Fog lights on/off?

This is too anyone who has fog lights. When you turn on your lights do you put them on too all the time? Or do you only turn them on when they are needed. I am just asking because I often see people with there fogs lights on all the time (not during the day just at night) as oppose to just using them when its "foggy".

My X didn't come with the Stock Fogs, so I had the PIAA's driving Lights installed in my X...and they are pretty bright, so I only use them when really needed, like lonely dark roads...or in rainy days and nights....

I don't use them around town or for freeway/interstate travel but, I do use them on 2 lanes more for critter lights than fog.

I have friends that don't even know where the switch is to turn off their fog lights, so theirs are on all the time. I personally use mine when there is fog, rain or snow, but at this time of the year I use them all the time after dark, as they light up the side of the road and help identify those pesky deer before I hit them.

Tom

I just have them on all the time. I like the fact that it lights up the area closer to the front of the truck alot better than headlights do alone.

I left mine on..

I left mine on when I had fog lights.

I keep mine on. They shouldn't be a distraction to other drivers, and they give a slightly larger range of view. Plus, it looks cool.

In town, off, out looking for errant ungulates, on.

Ditto.

Thats what I was looking for

I got pulled over for having them on when it wasn't foggy. I think he was just looking for a reason to pull me over, he didn't give me a ticket or anything.
I keep them off now unless foggy or like the others said, on a dark lonely road.

The factory fogs, at least on the 00/01 models, are pretty damn useless. I really couldn't tell a difference between having them on or off at night other than the pavement just ahead and a little to the side was lit better, which does nothing. I suppose they would actually be of use in FOG, but anyone using them as "critter lights" or to see a deer about to wander into the road, or to see any further ahead, is delusional. At anything more than school-zone speed you won't see something to the side in time soon enough to react any faster with or without them, unless maybe they cast just enough light beyond the main beam spread to reflect back off their eyes.

I have a set of bumper-mounted 55W 5"x9" Bosch lights that I have aimed to just overlap and mainly flank the main low-beam spread, they provide excellent lighting to the sides, and far enough ahead to see a stray critter in advance. Compared to my old stock fogs, it's like night and day. I rarely use them though.

Personally, I can't stand it when people leave their fog lights on all the time, though it's really just the ones that have installed their own fog or driving lights that are actually usefully (often irritatingly) bright and typically aimed poorly (carelessly, or for the ricers, deliberately I'd bet).

Leave em on all the time. I agree that they are pretty much useless but I like the way they look being on all the time. I have replaced both headlight bulbs and still have the original fog lamps with over 120k on it.

when i had mine i left them on. now since i have my bullbar in front of my headlights, my lows act like foggies, my highs act like lows, and my 5x7 100w's are my "highs" when i can't see head (or tail) lights...

I find the stock fogs to be slightly helpful in fog so that's mainly when I use them. Or when driving on dirt roads at night, they do a good job of lighting up ruts, holes and so forth.

mine are on all the time
it looks sweet at night.

Yeah, sweet...

I had Electroken's mod where I could turn the fog lights on independent of the headlights. Really useful where I used to live, as there was a long stretch of road that I took to get to get work that seemed to be foggy all the damn time, night or day.

So why do people constantly flash their highs at me, as if I have my high beams on? Fuckin annoying. I flash my real highs at them just to let them know I don't go around with my high beams on. Anyone else have this problem, or is it just the fact that my X is way taller than those losers in their Tempos?

One problem seems to be that most people don't bother to line up their fog lights and many of them are aimed too high and are irritating to oncoming drivers.

I only use mine when I find a need for them as I do not find them cool, especially when they glare in oncoming drivers eyes!

Tom

Cicero, yes, many 2002-2004 owners report that.

Only when I need them...otherwise I feel (and look) stupid!

I say it's your truck, you pay for it. If you want to put them on then do it. Mine are aftermarket ones, that the dealer installed for me. Sometimes i put them on, sometimes i don't. But i myself am not going to listen to someone who tells me when i should or should not put them on. Heck it's my truck. I say do what you want.

The biggest thing that annoys me is when people flash there brights at me because they think I have my brights on (this is when my fog lights are off). Anyone else get that?

I have yet to get someone flash the lights at me. Fog lights off or on. Hmmmmmmmm. Is it because of the height of the X? I have an 04.

People flash their brights at me quite frequently when I have my fog lights off (at least 1/10 passing cars). I think they're just interested in seeing how bright my high beams are...so I gladly show them.

I'm not sure what the laws are in other states, but here in AZ it is illegal to drive with your foglights on if your vehicle is traveling above 35 mph. Is this law enforced? No, but it's still a law and driving with your foglights on could make you a target for being pulled over. I only use mine when I'm driving offroad sometimes, or in severe weather conditions.

I seem to get 'flashed' much more often when the fog lights are on. To bad it wasnt a good flash....

I agree w/offroadx here, my foglights are useless. The only way i can tell if they are on or off is if my x is facing a window and thats about it.

I get the occasional flash as well. I don't have fog lights on so I think that they think that I am running with my highs on. When they flash me then I flash them back to show them that I am in fact running lows. If I am on a 2 lane road and there is no one in front of me then I run the highs all of the time and wait for the last possible and safest time to turn to the low beams so that they don't think that I am running my highs.

You do realize that the last & safetest time for you to turn yours off, is the longest & most unsafe for the other cars on the road, as they are blinded by your lights, causing most drivers to look off to the side of the lane, and not directly in front of their cars, where they mught see that whatever in time to avoid it, instead plowing into it because they couldn't see due to your High Beams.. The law in CA is 500' for oncoming traffic, and I think 300 for following traffic.

