Aftermarket fog lights are a great addition to the 4Runner. They are simple to install, and can drastically improve your daily driving experience.
There are quite a few options out there to choose from, though. We wanted to cover a few of the most popular options available along with highlighting their features and benefits.
I also wanted to do a quick breakdown of the Baja Squadron Ambers Vs. White (scroll to the bottom for that).
Baja offers many different options when it comes to their squadron lineup so hopefully, we can clear a few questions up. Before you look directly at the Baja Squadrons, you have other options to consider.
Some of these alternatives may actually be a better fit for your truck, all while being a little more affordable.
Table Of Contents
1. Lamin-X Protective Film
Features
- Multiple color options
- Universal application
- Easy install
- Protects lights
Find It Online
I wanted to highlight Lamin-X films first because they are so versatile.
With Lamin-X protective film, you can go for many different looks. The most notable of looks is the “yellow fogs” look. This is very popular in the European car market and has increasingly grown into the off-road market.
Lamin-X offers more than yellow, though. The company also offers Amber, Blue, Tint, Gunsmoke, Green, Pink and Clear. If you are looking to blackout your fogs, go for the gunsmoke. If you are just looking to add a layer of protective film, go for the clear.
Clear is a great protective addition to the factory housings as well as many aftermarket fog light options below. Going beyond projecting different light colors with their film, Lamin-X can also act as a protective shield against rock chips, and light cracks.
Regardless of which fog light you choose, Lamin-X can be a great addition to many set-ups.
2. Philips H16
Features
- 6000K – Pure White
- 840 lumens per light
Find It Online
Probably the cheapest LED introduction to your factory fog light housing is the Philips 12834UNIX2 X-treme Vision LED Fog Light.
This was one of the first mods we added on one of our old 4Runners and it was a huge difference from the factory halogen bulb.
These bulbs are plug-n-play. Just unplug the factory halogen fog lights and twist these new bulbs into place. As long as you are someone handy with a screwdriver, you can pull it off.
The bright white 6000K color combined 9.3W of power and 840 lumens almost washed out the orange hue from the factory H11 low beams. If you are looking for a simple yet effective upgrade, the Philips X-treme Vision fogs will not let you down.
3. VLEDS H11
Features
- 3000k, 5000k or 6000k
- 3500LM
Find It Online:
If you are new to the VLEDS brand, let me just tell you, they are extremely high quality and backed by excellent customer service. VLEDS manufactures the full suite of compatible builds on the 5th Gen 4Runner. This brand is not cheap but you get what you pay for. VLEDS is known to have some of the highest quality bulbs on the market.
The V35 Monochrome is offered in H11 (low beams or fogs), and 9005 (high beams).
At a step above the Philips X-treme Vision LED fogs in price, the VLEDS shines light-years beyond boasting 3500 stable lumens (not inflated lumen hype), and a wide range of color options. They are offered in 3000k, 5000k or 6000k. They are also offered in a 5K / 3K switchback or a 6K / 3K switchback. This means you can switch the color from pure white to amber on the fly by toggling your fog lights off/on. This is a very cool feature if you’re looking for the most performance through a variety of elements.
4. Xenon Depot H16 Yellow Bulb + Lamin-X film
Pictured: Xenon Depot H16 Yellow + Lamin-X Yellow Filters with Xenon Depot H11 Low Beams
Features
- 2700K Yellow or 5000k Pure White
- 800 lumens per light
Find It online
2024 Update
The Xenon Depot bulbs have taken a hit in terms of quality control and customer service. Check out this forum post for reference.
Since The Retrofit Source purchased the company, we have seen countless complaints on forums and from the Instagram/Reddit community. Although they still make decent products, the manufacturing has changed facilities, and the prices have dropped. The packaging has also changed and the overall quality is nowhere near where it used to be. This is a bummer because Xenon Depot used to be the go-to company.
Enter at your own risk.
