No Fogs on 2011 Edge!

[Mazz]

The only thing that I do not like about my 2011 Edge Limited, is the fact that it does not have fog lights. Not even an option! I'm looking at adding them myself. Not liking anything that sticks out or looks added on; so I'm thinking of adding some 2" round Hellas behind the black panel below the chrome grille. Need to let the weather warm up a bit to check from the underside to see if there is room and a mounting point.

 

Has anyone added true fog lights to theirs? If so, what did you use and how did you mount them?

[11edgelimited]

The only thing that I do not like about my 2011 Edge Limited, is the fact that it does not have fog lights. Not even an option! I'm looking at adding them myself. Not liking anything that sticks out or looks added on; so I'm thinking of adding some 2" round Hellas behind the black panel below the chrome grille. Need to let the weather warm up a bit to check from the underside to see if there is room and a mounting point.

 

Has anyone added true fog lights to theirs? If so, what did you use and how did you mount them?

 

Why do you need fog lights?

[Mazz]

Well, I don't need them, other than to light the road sides. Live in a rural area with a lot if deer. Plus, when we get fog, which we had four days last week, it is thick.

[fishx65]

I've looked and looked but just don't see anywhere to mount a set of lights on my 2011. KC made a cool little lightbar for the 10 and down but they have not listed one for the 11 yet. It may be possible to cut the lower black insert to mount a set of small lights. Would not look great but I would love to find a way to mount my set of PIAA's on the Edge.

[Carr]

I was told cannot add additional lights (legal ruling) by ford dealer

[TheWizard]

That is a common excuse used by dealers when they don't know the real answer and won't support vehicle modifications.  They just say it's illegal to get you to stop asking questions.

 

There is no law that prevents installation of fog lights on a vehicle.  They have to be properly designed and aimed and you can only have four lights on at one time... that would be two headlights and two fog lights.  Most modern vehicles turn off the fog lights when using the high beams but there is no law that mandates that except on vehicles that leave the low beams on when the high beams are in use (the same four light limit).  It just doesn't make sense to use high beams together with fog lights because they server different purposes.  Proper fog lights should have a low, wide beam pattern with a distinct horizontal upper cutoff so that the light doesn't reflect back at the driver in inclement conditions.  There are legal requirements limiting the mounting height for the same reason.  Of course, most so-called "fog lights" on vehicles these days are simply decorative toys and don't server any useful purpose.

 

There are all kinds of aftermarket fog lights on the market ranging from Walmart specials to sophisticated specialty lighting.  The problem is going to be finding a good set that can be mounted on the Edge without looking like some kind of road rally or off-road vehicle.

 

 

[KLinNBC]

Ahhh, one of my favourite rants. In the vain hope of getting all of you driving around with your "fog" lights on here are some basic facts:

 

THOSE ARE NOT FOG LIGHTS!!!  Proper fog lights are yellow/amber ONLY for good reason. The frequency of the yellower light (along with the low mount. precise cut-off and wide beam as mentioned by the Wiz) has less diffraction/throwback into the drivers eyes. In truly foggy conditions running good fog lights with headlights OFF will allow you to see better/farther. Also unless you can turn off your headlights the yellow fogs are not much help. 

 

What is on all vehicles today is a style-driven, useless thing properly referred to as DRIVING LIGHTS. Originally these were for illuminating the road immediately in front of the vehicle when travelling at very slow speeds. Like off-road situations. In regular night driving that area that they illuminate IS MEANINGLESS TO YOU because you're travelling at a speed (anything over 20mph) such that you've already passed that piece of ground before you can even react to it. If you're looking down at that piece of ground you're not looking where you should be which is down the road in front of you at what's coming!. 

 

More importantly, that bright pool of light in front of your bumper causes your pupils to adjust such that your vision for the distance is reduced. So driving at night with those low, white lights on is actually reducing your distance visibility and making you less safe.

Not to mention annoying and blinding oncoming drivers.

 

Please, turn them off!

[akirby]

I agree they're useless in fog and at speed but at lower speeds especially when turning I like the extra light.

