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Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

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Old Nov 23, 2010 | 03:36 PM
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Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Looking to possibly swap the normal H3 bulbs in the original Trans Am foglights to H3 LED bulbs similar to the picture (loads of different number of LEDs on there (or actually SMDs) ... bright white.

Not sure what they will look like and if they will be bright enough compared to the OEM bulbs ... and of course the lens in the fog lights aren't designed for LEDs etc.

Anyway, anyone tried this and got some photos or views (good or bad) to share?
Attached Thumbnails Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?-led_h3_750.jpg  
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Old Nov 23, 2010 | 06:06 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

You might run into depth problems with the OEM fogs. They have those metal black pieces in there that aren't very deep.
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Old Nov 23, 2010 | 06:27 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

This sounds interesting, particularly in countrys were lights need to be on during the day too.

I will try them out, I have removed the metal "covers" on mine, for more light.
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 01:42 AM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by AmorgetRS
You might run into depth problems with the OEM fogs. They have those metal black pieces in there that aren't very deep.
Good point, didnt think about that. I'll take one off the car and do some measuring or maybe remove them.
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 01:43 AM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by thomas1976
This sounds interesting, particularly in countrys were lights need to be on during the day too.

I will try them out, I have removed the metal "covers" on mine, for more light.
Let me know what you end up doing and which ones you use and I'll do the same once I've decided what to try.
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 02:16 AM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

You should consider the PIAA line, not sure if they have your application, but their lights produce a white light and use the same or lower current than the OEM application calls for...
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 02:28 AM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by KNBlazer
You should consider the PIAA line, not sure if they have your application, but their lights produce a white light and use the same or lower current than the OEM application calls for...
They do the H3 bulbs but not LED versions ... reason for the LEDs would be much less (if any) heat that do ruin the fogs over time.
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 12:41 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

The other thing you have to watch out for is that the light being farther out from the base will change the focal point of the reflector (or something like that) and cause more light scatter, this making them worse fog lights and potentially blinding other drivers.
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 04:31 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by AmorgetRS
The other thing you have to watch out for is that the light being farther out from the base will change the focal point of the reflector (or something like that) and cause more light scatter, this making them worse fog lights and potentially blinding other drivers.
Yep that is a big problem; lens, reflector none of it were evere designed for use with the LED lights ... and they don't put out as much brighness either ...

I'll see if I can do one of mine then compare the two (stock and LED) to see how bad it really is ...
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Old Nov 24, 2010 | 05:18 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by AmorgetRS
You might run into depth problems with the OEM fogs. They have those metal black pieces in there that aren't very deep.
The shields are pretty easy to remove & cause no problems with oncoming traffic or light output problems.

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=25

Last edited by Stephen; Nov 24, 2010 at 05:39 PM.
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Old Nov 25, 2010 | 02:26 AM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by Stephen
The shields are pretty easy to remove & cause no problems with oncoming traffic or light output problems.

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=25
Great step by step guide, thanks for the link!
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Old Nov 25, 2010 | 01:55 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Originally Posted by Stephen
The shields are pretty easy to remove & cause no problems with oncoming traffic or light output problems.

http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=25
Good point, Stephen.

Also, most of the after-market replacements don't even have the shield.
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Old Nov 26, 2010 | 08:42 PM
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Re: Trans Am OEM Foglights with H3 LED bulbs anyone?

Doubt they'll give anywhere near the same output as incandescent bulbs.SMDs get pretty hot.Almost as hot as bulbs & hell of alot hotter than standard LEDs.
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