The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Fog light color

I notice both clear and amber fog lights on a # of trucks. My '48 Chevy 1/2 p.u. has the clear 5" Guides on the gravel guard. Is the color used simply a matter of preference, or was there some logic as to which color fog light was installed? Is the same thing true for the size installed?

There is some controversy and no definitive answer. One thought is that amber provides better contrast, but not supported. A quick search got this;

http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9701967776/m/49619160101

IMO size doesn't make a difference unless there is additional wattage output.

Larry

I read a story about how the yellow fog lights came into being. It included names and dates, but I can't remember the specifics. It was in the earley days of road course raceing(in another country). A heavey fog had rolled in causeing a lot of trouble for the racers. It was too dark to run without head lights, but the light was glareing off the fog. One of the racers pulled over and grabbed some newspaper, which in that country at the time was printed on yellow paper, wet it on the road, and stuck it to his head lights. The newspaper simply dimmed the head lights. He won the race, and racers started coloring there head lights yellow after that for foggy conditions. If this story is true, it means yellow fog lights have no basis in science. I believe it is the location of the fog light, not the color.

I would say that the color does not make any difference. I have placed white lights low and used them as fogs. My 2007 chevy 3/4 ton has factory fogs and they are white. They work better for illuminating the ditches to show me the deer/cattle/feral hogs that are hiding waiting to jump out in front of me than they do for fog driving. But they do help.

How often are you going to be driving in the fog? I have a pair on my truck, and they are keeping the original yellows that are still in them and functioning. Its a nostalgia thing with me. Someday, I may need new ones, and yellow blubs may not be available.

I had an offroad rig that had both colors on it at the same height on the bumper. Just my personal expereince here, but I found that the amber light produced less glare in fog & snow & mainly they helped me pick out different colors & shapes on the sides of the road ahead of me. The white lights were good for long distance vision on highway trips, amber for close in. I used to scream through the desert at less than safe speeds at night so the more detail I could pick out in the road immediately ahead of me the better I could navigate.
Still, it comes down to personal preference in conjunction with driving habits & environment. Afterall, many folks swear up & down they can see better w. those blue headlights but I cant see much at all. Might be a subjective matter & why people cant come to an agreement.

I have a pair of 5" fog lights and the amber lenses have a clear strip across them about 1 1/2 inches wide. Iv never seen any bulbs like that.
Really cool with the little visor on the top of the housing.
Friend had them on his 49 pickup.

I think it is truely a matter of personal preference because we do not all have the same eyes or eyesight.

Although less light will be emitted going thru an amber lens as opposed to a clear lens using the same watt bulb.
That fact along with an amber light seems to reflect less when encountering snow,heavy rain, or fog as opposed to bright white light.

Myself, I prefer a black light which....ya I'm kidding.

Dan

I had the same experience with using my fog lamps in heavy fog. There is a science behind it, seems that the yellow/orange light cuts through the fog mbetter that white light. I do know that in some European countries that experience heavy fog/snow regularly, cars are actually equipped with amber headlamps, white headlamps are illegal in those countries.
BTW, I hate those blue headlights, too. All they do is cause exsessive glare to the oncoming drivers. That goes for those 10000k headlamps that the kiddies seem to think they need. If you're that blind that you need that much lighting power, you don't need to be driving at night!

I have a pair of Unity 5" that match My 5" spotlights and they have yellow lenses. (NIB) In My opinion, clear lenses are no more than road lights...Brightness is not what You want in fog, thus the yellow lenses...Many of the old larger cars, Cadillac, Buick, Packard, ect, had one clear, and one yellow, available as accessories...

Forgot to say they are still in the box...haven't got around to installing them yet...(;

Bill, I,m not disputing your opinion of clear lenses, but it makes me wonder if you are referring to a true fog lamp when you call them nothing more than a road light.

I wonder because too many times lights are labeled Fog Lights but are nothing more than just lights because they lack the proper beam pattern to be a true fog lamp. I've bought a few and was disappointed with they're performance.

If you get a true fog lamp you will notice it has hardly any vertical light spread which keeps the light low and under the fog.

Be they amber or white, I've tried both, and think having both would be the answer because conditions change requiring one or the other at times.

Dan

I remember cars used to have only one (1) amber fog light on the front. Instead of shining it straight ahead, they placed it so it would shine down at an angle so the glare wouldn't be as bad. Here is an article that I agree with on the subject;

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4885332_fog-lights-work.html

How Do Fog Lights Work?
By Steve Smith, eHow Contributor

Visiblity in Fog
1. Fog lights are designed to reduce glare that occurs while you are driving through thick fog. When you flip on your headlights in a patch of fog, most of the light is reflected back at you from the water droplets in the cloud of fog. Water is reflective of light almost to the point of being a mirror, so whenever you turn on your headlights in a fog, you are going to receive most of the light thrown out back in your eyes. This creates a blinding patch of light in front of you.
Angling for Better Vision
2. The idea behind fog lights is to reduce the amount of glare thrown back at you. The fog lights are angled downward toward the road at an angle, so when you turn them on, the light is thrown across the road in front of you and not straight ahead of you, where it can be reflected back. The light is not reflected back into their eyes. This gives you some visibility of the roadway, without blinding you. The color of the lights has no bearing on their use in fog. Today, yellow or any other color is not recognized as being "better" at penetrating fog. It may have more use as a safety mechanism for oncoming traffic.
Benefits and Drawbacks
3. Fog lights will give you a little more visibility and reduce glare while driving down a foggy road. You will be able to see the roadway more clearly and suffer through less glare. However, some people say that these lights really don't give you an advantage. The fog lights only light up a small section of road, because they are angled and mounted lower on the vehicle. They do not give other drivers enough warning and sometimes can blind other motorists as they approach you. They also do not cut through the fog in any way. The lights themselves are the same bulbs are headlamps, LEDs or HIDs. Any yellow lights use a color filter to produce the yellow color that may reduce some of the blinding glare, which makes them appear to cut through the fog.