supplemental parking light DRL mod

[tr cruiser]

Several months ago there was a discussion on the old BON about the lack of a switch for the supplemental parking lights.

Originally posted by DavidA (10/31):
Remember, these are not driving lights. All they do is come on when you turn on either the normal parking lamps (the yellow ones under the headlights) or the regular headlights. They do nothing to light up the road, they just add light to the front of the car and look better than the painted blanks. Interestingly, the pullout headlight switch which normally controls the Fog or Driving lights on most Ford vehicles has no effect at all on these lights. I am not sure if they can be fitted with PIAA and controlled by that switch or not, but I would rather have them act as DRL's and turn on when the car is started and stay on all the time. I AM going to look into that mod..

I was just wondering if DavidA or anyone else done this modification? I'd like to try it since the foothills near where I live are often in shadow even at midday. I guess there may be legal restrictions, but that applies to the full parking lights, as well.

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[greenwr]

I put electrical tape over thw light sensor that turns on the headlights. That way the head lights and the lower lights are on all the time. The sensor is on the right end of the bubble at front center of the dash. The left side of the bubble has the alarm set indication red light.

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Bill's Red and White #4359

 

[DavidA]

tr cruiser: I still haven't done what I want to -- make the supplemental lights into DRL'S. I will do it eventually, but haven't had the time to get into it yet. Now that I have the wiring diagrams, I'll study it as
soon as I get a chance. When/if I get it, I'll let you all know.

 

[yellowwing1]

DavidA and greenwr, I still fee that "always on driving lights" takes away the little edge we as Bikes had. It helped us be more noticable than others but, these DRL's are common and we (bikers) now have no edge in being noticed.

 

[DavidA]

Yellowwing: -- you are so right about us losing our edge, but, it is also true that they will help us to be seen better as well. Either way, it's a safety item and is standard now on all vehicles in Canada and other parts of the world. Not to take away from our other hobby, but safety is omportant no matter what we are piloting.

 

[brdman2]

It is curious that DRL's are standard on most or all of GM's cars (at least) and have been for a while now, but not one Ford vehicle has them, that I have seen. Various interpretations of them are seen, from dedicated lights (T-Bird supplemental parking lights would make a good choice) to low-intensity headlights to the turn signal (bright) element of the front parking lights. Many of the sporty vehicles (including Ford) have "fog" lights, which would also probably fit into the SPL positions, but they are either too weak or are placed where they don't do any good at all in "real" fog (Central California, for example). I like the look of them, but they are mostly for looks, not real work, IMHO.

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Dennis Grant
1960 HT 208K
1992 Sport 227K

 

[DavidA]

DRL's are standard on ALL GM cars, VW's and several other makes as well, and were an option on Chrysler products up to last year. I don't think they are offering them for 2002, but I may be wrong on that one. Ford also had them on their fleet cars, so many Taurus's that were fleet cars had them as well. I think the Supplemental lights on the T-Bird are perfect for DRL's.