rscott

blue loctite wont stop the thin plastic from breaking B

ill take some pics tomorrow. I doubt ive remedied it completely but its definitely a step up from what it was.

kaotiq

Bri,

The white streak is wax . I guess I missed a spot hehehe. The skunk went UNDER my bumper, that's the thing.

My guess is that i scratch my front end up a lot that the vibrations of it slowly break the plastic bonds of the support. I am trying to find a solution to prevent this from every happening again. $90 for 1 fog light is a rather expensive replacement. I can only buy so many.

I will post up a picture of a new fog light and maybe we can all pitch in ideas on how to save these poorly supported things.

CleanSC

If I am reading this correctly, only people with body kits are experiencing this.

Looks to me like the body kit is breaking the tabs off the lights. The rigid fiberglass rear support offers no flex within the front end (the opposite of what Toyota intended with the urethane) and causes the tabs to be torn off the lights.

Think about it, the stock fog light mounts are flappy urethane pieces. Perfect for allowing movement in the case of impact. The whole assembly can flex and dissipate impact energy.

Replace the bumper with something hard like fiberglass, and that energy has nowhere to go and the fog light housing just snaps off, right at the tabs.

For the record, I've SLAMMED my front end into many curbs, parking stops, tree roots, and dips in the road and never lost or broken a fog light. I do have a front lip in fiberglass but my fogs are mounted on the stock urethane bumper which is what they are designed for.

kaotiq

Jose, the pieces that are pictured are actually not flappy but rigid plastic pieces attached to the body of the fog light. I will take a picture of my passenger foglight tonite and hopefully it will clarify any mixups

plex

iTrader: (11)

kaotiq where did you get the fogs@$90 each?

CleanSC

The flappy parts I was referring to are the mounts on the bumper where the fog light attaches. Your current ones are hard fiberglass and offer no give. The urethane ones move and flex with the light. They are designed like this on purpose.

Looking closer at your pic, see that damaged fiberglass at the 6 o'clock position? That right there is what broke your lights. You hit something, the lower bumper flexes up while the rear mounts do NOT and *POP* out comes your fog light.

Had your front bumper been urethane, the entire assembly will flex around the point of impact and conform, light and all. The flappy ears will allow for some flex so the light is not pulled apart. Aftermarket kits are not designed for this.

When you get your new light, drill the mounting holes in the bumper nice and big. Install a large rubber washer/o-ring on both sides of it and then loosely (until the rubber holds it firm, but not until it deforms too much) tighten the screws after putting blue loctite on them. This will allow movement of the fog light on the fiberglass bumper similar to what the original design called for. It also isolates the assembly from shock much like your motor mounts between chassis and engine.

For complete piece of mind, tether the light to the car by screwing a small steel cable or wire to the back of the housing. Secure the other end to the chassis with a length short enough so that the light doesn't touch the street should it break loose. That way if it pops off, you won't lose it. It will just dangle there.

There's nothing wrong with the original Toyota design. The tabs are small on purpose and matched to the mounting ears in the urethane bumper. Fiberglass changes all that.

kaotiq

that is an excellent suggestion. I will give that a shot. If that fails, I'm just going to go with a 97+ bumper with vertex lip. This bumper is already a pain as is. Thanks bro.

CleanSC

No worries, man. I feel ya on the fiberglass. High maintenance stuff.

kietlander

NICE, finally someone smart enough to go 97+ with vertex lip. that would have been my plan if i didnt get the AC kit.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Geoff, have you ordered it already?
If so, it's a race between you and me to see who gets theirs first.

If not, give a brotha some time for glory.

kaotiq

Glory? .....the movie? take all the glory you want my good man Just make sure that you show me the lip in person first!

mikeloc24

Good points in here fellas, especially the suggestions provided by Jose. One suggestion I'd like to add and I came across this while installing my own 97 front bumper is that you don't want to overtighten those mounting screws. The nuts will start to gouge into the bumper weakening the tabs if you screw it down too tightly. They need to have a little wiggle room, not loose, but not super tight either. The cable tether idea is also excellent.

AME_VIP

iTrader: (2)

Why do you say the JIC front is a pain in the ***? Is it because it sits very low? Its one of my favorite front bumpers for the SC.

kaotiq

you hit it on the dot. It is VERY low.

CleanSC

Pretty much all bodykits are a pain in the *** considering that they are lower and then on top of that the car is lowered. If you drive the car everyday, you will scrape it everyday unless your commute is on a racetrack.

Couple that scrapage with the fact that it's made of a hard material like fiberglass and you start to see your paint supplier more often than some of your friends.