John00

Here I am going to share some info on my latest lighting system for the GX. I won't get it all shared at once, but plan to get the important details out while answering and questions.

First, on best. Best is relative to the individual needs; what's best for one might not be for another. The thread name implies a single best, there are many bests. For fogs, there are multiple uses: fill between headlamp and vehicle, fill ditches, light signs, shine in the back window of others, cut under fog, look cool, as part of a DRL system, and on and on.

I am continually improving the GX lighting. Part hobby part necessity. I wanted lots more light on the road, think rural off road use. I wanted it to look OEM and not like a hack job. I wanted to have fogs on without low beams, to stop fog reflection. This system will also meet other needs, it has a very sharp cutofff, can be used as DRL, does look cool, can use different color bulbs, etc.
My research led me to a waterproof, semi sealed bi xenon housing, HID bulbs, a separate lighting controller and a remote (not needed for all uses). I wanted a 3.0" projector lens but nothing was available for the GX a year or 2 ago. I spoke with some vendors in China, there were no plans to make one for the GX in a 3.0" anytime soon, although there's now something that looks promising, I will be receiving this in about a month. They basically are molding the custom bracket used in my system, slightly changed for a new housing version.
The costs vary depending on if you purchase from USA vendors or from China. Below are parts and US costs.

System component selection:
Projector lens, to get sharp cutoff which allows for more light without bothering others. The lens itself does reduce light at the benefit of focus, but with the cutoff you can use a more powerful light.
Bi xenon, to get high beam ability (the more light on the road). Few fogs do this, and this should be limited to off road use.
HID, to get more overall light output.
3.0", to look more OEM than 2.5". The OEM bezel opening is >3.0", maybe around 3.5" ~65$
35W for the HID, because the 55W rated housings were not available in 3.0". ~40$
Custom adapter bracket, to quickly and easily mount the fogs without looking terrible. ~25$
$130 above


Below not necessary, but made it more suited to my needs---
Aftermarket controller, for ease of wiring to get both DRL (fogs on without low beams) and high beam functionality (fogs on with high beams, and fogs in their own high beam state). ~10$
Fog and high beam wiring extensions, to be able to add functionality by cutting into adapters instead of the OEM wiring. ~15$
RF remote, to be able to shut it off while IGN still on. ~15$
$40 above

I am extremely happy with the results. These fogs put more light on the road than the OEM HID low beams. The cutoff is superb. It really is the best, and I recommend this for anyone who needs more light, as in rural off road areas.

John00

The left is the 3.0" bi xenon fog along with the custom bracket. the right is the Valeo OEM. The bi xenons do come with universal brackets, and there's now some specific for certain vehicles.
Here's what I didnt want and why I used a custom bracket. Some vehicles have slanted fog bezels and mounts, like the GX, and the universal brackets leave this hack job look, not meeting my requirements:

John00

Here's some indoor comparisons. Philips Ultinons in the OEM HID housing with low beams on and under that the bi xenon fogs in low beam mode.
These fogs put out more light than the OEM low beam HIDs. The fog HID bulbs I used were DDT tuning 35W 5500k FYI I am not sure these are any better than the cheap 20$ HIDs. I'll run another test on that in the future.



fogs in high beam mode compared to 35W HIDs in OEM low beam housing



comparison of bi xenon fog in low mode and OEM fog 55w halogens (OEM fog housing). one thing to note is that in the bi xenons, you can adjust that bright spot right at the top of the cutoff to either shine as a bright spot or be cutoff more, by moving the HID bulb after installation. I chose to have it just barely shining.



comparison of bi xenon fog in high beam mode and OEM fog 55W halogens (OEM fog housing)

John00

I wanted to get about the same amount of housing to stick out of the front. The final version is about 2mm farther out than what's in these pics.
lens close up. at the bottom, notice a spring. this is a return spring for a solenoid, for the moving cutoff shield. The shield is on the bottom and the lens reverses it, so the light is cutoff on the top. image upside down just like a human eye does.
https://www.optics4kids.org/classroo...ng-upside-down





The chrome OEM bezel on the GX isnt round. The front end also isn't flat like other vehicles. This can cause an illusion that its not centered. Also not being exactly inline while taking a pic does it more.




Side view. i did end up moving it 2mm more to the front (not shown in this pic). this was to reduce gap on the side. At a certain angle theres a small gap caused by the not round OEM bezel, and i wanted to minimize it.

John00

further back at night, see the cutoff differences OEM vs FOG. not the angles, but the sharpness


just the fogs. diffraction gives the cool blue/purple top

John00

so I had paused the design effort while I awaited the already available version that potentially could work. It does not. I was hopeful as I had been in contact with them for almost a year, but had doubt when I saw the photos.
Review part received.
The bad:
The gap fill piece is too small for the newer bezel size, both were split. I assume during their assembly process.
The tab ears are in reversed positioning. The ones to slide in the inside are in an incorrect position, those closer to the front should be towards the back.
The bulbs they sent were not the correct color temp. I measured a little below 5k while they were labeled 6k.





The good:
There's a second set of screws to keep the height adjust once set. For serious off roading at high speed with much shock, this could be a benefit.

I could just trash their attmepts at the brackets, still use the lens design and modify my brackets to use those instead. Since I already have the drawings and materials it shouldnt be much work.

John00

When looking at aftermarket parts, even if the replacement part will work for an OEM part number, this doesnt mean it will work for that part number in all cases. When the part is used on many vehicles, sometimes they are used in different methods, specifically the mounting.
although the GX and LX (and a bunch others) use this OEM part, the aftermarket part I received wasn't able to be used on both. This is because they have the boss in the bumper in a different location.

Just something to keep in mind when looking at aftermarket parts, make sure to ask if they have tried it on the vehicle you intend to put it on.

John00

Heres a newer version with a second set of screws to hold position. also theres one of the universal brackets if you mount to a different location. just swap the plastic for the metal one

John00

on high mode, they are very bright. not sure the level can be conveyed. great for dark country roads. not good at all for areas with other vehicles or signs, too much reflection.


part of that is the camera, the green signs can be read without too much trouble. white signs cant be read at all


signs over a mile away reflect brightly.

but the point isnt to illuminate signs. this is to get good visibility down the road when theres no streetlights. spreads pretty good too to see the sides.

John00

heres a harness i used

9004 Hi/Lo Bi-Xenon Controller HID Battery Relay Wiring Harness 12V 35W/55

not 100% necessary, but made wiring quicker.

John00

the gap needed filled. when the high power light hit any black plastic, it would take in enough energy to cause deformation.
this drove to the silver color. not complete surface finish but works fine

John00

the heat from the HID caused some peeling of the chrome inside the projector housing. similar to putting HID into the OEM except much less damage. upgraded to these NHK led:




low and high, not my photo