5. Cali Raised LED Fog Light Replacements
Features
- Easy plug-and-play install
- 200% brighter than factory (5,000 lumens)
- IP68 water and dust resistance
- 2014-2024 fitment
Find It Online
A brand new contender in 2024, Cali Raised builds on their successful lighting option with one of the best priced full housing replacements. At $200, you almost can’t beat it.
With a fast swap from the OEM housing, this product will surely be a big hit. It sits roughly at half the price of a premium unit and is backed by a solid warranty. This color of amber has been more and more popular, so we love that they decided to add this to their lineup.
If you want to upgrade without breaking the bank, check these out!
6. KC HILITES Gravity G4
Features
- 5000K – Pure White
- 866 lumens per light
- SAE Street Legal
Find it Online
KC HiLiTES is one of the longest-standing off-road/automotive lighting companies around. Your dad’s dad was probably rocking a set of KC HiLiTES in high school trying to get into your grandma’s pants behind gym class. Ok, seriously though KC has some serious heritage in the off-road lighting scene with more than enough lumens to back it up.
KC offers the Gravity line in many shapes and sizes, but the Gravity G4 is made for the 5th Gen 4Runner fog pocket. The Gravity G4s are a direct replacement for the factory fog housing.
The lights come in both white/clear and amber options. Amber will give you greater visibility through fog, mist, rain, snow and dusty conditions. Their “fog beam” pattern is low and wide which increases your short-range visibility.
One notable feature is their durable self-contained IP69 (what does that mean) rated light housing. You can put KC housings through the paces (wind, water, sand, snow), and they will always hold their ground. KC makes some of the best products out there in terms of features and functionality.
With the G4, you get a street-legal fog light that won’t blind oncoming drivers but will perform when you need it while off the road.
7. KC HILITES Flex Era 3 SAE
Features
- Lumens: 5,949 lm
- Light Temperature: 5000K
- SAE Street Legal: Yes
- Lens Color: Clear
- Amber Lens Cover Available
- Bezel Options Available
Find it Online
KC Lights offers a large line in their catalog. One of the newest offerings is their Flex Era 3 SAE. They launched this fog after the success of their full-power triangle-shaped Flex Era 3, also referred to as the “FE3” for short.
They also offer a Flex Era 1, or “FE1” for short. Don’t let the single portion fool you though, the FE1 packs just as much output as the FE3 full power. FE3 and FE1 offer two output options; a backlight and a full power mode. The SAE version also offers two output options, one is for street use and the other for off-road applications.
All of the smaller Flex lights from KC are impressive; the original, the new SAE and the FE1. These all make great fog options for the 4Runner.
8. Baja Squadron-R Yellow/Amber
Squadron-R Pros Yellow/Amber Wide Cornering
Features
- 5000K – Pure White with Amber Lens Covers
- 3150 per light with 4 LEDs
- Not Street Legal
Find it Online
The Squadrons are a staple in the 4Runner community.
We have covered the squadrons throughout the blog a few times. Installing the Baja Squadrons is a pretty straightforward process. Running the Baja Squadrons is another story.
Baja Squadrons (sports and pros) are not street legal. You may have a hard time running squadrons as normal, everyday fog lights, especially amber. Because amber is not common on most vehicles, the lights will stand out. The lights will stand out both in the amber color and actual light intensity. This will cause oncoming traffic to repeatedly flash you.
After running both white and amber squadrons (pros and sports), I was flashed by oncoming drivers more with the ambers (so much that I stopped running them at night on the road).
If you are looking for pure off-road lights then the amber squadrons are great. If you are looking for daily driving fog lights, you may want to look another direction.
The time where ambers shine most is increasing visibility through fog, mist, rain, snow and dusty conditions. Driving through rain storms with amber fogs had a drastic increase in visibility over white.
If you are set on the ambers, a great addition would be wiring them to a switch pro SP 9100. From there, you can control the light intensity. That is how Max (an author on the blog) has his wired up.