[TheWizard]

29 minutes ago, KLinNBC said:

Ahhh, one of my favourite rants. In the vain hope of getting all of you driving around with your "fog" lights on here are some basic facts:

 

THOSE ARE NOT FOG LIGHTS!!!  Proper fog lights are yellow/amber ONLY for good reason. The frequency of the yellower light (along with the low mount. precise cut-off and wide beam as mentioned by the Wiz) has less diffraction/throwback into the drivers eyes. In truly foggy conditions running good fog lights with headlights OFF will allow you to see better/farther. Also unless you can turn off your headlights the yellow fogs are not much help. 

 

What is on all vehicles today is a style-driven, useless thing properly referred to as DRIVING LIGHTS. Originally these were for illuminating the road immediately in front of the vehicle when travelling at very slow speeds. Like off-road situations. In regular night driving that area that they illuminate IS MEANINGLESS TO YOU because you're travelling at a speed (anything over 20mph) such that you've already passed that piece of ground before you can even react to it. If you're looking down at that piece of ground you're not looking where you should be which is down the road in front of you at what's coming!. 

 

More importantly, that bright pool of light in front of your bumper causes your pupils to adjust such that your vision for the distance is reduced. So driving at night with those low, white lights on is actually reducing your distance visibility and making you less safe.

Not to mention annoying and blinding oncoming drivers.

 

Please, turn them off!

 

I agree with you on most everything except the insistence on yellow fog lights.  It's the beam pattern and aiming that makes a difference when used properly (that is... by themselves with no other lights besides parking/running lights (and rear fogs in Europe) and at a low speed).  Whether they are selective yellow (that specific color because amber is too dark) or white is an insignificant factor.  White in this case would be a color temperature no higher than 5000K - preferably around 4200K.

 

Also, most of the decorative "fog lights" that are factory installed these days aren't much of a threat of blinding other drivers.  Sure, they throw light everywhere and are rather useless as true fog lights but they generally have wimpy bulbs (like 880 series) which are about the same brightness as turn signals... not much of a threat.  The ones that are really frightening are those people who think putting an HID kit in decorative fog lights is a good idea - the same fools who put HIDs in reflector headlights - and throw blinding light everywhere.

[akirby]

Or the idiots who put LED light bars for off roading on their trucks and use them on the road.  Makes me want to throw a brick through them.

[ben senise]

42 minutes ago, TheWizard said:

 

I agree with you on most everything except the insistence on yellow fog lights.  It's the beam pattern and aiming that makes a difference when used properly (that is... by themselves with no other lights besides parking/running lights (and rear fogs in Europe) and at a low speed).  Whether they are selective yellow (that specific color because amber is too dark) or white is an insignificant factor.  White in this case would be a color temperature no higher than 5000K - preferably around 4200K.

 

this. exactly.

 

i've had many cars in europe with factory fogs and i lived in a place that often saw dense fog so i did use them regularly. the key to using fog lights is turning the headlights off and driving slowly. they were true fog lights and none of them were yellow.

[KLinNBC]

The arguments about yellow/white light are many (I like Daniel Stern's papers on human vision and how our eyes function better with selective yellow light) with no definitive conclusion so I'll back off on that issue. Regardless of colour, creating a bright pool of light right in front of your bumper seriously degrades your distance vision. At anything over 20mph distance vision is the priority. Turn the lights off!

1 hour ago, akirby said:

I agree they're useless in fog and at speed but at lower speeds especially when turning I like the extra light.

 

Agreed! I have a 1.6km (1 mile) long driveway with 7 switchbacks and they are useful in that situation especially because anything over 10mph is suicidal.

[TheWizard]

Agreed.  In fact it was Daniel Stern who said:

 

Quote

Good (and legal) fog lamps may produce white or Selective Yellow light—it is the beam pattern, not the light colour, that defines a fog lamp—and most of them use tungsten-halogen bulbs though there are some legitimate (and a lot of illegitimate) LED fog lamps beginning to appear. Xenon or HID bulbs are inherently unsuitable for use in fog lamps, and blue or other-colored lights are also the wrong choice.