So....... one that has been a bit of a tough one for every H2 owner. The factory DRL lights. Of course to anyone who has never had an H2, they assume they are driving/fog lights since they are stupidly gigantic to be DRL's. When I got my H2 I assumed they were driving lights as well and did not even realize they are not until after I had actually bought it when I tired to figure out how to cut them on.

WTF do you need 4-7/8" (around 124mm) daytime running lights for??? I have no idea myself. Anyways I've been hunting for a suitable LED replacement on and off for several months and have just not been very happy with much that I've seen. Everything I've found is a good bit smaller.

My wants are this-
I want it to fill those round openings as much as possible like the stock DRL's do.
I want it to be a driving light with a proper beam cutoff or a yellow fog light. On this point I'd be okay with either. I do not just want a bright *** flood light with no sort of useful beam for actually driving on the roads around other traffic.
Would be nice if it did have a DRL mode but I really would not care if it did not as DRL's are not required here.
I'd like for it to be high quality and not require too massive of an amount of modifications to fit.
Reasonable cost is of course a big plus.

Recently I ran across a Morimoto fog light on the TRS website that was specifically for a Toyota that shows it is 120mm in diameter. $200 for a pair of them. That is darn close to diameter of our stock DRL's!
https://www.theretrofitsource.com/as...led-round.html I also know they will be excellent quality and an excellent beam.

So armed with this info I now know that certain model Toyota's (I determined with some web searching that it is Tundras and a few others for a specific range of years) use this specific size fog light. So with some more searching I found one other option that also looked promising at ijdmtoy. Toyota Tundra Tacoma LED Halo Ring Daytime Running Lights A bit less expensive than the Morimoto's but more than I was really wanting to spend "just to take a chance and see". However I spotted another set of the same lights on their clearance page for $89 so I said what the heck and ordered them. Clearance Toyota Tundra Tacoma LED Halo Ring Daytime Running Lights

They really just said open box but with a tiny bit of rust on some screw heads on the electrical boxes it was obvious someone had installed them on something outdoors at some point. Regardless they are in excellent condition and I tested them and everything seem to work just fine.

These particular ones, they do not show it but they have 6 wires coming out of the lights which are about six inches long and terminate in a nice OEM style water tight plug. Then there are a pair of electronic adapter boxes they plug into which has two plugs coming out of it. The boxes are intended to work with Toyota vehicles I'd assume. Regardless you can independently power the DRL halo ring and the driving lights. In my quick testing in the shop they do have an excellent beam pattern, very wide and flat just like a proper driving light should.

The set I got also came with an adjuster stud threaded into the lower rear of the light. There are two round bits that stick out each side as well which are screwed on with a couple of small screws each. On the top rear there are also two threaded spots in the casting. They do seem to be excellent quality and the lenses are marked with DOT, SAE, and E4. The top of the lens says Vinstar 12/24V. Nice - so now we know who exactly makes them. With that you can find their website (very little info) but you can see it appears they use the same light for multiple applications, they will just come with different adapter brackets. You can also find them on Alibaba. This page has some good pictures of them... https://wanxy.en.alibaba.com/product...h_DOT_SAE.html

I pulled one of my stock DRL's out to do a quick trial fit and I think these will work out well. I just need to work out how I'm going to mount and adapt them to fit and be used. I'm very very busy so it will likely be some time before I finish and update this.

 

No time to do it today but this is a quickie trial fit. I like the way that fits! What I've decided on will be to use (on the light) the bottom center mounting point and the two upper threaded holes. To make sure I get it perfectly straight and centered in the pocket though will require me to remove the upper plastic bumper part from the H2. Looking close there appears to be 10 bolts that attached the big plastic part to the top of the bumper.

Might, but probably will not, have time to try it tomorrow. Here is a pic of it just sitting in the hole. That is also how far back it will be. It could go further back but you would need to cut a small section of metal off the back of the light. Where it is at, it does leave about a 1/4 inch gap around the edge of the light. If I did cut some of the metal bit off the back (would be very easy and would really not affect the light in any way) I think it would probably eliminate most all of the gap around the outside edge. I think I like it where it is though and by doing this way there will be some ability to aim them as well both vertically and horizontally which is a big plus. Will not be particularly easy to aim, but you only would need to do it once. I might still decide to cut that bit off and push them further into the pocket though - still would be able to aim them, just not quite as much is all.

 

Thats a great find. I like the morimoto a lot cause the dark inside . But theijdmtoy are great too and price is tempting.
Will follow the install process and BFF finish details .

 

Not yet mentioned but I've also already bought and installed a rear wiper switch from a Tahoe. Its an exact replacement for our stock switch but includes the factory fog light button.

Link.... https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odk...witch&_sacat=0

To add this there is a bit involved though. Our H2 has the right plug but the additional pins are not populated or wired for it. So you either need to get the additional pins, terminate them and install them into the plug or get on that comes with the plug pigtail cut off which is what I did. I then carefully extracted the pins with the bits of wire and installed them into the plug. Now I need to extend those extra wires and come up with a way to use the button like I want.

