[R&T'sR/Tw/R/TPG]

hello there,

tonight i tried out the fog lights with the regular lights in the parking light (?) position. i am familiar with the fog light vs. driving light pattern, but it seems to me that the fog lights just don’t illuminate far enough ahead and to the sides. while they adequately illuminate (focused beams) some of the street, like the first 11 or 12 feet in front of the car, that part is barely visible over the hood of the car, the remaining light just seems to scatter and disappear when driving down the street. now while it was parked outside the garage (where i took the measurement) the remaining light did seem to somewhat illuminate the side of the house/garage, but i am thinking the focused beams should probably go a little further forward and sideways. the following website shows the pattern to be out about 17 to 25 feet, while R&T’s charger’s beams are focused at the 2 to 11 foot range.

http://www.piaa.com/Lamps/LightAimingGuide.html

so i guess what i am asking is are my fogs the only ones like that? is there a way to adjust our fog lights ( i haven’t crawled under the car yet)? or should i consider some good aftermarket ones (anybody done this yet?) the reason i want to adjust them/replace them is because our area is overpopulated with deer. i would really hate to hit one. while i enjoy venison sausage, i would hate to dent the charger.

tia for any help in this matter.

 

[beezn]

why not turn on the regular lights? and of your worried about the deer whats wrong with your high beams?

 

[ANTMAG06]

Let me know if you get after market Fog lights I will want your old ones if they are not cracked. Both of my fog light lenses are craked from stones and my dealer will not replace them under warranty because it is not a manufactures defect. They cost $160.00 a piece and I just do not think I am going to pay that much for them to get cracked again in a few months.

 

[GoDaddy]

wow 160 each huh? i have a few small chips and was wondering how much that is going to cost to replace.....guess i am not so worried right now. dang...

 

[Iguana]

There are no protectors available? There should be some sort of plastic sheild you could put in front of the light. Or maybe Dodge planned it that way so they could rape you on buying new fog lights.

 

[ANTMAG06]

wow 160 each huh? i have a few small chips and was wondering how much that is going to cost to replace.....guess i am not so worried right now. dang...

That is what I said "I guess I am not too worried about it then.” you can hardly see them but I can and it kind of bothered me but as long as someone doesn't say to me "hey do you know your fog lights are crack!" I will just leave them alone until I can find them cheaper.

 

[ANTMAG06]

And you can not just buy the Lens you have to buy the whole unit because it is sealed.

 

[ANTMAG06]

Sorry R&T’s ...I got off your subject but no as far as I know by looking at how to remove them I do not think they are adjustable.

 

[GLHS837]

Not sure if it will help but maybe this product.....

http://www.rockblocker.net/

They say they have a kit coming soon. I know nothing about them, but I know 3M generally donesnt screw around. What little data I can find seems to point out that 3M is the only maker of urethane film type protectors to incorporate a clearcoat.

I know we use urethane films for protection od the leading edges of rotorblades and some wing surfaces on aircraft. Short of a grill type solution, this might be the best bet.

 

[jmorrell]

I think you guys are missing the point here: there is a difference between fog lights and driving lights. Unfortunately, many manufacturers use the terms interchangeably, which causes confusion with consumers.

True fog lamps have a short, wide beam. Why? Because too bright a beam and it reflects off the fog, making it nearly impossible to see (that's why your fog lights won't work with high beams). Driving lights, on the other hand, are meant to have a long, narrow, bright beam to illuminate a dark road far ahead. They are can be used in conjunction with either low or high beams.

The lights on our Chargers are more in line with what a true fog light would be. If they are too short a beam for you, look into replacing them with true driving lights.

 

[ANTMAG06]

Not sure if it will help but maybe this product.....

http://www.rockblocker.net/

They say they have a kit coming soon. I know nothing about them, but I know 3M generally donesnt screw around. What little data I can find seems to point out that 3M is the only maker of urethane film type protectors to incorporate a clearcoat.

I know we use urethane films for protection od the leading edges of rotorblades and some wing surfaces on aircraft. Short of a grill type solution, this might be the best bet.

Thank you Bill, guess I just have to figure out what size ours are now. Looks like a good kit.

