Topic: windshield mouted fog lights

[hozer]

I have a 97 TJ and i just bought some winshield mounted fog light brackets and was wondering what is the cleanest way to get the wiring inside the cab. I don't want to drill any holes and i want it to look clean. Any help and or pictures would be awsome thanks.

[Castr8r]

 :nono:OK, You're new at this, so I'll be nice.  Fog lights go on the bumper, or better yet under it.  The idea is to shoot the light under the fog, rain, or snow that you're trying to see through.  If fog lights are mounted at eye level (on the windsheild), the light will bounce back off of the moisture in the air and reduce visibility even more.  About a year ago, I saw a Dork driving his "cool" Jeep around with fog lights mounted on the roll bar; turned on in city traffic!  Needless to say, he was pulled over by the police and, I hope ticketed for improper use of lights.

If you have to be absolutely cool and mount lights on the windsheild, I personally would use tractor floods for use on night runs.  I have the windsheild mounts but they are bare-the trails I run are through brush and weeds that try to snag and tear off the lights.  It just doesn't make sense to me to have lights mounted there. 

Back to fog lights- my experience is that they should be tinted, and I feel that the greenish tint found on some "rain lights" is best in all forms of airborne moisture.  Fog lights sre a great accessory if properly installed with a lot of attention paid to prroper aim.

[chardrc]

wow you went technical with that reply... lol  good info though

[jfrabat]

In my case, the fog lights are mounted on the front bumper (we dont get much fog here, so I use them more as driving lights really; but when there IS fog I feel they are a bit higher than I would like); the driving lights are mounted on the windshield, as the illumination from the top allows light to go over small bumps and light up what's behind.

The way I rounted my wires was to fold the windshield and then came in from the sides.  I did have to make a hole on the passanger side, and be sure to paint it after you do to avoid rusting.  Also, use grommets, because water (when rain comes in from the side) can slip in and drip on your feet...

[hozer]

Well, MASTURBATOR, I mean castra8r, I'm not a lighting technician,and I  wasn't asking for the technical and or legal positioning of the lights and or colors that are most helpful for driving into and under trees and other damaging objects out in the wilderness. If you reread the post all I was asking was for a little help on which was would the cleanest way to run the wiring to the inside of the cab. OH my apologies I should have callled them driving lights

[Mozman68]

Well, MASTURBATOR, I mean castra8r, I'm not a lighting technician,and I  wasn't asking for the technical and or legal positioning of the lights and or colors that are most helpful for driving into and under trees and other damaging objects out in the wilderness. If you reread the post all I was asking was for a little help on which was would the cleanest way to run the wiring to the inside of the cab. OH my apologies I should have callled them driving lights

Everyone calm down.....I'm not sure about the wiring, but you may want to take his comments into consideration.

Unless specifically used for night trail riding, lights in that position tend to do nothing more than reflect off the hood causing more trouble than they are worth (and his points about fog lights in that position are true as well).

I'm not sure how clean this can be done without drilling into the windshield frame...which I would never do.  Two choices are to run in between the door and windshield and then behind the dash or run down to the hood seam and come in through the firewall (not fun or visually attractive).

Let us know what you decide...or pics of the brackets installed may help as well.

[oldjeep]

Everyone calm down.....I'm not sure about the wiring, but you may want to take his comments into consideration.

Unless specifically used for night trail riding, lights in that position tend to do nothing more than reflect off the hood causing more trouble than they are worth (and his points about fog lights in that position are true as well).

I'm not sure how clean this can be done without drilling into the windshield frame...which I would never do.  Two choices are to run in between the door and windshield and then behind the dash or run down to the hood seam and come in through the firewall (not fun or visually attractive).

Let us know what you decide...or pics of the brackets installed may help as well.

You could probabally run the wires under the windsheild frame, but it might make the gasket not seal.   

I'll echo what the others have said, hinge mounted lights serve almost no purpose at all - except to aggrevate other drivers.

[dexetr30]

 I'll echo what the others have said, hinge mounted lights serve almost no purpose at all - except to aggrevate other drivers.

X2. It was snowing here pretty good a few days ago and a fellow Jeeper came down the street with KC's mounted on a light bar above the windshield. He had another set mounted to the bumper. It was in the middle of the afternoon and he had them all turned on in town. He was blinding just about everyone coming at him in the apposing lane, including myself. He got the finger instead of the wave that day.

[rubberducky]

I have a light bar that has six lights on it, four on top and two in front of window. I had my fogs mounted there, just temp until i got my other lights in. the problem i found with the position is they shine on the hood. So i suggest getting a SPOT light and putting them there. I have Wally world specials there. (100w H3) they work fairly well with little glare.
When i first wired them up i ran the wires under the cowl, From beside the hood hinge under the cowl to the very corner where the lights were mounted. just make sure to wrap the wires good where it goes through the two peices of metal so the don't rub and short. I ran it like that for 3 yrs without problem and the light bar started to rust so i took them off and rewired.
I ran the wires from hood hinge to a sealed box under brake booster(for relays) and then into the firewall through the existing wire harness hole, just pushed a knife through the rubber and then wires. Pretty low budget clean install i think. Can take some pistures if you want and send them but i'm not sure how in this site. 

[hozer]

OK guys thanks for all the helpful info and castra8r, I will take your helpful and thoughtful insite on the type of lighting to use. I realize that putting the lights on the winshield mounts would be non inviting for on comming motorists. I guess I'm saying that i'm not your typical Jeeper as I have owned my Jeep for 7 years and I am yet to have put 500 miles on it since purchasing it. Believe me I love my Jeep and I take as good care of It as I do my Harley, and my Jeep stays in the garage all the time and I don't drive it in the winter. NY salt is BRUTAL on vehicles. So there you have it I just want my Jeep to look nice. Again thanks for all the information.