Projector foglights retrofitted into 2010-2011 OEM shrouds

I've been unhappy with the reflector based OEM style foglights because they throw a lot of glare up high due to the absence of a physical cutoff shield, as found in projector style foglights.



Recently, I was fortunate enough to score some projector style foglights on eBay that didn't have halo rings around them (the ones with halo rings have smaller lenses on them because they have to fit within the halo). They were Carquest packaged and had the Grote branding on them as well. Made in China, H3 bulbs (55w).





First thing I did was to change the clear bulbs out with Nokya 35w yellow bulbs.

While I was changing out the bulbs I noticed something kind of strange. The cutoff shields were bent with 90 degree angles in them.



I bent the shields into a smooth arc:



My thinking is that the arc will follow the contour of the reflector bowl better than a cutoff shield with sharp bends in it.

Then the hardest part was fabricating some brackets that would allow me to mount the projectors into the OEM shrouds I already had:



All that was left was to attach some H11 connectors onto the foglights so that they would easily connect to the wiring and relay that were already mounted in the Prius from the OEM style kit:



Here they are mounted:







Here's a pic that was taken from above the foglight's cutoffs that show that there is no glare or stray light flaring into the camera lens:



And another pic taken from a lower angle, below the foglight cutoffs that show the foglights with intensity:



Overall, I'm very pleased with the way these foglights fit perfectly in the OEM shrouds and the definite glare reduction these projectors allow. I'm thinking of PlastiDipping the shrouds black to better match the flat black finish on the projector housings and bezel around the lens.

 

The foglight housing gets pretty hot, so I don't think PlastiDipping the housing is an option. It would make matters worse by adding an insulating effect, and I don't know how much heat PD can handle.

Lol with the mounting question, you have a good memory.

They are mounted upside down, normally they are bolted under the bumper. I have them bolted on top of my fabricated adapter bracket with the cutoff shield flipped 180 degrees.

Haven't driven the car yet, will do so this evening. I'm not holding out much hope for improved illumination, as these are not driving lights.

 

Thanks, you would know what is involved in adapting non oem lights to sit right. Better than most ppl anyway.

 

Output not so good on the road unfortunately, couldn't even tell they were on from the driver's seat. One of the lights quit working too. I took it off the car and will look at it when I have time. Might be a burned out bulb, but they were new bulbs I had sitting around.

I'm thinking of messing around more with the cuttoff shields as well to see if I can get better output.

 

Those look sweet, what exactly are they?

 

Not really, not yet anyway.

 

Nice, that was my guess. They don't drop right in do they? The tabs look a little different, Toyota wouldn't be that nice to us would they?

 

Yeah, I love those deep Lexus yellow foglights. Looks well constructed with the heat dissipating fins cut right into the housing. What model/year are those from?

 

Agreed, it would be inconsiderate to put HIDs in the OEM reflector foglights with their non existent cutoffs.

Agreed, the Lexus foglights are sexy.

It might just be perception that there isn't much light coming out of the projectors because I'm used to all the glare coming off high from the OEM foglights illuminating everything above the low beam cutoffs lol.

 

Take a look at the projector bezels they sell on the retrofit sites like TRS, etc. They should have something you can slip over just the front end of the foglights you have that fit around the lenses and fill any gap between the OEM shrouds.

It's important to leave the back side of the housing free for ventilation, especially if you are going to put HIDs in them.