Spyder Fog Lights install/impressions
 

Shout out to @FT-86 SpeedFactory first off, since that's where I picked these up. Yo answered my questions quickly, and Jeremy had the package to my door before my card was even billed. :cheers:

I'll get day pics up tomorrow, since it's now dark.


Since we have an extra hour of daylight, I decided to tackle this when I got home today. It took about 2 hours, and most of that was me being terrible at wiring. There was a (very) short installation guide in the box, which sadly mislabled wire colors a few times. Eventually, I just used what little I know about wiring and relays to do it freehand. Turned out well.

The harness is plenty long if you route it correctly. I ended up tapping the switch power wire into the fusebox under the steering wheel, and grounded it to a nearby bolt. I pulled out the rubber gasket in the firewall a bit, which allowed me to slide the switch harness into the engine bay. From there, I ran it under the cowl, which ended up with the relay and fuse by the OEM fusebox.

The leads to the lamps I ran from the fusebox area and straight down for the pass side. I snaked the drivers lead along the fan shroud and airbox, and down into the bumper. Can't see it at all, and it's safe from heat :thumbsup:

Sadly, that's the end of the good news.

The lamp housings are all plastic, as noted in other posts. Not a huge deal, but the plastic used is pretty cheap. The tabs on the housings that are used to mount did NOT fit into the bumper. I used a Dremel to remove the interference easily enough, but it was a minor inconvenience. Since the lamp housings are not unique R and L, I had to install one upside down (since the beam adjuster was contacting the front marker, and preventing mounting). Again, not a huge deal, but a side effect of cost cutting for sure. When you slide the (now clearanced) tabs into the bumper, you then use the supplied screw and plastic backing piece to secure the outside of the housings. I would have preferred metal bolts to plastic backing, but whatever. What DID irk me was that there were only 2 screws supplied for the 4 total holes. I don't think that the lamps are going to pop out, but I would have preferred a full set of hardware.

Finally, the bulbs. They are 19W H16, which isn't a huge deal, but it does limit options for alternative bulbs. I opted to stick with halogens for now, and the output is pretty yellow, but I may change to a true yellow bulb (more on that later). The bulbs simply "clip" into the housings, which means they're not nearly as secure as an H11/H7 twist in style. I was fighting with the pass bulb for about 15 mins, as it would NOT stay lit once mounted. I removed it to inspect, and one of the prongs that plugs into the harness was stuck in the harness; it had broken off once connected. Not sure if this is Spyder's fault or not, but it's pretty disappointing.

http://i.imgur.com/pQf5CB5.jpg

Finally, the bezel/surrounds look great, but they don't clip in fully. Not sure why, I checked all clearances, it just seems they don't fully seat. Again, I don't think they're gonna fly off on the highway, and you can't really tell unless you're looking for it. But I know...and so I look for it :(

Here are some night shots of the lamps, as well as the switch panel. Don't mind the hairy leg.

http://i.imgur.com/wHCWY4w.jpg
The indicator light on the switch is orange, which matches the orange in the center console/HVAC stuff. This is either great or terrible, depending on your preference (though really, nobody will ever see it). Panel fits great, but the switch is a bit diff texture/color than the other buttons.

http://i.imgur.com/uogSGw0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GuX4k2n.jpg

They look a bit more yellow in person (and my HIDs look less blue as well)...the downside of phone photography.
http://i.imgur.com/HxZkpJB.jpg

Light spread with and without headlights.

http://i.imgur.com/YPydx1Z.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/eJK8SiM.jpg


Daytime pics - they LOOK great, if nothing else:

http://i.imgur.com/fKJQda7.jpg

I really like how the blacked out marker makes the fog lamp stand out more and keeps the area looking less "cluttered"

http://i.imgur.com/X7Z6Oy0.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/sFqA22b.jpg

Here you can see some of the bezel fitment issues I was talking about. It's hard to capture it on camera, and it's small enough that you don't notice it unless you're looking for it at the right angle, but perfectionists beware!

http://i.imgur.com/BKsetJu.jpg

Huh, thought this would be more popular. Oh well, hopefully it helps a few people.

As an update, Jeremy and Yo have already set things right and sent me a replacement bulb for the damaged one in the kit. Big props to them and the folks at @FT-86 SpeedFactory as usual. :clap:

They said that this was NOT an isolated incident, and that they have had reports of other bulb issues with the kit. Quite unfortunate, since the kit looks great and was really pretty easy to install aside from the clearance issues and the slightly mislabeled directions.

If you had to do it over, would you go with the spyder kit again? I like the OEM look of the spyder kit vs. the winjet, but the quality reports are a bit concerning.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I second that question, but want to throw the Diode Dynamics kit into the mix.

send that shit :mad0260: back to the dealer. I had the same issue but did not go as far as you did.
I installed Toyota fog light with PIAA yellow halogen bulbs and they look :party0030: awesome.

Honestly, it's a tough call. What I wanted was: 1) Yellow, 2) switched operation, and 3) OEM looking install.

The DD kit didn't offer yellow lenses, though I could have easily added Lamin-X later. It also didn't have provisions for a switch. BUT, it had glass lenses and beefier housings, and OEM bezels.

The Winjet kit didn't offer yellow lenses, and was also plastic lenses. It didn't have a switch either, and I wasn't a fan of the bezels being that glossy plastic versus the OEM bezels with DD or the OEM-ish finish on the Spyder kit.

The OEM/Yota kit with some Lamin-X would probably be the best bet for the perfectionists out there, but that would have been ~$300 last I checked, which was twice what I paid here. However, that sorta reinforces the "get what you pay for" mantra...

If you don't care about a switch, I'd say get the DD kit.
If you care about a switch, and have the knowledge/wherewithal to fab up a switch harness, get the DD kit and spend the legwork and time making a switch work.
If you want a decent kit that does everything "pretty well", Spyder is a good choice. Just be aware you may need to do some modification to get it to fit, and maybe have extra bulbs handy.
If you want perfect fit and finish like OEM...well...buy OEM :thumbsup:

By the time I had found out that I'd need to grind the tabs on the lights, the harness was already run and installed. By the time that I found out the bulb was defective, the lamps were mounted. Had I known from the start that it was going to have these issues, I'd probably have sent it back. I just ended up keeping it all in, since it honestly looks good and works, despite having some bumps in the quality department.

But, if I was a baller, I would have definitely taken your approach of OEM + quality aftermarket yellow bulbs. :cheers:

Just a question... But did you bend your squirrel finder for HID?

I'm installing HID soon, so just checking if the glare is really that bad.

They're bent, almost too low actually. I'm going to adjust them up a tad next non-rainy day, since the cutoff is about 20" right now.

The phone camera really exacerbates the glare from ALL of the lights, even the LED side and front markers. I've never been flashed FWIW.

o_o
How do you unbend them?
Yea.. Phone camera makes everything look crappy.

I feel your pain. I bought the :mad0260: Spyder fogs and still have them in the box.

Well you can reach back in the housing and pry them up, I'd assume. That's what I was planning on trying first.

If not, you can adjust the headlights using this procedure.

It's not a terrible kit. I'm not mad about it or feel like I wasted money. Just, not the best kit.

I'm sure you can sell them in the classifieds to recoup some of your losses :thumbsup:

Another update.

FT86SF sent me a new bulb in hopes to fix the issue. Sadly, upon installing the bulb, it did not want to stay lit, same as before. I pulled it out for inspection, and the same prong had been broken off, and was in the harness. AGAIN.

So, its clearly an issue with the harness, and now I have 2 broken bulbs.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to fix/service the harness connector? Or other ideas? Really would like to use these...