Okay..
So friday my wife came home from work and once again said... "One of the Fog Lights Broke". With 206k miles on her truck.. I have done this repair/replace quite a few times. So I walked outside and sure enough the passenger side lens is busted. Heres a pic!

I have at least 3 times over the years tracked down and bought the hella replacement. Once again I called and they wanted $55.00 a piece for the "factory" "dealer installed" fog light. I said screw that and headed off the the local "OReilly". There I found these for $13.99 + tax:

They are Platinum Burners Series... 55 watt just like the Hellas. As you can see below... the lens is exactly the same size... so is the reflector inside..... infact.. the reflector has the same part number printed on it, as the factory Hella lights. The only difference is the housing size and the way it mounts.
The factory Hella on Left.. Cheap Platinum Burners Series on the Right

So... I pulled both lights apart... and put the new reflector and lens into the Hella housing. NOTE: The new housing would work... but would hang lower than the factory Hella.
All you have to do is unscrew "phillips head" ground screw and unplug + line to install from one housing to the next. This could actually be done without ever removing the fog light housing from the truck.

Heres a pic of the new light on the drivers side and the broken Hella on the passenger side.

Quick, Easy, and about $98.01 cheaper!
Thanks!

 

Looks great!!

 

Nice good going on saving A 100 bucks

 

This may be a goofy question but on 4Runners from 96-98, where was the fog light switch located? Was it on the stalk like 99+ models like mine or was it always a factory installed option and had an AUX button somewhere else like in one of the punchouts in the dash?

I often see earlier 3rd generations with the OEM fogs equipped but never on and come to the conclusion that the driver maybe just doesn't know where the switch is

 

My 98 has the switch mounted into one of the punchouts left of the steering wheel on the dash. The fog lights were actually a dealer installed option, but I do see a lot of these year models with them.

 

Good to know about the replacement lamps for these. Picked up a set at a wrecking yard for a mere pitance. If I have to replace any of the parts when I install them this is gr8 info!

 

my 02 swithc is on the headlight/blinker switch.

 

You wouldnt happen to remember the model number off of those? I was at Wally Mart yesterday and saw a couple sets of that brand. Couldn't seem to find any that looked like a fit, but I can check around.

 

QH -16CT.. I picked up a set and tried to just swapped lenses and reflector as the OP did but these are a bit smaller. 5 5/8 x 2 7/8 x 2 3/4 as supposed to 5 1/2 x 3 x 2 1/2 on the OE Hellas