OEM Fog Lamps

[Israelson]

Does Mopar sell a fog lamp kit for my '97? Are there any aftermarket kits that will fill the holes on my bumper?



Thanks all,

Erik

 

[Cooker]

The dealer does offer a kit, and I have seen some OEM kits on eBay as well.



The dealer will tell you it will not fit because you have an auto. It will fit, but it is a very tight squeeze.



PIAA offers a light kit and separate bracket and Piolet offers a kit too.

 

[Gifford]

Fogs

The PIAA 510 kit is FAR superior in every way to the OEM Mopar fogs+ I think its cheaper too!

 

[Un-Hemi]

The PIAA 510 kit is FAR superior in every way to the OEM fogs + it is FAR more expensive! :{



As Cooker says, the factory fog light kit MAY have fitment issues in older automatic trucks because of the placement of the transmission cooler. They fit fine in my '99.



I have and recommend the PIAA bracket kit (P/N 30195) which includes templates for cutting the plastic bezels, but I'm still searching for the best less expensive alternative (Catz, Optilux, Blazer or whatever) 4" driving light to mount on the PIAA plates.

 

[CORed]

Where found?

You are not the first to recommend the PIAA installation bracket kit with the cutout instructions.



Where can someone get this bracket and what cost range?



Would it be just as easy and cheaper to make your own out of aluminum maybe or is there something special about the bracket?



TIA

 

[Un-Hemi]

Any place that sells Piaa lights should stock or be able to get the brackets. They weren't that expensive; I don't recall exactly what I paid for them; I think it was in the $35 US range.



There's nothing special about the brackets. It would be arguably cheaper to make your own, but it would require a great deal of measurement and fiddling to get them fitted correctly, especially with the bumper in place. Cutting the bezels would be a challenge, also.



The brackets have all the necessary holes in the right places and are nicely painted to boot.

 

[Gifford]

PIAAS

I bought the PIAA 510 kit for under 200 to replace the OEM lights the dealer installed. The dealer charged 260 for the OEM parts. plus installation...



The PIAAS are cheaper than the Chry$ler OEM fog kit by a long shot. (That is if you dont order them with the truck mind you)

 

[BigBadDodge]

Catz MSC hyper whites baby, that is what I had in my stock location before the new bumper. I never used the headlights. fit right in the hole.



Catz



#ad

 

[CORed]

I definitely agree on the Catz MSCs

That's exactly what I'm going to be installing. I don't have the OEM lights at all and several guys have recommended the Catz MSC's over the past year+ so I am going to get them. I just purchased the OEM dash switch and under-hood relay yesterday. The open ended connector under the front crossmember showed just over 12. 4 volts when I turned it on... so I'm just in need of the lights now.



Given what others have suggested, I am planning to take the bumper off to do the install. However, looking at the bolts, there is no way I can see getting an airgun up there without some sort of pivot socket and maybe an extension. Anyone have any recommendations on this?



Since I will have the bumper off, fabbing up a bracket should not be very difficult. Regarding cutting the plastic hole, I'm a bit curious... the PIAA kit comes with a template. Basically I assume this "template" is a ring of some sort that tells you how much of the plastic hole to cut back. Am I correct? If so, since the bumper will be off, I figure just taking the plastic piece out and cutting it back to the point where the MSC fits with a small hand saw, should do the trick.



Am I missing something?



BTW... love your truck BBD... beautiful!!!

 

[BigBadDodge]

On my 97 I didn't have to cut the plastic at all, but if you do a die grinder works great too.



BBD

 

[inarush76]

parts list

So, Catz Hyperwhites, factory wiring harness kit, PIAA bracket, is that the recipe for cool fogs? BBD, did you buy the Catz online or from a local parts house? Plan on having my bumper off to repaint(Sport) and that would be a good time to install the fogs. Am also looking to do the Sport headlight conversion (mines a '98). Any part #'s and sources would be great.

James

 

[Jetson]

Walmart has a kit for $40 that has the same size lights are the OEMs, but a different bracket. They come with a relay that I connected to the parking light wire to trigger it. Anytime the park lights or headlights are on, the fog lights are on. The power line to the relay comes off the battery, so I don't add to the load on the headlight switch.

 

[Un-Hemi]

Hmmm... . I couldn't locate my original invoice for my factory fog light kit, so I went to my local dealer today; the 'friendly' price for the factory fog light kit for the '99 truck (P/N 82205656) was $152. 00 CDN. That's around $100US these days. The 'friendly' price for the Piaa 510s at the local parts emporium was $350. 00 CDN. I stand by my opinion: Piaas are expen$ive for what you get.



That said, the Piaas, and almost any other accessory light that uses an H1 or H3 bulb, are much better than the factory fogs.



I ended up using most of the parts in my factory fog light kit wiring harness to power my high beams in my sport light conversion.



Your Mileage may vary, etc.....

 

[BigBadDodge]

inarush76: I had the factory lights already and they started to melt the plastic lenses so I replaced them with the Catz all I had to do was modify the factory bracket a little with the dremel tool.



BBD

 

[Trizae]

Just to let everybody know,,,,,,, The part number for 94 to 97 fog lamps is no longer avaiable,,,, you can buy it piece by piece,,,,,, i tried to get a set for our rollback

 

[CORed]

Here's my take on the parts list

I do not have the Sport model, just a standard 01 ETC withOUT the fog-light kit.



I purchased two things from the dealer...

1) Headlight switch w/ fog - #56021675 - $59. 20

(BTW, they asked me if I had a dome light and I do)



2) Mini-relay for under the hood - #4671168 - $10. 35



That's it.



Out of curiousity, I asked what the complete "fog light kit" would cost, I was quoted $169. 00 and change. This would include the switches and relay I purchased above, plus the lights and bracket, the wiring harness which plugs into the open plug under the front crossbeam and goes to each light and new plastic bumper inserts which have bigger cutouts for the lights.



Since I plan on making my own bracket and have no problem cutting the existing plastic hole bigger, I only purchased what I needed.



Also, I know there have been group purchases of the Catz MSC's in the past... say back in 01 or early 02 from what I have read in some other threads. Not sure what kind of deal was had back then or what could be had currently. When I checked the web for prices on the MSC's... I found them anywhere from about $160 to $210. Then some added shipping... one wanted over $25 for shipping... whatEVER!!!



Before purchasing any parts, make sure you have the factory open-ended plug under the front crossmember just under the radiator and behind the front bumper. The other end will be in the dash, right beside the main plug for your light switch. The back of both light switches (the one with the fog function and the one without) are <b>exactly</b> the same. However, the main connector... with about 20 wires on it is all you need connected if you do not have fogs. The smaller plug with only two (or 3) wires is the plug used for fogs. This connector was originally plugged into the back of my switch even though I did NOT have fogs. I unplugged it months ago to confirm what it was for and all the interior and exterior lights continued to operate normally.



If you have this scenario on your truck, the two parts mentioned above will probably be all you need from the dealer. If you don't have one or both of these plugs, you probably do NOT have the factory wiring in place but I believe this is rare.



Then all you need is the lights of your choice and a bracket. You'll also have to create your own wiring "harness" to connect the lights to the plug under the crossmember. One dealer said he had this harness for around $35. The other couldn't find it.



BTW, I have two Dodge dealers in town and the prices on the parts quoted above varied by about 2-3%. YMMV.



Steve