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Alternative fog light assemblies

CSM

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#41
I have the DD Luxeons on my car and I think they are just OK. They may be a bit better than the stock ones but in the real world I am not noticing a big difference. The reason I got them is because a rock went through one of my stock fog lights and thought it was a good time to "upgrade". I was expecting to be blown away when I installed them .... I was not. If I was doing this again I would look for something else.
This has been my thoughts as well. Happy with fit and finish of them but really they haven't blown me away. I'm going to try to adjust them soon and maybe I'll see an improvement.

Mod bargains has a good review of them and there's a photo showing before and after...can't pull it up on my phone right now but mine were nowhere near as bright
 


TDavis

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#42
As they should be the same light assembly as the Luxeons I got the Morimoto XB LED projector fog variants and I think they're amazing. You can't tell me the stock fogs are as good as these. Giving the stock fogs credit where its due they're pretty wide, but these distribute light alot better and puts it in actual usable spots, not useless areas.

I feel most on here who are not liking them haven't aimed them properly.






 


TDavis

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#44
How do you aim them? they just bolt in to the spots the old ones do?
Yeah, literally plug n play. Well, 99.9% plug n play. They send the plastic plugs separate in the box so theres the wires with the prongs on the end of the light assembly, you just have to put the wires in the plug then plug them into the factory harness. Mounting wise is identical to factory and no modification needed. There is a 7mm plastic nut, which I believe you can also use a philips screwdriver on, to adjust the height of the lights.

You can see the grey 7mm plastic nut with the philips insert in it. Thats the height adjuster. On the bottom left

 


ROCKYFiestta

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#45
Yeah, literally plug n play. Well, 99.9% plug n play. They send the plastic plugs separate in the box so theres the wires with the prongs on the end of the light assembly, you just have to put the wires in the plug then plug them into the factory harness. Mounting wise is identical to factory and no modification needed. There is a 7mm plastic nut, which I believe you can also use a philips screwdriver on, to adjust the height of the lights.

You can see the grey 7mm plastic nut with the philips insert in it. Thats the height adjuster. On the bottom left




nobody is answering the question on the diode dynamics is it clockwise or counterclockwise to go up and down?????[scratch]
 


CSM

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#46
As they should be the same light assembly as the Luxeons I got the Morimoto XB LED projector fog variants and I think they're amazing. You can't tell me the stock fogs are as good as these. Giving the stock fogs credit where its due they're pretty wide, but these distribute light alot better and puts it in actual usable spots, not useless areas.

I feel most on here who are not liking them haven't aimed them properly.






Ugh Mine look nothing like that! Jealous! Currently in LA for work but when I get back home I"m going to try to adjust the aim on mine.
 


TDavis

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#47
Ugh Mine look nothing like that! Jealous! Currently in LA for work but when I get back home I"m going to try to adjust the aim on mine.
Let us know how it goes. If I remember correctly the Luxeon and the Morimotos are the same exact thing, just different branding. If they're actually different then I think the difference is very minimal.
 


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danbfree

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Thread Starter #48
Let us know how it goes. If I remember correctly the Luxeon and the Morimotos are the same exact thing, just different branding. If they're actually different then I think the difference is very minimal.
Pretty sure Morimoto moved on to an updated design while DD still has the original...
 


CSM

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#49
As they should be the same light assembly as the Luxeons I got the Morimoto XB LED projector fog variants and I think they're amazing. You can't tell me the stock fogs are as good as these. Giving the stock fogs credit where its due they're pretty wide, but these distribute light alot better and puts it in actual usable spots, not useless areas.

I feel most on here who are not liking them haven't aimed them properly.






Took 15 min tonight and adjusted the aim on my DD Luxeons. They were angled down pretty bad. They are finally much better than what they were before. Still need to play with them to get it to the level TDavis is at.

Also interesting enough...they must have switched design of the housings at some point. My adjuster is not a 7mm nut but instead it is a phillips head that is located on the bottom of the assembly, so you have to point the head upwards to adjust. Clockwise aims lights up. Either the design has changed at some point or the Morimotos are not the same as DD Luxeons.

I'll try to snap a photo later tonight
 


CSM

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#50


Better but still not where TDavis is. I'm thinking the Morimoto fogs are higher output. They seem a lot brighter than my DD Luxeons based on photos
 


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#51
You guys crack me up. Iā€™m one that learned out of necessity. Went to the library for Chiltons and Haynes. Still have a few that I spent my last $15 on when I was 17.


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#52
Ok - After having the DD Luxeons for 2 years i decided to do something about the underwhelming performance. I opened up the fender panel and cranked down the adjusters. All i can say is WOW!!! there is a huge difference. i only wish i did this when i first got them and was not happy. Any one that has these and is not happy do what i did and use the adjustment screw to focus them up.
From my reading there are 2 kinds of screws that were used on these. Mine had a small vertical white plastic screw, a stubby philips screwdriver does the trick. It made an enormous difference. I would say i can almost use the fog lights as primary driving lights now. Previously they just let up the pavement a few feet in front of the car. Now they shine like some of the photos. Its night and day the difference.
 


