy's garage and use the light aimer to aim my fog lights, and surprised myself.

When I last put them back on brackets in front of the bumper, I did it on level ground leading into my little shop apron. I double checked the rake of the truck in that spot and used a maybe 8" level (has an adjustable vial too) and a wood jig to rest against the face chrome of the fog lights, but not the glass. I did some trig and set the beams vertically to drop 2" in 25 feet, by setting my level on the needed angle indicated in my calculations and holding it against the wood jig against the fog light housings as I adjusted. I knew that the ground under the truck was level.

I just stood straight above the lights and eyeballed left vs right aim, pretty much going by the bumper top, it's a very slight curve, not absolutely straight, but very near so.

Buddy's light aimer said I was near spot on. Night time with lights on shown at a wall confirmed it. I know books say normal is a 4" drop in 25 feet, I have always gone for a 2 to 3 inch drop in 25 feet.


Cooling fast out there and a lot of wind is kicking up I hear ..... is a good night to stay in.

 

My truck had these on when I got it. I am old enough to tell by their design they are a period item and they still work so I left them for nostalgia. They are wired straight to a toggle switch. Lighting for vehicles has advanced by leaps and bounds since the 70s.

 

@Mark8man .... I have some that look like those, mine are rubber with riveted steel mount tabs, and I wondered how they would hold up over years exposed to weather, but likely OK as they'll never rust away. I used them for years as utility & spot lights in several police cars, mounted on wooden bases. One has a wide beam flood light bulb and the other has a narrower beam spot light bulb, they both just plugged into a toggle switched outlet mounted on my radio console. The flood light one has a longer wire, it was used if just needing light at a scene at night. It had rubber like drawer liner on the base so I could set it on a roof or hood or trunk with no scratches. The other spot light one has a much shorter wire, it sat on velcro on my dash pre-pointed out the windshield if I was patrolling the big road at night, the rubber didn't make noise rattling or mark the windshield or reflect lights, and unless you looked into it with a flashlight from the front, was hard to see. It was for lighting up violator's vehicles during stops, as an unmarked car did not have a spot light. It was really handy a few times in a Mustang or Monte Carlo SS, etc, likely even a life saver on occasion.

I had used them for driving lights in a car once, hung in the grill ... and bulb changes are easy with them. I thought about them and had I not found these Unity lights again, they might would be on my '77 now. I think they look fine myself. I see some used locally as rearward facing mounted utility lights like for feeding, etc. I've always called them "tractor lights", but they are pretty good for many uses and any PAR 36 bulb fits in them.

 

tbear, funny you mentioned tractor lights because growing up around farm that's exactly what they reminded me of. This truck spent much of its life on a ranch in Wyoming, so they could very well have come from a tractor supply house. 👍

 

They often come with LEDs now, but I like the old glass PAR36 sealed beams. They are tough light housings.