Jeep Renegade LED Fog Light Conversion Installation Write-Up

Discussion in 'Renegade Write-Ups' started by wayoflife, Jan 23, 2016.

  1. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    When it comes to fog lights, I know there are a lot of people out there who have different opinions as to what the best color light to have is, how bright it should be and so on. Of course, if you're running a set of LED headlights and LED daytime running lights (DRL) on your Jeep Renegade like I am, it only makes sense to have the fog lights converted to LED as well if only to have the light they put out match everything else, or at least to me anyway. That being said, this write-up will show you just how easy it is to convert your factory H11 incandescent fog light bulbs to a set of LED bulbs. For my purposes, I found that OPT7 makes H11 LED bulbs and being that I used their H13 LED bulbs to convert my headlights, I decided to use them for my fog lights as well.

    Here's a shot of what the OPT7 H11 Nova Plasma LED bulbs look like.
    [​IMG]

    What you will need
    • OPT7 H11 Nova Plasma LED Fog Light Bulbs - 6000K Cool White - Plug-n-Play (Pack of 2)
    • Phillips Screwdriver

    Instructions
    1. Park your Renegade and turn your steering wheel to the left and until it is at a full lock. Then, use a phillips screwdriver to loosen the 2 plastic screws securing the fender liner access panel in place.
    [​IMG]

    2. With the screws loosed, you should be able to simply pry off the fender liner access panel.
    [​IMG]

    3. Reach into the access port, gently pull the locking tab on the plug and pull down to remove it as shown.
    [​IMG]

    4. Firmly hold the bulb and rotate it counter-clockwise until it's unlocked and then remove it from the fog light housing.
    [​IMG]

    5. Carefully reinstall the new H11 LED bulb back into the fog light housing and then rotate it clockwise until it locks in place.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    6. Plug the wiring harness into the new H11 LED bulb.
    [​IMG]

    7. Reinstall the fender liner access panel and then, using a phillips screwdriver, lock it in place by tightening the 2 plastic screws.
    [​IMG]

    8. Repeat steps 1-7 on the passenger side of your Renegade.

    For comparison sake, here's a shot of what the factory Renegade fog light and DRL with standard incandescent bulbs looks like when on.
    [​IMG]

    And here's what a Renegade fog light with an OPT7 H11 Nova Plasma LED bulb and a DRL running an LED bulb looks like when on.
    [​IMG]

    Here are a couple of shots of what your Renegade can look like with LED headlights, day time running lights and fog lights.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Okay, so now that I've got these installed, this is what I can tell you. Looking right at them, they are really bright and shiny and maybe, a bit too bright and shiny as they are kind of hard to look at. Using them in conjunction to my new LED headlight bulbs, I'd be concerned that on coming traffic might find it difficult to look at. Of course, to make things worse, they don't even put out a whole lot of "actual" light. In fact, they offer so little actual light that it's really kind of disappointing. While I might keep them for now being that they look good together with my new LED headlights and day time running lights but, I may end up change them out for something else or back to the factory bulbs. I'll have to follow up on this review once I've had a chance to do some more long term testing.
     
  2. Sgt_Strife

    Sgt_Strife Active Member

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    I've been really wanting to undertake this full light switch for a while now and that was my main concern.

    I know a few other people trying this out too so I'll let you know if they come up with anything.

    Edit: P.S. Thanks for the awesome write ups you seriously do a great job at them.
     
  3. Marco Avellino

    Marco Avellino New Member

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    i ordered mine with xenon light …will the fog lamps be cool or warm white ?
     
  4. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    I should clarify that I know what the problem is and it's that much like the head lights, the OPT7 H11 bulbs NEED to be aligned vertically and perpendicular to the ground when installed. This is because the reflectors in the housing are also aligned vertically and the light emitting from the LED bulb needs to hit them directly to provide the best results. The problem is, the H11 fog light bulbs are a part of the socket and the socket locks into the light housing in a specific way. Once locked in, the LEDs sit at an angle and almost horizontal or parallel to the ground. This is why it's so bright to look at and this is why it doesn't put much light out on the ground. What I will need to do is to see if I can either modify the bulb or the way it mounts in the housing to make it work.
     
  5. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    Hard to say for sure being that I haven't run what you ordered. Sorry.
     
