Dear American FG members, help me find and purchase a rwd, V8 powered exotic!

What about the headlights, I've found several post year 2000 trucks with original lights all around.

edit: these two doesn't even have side-indicators!

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The indicators will most likely be in the reversing lights as an extra bulb that is connected to the original indicator relay. I am not so sure about the front lights, those might satisfy the rules or could be modified underneath to satisfy the rules.
 
Cars under 6m (technically: If the light-emitting surfaces of the front and rear indicators are more than 6m apart) do not require side indicators. Vehicles over 3.5t GVWR need side indicators though, irregardless of length. The images are no long beds, should be under 6m.
 
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The indicators will most likely be in the reversing lights as an extra bulb that is connected to the original indicator relay. I am not so sure about the front lights, those might satisfy the rules or could be modified underneath to satisfy the rules.

From talking with other Ford truck forums' Euro members (used to own a 7th gen, still a member on some forums), this is what they do for the rear end of the the truck.

1. Fit a generic rear red fog light and a generic rear white fog light.
2. Change out the clear bulbs in the reversing lights that come in the stock rear light clusters for amber ones.
3. Connect said amber bulbs to the turn signal wires in the trailering harness (because the stock Ford taillights don't have a separate wire for that.)
4. Connect the white fog light up as a reversing lamp as the original ones are now turn signals.

Edit: This is only mildly different than quite a few US owners' practice of fitting a pair of white fog lights or flood/work lights to the rear of the vehicle wired to come on with the reversing lights in order to provide greater warning and illumination.

And fitting side lights is pretty trivial. Half an hour with a hole saw, some masking tape, some touchup paint and my wiring kit and they'd be in and working.

Edit 2: Does Europe require a 'backup beeper' for any vehicles?
 
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From talking with other Ford truck forums' Euro members (used to own a 7th gen, still a member on some forums), this is what they do for the rear end of the the truck.

1. Fit a generic rear red fog light and a generic rear white fog light.
2. Change out the clear bulbs in the reversing lights that come in the stock rear light clusters for amber ones.
3. Connect said amber bulbs to the turn signal wires in the trailering harness (because the stock Ford taillights don't have a separate wire for that.)
4. Connect the white fog light up as a reversing lamp as the original ones are now turn signals.

I was wondering whether a new reversing light would be necessary. I really dislike the look of those retrofitted fog lights but nothing can be done about that without fitting a completely new tail light.
 
Edit 2: Does Europe require a 'backup beeper' for any vehicles?
As far as I can tell there is no such requirement in the UN/ECE regulations. Should be voluntary, many local distribution lorrys have beepers and strobes, tractors tend not to.

This makes me wonder if one could fit reversing strobes to a normal car... :think: But Air, why would one do such a thing? To which I'd reply, "hey, strobes man! Look into the light!"
 
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Here's another question - do the rear fog light(s) have to be on a separate circuit and switch or can they be linked to the front fogs and all run off one master fog light switch?

As for the strobes, they are legal here. And I can think of many uses, both for fun and for utilitarian reasons.
 
Here's another question - do the rear fog light(s) have to be on a separate circuit and switch or can they be linked to the front fogs and all run off one master fog light switch?

The German wiring requirement for rear fog lights is "rear fog light may not be able to turn on if front lights (fog, low, high - doesn't matter) are turned off. If front fog lights are present, rear fog lights must be turned on and off separately". In other words, no - if the guy approving the car goes by the StVZO. Typically this is done by pulling out the light switch, position one turns on the front fog lights, position two turns on front and rear.
Being able to run front fog lights with no rear fog lights is important, when driving in thick fog you're not allowed to turn on your rear fog light if someone is following you - way too bright.
 
Okay. One more, then - can front fogs be on without main headlights being on?
 
Okay. Not hard to rig up. Connect a relay to parking light power, use that to enable/disable two fog light switches, one for front, one for back.
 
Parking lights aren't enough, for rear fog lights to be enabled you need low beams, high beams or front fog lights turned on.
 
Okay, so two relays, one for park lights, one for headlights, wired to the appropriate fog lights.
 
1. Keeps it legal while its here.
2. Safety issue - if you have your fog lights on, you probably should have your marker/position lights on as well.
3. Keeps you from being an idiot, and lets you turn off all the lights with just one switch. You know, instead of being a not unusual BMW/other German car type owner and remembering to shut off the headlights but forgetting to turn off their fog/driving lights - and then needing to get a jumpstart from the guy in the big black British car (which was designed by people smart enough to include a relay linking the aux lights to the headlight switch.)

Not being insulting, I have had lots of German car owners ask me for jumps over the years because they left their fogs on.
 
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So the relay goes no fog lights if no parking lights are on? Should be legal over here. Just make sure the rear fog lights require forward illumination by whatever source except the parking lights.

On the switch situation in German cars... My lights all operate though one switch, and turning off the ignition turns them all off - unless explicitly put in the full parking lights position. Left/right parking lights excepted, those are operated through the indicator stalk and only turn on when the ignition is off.
 
So the relay goes no fog lights if no parking lights are on? Should be legal over here. Just make sure the rear fog lights require forward illumination by whatever source except the parking lights.

Yes, that's how it would work - no parking lights or headlights, no fogs period. As for the rear, if the main headlights are not on, the rear fog light switch will be locked out. I could wire it so that turning on the front fogs would let you turn the rear lights on too, but I'd prefer to keep it as simple as possible and not be forced to use diodes.

On the switch situation in German cars... My lights all operate though one switch, and turning off the ignition turns them all off - unless explicitly put in the full parking lights position. Left/right parking lights excepted, those are operated through the indicator stalk and only turn on when the ignition is off.

Apparently, many BMWs don't do that and you can leave the stock fog lights on even when the car is off. Same goes for certain Mercedes and VW models.
 
As for the rear, if the main headlights are not on, the rear fog light switch will be locked out. I could wire it so that turning on the front fogs would let you turn the rear lights on too, but I'd prefer to keep it as simple as possible and not be forced to use diodes.

If the T?V guy is a dick then you might have trouble. Going by the letter of the law, turning on the front fog lights must enable turning on the rear fog lights. Whether he will be a dick about it is another story.
 
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