Keep fogs on with high beams ?

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ManUpOrShutUp

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I know this has been asked before (here and elsewhere), but it seems no one had an answer for the 3rd gens ('11 in this case). I've got the wiring diagrams, but my knowledge in this area is a 1/10. Can anyone direct me on how to get my fogs to stay on when I switch to high beams? (or let me know that this isn't an easy fix on the 3rd gens) Thanks.

Wiring Diagrams
 

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I would also like to know how to do this on my 12 Expy EL Limited.


Hello and re-welcome to the Forum.

My big questions is WHY? If they are truly Fog Lights why bother? Lights should be on low beam in Fog. Also as far as what you see lower and closer with Fogs on during low beams, this is needed with High Beams because with high beams one sees much farther ahead so if one is paying attention one shouldn't need the low and close that one needs with low beams because of all the extra distance and light with high beams.

Now to directly answer your question, there are about 10 different ways to accomplish this and about as many for what kind of control you want to have over it as in, permanent (them always on when any lights are on), a switch under the hood to allow it to be switched between normal or always on with lights, switch inside the cab, etc ....
 
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Hello and re-welcome to the Forum.

My big questions is WHY? If they are truly Fog Lights why bother? Lights should be on low beam in Fog. Also as far as what you see lower and closer with Fogs on during low beams, this is needed with High Beams because with high beams one sees much farther ahead so if one is paying attention one shouldn't need the low and close that one needs with low beams because of all the extra distance and light with high beams.

For someone living in the city or suburbs (as I used to), I agree. However, I now drive through national forest lands daily and there is a constant stream of wildlife darting out from the sides of the road at the last second. I'm not talking about the odd deer or opossum. I'm talking about a half dozen herds of deer, a couple bears, a bunch of raccoons/opossum and the occasional bobcat just to drive the 30 minutes to the interstate. The high beams don't do anything to light up the sides of the road directly in front of my vehicle whereas the fogs do. I sure as heck can't drive with the lows on these roads.

Now to directly answer your question, there are about 10 different ways to accomplish this and about as many for what kind of control you want to have over it as in, permanent (them always on when any lights are on), a switch under the hood to allow it to be switched between normal or always on with lights, switch inside the cab, etc ....

I simply want the fogs to not shut off when I switch from lows to highs. Factory fog switch on with headlights, fogs on regardless of whether I'm using lows or highs. Factory fog switch off, fogs off. I'm not concerned about the legality of it because the police in the area are well aware of the driving conditions and won't even stop you for on-road use of a light bar, provided you shut it down when oncoming traffic approaches.
 

1111ExpyEL1111

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For someone living in the city or suburbs (as I used to), I agree. However, I now drive through national forest lands daily and there is a constant stream of wildlife darting out from the sides of the road at the last second. I'm not talking about the odd deer or opossum. I'm talking about a half dozen herds of deer, a couple bears, a bunch of raccoons/opossum and the occasional bobcat just to drive the 30 minutes to the interstate. The high beams don't do anything to light up the sides of the road directly in front of my vehicle whereas the fogs do. I sure as heck can't drive with the lows on these roads.



I simply want the fogs to not shut off when I switch from lows to highs. Factory fog switch on with headlights, fogs on regardless of whether I'm using lows or highs. Factory fog switch off, fogs off. I'm not concerned about the legality of it because the police in the area are well aware of the driving conditions and won't even stop you for on-road use of a light bar, provided you shut it down when oncoming traffic approaches.

I'm in the same boat as "ManUp". When I have the fogs on, I want them to stay on no matter if I'm on low beams or high beams. I don't want to use them as DRL's.

So of the "10 different ways...." which is the best way for us to accomplish this?

EDIT - is there a way that one can have all the lights on at once? High's, Low's and Fog's? My son is doing this on his Chevy Trailblazer by using the Quad BEam w/Fog Light kit found here: http://dmwalrad.wixsite.com/gmt-mods
 
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EDIT - is there a way that one can have all the lights on at once? High's, Low's and Fog's? My son is doing this on his Chevy Trailblazer by using the Quad BEam w/Fog Light kit found here: http://dmwalrad.wixsite.com/gmt-mods

With the 3rd gen Expeditions (not sure about others) it's a single bulb so you cannot. With separate lights as you find on aftermarket housings, yes.
 

