Dodge Truck


General Dakota Board
FromMessage
Geoff
Unregistered
 Email

1/13/2001
13:24:23

Subject: Fog light question
IP: Logged

Message:
What size bulba are in the stock fog lights?

do they make a replacement that is the ultra bright blue/white type bulb?

how difficult are they to change out?

thanks
Geoff



Bernd
GenIII
 Email User Profile

1/13/2001
17:35:56

RE: Fog light question
IP: Logged

Message:

Don't know offhand, but don't bother with those "Ultra blue" lights. They don't work as well as one would think.

Bernd D. Ratsch
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT
Supercharged w/Nitrous

Russ
GenIII
 User Profile

1/14/2001
20:52:11

RE: Fog light question
IP: Logged

Message:
Geoff all the manual says is its bulb no. 899 no other info on fog lights.

2000 CC SLT 4X4 4.7 L-SLIP AUTO 3.55

Dan Gruber
Unregistered
 Email

1/14/2001
21:24:19

RE: Fog light question
IP: Logged

Message:
Bernd and Geoff,

Reference Bernd's comment about ultra blue lights not working well...he's right depending on the type of lighting system.

The whole blue light thing started when BMW started putting a High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting system in its cars a few years back, followed by Lexus, Lincoln, etc. These HID lights have that blueish light you're talking about because they electrically "excite" the Xenon gas in the bulb. Xenon glows blue when excited by electricity. They are VERY expensive and not compatible with a light source designed for a halogen bulb. Not a "plug and play" option.

So why bother? The blue light generated by a HID bulb is much closer to true daylight than a halogen bulb, which itself is a quantum leap over the old sealed beam headlights. Because the light produced by a HID bulb is closer to daylight, you can see better at night with the HID. Also, a HID bulb will produce about 4 times the light that a halogen bulb of the same wattage will. That's why when a true HID bulb-equipped car is coming towards you at night, there appears to be more glare.

Why not just use a blue-tinted halogen? As Bernd said, they don't work as well as a standard halogen bulb. Why? Most blue halogens are simply a regular bulb with either blue glass or a blue coating applied to the bulb. Kind of like a tinted window...less light will get through the glass. Kinda defeats the purpose of a fog/driving light.

For more info and lots of technical details, refer to the December 2000 issue of Road & Track, an article entitled "Where the Photons Hit the Road" by Dennis Simanaitis.

Just a little trivia for y'all.

Dan
2000 CC/4X4/4.7/auto/3.55LSD



Bernd
GenIII
 Email User Profile

1/15/2001
00:28:50

RE: Fog light question
IP: Logged

Message:

All the reading you want on those "Blue" or "Super Bright" El-Cheapo headlamps:

http://lighting.mbz.org/


Bernd D. Ratsch
1997 Dodge Dakota SLT
Supercharged w/Nitrous

   P 1


Post a reply to this message:

Username Registration: Optional
All visitors are allowed to post messages


Name:
Email:
Notify me when I get a reply to my message:Yes  No

Subject:
Message:

Home  |  Photos  |  Message Board  |  Links  |  Classified  |  Mailing List  |  Contests  |  Feedback


Property of Virtual-Masters, Inc.
No unauthorized copying, duplication or use without permission of Virtual-Masters, Inc.