CSM

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#53
Ok - After having the DD Luxeons for 2 years i decided to do something about the underwhelming performance. I opened up the fender panel and cranked down the adjusters. All i can say is WOW!!! there is a huge difference. i only wish i did this when i first got them and was not happy. Any one that has these and is not happy do what i did and use the adjustment screw to focus them up.
From my reading there are 2 kinds of screws that were used on these. Mine had a small vertical white plastic screw, a stubby philips screwdriver does the trick. It made an enormous difference. I would say i can almost use the fog lights as primary driving lights now. Previously they just let up the pavement a few feet in front of the car. Now they shine like some of the photos. Its night and day the difference.
My thoughts EXACTLY! The ones I recently ordered are aimed HORRIBLY and after adjusting the screw I am much happier with their performance.

I still think the Morimotos may be a touch higher output but still happy with my DD Luxeon purchase, especially the Black Friday Price I got them for :)
 


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#54
Pretty sure Morimoto moved on to an updated design while DD still has the original...
Yes, and it's not for the better. This guy showed it pretty well I'm his comparison video below. Also someone in in the comments noted Morimoto now uses a different reflector behind the projector lens vs Diode keeping with the original design. They both used the original ESUSE design but Morimoto changed theirs to be private labeled.

I used the Diode Dynamics XB back on my previous 2016 WRX and it performed flawlessly. I now have both the Diode Dynamics 5500K and Morimoto 3000K Yellow Set enroute for comparison on he Fiesta.

http://youtu.be/ZbaTpbSU91A



 


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#55
The gen2 morimoto is slightly better performing than the gen1 morimoto / diode dynamics versions in most real life use.

The video isn't really that good for representing these two foglights. I've used both on my fiesta st and also use the gen2 morimoto on my sti.

While I also won't show any real data I have tested them with a lux meter at multiple distances and found that the gen2 beam is much better focused and therefore has noticeably higher lux at longer distances. The gen1/dd spreads the beam much closer to the car and therefore is "dimmer" in normal use on the road. This also requires aiming it more towards the ground as the beam spread means it will turn to slight glare ahead of the car. This actually makes the oem halogen headlights seem a bit brighter so maybe this is helpful (i have had multiple retrofits so no need for that in my case).

The gen1/dd is wider than gen2 however on a Fiesta this isn't such a bad thing as the housing blocks the extreme edges anyways so you never get the use of this extra width in reality.

The best thing for these is to apply some laminx when new so that you can replace it yearly to ensure best light transmission as the lens will get severely pitted in very short amounts of time due to soft plastic.

Some pics of gen2.








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#56
The gen2 morimoto is slightly better performing than the gen1 morimoto / diode dynamics versions in most real life use.

The video isn't really that good for representing these two foglights. I've used both on my fiesta st and also use the gen2 morimoto on my sti...
Interesting. Thx for the info [MENTION=2176]blurred[/MENTION]. I guess I'll return the DD Gen 1 units.
 


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#57
Interesting. Thx for the info [MENTION=2176]blurred[/MENTION]. I guess I'll return the DD Gen 1 units.
If you already have the gen1 dd I wouldn't bother returning them. Its not a day/night difference, and is one you would only really notice if you drive them for a long time then switch.

the benefits of the gen1 style is that your fog lights look like a full round light whereas the gen2 look like a small point. A lot of people like that fuller look.

Either way, they are great performers.
 


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#58
...the benefits of the gen1 style is that your fog lights look like a full round light whereas the gen2 look like a small point. A lot of people like that fuller look.

Either way, they are great performers.
Understood. I do like the fuller look of the Gen 1 DD. I also purchased the Gen 2 Morimoto simply because they released a 3000K yellow set kit and was curious :)
 


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danbfree

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Thread Starter #59
So, hopefully you guys don't mind if I go back to "cheap alternatives" as I was originally intending when I started this thread, for those who are all about the DD and Morimoto's, feel free to ignore. :)

So AliExpress has some some surprisingly decent options starting as low as $25 for the entire assembly and LED's complete... there are even cheaper ones but these claim 2000lm output each side and look like could be at least "better than stock" for VERY cheap. When searching out there, sometimes it's easier to just use 2014 for the year Fiesta, no matter which year you actually have as they are all the same... or can try by using 3.5" or 89/90mm for the size on key words to search with or look for to confirm fitment... Since we use a very common size you can also search for a 2013 Mustang to get more results too, just some strategies for those who want to geek out and try to find lots of options before narrowing down.

These don't look bad at all for $24: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Bui...RL-White-12V-High-Bright-For/32904459709.html

Not going to be as good as those $150+ ones, but again, likely decently better than stock for super cheap... Sinc eI have already invested in yellow Lamin-X, I'm going to get some 4300k bulbs to put in the factory housings to get a more true yellow color out of them.
 


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#60
So, hopefully you guys don't mind if I go back to "cheap alternatives" as I was originally intending when I started this thread, for those who are all about the DD and Morimoto's, feel free to ignore. :)

So AliExpress has some some surprisingly decent options starting as low as $25 for the entire assembly and LED's complete... there are even cheaper ones but these claim 2000lm output each side and look like could be at least "better than stock" for VERY cheap...
Apologies, Dan. Didn't realize the original thread subject at hand. The Aliexpress units looks pretty decent! Good finds!
 




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