 

[R&T'sR/Tw/R/TPG]

why not turn on the regular lights? and of your worried about the deer whats wrong with your high beams?

hm, good question. i should have been more specific. i should have said that the fog lights don't illuminate far enough ahead "and to the sides" (now edited) of the vehicle and that i don't drive around without my head lights on (when required). this one time i did, it was to see the light pattern without interference of the head lights. in my past experience, fog lights seemed to illuminate further in front and off to the sides of the vehicle. i'm really not worried about the deer that i can see ahead of me, it is the ones that like to bolt out from brush/trees (which are rather close to the roads here) from the sides. the wide fog pattern lights up the sides a whole lot better than just the head lights, thereby giving me a much better chance to see and avoid hitting (or being hit by) "lil old bambi". and as for the high beams - i think they work really great, especially in comparison to my altima and mustang, unfortunately, the road is one of 3 roads that leads into/out of a major housing development, so there usually is other traffic on that road.

 

[R&T'sR/Tw/R/TPG]

Sorry R&T’s ...I got off your subject but no as far as I know by looking at how to remove them I do not think they are adjustable.

it is still on topic ( you did look at them). i also now know that nobody, so far in this thread, has yet replaced them with aftermarket ones. and i found out $160!!!!!. talk about sticker shock

if i do replace them with a better set of FOG lights, i'll put them up for sale

 

[R&T'sR/Tw/R/TPG]

I think you guys are missing the point here: there is a difference between fog lights and driving lights. <snip>

thank you for explaining that to us. i can see where i might have confused some folks, since in my original post i omitted the phrase “and to the sides” (i thought that was a given since i was talking about fog lights, but i now see it isn’t). fortunately, i did learn the difference many years ago, when i researched the subject and added some driving lights to our ’90 ford mustang, so i am not using the terms interchangeably. our 95 mustang actually has a combination setup of both fog and driving lights. as for the headlights (low & hi) on the charger, i think they are fantastic, just the fogs suck.

http://www.autoanything.com/shopping_guides/lights/shopping_guide.aspx?se=hella_lights

the above is another very informative link that states (about half way down the page) that the “fog light illumination distance should be similar to your vehicle's original low beam.” R&T’s charger is nowhere near that.

but now back to the facts at hand. the link to piaa shows the FOG beam pattern to be primarily focused in the 17 to 25 foot range (definitely not driving lights distance) instead of the 2 to 11 feet that i have with the charger. when sitting in the drivers seat and i look over the hood of the charger, that 2 to 11 feet translates to what looks to be about 2 or 3 inches of illumination in front of the hood/car (and virtually none to the sides) before the road goes dark (there is no way those fogs are properly adjusted).

have you had a chance to check your fogs yet? if so, are they set up like mine or do you have a better light distribution pattern? i’m looking forward to hearing from you as to how your fogs are set up. tia for your info.

 

[joescat]

There was a thread a while back detailing aftermarket bulbs for the headlamps. They are not HID, but are touted to be significantly brighter than stock. The reason I bring that us, is many people then take their high beam lamps, and put them in the fog lamps. Supposed to be noticably brighter too.

 

[GoDaddy]

There was a thread a while back detailing aftermarket bulbs for the headlamps. They are not HID, but are touted to be significantly brighter than stock. The reason I bring that us, is many people then take their high beam lamps, and put them in the fog lamps. Supposed to be noticably brighter too.

i too have seen that thread.....and it didn't burn up the plugs or anything....might want to drop a set of high beams in those bad boys and see what you think....they should be facing down enough to not blind anyone...they also talked about that fact also...no one had flashed the guy for brights on. (i believe that subject was also b/c of deer concerns)

 

[lammy]

Let me know if you get after market Fog lights I will want your old ones if they are not cracked. Both of my fog light lenses are craked from stones and my dealer will not replace them under warranty because it is not a manufactures defect. They cost $160.00 a piece and I just do not think I am going to pay that much for them to get cracked again in a few months.

Check out this thread. It is for the Xpel light cover kit. I have these on my car and they are great. Saves all the chips and cracks and for about 50 bucks well worth it.

http://www.chargerforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=968&highlight=headlights