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Spent some of my quarantined time adding fog lights to my GX since mine did not come with factory fogs. I looked for awhile and decided on the Baja Designs Squadron-R SAE Wide Cornering in Amber. These are a low wattage and amperage plus high quality. I chose amber for the snow/rain cut through and contrast.
The lights came with a harness but no relay. You can purchase their harness with relay for $30 additional. I found another one on amazon that came with a relay and all of the wires were already heat shrinked and nicely organized. A relay is around $10 anyway, this harness was around the same price as just a relay. I cut off the section heading to the lights from the after market harness, did the same on the BD harness and spliced them together. This lets me use the BD harness and quick connect waterproof connectors on the light side of the harness. All of this runs along the factory wire harnesses to be hidden and clean looking.
For the switch I ran one end of the wire harness from inside the engine through the factory grommet and up to a blank switch plate. The harness has 3 wires, red +, black - and white. The switch is here to activate the relay and lights will run off of the battery. I ran harness black to switch black. Switch Yellow + Red to an ACC power source in fuse panel using a fuse tap. I wanted the lights to only work when the vehicle is on so I did not use harness red since this is always hot. Switch Red is meant to be to your dash lights but I chose not to tap in to them. Switch Blue to harness white triggers the relay to turn on. The color on the switch is orange and doesn't match factory but you cant really even see it. I originally purchased a 39x21mm but this was too tall so I am waiting on a 33x22.
The lights were just a hair too big for the factory location which is fine. I did not want to remove the bumper or grill if I could help it. I removed the plastic cover to expose the grill area. I noticed I could just hang them from the bumper mount mid-grill without removing the grill or any other parts. I didn't want to chop, cut or drill any new holes so I used 2 existing factory screw holes. This way I knew they were evenly spaced and no modifications needed. There is around 9" clearance from the mount to the bottom / top of the bumper styrofoam. I knew the lights were just over 3" plus the light bracket so I got 2 x 4" L brackets and bolted them together giving me a little over 7". This would let them hang from the bumper mount, get them up closer to the grill and not touch the bottom. Reason I did 2 L brackets instead of just one long one is the lights are meant to be 'hung' or sit on top, not to have the mount bracket mount behind the lights. It would pinch the wire and not get snug enough. I rattle canned the L brackets black but the paint didn't stick very well since I did not wait long enough for them to dry. They are completely hidden though so this is non-issue. I added a longer screw (M6 - 1x25) for the factory bumper mount and used this to secure the two brackets to the bumper.
overall I am happy with how they turned out. they are hidden and secure. the grill does not block the light enough to be an issue. I have only driven a few times so far since mounting them. no noticing of the lights vibrating. I got them very close to same angle before mounting but I need to spend more time to make sure they are aimed right. they are bright, but not ultra bright where I will get flashed by other drivers. Gives me enough extra light especially on the dark back roads.
04-12-20, 10:37 AM
Baja Design Install
