Fog lights on fibreglass bumpers

[Christopholi]

Hi all,

I would liket to mount fog lights on my van, but I have fibreglass bumpers. I am curious what others have done to mount their's (other than getting steel bumpers ). Do you find them shaky? Has there been any damage to the fibreglass?

Thanks in advance,

Chris.
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1988 Tintop Wolfsburg Special Edition - "Meatloaf"
RMW 2.5 Subaru, SubaruGears 5MT 4.44 w/LSD, Coast Mountain Hightop

[PDXWesty]

I mounted them right on the bumper and never had any problem. The bumper is about 1/4" thick and plenty strong for fog lights.

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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[kamzcab86]

[BillM]

There is also a bracket available in the UK that copies an
oem bracket. It's a metal tab that bolts under the bumper cover
on the metal frame. A member on here documented it and
had some of their own made locally. There is a couple factory
holes under your bumper they mount to. I couldnt find the
post on my iPhone with a quick search but it's here somewhere.
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Bill M
87 Westy

[T3 Pilot]

Bill is correct,

It's a triangle of 3 holes visible once the fibreglass bumper cover is removed.

There is a drawing of the bracket on Vagcat under electrical accessories/halogen fog lamp. It is referred to as "retainer". your bumper covers are referred to as "carat trim"

You could Probably bend a pair up in a vise with some 1/8 steel strap. There is an example somewhere here in the posts, keep searching and you will find....

Good luck.
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1988 Vanagon

The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel......

[PDXWesty]

Here's the post on the brackets, but you can also do it without. They work with steel bumpers but I don't know how they'd work with the fiberglass bumpers.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=377713
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89 Westy 2.1 Auto

[syncrodoka]

The one on the bottom right is for fiberglass bumpers. Image borrowed from ragnarhairybreeks.

[Christopholi]

Thanks guys for all the great info. I feel a lot more confident about mounting something now than before. That diagram of the bracket looks quite do-able.

Kamz, would you happen to have a scan of those install instructions, as well?

Thanks again, all.

Chris.
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1988 Tintop Wolfsburg Special Edition - "Meatloaf"
RMW 2.5 Subaru, SubaruGears 5MT 4.44 w/LSD, Coast Mountain Hightop

[BillM]

Chris
Don't forget that there is a factory switch that fits up on your
cluster and I would also use a relay. I had a Vanagon a few
years back that came from Europe. I bought it crashed for
parts. It had fogs that were either dealer installed using factory
parts or were factory installed. I kick myself in the ass for
not documenting the wire harness but it used a relay. Just
something to consider.
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Bill M
87 Westy

[ragnarhairybreeks]

factory wiring for fog light did include relay, but (assuming I have read diagram correctly) the relay did not protect foglight switch.

My rambling blog post explaining more:

http://shufti.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/fogaux-lights-installed/


The stock wiring set up

my wiring set up (note the diagram for the fog light switch is not correct in that the 3 position switch does not have the internals wired as shown, but the diagram works for the purpose now.)

alistair
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'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[zippyslug31]

I used to have them bolted straight on the bumper. Worked fair but they were a little wiggly on rough roads, the light cast was a little too low, and if a light took a direct hit the force would be transmitted directly to the fiberglass.

While I was doing a bunch of upgrades to the van I installed a light bar directly to the crush bumper, then mounted the lights to the bar. Much happier with this solution.

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previous:
'80 westy
current:
'90 syncro westy 2.5L subi, triple knob, 16" wheels.
'84 sunroof van, 2.1L motor.

[alembical]

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1997 EVC

[alembical]

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1997 EVC

[Christopholi]

Bill - That's a great suggestion. I will definitely go that way.

Zippy - Nice looking bar. Is that notched right into the fibreglass? Is it a custom piece, or regularly available?

Alembical - Your silence speaks volumes
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1988 Tintop Wolfsburg Special Edition - "Meatloaf"
RMW 2.5 Subaru, SubaruGears 5MT 4.44 w/LSD, Coast Mountain Hightop

[alembical]

yeah, not sure what is going on. When I go to the messages and hit Edit, all of the text, links and pictures show up. When I go to view the thread, they are blank.

My messages had said I use a license plate mounted fog light bar

Like this http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=221566884&sellerid=33746554

works well on our van... but, ours is a Eurovan.
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1997 EVC

[Christopholi]

Also thanks to Alistair for the diagrams. My German is getting better bit by bitte!
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1988 Tintop Wolfsburg Special Edition - "Meatloaf"
RMW 2.5 Subaru, SubaruGears 5MT 4.44 w/LSD, Coast Mountain Hightop

[shadetreetim]

Mine are mounted to the fiberglass bumper and are very stable. I used some heavy rubber washers on the topside of the bumper to help prevent them from twisting left or right.

I wired them to a Porsche 944 fog light switch, and then to a ignition powered relay so they automatically turn off. I usually leave them on to be used as daytime running lights.

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Tim Potts

Doing my best every time I drive it to dispel the myth these Vanagons have to be slow!


'89 Vanagon Bluestar/Country Homes 1.8T & .77 4th
'74 Jeep CJ5

[tpinthepack]

I like this:

http://www.cartownforums.com/forums/downloads/porsche%20bus_drG.jpg

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=porsche+b32&am...mp;first=0

Tony
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TP in the Pack (I am a cyclist)
1968 Manx N.O.S. w/ Barrett Chassis
1960 Single Cab 1914 w/ 40 DLRA's
1990 Vanagon DOKA
1972 Super Beetle
1979 Super Beetle Convertible
2011 Porsche Cayenne

[maco70]

Here is how i installed it :

Those products, the fog lights and the driving lights are from Van Cafe.
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Martin from Montréal

1986 Vanagon GL full camper westfalia
(brown/tan interior)

[0to60in6min]

very nice...

do you need to remove the bumper to mount then?

thanks