I have after market fog lights that the dealer installed, and i notice a differece when they are on. Especially when i travel down this dark wooded road that leads to my house. The front lower part of the truck, just below the headlight beam is lit. Maybe the stock ones do nothing, but the aftermaket ones i have do. And they are not PIA. If i were to use them on the highway, i would not notice the difference. So to say that they are totaly useless, this i would disagree.
But it is a matter of opinion.

Well, it's gone from Fog Lights to the old topic of I use my brights to blind the shit out of the oncoming victims because I'm so tough. Anybody think about searching?
Found these in this "General" section...Check Problems and Annoyances section and search it to find too many threads.
http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=006836#000000
http://www.xterraownersclub.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007077#000005

I have an 04, and i have not been flashed by on coming traffic, so i guess my head lights are adjusted properly. But if i did get flashed like some of you, i would of brought it back to the dealer to have them checked/adjusted.

My fog lights make a big difference, but I have Silverstar bulbs in them. I only use them when I need them and never just drive around with them on for no reason, unless I just forget to turn them off.

Driving with lights on that irritate other drivers is inconsiderate at best and actually dangerous since oncoming drivers can't see where they are going. Turn them off if you don't need them, or at least get them adjusted properly. I never get flashed with both my X and my 2002 Pathfinder, but I have my headlights adjusted properly.

Tom

Since this has become a "I've got the brightest head lights and I'll show 'em" thread...I offer some little picture that Ian posted a couple of years ago...I never much understood it and it just seemed simpler to adjust mine down a bit. I still got flashed when loaded and towing boats.

And you can see "better" how because of this?

My fog lights fill in the space between the low beams and the hood also, but that is not why I use them. It is because they also light up the ditch on either side helping me see any animals that may jump out.

My fog lights blow. They might as well be candles.

worthless = off.

Again, at any speed at which an animal lurking off to the side would present a threat, your stock (or properly aimed aftermarket) fogs aren't throwing light far enough ahead to illuminate them in time for you to react...

If I remember correctly, fog lights are so that others see you in the fog, not to illuminate the road for you.

Apparently you did not read my post correctly.
I do not see where i said "I can see better" in my post? I said "I noticed a difference" "Meaning i knew they were on".
So ok you are the expert, you know best. I will leave it at that.

True fog lights are yellow and cut thru the fog mounted in the lowest position possible making it easier to see in front of a vehicle. "Driving Lights" are in similar placement typically(but don't have to be low) and are white used for high speed driving. Most vehicles made for the American market these days have white lights mounted low and are named "fog lights"...Truly they are not fog lights or driving lights.

Typical American bastardization of something to attempt to be better than the rest and end up inferior.

Get yourself some Marschal Driving lights...There will be no question you do not have them on for oncoming traffic = VERY Bright.

Was driving near Wilkes-Barre, PA two weekends ago at night. I had never seen fog that thick for that long of a driving stretch. I have stock headlamps and foglights and did not notice much of a difference at all. I had turned the fog lights on and off as a test, and the only difference I notice was that they added very little visibility about a foot in front of the truck and a few inches off to the side. Not enought distance to afford me any time to dodge a dead animal or a pothole.

I've found that in a heavy fog, the more light you throw out, the more gets rebounded in your face.

The fog lights on my 2001 were useless for anything. They illuminated nothing. They allowed me to see nothing more clearly.

But I left 'em on, all day, because as far as I'm concerned, the more I'm lit up, the better chance another asshole out there will see me and avoid me.

I turn my headlights on every day. Even at noon on a 105-degree afternoon in sunny Texas.

I want every other pinhead on the road to see me coming. I'm not trying to be a tough guy or blind anyone.
I just want people to see me, and maybe keep from hitting me.

Good measure for safety GreyHam!

Others should be as wise.

I use my PIAA Driving Lights the time between when it's not dark enough to put the Headlights on...I put the Parking Lights and the Driving Lights on...they have their own switch...

I have Silverstars in my fog lights and they actually work in the fog as they don't reflect back as much as the regular fog lights did.

Funny, the reason REAL fog lights put out a yellow-tinted light is because they don't throw back as much glare as your average comparably-white light. You'd think going to a "whiter" light would be worse still...

click

Even though Silverstars claim to be white they are have a slight blue cast, which causes them to reflect back less than the white lights that were stock on my X. That is just my personal experience with the Silverstars, which I can see when driving in snow or fog which we have lots of here in WI.

It is very evident when I turn off my headlights (modified fog light switch) and use only my parking lights and Silverstar fog lights. When the white light from the headlights is eliminated, I can see better in fog and snow than I can with them on. I also tried this before the Silverstars in my fog lights and I still couldn't see in fog even though the light was lower to the road, because the white fog lights reflected back off the particles in the air just like my headlights did.

Mine are off all the time, except in rain, snow or daytime fog.

Any bad weather I will put on my fog lights so that I am more visible to others, but during good weather I don't have them on.

.danielsternlighting.
Read the article on foglights.
I used to drive with my, after market, fog lights on until I found the above website. The only times I can honestly say they had any benefit is in really thick fog at night when the headlights caused too much glare, and when on rough bush tracks or in heavy dust. I should add that I've always had yellow fog lights on my cars, although dad had some projector foglights that were white in his TT.

The only good use for the fog lights on the X that I've found is in off-roading since they light up the ground near the car much better than the normal headlights do. I'm really disappointed in the number of people here posting that they don't care about blinding oncoming drivers with them.

If you disassemble the fog lights, you will see that there is a piece of metal that blocks the top half of the bulb. This is to ensure that not much light can reflect upward. So... no one is getting blinded by foglights unless they are about 2 feet off the ground and 5 feet in front of your vehicle.