IPF - J-01 Driving, Fog COMBINATION light

Genesis 1:3,4 - NASB:

3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.

And so it's been ever since, we have day and we have night.
One observation I've made, usually when it's night, it's dark!


ARB-USA has selected IPF lights to assist in the battle of nighttime darkness. They tested many well known brands. They claim that many met some of their tests, but only IPF outshined and outperformed all others. And like other products ARB distributes, they've been thoroughly tested over many years in Australia.

The Combination Fog/Driving lights.

The J-01 Combination light is unique. IPF refers to it as a "hybrid assist style light". The main function is as a fog light, but it also has a small 85 Watt driving light built into the bottom half of the lens.

The lens is coated with titanium ceramic to produce an amber light with little reduction to the intensity of the bulb.

The Installation Instructions were complete, clear and concise. They provided an excellent pictorial diagram / schematic. It was possible for me to lay the quality components on top of the paper and sort out the wiring harness before I started installing it.

In the picture above you can see the pictorial details and the parts laying there. Even someone with no electrical or mechanical training could safely install this kit with basic handtools.

Here is the text from the Installation Instructions:

    1. Remove the negative cable (-) of the battery to prevent short circuit.
    2. Connect relay to 4 pole connector of relay harness.
    3. Install relay in the engine bay with supplied screw and washer.

    4. Thread parallel wires with terminals of relay harness into an existing grommet on firewall and pull it inside the vehicle.

    5. Thread yellow wire of switch harness into existing grommet from inside vehicle and pull it into the engine bay.

      (NOTE THE WOOD HANDLED SCREWDRIVER, it is poked through the grommet that passes the throttle cable)

    6. Connect the terminals (black female, black male, black/white male) to terminals (black male, black female, black/white femail) from the switch harness inside the vehicle.
    7. Connect yellow wire with 2A fuse from the switch harness using electro tap to HIGH BEAM (???) wire (+) of head lamp.

      [note: I believe this is an error, if you want this light to work as a fog lamp many locales require that it only operate on LOW BEAM, therefore, connect to the LOW BEAM wire.]

      OR, you can connect it to an accessory connection on the fuse panel so the lights will work whenever the ignition or accessories are on. This is the way I installed it.

    8. Connect switch to 4 pole connection of switch harness and secure lead with "U" grips.

    9. Earth ring terminal from black wire of relay harness and horse shoe shape terminal with supplied screw and washer to bare metal inside engine bay.

    10. Connect relay harness to the 3 pole connector from the lamps.

    11. Secure all cables with cable ties.

    12. Connect ring terminal of yellow wire with 25A fuse on relay harness to the positive (+) terminal of the battery.

    13. After installation check for correct wiring and connect the negative (-) terminal of the battery.

The only thing that perplexed me was the reference to connecting to the high beam wire of the headlamp. (See step 7 below.) If you installed it connecting to the high beam it would only work with your high beams on. This is not the way you wire in fog lamps, so my guess is that they copied parts of these instructions over for the Model 630 Driving Lights.

Since the JO-1 has 2 lamps there are 3 different connection methods for activation. There is an external diode that is used to change the logic of the relay. I connected mine so that they work independently, but there are other options available.

    1. Remove diode (gray) from 2 pole connection:

      When the indicator on the switch is orange:
      the fog lamp is on, driving beam off

      When the indicator on the switch is red:
      the fog lamp is off, driving beam on


    2. Connect red wire from relay to white wire from 2 pole connection and
      connect white wire from relay to red wire from 2 pole connection:

      When the indicator on the switch is orange:
      the fog lamp is on, driving beam on

      When the indicator on the switch is red:
      the fog lamp is off, driving beam on


    3. Connect red wire from relay to red wire from 2 pole connection and
      connect white wire from relay to white wire from 2 pole connection.

      When the indicator on the switch is orange:
      the fog lamp is on, driving beam off

      When the indicator on the switch is red:
      the fog lamp is on, driving beam on


I chose the first combination. On the lamps that I have the driving lights did not shine very far forward. I found no adjustments specifically for the driving lights, and since the fog lights were aligned perfectly I decided to use them for fill light, or as daytime running lights. I would not recommend the JO-1 as a driving light in the typical sense of a driving light. It does not light up signs a mile down the Autobahn like a pair of Cibie Super Oscars or Dick Cepek "megawatt blind the deer in the next county" lights. However, these lights do work well for supplementing the headlights as fill and during the day as running lights.

I have found that the driving lights have provided a high level of safety in traffic. They have caught the eye of drivers at intersections that appeared to headed into our path, but once they notices those lights, they stopped. In addition, I can leave them on all the time and if my wife or daughter is driving and forgets to turn the driving lights off or forgets to switch them to the fog light, they will not blind oncoming traffic. We've yet to have someone flash their lights at us because they were on. The yellowish color is not detectable from the driver's seat except occassionally, but from the view of the oncoming driver they do have a tint that catches the eye.

The fog lights provide an even distribution of light that appears white. They are extremely helpful during the rain. They provide much needed light without offending oncoming drivers or creating glare. In heavy fog the intensity of the light output does produce some glare. In comparison with my 30 year old Bosch Fog lamps they do have more glare in heavy fog and snow. However, the amount of light provided significantly exceeds the Bosch and the glare is not to a point where it is distracting or dangerous. For the amount of light that punched it's way through the fog and snow I can live with the glare.

For trail use these lights are excellent because of the flexibility. There are times when switching between the driving lamp and the fog lamp allowed me to see the terrain differences more clearly. These lights are ideal for a gadget crazed auto nut. In writing this article I've got some ideas on how I can wire in a switch to control the diode setting so I can run all the combinations without moving the diode.

If you're tight for space on your front bumper the JO-1 provides a clean package to handle many of your lighting tasks. However, if your budget is tight and you need a true driving light, I'd recommend one of the other IPF light kits specifically designed for that purpose like the 960 Super Rally Driving light kit or one of the other models. Contact your nearest ARB distributer for literature and pricing information.

If you live where it gets dark at night, this kit is for you.

The "little wagoneer", an '88 Wagoneer Limited, was also used to evaluate the Old Man Emu lift kit, also imported by ARB USA. That review may be found at:
http://johnmeister.com/jeep/sj/JEEPS/XJ-cherokees/OldManEmu/