9. Baja Squadron-R White
Squadron-R Pros White Driving/Combo Lens
Features
- 5000K – Pure White with Clear Lens Covers
- 4900 per light with 4 LEDs
- Not Street Legal
Find it Online
If you are looking to use the white squadrons as daily driving fog lights, you will get flashed but nowhere near the ambers. I had the Squadron pros spot/driving lens installed for about a year and had them on for most of that time. I got a flash from oncoming traffic here and there but nothing that would make me want to turn the lights off, like the ambers.
The amber Squadrons are intense when they are coming at you. The white lights still have the same intensity but white is a normal color to see on the road, and that is why (I think) that we get flashed less.
I personally like the white Squadrons as daily driving fog lights. They are very powerful, bright fog lights, that can function both on and off the road.
If I had a choice between the two, it would be white in a wide cornering lens. Then I would buy a set of amber lenses also in a wide cornering lens for winter driving.
KC G4’s don’t fit without some filing down. The holes don’t match up exactly and you’ll have a gap. That being said I still love mine.
The white 4R pictured in #1 – can anyone tell me what that roof rack and lighter set-up is?
I think Diode Dynamics LED SS3 Pro fog lights need to be added to this list. I just installed them on my SR5 premium and they are excellent. SAE compliant road-legal output.
These are a great option, we will get them added to the list and updated soon.
I have been running the Philips H16 Xtreme Ultinon bulbs with amber LaminX filters with great satisfaction. I live in Canada and I can say they’re a great combo for snow and fog.
I am looking at the KC Hilites G4 for my 2020 trd off road but a KC rep told me they won’t work in a trd only an SR5. That doesn’t make any sense to me that they would only work in an sr5 can anyone shed any light on why they wouldn’t work in my rig?
They will work, you might just need to drill out a bit of their housing bracket. We wrote a post on them here: https://trail4runner.com/2019/03/11/kc-hilites-gravity-g4-fog-lights-review-install/
I’m trying to find the Xenon Depot H16s but everything sends me to the H11s. Will the H11s work as fog bulbs? The link to Amazon on your article goes to H11s and in the Q&A someone says they will work. Also, on the XD website, when I click on the “fog light” option it sends me to the H11s. Since it’s on their site should I assume they will work?
H11s will work as H16s for the fog yes. You are good to go there.
Any experience with the Cali Raised tri-color fog light bulbs? I’m guessing they aren’t street legal because of their lumens output.
The gravity G4 doesn’t fit the factory housing as they don’t sit flush. Misleading article that says it can be done over a lunch break!
Austin, sorry if that was misleading man. In this post, I forgot to mention that you need to file down the inside of the tabs in order to get everything to sit flush. If you file those down with a small circular file, the fogs sit flush and mount fine. After running them for about 6 months, I haven’t had any problems. You can see our step by step install of these fogs here.
What is the real difference between yellow and amber? Is it negligible, or are there advantages/disadvantages to both?
Another question related to the XD yellow bulb/Laminx film option: Why double up with the film? I’m looking to do my led upgrade soon and was wondering. Thanks in advance!
Oliver – the install is really simple. You unscrew your fender liners, reach in and swap in a new housing (KCs and Bajas). For the Xenon Depot or bulb only, its just a plug-n-play bulb swap, installing both a housing or a bulb is really simple.
I cant comment on the Lamin-x & XD bulbs but I would imagine “the look” as brenan suggested and maybe a slight hue of a difference.
KC Yellow/Amber Vs. Baja Yellow/Green: You can see in the images above, the XD bulbs have a similar color to the KC ambers (tacoma world link above), both are more yellow/ amber while the baja squadrons are more yellow/green.
For my driving needs, the squadron pro amber color was too intense for on-road driving, and quite obnoxios to on-coming drivers. I know because I had my wife drive the 4Runner straight at me many times, it’s very intense. I experienced the Bajas in winter (Reno, CA) and although they cut through snow flurry’s, hail and rainfall like a champ, they were just too bright for daily on road use at night. And being that I am on-road 95% of the time in crummy winter weather, I really wanted to use my fog lights more often than not.
