Fog Lights: A Guide for Your Heavy Duty Truck

If you’ve ever driven through a heavy fog, you’re well aware of the dangerous conditions this type of weather can create. In the densest fog, it can become almost impossible to see what’s ahead of you on the road. Flipping on your high beams can make visibility even worse rather than better.

Although some roads have fog lines, road reflectors, rumble strips and other aids designed to help you find your way during times of poor visibility, there are steps you can take on your own to ensure better visibility and improved safety no matter where you’re driving. Although you won’t use them every day, a good pair of fog lights will become priceless the first time you drive your rig through heavy fog.

To learn more about fog lights and picking the right kind for your vehicle, read on with this free guide from FinditParts.

Standard headlights do a great job showing you your way through the darkest nights, helping you see and be seen during rainstorms and other inclement weather conditions, but they don’t pierce the fog.

Here’s the problem. Fog is essentially a low-lying cloud that reflects normal headlights or high beams back at you, making the fog even harder to see through. Worse still, fog can form in many places. It’s especially common in coastal areas, where temperature gradients between land and sea can cause tiny water droplets to condense close to the ground.

But it’s also possible to experience fog well away from the coasts. The tule fog commonly seen in California’s Central Valley is just one example of the extremely thick land-hugging clouds that can form inland. In the worst fogs, it can become nearly impossible to see the road. It can be difficult to pick out vehicles that have slowed down or stopped in front of you because of the poor visibility.

That’s when fog lights come to the rescue. These lights are positioned well below your headlights. Typically, they are placed as low as practical, on your bumper or below. Although they do not shine as powerfully as your headlights, fog lights illuminate the road ahead of you much better. That’s because they are shining underneath the fog cloud ahead of you. In addition, they are not pointing directly at the fog. Rather, they are angled down, keeping their “eyes” directly on the road and not reflecting in the fog.

Although many people think fog lies on the ground, it actually is usually a foot or two above ground level. Your fog lights get under this low-lying cloud to help you see the road ahead. As an additional benefit, your fog lights make you more visible to other drivers coming your way during foggy weather. That’s because their illumination isn’t reflecting back from the fog but is pushing out ahead in the direction of drivers ahead of you.

Although they are called fog lights, these types of lights can also help guide your way during other periods of poor weather. They can help penetrate mist as well as snow and sand that’s blowing across the roadway.

Some vehicles come with factory-installed fog lights. That’s a feature well worth looking for if you are in the market for a new truck. If it is offered as an option, it’s an extra expense that will quickly repay itself in increased safety when you hit your first patch of bad fog.

If your vehicle has not been equipped with fog lights at the factory, that’s not a problem. A wide range of aftermarket fog lights is available to fit all kinds of vehicles, from the smallest passenger cars to the biggest, heavy-duty commercial trucks.

Some popular brands include Grote, Dorman, United Pacific and Navistar. These lights are reasonably priced, so it is well worth looking for the top products in your price range.

In addition, aftermarket fog lights are easy to install and add a professional look to a vehicle. A fog-light kit will give you everything you need to install your fog lights yourself. These include adapters and hardware that let you mount your fog lights where you want them.

Many fog lights on the market today use light-emitting diode, or LED, technology. That means these lights use minimal energy while they are on. More importantly, LED lights last much longer than other types of lights. That will save you money in the long term. You won’t need to purchase replacements as often and will spend less time installing them. If you prefer other types of fog lights, halogen fog lights are also available.

To improve visibility of your vehicle, rear fog lights are also handy. They can also help you see your way when backing up in a heavy fog.

Many colors are available for fog lights. You probably have seen many vehicles equipped with fog lights with yellow bulbs or yellow lenses. Some argue that this color’s wavelength improves visibility through the fog, although others dispute this theory. If you like the looks of traditional yellow lights, go for it. They will provide illumination as good as other colors, but probably not any better.

Glass and plastic lenses are affordable options for fog lights while glass lenses are at a higher price because they generally offer better durability and protection from scratches.

We hope our information about these lights has helped clear some of the fog surrounding this important subject for commercial and heavy-duty truck fog lights. If you expect ever to be driving in foggy conditions, this is a small investment you will be glad you made when you need to go onward through the fog. For answers to any questions, feel free to call our customer-service department 24/7 for quick, expert advice.