Baja Designs SAE Lens Swap

[HolidayDog]

I worked through my analysis paralysis….this is what I ordered:

Baja Designs Fog kit from @4x4TruckLEDs.com

KR Flush Bezel Bracket
Squadron SAE Wide Corner lens Amber
S2 Sport Drive/Combo lens Amber
S2 Sport Spot Lens Clear

I also ordered the Factory Amber wide corner for squadron and factory Amber for S2 Drive Combo. My horizontal lights on headlights are forescanned to be Amber and I have some grill light pods that are also Amber.

My use is a daily driver and in the winter it’s dark in the morning until 8am and after 4:30pm. I need more light on the highway. My off-road driving is mostly done during the daytime if I can help it. My state does not require SAE approved fogs, only has height and location restrictions for fog lights

According to Baja designs self service of the SAE lights will void the warranty. Does swapping a lens out count as self service?

Is there anything special about the SAE Baja Amber vs Factory Amber lens (other than the SAE stamp).

It looks like first gen sae lights have a black plate between the lens and led reflector cone. The new SAE Squadrons appear to have the same lens on the SAE as squadron sport and pro.

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[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

I worked through my analysis paralysis….this is what I ordered:

Baja Designs Fog kit from @4x4TruckLEDs.com

KR Flush Bezel Bracket
Squadron SAE Wide Corner lens Amber
S2 Sport Drive/Combo lens Amber
S2 Sport Spot Lens Clear

I also ordered the Factory Amber wide corner for squadron and factory Amber for S2 Drive Combo. My horizontal lights on headlights are forescanned to be Amber and I have some grill light pods that are also Amber.

My use is a daily driver and in the winter it’s dark in the morning until 8am and after 4:30pm. I need more light on the highway. My off-road driving is mostly done during the daytime if I can help it. My state does not require SAE approved fogs, only has height and location restrictions for fog lights

According to Baja designs self service of the SAE lights will void the warranty. Does swapping a lens out count as self service?

Is there anything special about the SAE Baja Amber vs Factory Amber lens (other than the SAE stamp).

It looks like first gen sae lights have a black plate between the lens and led reflector cone. The new SAE Squadrons appear to have the same lens on the SAE as squadron sport and pro.

so I just had this conversation with someone on the Baja designs fb group - you void the warranty if you remove the same lenses - with that said if you decided to do your own thing you’d want the factory amber in spot as the lense - it would not be sae compliant anymore but that’s what you’d do

sae lights from baja utilize a spot lense and an internal reflector system to give you the wide pattern

https://www.4x4truckleds.com/baja-designs-squadron-series-factory-amber-spot-lens-kit/

 

[bassist]

I worked through my analysis paralysis….this is what I ordered:

Baja Designs Fog kit from @4x4TruckLEDs.com

KR Flush Bezel Bracket
Squadron SAE Wide Corner lens Amber
S2 Sport Drive/Combo lens Amber
S2 Sport Spot Lens Clear

I also ordered the Factory Amber wide corner for squadron and factory Amber for S2 Drive Combo. My horizontal lights on headlights are forescanned to be Amber and I have some grill light pods that are also Amber.

My use is a daily driver and in the winter it’s dark in the morning until 8am and after 4:30pm. I need more light on the highway. My off-road driving is mostly done during the daytime if I can help it. My state does not require SAE approved fogs, only has height and location restrictions for fog lights

According to Baja designs self service of the SAE lights will void the warranty. Does swapping a lens out count as self service?

Is there anything special about the SAE Baja Amber vs Factory Amber lens (other than the SAE stamp).

It looks like first gen sae lights have a black plate between the lens and led reflector cone. The new SAE Squadrons appear to have the same lens on the SAE as squadron sport and pro.

You should double check the regs.

I highly doubt that you can legally use a light that has not be approved for on-road usage - but the regulation in question is likely to be of a more overarching nature.

 

[Chrome_Pony]

If I'm reading Adam's post right, swapping between SAE lens colors seems to be the warranty voider.

If I had to guess, these alignment tabs on the reflectors not lining up on the board is the culprit for some smashed board warranty repairs they would like to avoid.

If those reflector tabs don't seat correctly into these holes on the board, the lens is held up and screwing the bezel down atop the lens while the reflector tabs are misaligned will cause headaches and potential cracks.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Negative… those are not sae lights shown - sae lights he different internal reflectors and it voids the warranty if you open the sae lights up as they are aligned at the factory

 

[Chrome_Pony]

I am aware. Those are Squadron Pros.

Your direction suggests that he can replace the SAE lens with a regular lens. If that is the case, the board has to be compatible with both, and those reflectors are a purchase they need to make in addition to the non SAE lens, or the light throw is going to be junk.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

I am aware. Those are Squadron Pros.

Your direction suggests that he can replace the SAE lens with a regular SAE lens. If that is the case, the board has to be compatible with both, and those reflectors are a purchase they need to make in addition to the non SAE lens, or the light throw is going to be junk.