  6. Sgt_Strife

    Sgt_Strife Active Member

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    Ah, well that's good to know! Thanks
     
  7. Sgt_Strife

    Sgt_Strife Active Member

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    @wayoflife, is it just the fog alignment or is it the alignment with all the bulbs you replaced?
     
  8. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    The DRL bulbs have LEDs all around it and really, aren't needed for lighting the road in front of you so they don't matter. Both the headlights and fog lights use reflectors to cast light in front of you and because the LED bulbs have elements attached to either side of a board, they NEED to be aligned in a way to maximize the amount of light that gets used. So, those two are really the only ones that you need to be concerned with.
     
  9. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    Okay, I was wrong and the problem is not the alignment of the LED bulb. It's off for sure but there are 4 planes upon which LEDs are mounted and two of them would have been shining in the direction that they needed to be or close to it. Upon closer examination, I found that the real problem is that the LED bulb is too short and only about half of it sits inside the fog light housing. As you can see in the photo below, the factory incandescent bulb is much taller and the glass part sit much further inside the fog light housing.
    IMG_5373.jpg

    I have since done some more research and will be buying a different set of bulbs made by a different manufacturer. From the looks of it, the new bulbs should fit a lot better. I'll be sure to post up about this once I get them installed.
     
  10. Sgt_Strife

    Sgt_Strife Active Member

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    That makes much more sense. Look forward to hearing how your new bulbs look/feel.
     
  11. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    UPDATE
    Just wanted to let you all know that I picked up a set of JDM ASTAR 1200 Lumens Extremely Bright 144-EX Chipsets H11 H8 LED Bulbs from Amazon and as you can see in the photo below, the bulb is taller and the LED elements sit completely inside the fog light housing.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Already, they look brighter and better but, I will have to wait till it gets dark to know for sure how well they do. I will be sure to post up my results as soon as I can.
     
  12. Sgt_Strife

    Sgt_Strife Active Member

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    @wayoflife, Did you have to buy different lights from the OPT7's for your other bulbs or just the fogs?
     
  13. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    Just the fogs. The headlights worked great, you just need to modify them to make them work right/shine light well.
     
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  14. AJ Romero

    AJ Romero New Member

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    Thanks for the update. Already had the OPT7's on order, but no biggie...Amazon can take them back.

    Can't wait to see how JDM brand turns out. Wonder if they make headlights that don't need the modification?
     
  15. wayoflife

    wayoflife Administrator Staff Member

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    Okay, just went outside to test out the new JDM LED bulbs and...... they work great! They put out a ton of white light and match the headlights perfectly. Here are a couple of pics that I took with my iPhone.

    Here's just the headlights.
    IMG_5526.jpg

    And here's a shot with the new JDM fog LEDs on too.
    IMG_5525.jpg

    Here's a shot of what the LED bulb looks like inside the housing. As you can see, the entire bulb is inside and shining away :)
    IMG_5529.jpg
     
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  16. helldorado

    helldorado New Member

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    wayalife, I just ordered the OPT7 H11 bulbs that are similar in design to the H13 headlight bulbs you had ordered. Not sure if they'll clear the housing or are too long, but if they fit, will provide some updates on the quality of light output. I wanted something that generated more light than the smaller LED bulbs because I found the stock H11 halogens actually make a pretty decent improvement in visibility over the headlight H13 halogens by themselves and didn't want to step backwards there.

    [​IMG]
     
  17. helldorado

    helldorado New Member

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    The OPT7 H11 bulbs work great in the fog light. Just needed the polarity adapter harness and they were good to go. What's nice is they align perfectly on the horizontal plane, I was a little worried they'd need the collar to be altered like the H13's, but that's not an issue here.




     
    Last edited: May 29, 2016
  18. helldorado

    helldorado New Member

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    Sorry for the not great quality photos, these were quick and dirty to show the difference in light. Finally got out at dark for the first time since the install and the high output LED bulbs make a significant difference over the effectiveness of the stock halogen headlights by themselves. I get a lot better lighting at the edges of the roadway which is helpful since I live in an area where deer and armadillo crossings are common!

    You can see in the photos below how the pipes on the side of the road aren't even visible with just the factory halogen headlights on.

    fog lights only
    [​IMG]

    fog lights + head lights
    [​IMG]

    stock headlights only
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2016
  19. isthata_compass

    isthata_compass New Member

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  20. fred

    fred Member

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    A quick question, how do you turn on just the fog light?
     

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