I wanted it to look 100% stock which it does. The problem is we are not pre-wired for fog lights. So all of the wiring has to be added. The other issue is the button is momentary, not latching. Of course the button is also not designed for high current, its designed for switching a relay. Since it is a momentary button the easiest solution will be to get a latching relay. I did look at trying to modify the push button to make it work as an on/off but there is no simply way to modify it. Leaving it as a momentary will be much simpler and then just use a latching relay and running the wiring.

My thought is that will allow me to connect the factory DRL wires already run the the DRL halo rings, then the wiring I add for the fog lights button to control the fog light function.

Of course one can always take the easier route and just install an aftermarket switch in the same spot in the blank area just under the rear wiper switch. I've seen pics of many H2's with a switch added there. I just like to make things harder for myself... Plus I like the idea of it looking 100% factory by using a factory fog light button. The ones from the Tahoe's (as well as Yukons, Escalades, and Suburbans with rear wipers use the exact same rear wiper switch).

 

Well done sir!
I myself would love to find a pair of yellow fogs for in that spot.

I'll have to do a little research of my own armed with your Toyota model info.

For 08, and 09 peeps here is the correct headlight switch with fogs:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ACDelco-D15...hUkVQ-&vxp=mtr

If your H2 is equipped with the heated washer fluid button like mine, you will probably loose functionality or you could possibly either rewire another switch, or connect it so it is always on.

I did notice that playing the Tech2 one day that the BCM had the ability to turn the fog lights on and off. I am not sure if that means that there are possible connections maybe for use overseas, or ..??

I'll have to play around a little more as time allows.

 

MixMan, thoughts on these?

 

Those are like another set I have bought just to mess with. Problem is I do not like how small they are in the holes and mounting them will be a pain.

On the Tech2 - yeah you can see certain functions that are common to the ECU, BCM, etc that are used in multiple vehicle models. The problem is the wiring is not there and potentially that output in the module might be used for some other function in ours. Only way to be sure will be to pull the module (ECU, BCM, etc) and see if the pin is unused and test with a multimeter while using the Tech2 to activate the control and see if the module grounds the output (to trigger a relay). Then then even trickier bit is to activate the input externally which can get very complicated and next to impossible without custom programming.

I found this on my 2003 DDM (drivers door module - the drivers door window switch module). On the 2003 there is no global windows up/down option or buttons on the heated seats switch (which plugs into the DDM). So I bought the heated seats switch on eBay that has those buttons and plugged it in. The windows would still not work using those buttons but the Tech2 did see the buttons and even saw them being pressed but nothing would happen. So I checked the DDM firmware and even tried in vain to load firmware (using TIS2000 with the Tech2) for a 2005 DDM and it flat out refused to even try and load it. So.... then I spent the money on a DDM for a 2005 H2. Plugged that in and bingo - the global windows buttons immediately started working. In the end - there is no way to force the Tech2 to load firmware for a module that it does not want to or does not think is specifically for the module.

This, to an extent can be done with the ECU software as tuning is so popular. But not so much with other modules like the BCM. There is one guy who has hacked the BCM software that I know of but he only does a mail order service and I'm not even sure if he is still doing it. If one could figure the BCM software out though you technically could enable features on newer models like theater dimming, enable and disable inputs and outputs, put custom messages on the DIC, etc.

 

omg, i have searched everywhere for someone trying to set up foglights with the factor switch beneath the windshield wiper switch. Have you gotten this to work yet? Please give me instructions on how to do it...i have the switch installed but have never got it to work. Please advise.

 

Mixman, Did you get the latching circuit to function as you intended? I'd like to keep the stock appearance as well.

 

It is complicated since the wiring is not all there..... you need the additional wires for the plug on the switch (some junkyard switches on eBay include a pigtail of wiring). There is a fuse and relay in the underhood fusebox as well BUT again, the wiring is not there. To actually use it with the underhood fusebox fog light relay and fuse that gets a good bit more complicated as you need to add three wires to that (really just two, the + output for the lights has a split to power the fog light switch indicator). Two wires run from the underhood fusebox inside, one to the BCM which is the negative trigger to activate the relay, the other to the button to turn on an indicator LED when they are on.

On an 03-07 I cannot see where you can enable the fog light function in the BCM but I still have never found the time to delve back in to finish it so the button on mine is still not actually functional (for a quick solution I used a cheap keychain remote box from Amazon). I still need to look deeper and see if I can trick the Tech2 (and probably TIS2000) to enable the fog lights function in the BCM but since that is not an option on an H2 at all it does not show it. I have not yet tried to give it the wrong VIN number (but for a vehicle with the same generation electrical and BCM like any full size GM truck or SUV from 03-07) which will then show the enable/disable fog lights in the BCM. I just have not had the time to mess with it more.

Adding the button is easy. Using the BCM and underhood relay/fuse is complicated. Since the button is momentary the easiest and simplest solution to at least use a stock button would be to simply get a LATCHING relay and then just figure which wires on the button are needed (can even pull a thin power wire back inside for the "on" indicator led).