Driving Lights

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:46 pm

My front fog lamps are playing up! The problem is electrical conductivity in the lamp units themselves. Wrapping & soldering wires to the spring retainers is only a short term fix as poor earthing conductivity here overheats the bulbs.
Now it seems to me that for the short time the fog lights can be used it would be better & considerably more useful to replace them with driving lights as they could be employed regularly on the "white" roads round here!
Any suggestions on type & availability of driving lights that would fit the existing mounts? (along with approximate prices.) Also are there any candidate cars containing standard suitable fitments likely to be found at the scrappy?

Stewart (oily!) · Post by **Stewart (oily!)** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:58 pm

I have some nice yellow driving lamps which fitted into the original TZD black plastic mounts with very little difficulty, they were fitted amongst others to Renault 19s,espce, 21 etc all I needed to do was to drill another hole in the black mount and get some new bolts (I used stainless allen bolts/nuts/washers) You may need to take your battery drill to the scrapyard as the fastenings even though made of brass seem to always be seized. Thats them on my avatar!
Stewart

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:04 pm

I feel the BX's low-down (weak by today's standards) 'fog' lights are already suitable as 'driving lights'. I use them along unlit country lanes - they're good at giving that little extra 'width' to the illuminated area - no more distance though. I did look at replacements for a previous BX GTI and found some in Halfords that would have fit the apertures in the bumper. I think they were Ring ones. I have seen Hella ones fitted to another BX too. I'm sure there'll be something out there - it's a case of making a card template for the size and carrying it around with you!

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:04 pm

These are what I have on my BX:

http://www.motormania.co.uk/product_det ... tDescID=80

They fit the apartures nicely and mean you can have your cake and eat it! However, I find the location of the driving lights a little on the low side but they do help, especially with 100w main beam bulbs (I do a lot of driving on unlit Welsh roads now!)

Way2go · Post by **Way2go** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 2:27 pm

Hi Mat, looks interesting! Can both beams be run together or is it switched to Fog or Spot only?
I was thinking that probably a rewire is necessary on using driving lights so they were connected into the main beam circuit. This will then switch them out each time its necessary to dip the lights.

rob-bx16v · Post by **rob-bx16v** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:34 pm

Hi thare,

we have yellw renault clio foglamps on our bx gti pinched from my brothers old clio rt they work well.

jeremy · Post by **jeremy** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:34 pm

Best to use a relay triggered by the main beam with a good power supply (from battery - with a line fuse close to the battery) so as to get maximum light and avoid overloading anything else.

jeremy

ssray · Post by **ssray** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:21 pm

i just built a loom with 2 relays to get juice from the batt to the bulbs, HUGE diffrence(80/100 bulbs help)

Post by **mat_fenwick** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 12:53 pm

I used 2 relays, fed directly from the battery (fused). One powers the driving lights whilst on main beam, the other powers the fog lamps ( I used the original switch) You will have the wiring already present for the fog lights though.
I had a hole in the steel panel that was already drilled - I assume that the original lights use this as a fixing. If you want I will send you a picture if you let me know your email address.

Philip Chidlow · Post by **Philip Chidlow** » Thu Mar 09, 2006 1:53 pm

Now let's be sensible about this..