[Sugarloafer]

Hi All,

Installed Baja Designs squadron sports to my 2019 Foz today. I hadn’t seen it posted anywhere yet so I wanted to share what I ended up doing. I bought my car without fog lights because I wanted the Baja’s in there, and wanted them independent of the car system so I can run them with high beams. Ended up taking a few hours between the installation and figuring out the wires would rout best.

Firstly I took the splash guards off the car from the front corners. Did not remove the large one under the engine. Popped the bigger fog light covers out so everything was easily accessed.

Mounted the fogs to the OEM holes, no problem there. Easy fit and brackets from Rally Innovations fit well. Put the 2-1 connector along the bottom of the engine bay and connected to the tails of the fog lights. No sauter or anything needed all plug and play. Ran the wiring harness down to the connector on the 2-1 and zip tied it up the fan housing to keep it tight so we wouldn’t have issues with it going near the serpentine belt or fans. Plenty of clearance behind the fans for a zip tie. Routed the harness over to the battery and behind the body of the car. Here I left the battery connection and ran the rest down the gap to the door after taking off the plastic piece on the top off the drivers side of the engine bay.

To get the harness into the car I cut a slit into the wiring tube connecting the door to the cabin. I also zip tied here to prevent it from moving. Threaded the end into the cabin through the vertical part of the rubberized tubing to be able to tape it better than cutting into the flat gasket that would be impossible to tape. Removed the plastic runner and trim piece by the fuse box, and the fuse box cover. Drilled a hole into the fuse box cover and sanded until it perfectly fit the switch. Mounted the switch to the fuse box cover, connected the wire harness and put the cover on. Works for me and the lighted switch is not super visible but at night it will be easy to turn off when others come the opposite way on a dirt road.

I got these to run without other people in front of me in Maine, where I do a lot of rural driving. Would be a dick move to have the driving/fog combo that I have on if there’s someone in front of the car. Really happy with them and it’s totally noticeable with them off which I’m not made about. Proud to rock them and have people know it’s not stock.

If anyone has questions just let me know. 11/10 would recommend.

 

[Sdcerreta]

Nice work! Looks great.

 

[Sugarloafer]

Thanks! Your posts ripping the car apart gave me the inspiration to improve what I wanted to. Content with it for now, as it’s got that and a Yakima rack that can be put on it with the massive skybox 18 to hold the skis and gear. And beer. More pics for light comparison. Have to get back in there and tilt the lights up a bit.

 

[saba87]

Nice! They look good.

 

[MNTNDRMNGFXT]

Clean install, well done.

 

[Nasarog]

Looks great. How much brighter are they compared to the stock ones? Also, will they or do they blind oncoming traffic?

 

[shimmygrl8]

Very nice. I may have to add this to the "To-Do" list.
I have some Baja Designs XL-R Pro's I will be installing soon.

 

[sneefy]

Looks great. How much brighter are they compared to the stock ones? Also, will they or do they blind oncoming traffic?

They're really dang bright. I installed squadron sports with the wide beam pattern on my 2016 foz and Honda Fit. I used brackets from Paranoid Fabrications.

I'm sure you know they are not intended for on-road use. The beam pattern is not cut off and you will blind people. They are brighter than the high beams and illuminate well without hot spots. There is no comparison to the stock fogs.

They're awesome. I got them for spotting deer mainly on rural roads and they are great for that.

 

[Nasarog]

They're really dang bright. I installed squadron sports with the wide beam pattern on my 2016 foz and Honda Fit. I used brackets from Paranoid Fabrications.

I'm sure you know they are not intended for on-road use. The beam pattern is not cut off and you will blind people. They are brighter than the high beams and illuminate well without hot spots. There is no comparison to the stock fogs.

They're awesome. I got them for spotting deer mainly on rural roads and they are great for that.

AH, deer... I hate them. Makes sense. I live in a rural area, but not THAT rural. What I have now works just fine.

 

[sneefy]

AH, deer... I hate them. Makes sense. I live in a rural area, but not THAT rural. What I have now works just fine.

I know what you mean. I despise them. I hit a large buck in 2015. Totaled a 4 month old Forester. The airbags permanently messed up my ears. Maybe a bit extreme, but I wish death upon all deer everywhere.

So I'm a bit paranoid about hitting one again. Hence the installation of the Baja lights.

 

[Nasarog]

I know what you mean. I despise them. I hit a large buck in 2015. Totaled a 4 month old Forester. The airbags permanently messed up my ears. Maybe a bit extreme, but I wish death upon all deer everywhere.

So I'm a bit paranoid about hitting one again. Hence the installation of the Baja lights.

From the airbags deploying?