After reading the Tacoma World review, I went with the KC HiLiTES amber fog lights. They also cut through snow flurry’s and rainfall like a champ, and have a much more comfortable color to eye while upon as well as directly at (oncoming traffic).
Both yellow and amber colors cut through weather, it just depends on the intensity you are going for. If the purpose was off-road only, I would go with Bajas because the light is so intense, but because the 4Runner is my daily and I drive in severe weather often, I need a dependable light that I can run for my safety as well as the safety of others.
It was KC all day for me but Baja is still one hell of a light.
Install on my 2016 4Runner did not require removing the fender liner which is a major pain. For the left side fog I reached down from the open hood behind the battery and after a bit, unclipped the harness, and twisted out the original light. Right side is down laying on the ground putting your hand in the protective shroud (not on the left side) and again unclipping the original light.
Dylan–
Right on, thank you! The KC’s look like a great option and I am going to look into them. I knew the bulbs were plug and play, and I am glad to hear it is the same with the housing. I am the same, in that I do 95% on road driving (in crappy weather sometimes), so the bajas are out for me. I just need to decide bulb or KC’s…The only real negative I pulled off that TW thread was that the KC’s run cold so if snow/ice builds up it tend to stay there and not melt off.
Thanks again!
And thank you Brenan for these great writeups!
Just a heads up, here is some really good information on the KC G4s from Tacoma World: httpa//www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/page-18#post-19144873
I really like that the KC G4s have more of an true amber color than the Rigid and Baja fogs which seem to have this bright lime greenish yellow color. Pretty impressive specs as well coming from KC. I am surprised more people aren’t running the KC G4s over the Baja Squadrons. They are street legal and seem to be much more of a ‘daily’ driver as opposed to the bright obnoxious Squadrons. I had the squadron pros in ‘amber’ originally and like Brenan said, they are just a little too bright for daily driving. I sold the squadrons and bought the KC G4s in amber. Thoroughly impressive pattern (wide, sharp and consistent), light output (strong enough to cut through rain and snow almost eliminating any sign of downpour). I highly recommend them to say the least.
whats the install like?
Has anyone had experience with Lifetime LED bulbs?
Brenan:
What kind of Roof Rack do you have on this build?
Cali, this is the @StellarBuilt Roof Rack. It was a custom build, about $1000 and it took 1 week.
Brenan:
Have you heard of anyone using the XD LED Pros (5500K) with the Lamin-X film covers in yellow? I’m wondering how much the yellow films reduce the light output of the XD LED Pros.
On a related note, I assume that the Lamin-X films work fine on a ’17 Limited?
Thanks!
Justin, I have not seen that set-up in person, although I am sure someone has that setup. The XD 5500K are really popular, so is the Lamin-X protective film. I don’t think the filters would reduce the intensity but that is a good question for Lamin-X directly. The filters will work on a limited as long as you have circle fog lights. This is exactly what they say: The round one pictured on this page (model #T649Y) is for 2014+ models measures 3.463″ round, and the Oval part number option T149Y measures 3.063″ x 3.375″. Just make sure you have round fog lights.
I think your missing one that has like DRL/Fog light option that you can switch. The DRL is kind of star pattern made of led dots. Im surprised that I dont see them here , these are the most popular in my area.
Tom, you have a link or name for them? Where do you live?
The 4runner AUER 2 in 1 LED DRL & Fog Light this is the one I see in NYC. 2in1 DRL and/or Fog Light.
Tom,
Ok, yeah those could have been on the list. I have still not seen a set of those in person nor a reputable shop that recommends them. It doesn’t mean they are not good or common, we just don’t see too many of theme out here in California.
I actually had these AUER fog lights already installed by the dealership when I purchased my TRD Pro. I always thought they were the OEM foglights, or an upgraded one that only comes on a TRD Pro. BUT I was clearly wrong and now 2 years later, I just found out they are “aftermarket”. I would definitely recommend them and I think having Toyota themselves selling 4Runners with these should be reputable enough.
Yeah figures differences between east and west coast . Thought people may consider to use something like 2in1 Led/Fog.
Props for the article.