Auxiliary Lighting and Installation

Looking at the display of fog and auxiliary lights at the department store auto section I found I was looking at mostly…toys. Here was a set that were shaped to look like cats eyes with purple or blue colored lens. Here was a set that would almost require boneless limbs and an elongated neck to install as there was no way to aim the things to where they were needed as the aiming had to be done only while installing them. Fat lot of good that would do me I thought. And here was a pair that looked great but the wattage output was so low that they would be near useless. I wasn’t in the market for a “cool” look. A cool look wasn’t going to illuminate the edge of the road on a cold winter’s night or allow me to see that deer slowly making its way onto the road up ahead. I needed wattage; I need the ability to aim the lights at will without dragging out tools or crawling under the vehicle to use those tools.

I passed by these useless toys and wondered over into the farm and tool section of the store. And right there…in plain site was what I was looking for. Tractor lights! A 55 watt light designed to be mounted on a surface, such as a tractor fender..or a truck bumper… and designed to allow it to swivel up,down or sideways and remain that way until changed. And you can move it by hand using no tools. Perfect for auxiliary lighting on your vehicle. Looking at the plastic housing I noted that it was basic matte black. If you wanted to, you could paint this casing to match your vehicles paint scheme.

Auxiliary lights, or fog lights as some people call them are becoming more and more popular. New vehicle manufacturers have been installing them for some years now. The only problem I have with most of these factory installed lights is that are primarily designed to illuminate the road directly ahead of your vehicle. At first glance this sounds like exactly what the driver needs. It is not.

All too often the lights are placed low to the ground and shine directly forward. The lights don’t allow any adjustments and so there is no way to illuminate the edge of the road…which is important due to the fact that many county and city governments tend to neglect painting the edge of the hardtop, making it very difficult to see during bad weather. Knowing exactly where the edge of the road is can allow you to drive very near it, without falling off of it..thereby improving your safety while driving. Many times with rain, snow and fog, I have met an oncoming vehicle burning high beams and nearly blinding me as I attempted to look straight ahead. With extra lighting, I can look at the edge of the road, and know exactly where I am without falling off and onto the shoulder. And really, if you have driven for very long, you have met the blinding driver…and sure enough, fallen off and onto that shoulder haven’t you? With these lights…you can see that edge.

Speaking of fog…calling auxiliary lights by the common name of fog lights is misleading. Fog is condensed moisture hanging in the air and has a nasty ability to reflect light right back at you. A fog light in it’s most common application, is a light that is mounted low on the vehicle bumper and is intended to shine directly onto the road ahead..a short distance ahead! It can never penetrate that fog and illuminate what is behind it. But many people will mount lamps, yellow lamps especially, on their vehicle in the belief that a yellow light wont be reflected and they can magically see better while driving in fog. A yellow light may indeed soften the reflected glare but if one must mount a light, intended to be aimed a short distance ahead to illuminate the road….then obviously, it will not be aimed straight ahead,and therefore reflected light is not going to be a problem to begin with. That being the case, how much mileage do you expect to rack up driving in fog anyway? Not much for the vast majority of people. Therefore, mount a white light such as a tractor light. It can be aimed near or far, left and right etc as needed. Now you have a light that is functional and highly useful for all night time driving needs.

I purchased a pair of these lights and some wiring, a switch, crimp connectors and a fuse and fuse holder and went about installing the lights on the top of my bumper. Placed here they would be out of danger while parking near curbs, sidewalks and road obstructions like tree limbs etc. The tractor light has a stud mounting. So you have to drill a hole through the bumper for that stud to fit into. Having done that you take the washer and nut and thread them onto the stud from underneath and tighten securely. The stud mount is now secured to the bumper and is made in such a way that you can attach the light itself directly on it and aim it from up top. There will be no crawling under again to loosen the mounting to allow movement. With lights mounted I could go on to the wiring they will need.

The wiring is all straight forward. Using wire clippers and a crimping tool you attach both ground wires together with a wire crimp and run a length of wire up under the hood and find a bolt to loosen so you can place the terminal you also crimped on under that bolt and tighten it back down. The ground side of things is now finished. Attach both hot or “red” leads together with a crimp and route the wiring until it will exit somewhere near the driver side inside the cab. Mount your switch where you can readily get to it. Then attach the terminal on that wire directly to one side of the switch. Now run a wire from the hot side of a fuse in your fuse panel to one side of your new fuse holder. The other side of the fuse holder will terminate at the still open side of the switch.

If you have done everything right your night time driving in going to be a lot safer. I like to aim the light on the drivers side at the dead center on MY lane. I aim it so the beam hits the road about half way to where my low beams normally land. This illuminates the road far better directly ahead and helps me see potholes my regular lights may not reveal. The right side light I aim to the right to light up the edge of the road. I want to see that edge…rain or snow or whatever. I aim it to the right so the lights hits about three car lengths ahead. These lights at 55 watts each are plenty enough to do the job, are functional, well made and at about 10 dollars each, well worth the cost.