 

[sneefy]

From the airbags deploying?

Yup. Airbags go off with the decibel level of a gunshot in your ear. Every airbag in the car deployed. Pressurized the car enough to blow the sunroof off it's tracks as well.

The loudness of airbags is one of the hidden dangers of modern cars. Gave me permanent hyperacusis and tinnitus. Fortunately, I found a knowledgeable audiologist and have been doing sound therapy that has helped me greatly.

 

[Nasarog]

Yup. Airbags go off with the decibel level of a gunshot in your ear. Every airbag in the car deployed. Pressurized the car enough to blow the sunroof off it's tracks as well.

The loudness of airbags is one of the hidden dangers of modern cars. Gave me permanent hyperacusis and tinnitus. Fortunately, I found a knowledgeable audiologist and have been doing sound therapy that has helped me greatly.

Oh yea, good times. How much hearing loss do you have now? One or both ears?

 

[sneefy]

Oh yea, good times. How much hearing loss do you have now? One or both ears?

Left ear, but it's not loss. Hyperacusis is increased loudness, especially at certain frequencies. 'Normal' sounds are uncomfortably loud. It's been rather debilitating.

 

[Nasarog]

Left ear, but it's not loss. Hyperacusis is increased loudness, especially at certain frequencies. 'Normal' sounds are uncomfortably loud. It's been rather debilitating.

I know what the conditions are. I have one of them myself, but it resulted in a 25-30% overall hearing loss (left ear) and total hearing loss in the high frequency range.

 

[sneefy]

Gotcha. Then you can relate. I have debated with myself whether I'd rather have significant hearing loss than hyperacusis. I only have the latter. No loss, just increased sensitivity to higher frequencies. Crinkling bags, faucets, the 's' in people's speech. Things in that range drill into my head. I also have tinnitus. All in the left ear.

Honestly, my audiologist has saved my life. I've been doing therapy for a bit over a year and I'm finally starting to not care about it anymore. It took some concerted effort to get to this point, though. Some dark days in the past few years.

 

[Nasarog]

Gotcha. Then you can relate. I have debated with myself whether I'd rather have significant hearing loss than hyperacusis. I only have the latter. No loss, just increased sensitivity to higher frequencies. Crinkling bags, faucets, the 's' in people's speech. Things in that range drill into my head. I also have tinnitus. All in the left ear.

Honestly, my audiologist has saved my life. I've been doing therapy for a bit over a year and I'm finally starting to not care about it anymore. It took some concerted effort to get to this point, though. Some dark days in the past few years.

I have something that helps a lot. A set of headphones that cancel 85-90% of ambient noise and it especially helps with high pitched sounds.

If you want to know more, just drop me a DM and we'll take it there. I'm not fond of revealing too much personal info in a public place like this. You never know when it'll come back and bite you/me/etc on the donkey.

 

[sneefy]

I'm not fond of revealing too much personal info in a public place like this.

Indeed. We'll pick this up elsewhere.

 

[Brian Call]

Hi Sugarloafer,

Nice write-up. I'm looking at buying the SAE version of the kit you got from Rally Innovations. I noticed in your write-up that you installed a separate wiring harness for the lights. It's my understanding that the 2019 Foresters come with the fog light wiring already in place, even if you don't get the fog lights. I wouldn't expect that system to be tied into the high beams either (but I could be wrong).

Is there any particular reason you didn't use the wiring that's (supposedly) already in place?

 

[sinbad]

Hi All,

Installed Baja Designs squadron sports to my 2019 Foz today. I hadn’t seen it posted anywhere yet so I wanted to share what I ended up doing. I bought my car without fog lights because I wanted the Baja’s in there, and wanted them independent of the car system so I can run them with high beams. Ended up taking a few hours between the installation and figuring out the wires would rout best.

I am planning to trade my 15 XT before I go out of the transmission warranty, had issues already. I installed some other brand long range LED lamps in the fog light spot, wired to my high beams, makes a big difference on rural back roads. I was thinking of the premium model, with blind spot package and the trouble free manual tailgate and no fog lights, but since the 2021 models were reformulated taking that away, I'm thinking of a sport to get cloth seats, bigger brakes (I tow) and the optional 8" display and better radio. It comes with "fog" lights that do not serve my purpose, so I plan to pull them out and get the insert used in the 2020 premium to mount driving lights like you have. I'd like to see a close up picture of your lights set up, when turned off. I'd use squadron pro's if they are the same size as the squadron sports. Did these lights fit the fog light surround plastic piece or did you have to modify it? Did you need a special canbus connection to connect to the high beam circuit? The 2021's have led headlights, so that may differ. Thanks I'll miss the turbo 250 hp.