Can I keep the fog lights on with high beams?

[Kirwin]

I want to be able to have the fog lights on with my high beams. I looked at the service manual and they are activated by a computer. Can I just apply 12 volts from a manual switch from my Painless Wiring harness to the hot lead upstream of the lamp assembly? Is there a better way? Will this turn on my Lamp Out indicator in the dash? Thanks for your help. Ken Irwin

 

[TexBamBam]

I recall there is a thread on this where folks were running the low beam and High beam at the same time... this should allow the fog lights to run at the same time. If you hold down the hight beam switch... you can run the high and low with the fog lights. Might search for High and low beams

 

[nickleinonen]

you could probably do that, but use a diode in the setup [inline with the factory power feed] to prevent voltage feeding back to the factory stuff... .

 

[WStoops]

Geno's has a device that plugs into the headlights and turns on the high and low beams at the same time. You could tap into the high beam wire and use that to close a relay which would then turn on what ever you want. I did my driving lights that way. Huge difference in lighting with a pair of 100 watt H3 driving lights. Oo.

 

[Kirwin]

Brite Box from Geno's

Wstoops are you saying that you can mainatain the fog lights on with the Brite Box set up on a 3rd gen Ram? I talked to Andy at Geno's several weeks ago and he told me that the Brite Box didn't affect the foglights so I hadn't looked any further into it. If this is the case I'll be ordering my Brite box today. Are you sure that the foglights are on with the brite box in high beam? Thanks Ken Irwin

 

[WStoops]

Geno's would be the experts on how that product works as they are the ones who sell it. I'm not any more familiar with it than what I read in their flyer. Wired properly though, through a relay and a switch if you would like, any thing can be made to work. Don't forget to fuse it as well since if you use a power source of your own making the factory fuse won't work when your source is powering the light. You can't be the only one looking into this though as the factory lighting system really stinks. Here in the NE where I live there are no street lights and deer constantly looking to commit suicide. My 100w halogens really light up the night though, much more effectively than the fog lights.

 

[Kirwin]

Brite Box with Factory Fog Lights

Has anyone actually installed the Bright Box from Geno's on a 3rd Gen Ram and checked to see if the fog lights will stay on with the low and high beams energized? Somebody must have tried this by now! Thanks Ken Irwin

 

[RDHamill]

On a 2Nd Gen truck if you remove the fog light relay and replace it with a jumper , the fog lights stay on anytime that the headlight switch is in the on postion. Hi or low beam.

might check into that for a 3rd Gen.

good luck

 

[VStahl]

I wired my foglights through a relay that is tripped by the parking lamps and the main feed for the foglights come from the battery. By doing this I can have my foglights on with high and low and for that case with just my parking lamps without either high or low for that matter. I have not had any issues with it whatesoever.

 

[Kirwin]

Fog lights and aux realy

VStahl. You didn't get a lamp out indication on the dash? I assume that you cut both + and - leads down stream of the PDC relay out near the bumper and ran your own ground too or did you use the factory wiring on the ground side? As I understand it the supply side to the light is energized all the time and the PDC realay just grounds the return when the relay energizes. Thanks Ken Irwin

 

[VStahl]

Kirwin. I ran new wiring from the back of the light assembly to a relay that I mounted under the hood. From the relay I have my main power coming straight from the battery. I connected the lead on the relay to trip to the positive lead from the roof clearance lights since I knew it would be impossible to confuse those wires. I also put a switch on this wire so that I can kill power to the fog lights if I want to.

I have had this set up for almost a year and have not had a dash warning lampp ever on it. I have used this set up to add 4 additional flood lights to the front of the truck on my grille guard and have not had a problem with them either.

 

[BSeitz]

Kirwin: If the headlight switch is the same style as the second gen trucks there are two very simple ways to do this for less than a buck. Take out the fog lamp relay, there should be three slots going in one direction and two slots going the other direction. take a 1" piece of 14 gauge wire and two male spade connectors, make a jumper and jump it it across the two slots going in the same direction. test the lights/foglights and make sure it works. If it does, a cleaner looking way is to solder a little jumper wire between the two pins on the realy itself. What i do is strip a little piece of 14 gauge wire and tin it with solder, then pound it flat and solder it in place on the relay as a permanent jumper. Once you put the relay back in, you can even tell its there. I've done this to at least a dozen or so trucks. Worked every time.

 

[Kirwin]

2nd Gen vs 3rd Gen fog light activation

BSeitz, yeah if only it were that easy. The 3rd Gen trucks only use one relay to energize the fog lights. If you just jumper the relay the fogs will be on all the time as the power for this relay is coming straight off the battery feed fusible link. The "Front Control Module" has the logic of the old double relay system to turn off the fog lights when the high beams are activated. If you look at the 03 service manual schematic 8W-50-5 there is power via fuse 41 to the PDC relay all the time. The Front Control Module grounds the relay coil to energize the fog lamp relay to turn on the fog lights. I guess I can do what VStahl says or find the wire coming out of the PDC on its way back to the Front Control Module and put a switch in it to ground it when I want to. Only problen with that is, if you left the switch on the lights would stay on even if the truck were off. I did find that apparently the only lights that will cause a LAMP OUT indication on the dash are headlights, (either high or low beam), brake lights or tail lights, according to the 03 service manual page 8L-3. Still no one that has the Brite Box installed has let me know what happens to the fog lights if I put in the Brite Box. Someone must have done this on here! Ken Irwin

 

[bighammer]

Check this thread out. It's really pretty easy to do.

 

[BrentKaiser]

Don't know anything about electrical, but I did find a way to get my fog lights to stay on with my high beams on my 97. I just cut off one of the prongs on the relay that controlled the fog lights and walla. Not sure how it works, but it did. Here's where I found it, not sure if it will help, but I hope it does.

Brent

 

[Joel - BAA]

See my post of 9/2/04: "3G Brite Box + Fog Light Control testers wanted!"



New product we are about to introduce - Should give 3G owners all the light they want.



Joel Toy

Baker Auto Accessories

Makers of the Brite Box

 

[frijole]

Unless something has changed, the D. O. T. says running fogs with high beam is a no-no. You may be ticketed for it. Ron

 

[SRadke]

Unless something has changed, the D. O. T. says running fogs with high beam is a no-no. You may be ticketed for it. Ron

Uh..... I don't know about you but I run high beams when there's nobody else around. Why should they care how many lights I've got on or where they're pointed if I aint bothering anyone else?



-Scott

 

[RDHamill]

have a look at this other thread

https://www.turbodieselregister.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110822



it might be of some help.



good luck