There is no "SAE Lens" - The SAE lights have special optics that shine through a spot lens.

So no, you cannot just buy SAE lights and then buy those reflectors. That's not the same product at all.

SAE lights come with completely different optics from other S2/Squadron lights.

BTW, this is why S2 and Squadron SAE lights say "SPOT" on the box even though it's a wide pattern. Because they label the boxes based on the lens used. BUT as I pointed out, SAE lights use different internal optics from other s2/squadron lights.

 

[Brian_B]

If it has SAE stamped on the lens, how would an officer or anyone else reasonably know that it's not a DOT approved lamp?

I mean, I get that it's deceptive if you just swap the lens out and the manufacturer hasn't really approved it, but I know more than one dude who went and bought a DOT sticker for their cool motorcycle helmet because they just really liked the way that one fit or looked... concussion be damned.

And unless the office goes digging into the weeds and gets the model number off the lamp and goes looking it up to cross reference if it really was DOT certified by the manufacturer or not --- all they are really looking for is the sticker/stamp - unless it's blatantly obvious that it shouldn't be there, they probably won't question it.

 

[4x4TruckLEDs.com]

Regular Baja Designs lenses don't have an SAE/DOT stamp on them. Only the Squadron SAE's have lenses stamped with that marking.

This isn't the right forum to explain how to break the law... well technically I guess it's not a LAW you'd be breaking but vehicle safety codes. And when you got a license you agreed to follow certain vehicle safety codes sooo yeah...

But look, if you wanna do what you wanna do, nobody is going to stop you.

Baja Designs offers a CLEAR and a YELLOW (aka AMBER, as they call it) SAE/DOT Street Legal Fog Light.

If someone wants an ORANGE (Factory amber) street legal fog from Baja, it's not available.

If someone wants to put their own "light" together using spot factory amber lenses... that's on them. it will not be a street legal pattern nor will your baja designs warranty be in tact. BUT again, people will do what they want to do.

 

[HolidayDog]

Alright....thank you for digging into the weeds on this one.

The Montana state code on lights does not require fog lights to have any SAE or DOT stamp, marking, or certification. The only requirements are the position on the vehicle and how the light beam is directed. Most state codes I looked at don't mention SAE/DOT highway approved or off-road use only lights. How auxillary lights are aimed, mount location, and when they can be on or off are mentioned.

Here is a state by state break down on spots, fogs, auxiliary lights compiled by KC.

Using the Squadron SAE light on the highway (yellow or orange lens), I am confident would pass the code for fog light provided I mount and aim it properly.

From what I understand the Squadron SAE light the led and reflector optics are what make it SAE. The Baja Amber (yellow) lens is the part of the light that has the SAE stamp. This lens is the "spot" style lens (no refraction pattern molded into the lens). I bet the yellow color lens was used for getting the SAE stamp during product development/SAE approval. The factory Amber spot lens (likely 30% less light than baja amber/yellow) did not get the SAE stamp and if installed on the Squad SAE it will no longer carry the SAE marking.

I did some digging on the Baja Designs site:

Our current SAE models (Squadron SAE, S2 SAE) are non-U–Service friendly. This means you cannot change out the lens yourself.  The reason for this is that our SAE models use TIR optics. These Optics are pre-aligned in-house before shipment.

Switching the lens out can unalign these optics, causing the cut-off and the alignment to be skewed, making it no longer road legal. The TIR optics are also what give our SAE lights their sharp cut-off, making them approved for street use.

What do I do if I need to replace the lens on my SAE light?

If your lens cracks or requires servicing, you may return the lights to our facility for repair. Our trained technicians will ensure that all optics are realigned during service before they are sent back to you. Please reference our warranty page for more information HERE

Can I use Factory Amber lenses on my SAE lights?
Our Factory Amber lens cannot be used on our SAE lights as it is not approved for street-legal lighting.

So....there you have it folks. You cannot just swap out the lens for a different color.

 

[Brian_B]

Most state codes I looked at don't mention SAE/DOT highway approved or off-road use only lights.

First, that's an excellent link. Thank you.

Second - yeah, most states don't explicitly state that they require DOT approval for the lamps. But.... I'm pretty sure if you read the code, somewhere it says that all lights used must meet SAE/DOT approval for their position... and so if you just look up "Fog Light", you won't see DOT approval for all of them, because it's assumed for individual positions because it's stated as such somewhere else in the overall law book. Anything not DOT-approved I always assume is off road only.

But it does require the officer to really care - as long as you aren't running around blinding anyone with them and you aren't flaunting the law (all those Tacomas I see running around with their 40" light bars on running down the highway), they probably have no cause to even look. Once you get off road - none of that applies anyway.

Like most laws, it all boils down to "don't be a dick" really. I'm not saying go out there and break the law... I don't really care if you do or not. But I'd definitely advocate for "don't be a dick" regardless of the law or not.

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