1111ExpyEL1111

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With the 3rd gen Expeditions (not sure about others) it's a single bulb so you cannot. With separate lights as you find on aftermarket housings, yes.

God do I feel like an idiot!!! You're right!

So what's the best mod to keep the fogs on when the high beams are on?
 

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So can we get an answer on how to get fogs on whenever we want? I am in the same situation with needing gross amounts of light at night due to ridiculous amounts of wildlife. Highbeams are a bit lacking. Planning on a LED offroad lightbar in the grille, but until then can we get some help with the lighting issue?
 

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NOTE: I don't own a Gen3 so this is just general theory.

WARNING: Work with electrical wiring at your own risk. Follow these ideas at your vehicles own risk.

WARNING: Once you locate the parking light Hot and test for whether the Fog Light use a combined Hot or each Fog has its own Hot by using a test light or DMM, it is important to disconnect the Hot to your battery so there are no HOT WIRES.


The quick and dirty way is to install a relay in conjunction with the parking light Hot line. The minute the parking lights come on, the Fogs go on and since the parking lights remain on in all other headlight positions so will the Fogs.

I like a relay that is rated 5 amps over what the fog lights pull to keep from overheating a relay. Also you are going to use most of the wiring from the factory fog lights but it is key that you make sure that the current Hot line and any hot factory relay line are removed from any relay currently controlling the Fog Lights (what you don't want is a possible ground loop or a unconnected wire going hot when the factory lights are in a specific position once things are disconnected).

So buy the proper rated relay, find the hot parking light wire and use a Scotch clip to tap it then wire the Scotch clip jumper to the control input on the Relay. Wire the main hot input to the relay to the battery and ground the main ground input. Wire the factory fog light hot that has been disconnected from the current factory relay/switch (the actual wire going out to power the fog lights) to the new relay's Hot Output side (I like Double Pole relays so that each light gets its own hot line direct from the battery when the relay is activated). Also depending on how the factory fog lights are wire, one might on need one hot to power both, but only do that if that is how the factory wiring is. If there are two hots, one for each Fog, DO NOT ATTEMPT to feed them with a single Hot!
 

1111ExpyEL1111

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NOTE: I don't own a Gen3 so this is just general theory.

WARNING: Work with electrical wiring at your own risk. Follow these ideas at your vehicles own risk.

WARNING: Once you locate the parking light Hot and test for whether the Fog Light use a combined Hot or each Fog has its own Hot by using a test light or DMM, it is important to disconnect the Hot to your battery so there are no HOT WIRES.


The quick and dirty way is to install a relay in conjunction with the parking light Hot line. The minute the parking lights come on, the Fogs go on and since the parking lights remain on in all other headlight positions so will the Fogs.

I like a relay that is rated 5 amps over what the fog lights pull to keep from overheating a relay. Also you are going to use most of the wiring from the factory fog lights but it is key that you make sure that the current Hot line and any hot factory relay line are removed from any relay currently controlling the Fog Lights (what you don't want is a possible ground loop or a unconnected wire going hot when the factory lights are in a specific position once things are disconnected).

So buy the proper rated relay, find the hot parking light wire and use a Scotch clip to tap it then wire the Scotch clip jumper to the control input on the Relay. Wire the main hot input to the relay to the battery and ground the main ground input. Wire the factory fog light hot that has been disconnected from the current factory relay/switch (the actual wire going out to power the fog lights) to the new relay's Hot Output side (I like Double Pole relays so that each light gets its own hot line direct from the battery when the relay is activated). Also depending on how the factory fog lights are wire, one might on need one hot to power both, but only do that if that is how the factory wiring is. If there are two hots, one for each Fog, DO NOT ATTEMPT to feed them with a single Hot!

Thinking about this and looking at the wiring diagrams in post #1 this would seem to be a workable solution. You would have to cut the + and - going to each fog light and that will take the factory fog relay out of the equation. BUT....if you cut the wires, will the "computers" on the truck sense something wrong and show some type of indicator light (that something is amiss)? If this happens you could easily reconnect the wires back together.

Finding a parking light HOT would be easily accomplished if one removed the headlight pod. The fog light wires are easily accessed from underneath the truck. I installed HID's in my fogs so I know what's underneath there.
 
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