Alternative to After Market Fog Lights

I have installed a variety of after market brand and no name fog lights on my GM trucks over the years. They generally last about a year or two before internal/external corrosion and rust set in and/or the reflective lining peels off. Plus halogen bulb replacement ranges from reasonable to outrageous depending on the brand.

Tired of all this and not wanting to spend in excess of $200 for “top of the line” fog lamps, it would seem simpler, more cost effective and I could solve the internal corrosion, rust and water seepage if I could simply add a pair of sealed beam rectangular halogen headlights (the size used in a 4 headlight system). They cost about $7-8 a pop and they should last for years. All I need is a bracket to secure them in and to attach to my GMC’s bumper/air dam. If I use a low/high beam halogen (like a Sylvania H4656) and wired it so the low beam is on with my truck’s low beams, and high beam is on with the truck’s high beam, and I would have a “dual fog” and driving lamp.

So my question is, does anyone know where I can find brackets to mount rectangular sealed beams in? (lamp size is 4.23” high x 6.61” wide)

Many thanks in advance..
Joe

i would think that closest thing you are gonna come across to manufacured would be some KC style running lamp brackets, and then using some steel bands to secure them, ir if you have access to welding equipment, mock the factory bracket.

does this mean that you ahve the plug that they hook into as well.

another option would be to take some steel bands w/o holes, and bend then to creat a cradle or frame to cover the fron permeter of the lamp, then bring 2 more pieces over the top and bottom or sides and connect it to a fabricated bracket. also, to avoid damaging the lamp, you may consider buying spray in liner in the can, and coating the steel band frame and brackets for both corrosion purposes, and to give the frame a no-slip characteristic.

i have no grammar, i dont believe in periods.lol

Thanks. I suspect your right - the only way mount stock OEM sealed beam headlamps is to fabricate a bracket myself. I not into metal working but it might be a challenge.

As far as I'm concerned, sealed beam technology still surpasses plastic lights with plug in halogen bulbs anytime in terms of durability. Plastic factory fogs and headlights often get water in them or enough dampness to cloud over. This was never a problem with sealed beams.

Thanks again.

i agreee, however, there is a film that you can buy that can be put over headlights, or sealed beam lamps, that acts as a buffer for stones and road debris. Its much like the clear film that comes on a LCD for a new cell phone. and will absorb minimal impacts, w/o damaging the lense. Although the lamp lenses are quite thick, the close proximity of foglights to the road can generate additional debris.

as far as farication, i was looking into some migwelding units at walmart. for roughly $100 you can buy a unit adequate enough to weld together a braket for this purpose.But keep in mind the spray on liner that i mentioned, it will server as a good non slip coating for the brackets to holds the lamps, as well as provide some cushion to bumps, and prevent scracting from exposed metal. Unfortunately i do not have a garage right now, so migwelding is out of the question for myself. but all you would need would be tyhe mig welding kit from walmart, tin snips, drill, dremmel with grinder tip, and some pray on rubber coating.

alll of this is theoretical of course, but i am really good with these kind of projects, and i love working out the logistics so that others can benefit as well.

let me know if i can help you figure out anything.

Does anyone have information on how to wire in the new sealed beam lights? I just bought my truck and don't want to screw up the computer electronics.

I ultimately selected and installed a set of "Grote" Hard Rubber Auxiliary Lights (sometimes called Tractor/Utility lights) that come with a Par 36 Sealed Beam. I get just as much light as I did with aftermarket fogs but with no more corrosion, rust, water or fogging lenses problems. They are available at JC Whitney.

I can tell you how exactly I wired them up to my 2000 GMC Sierra 1500 4X4. Let me know. But below is a general idea.

You should use a light switch relay. You need connect one side of the relay to a 12 volt source. The under hood fuse box has plenty of unused slots for this. The other side of the relay connects to a switch you will install inside your truck - you need to run one wire into the cab through the firewall. The 3rd leg on the relay connects to the lights. The relay kit does come with a wiring diagram to make it easy.

On the inside of the truck, you install a light switch and one side connects to the wire you ran from the relay. The other side of the switch connects to a 12 volt source, but in this case you want it to be hot only when the ignition key is on or in the accessory position. This way the aux lights will always go off when you turn your truck off if you inadvertently forgot to switch them off. The dash side fuse panel has unused "switched" fuse slots where you can make this connection. A lighted switch is cool but you will need a ground wire for it. Speaking of ground wires, don't count on the aux light brackets to provide the best ground, run a separate ground wire to a solid ground on the truck.

When connecting to the unused slots in the fuse box I use crimp on connectors. Either a spade connector (looks like a U) or a post connector (looks like a O) - which ever works best for that slot. They fit neatly into an empty fuse slot. You only want to connect to one side of the empty fuse slot so you need to trim connectors with a pair of cutting pliers to make a good fit. Make sure you fuse both 12 volt connections.

Having a volt/ohm meter will help. You should have no problems with the electronics nor the warranty since you are not altering or cutting into the factory wiring, just tapping into unused fuse slots.

Joe