I took this pic of a lariat on a dealers lot. I don't like the way ford is too cheap to paint the foglight housing I am debating whether or not to have them painted when my KR comes in. Whats everybody's opinion?
Should I paint them Arizona Beige?

 

Is that plastic? Is it smooth or textured?

Given the lower valence is black I would leave it the fog housing black as well, unless you painted it all.

 

The black also does not reflect the light allowing it to properly illuminate the road.

 

I say go for it! Have the dealership paint it. It is surrounded by Arizona Beige, therefore it should be the same (and should have been done in production!).

 

I agree that it was probably done that way so it would not reflect off of the shiny paint. The old ones weren't this way because the valance was dyed and not painted. I would leave it as-is.

 

The reflector is in the light housing. Where would it reflect the light to if it was painted to match?

I say leave it as is.

 

Gosh... those round fog lights really do look like crap... they are just too small and out of shape with the rest of the truck.

 

Maybe you have a point there. Maybe its there to keep reflections from blinding oncoming traffic. Every other truck/car has the fogs pretty much flush or near flush with the bumper, Why did Ford recess them so far? I know both fogs on my 04 get fogged up nearly every time I wash my truck or it rains, maybe this is why they changed them

 

That would be my bet. I was looking at the Lightning and Harley and their fogs are much less recessed. They are fully painted the stock color though. However, contrary to this opinion, the new Sport Tracs that have the painted valance have color in the fog light holes, and they are recessed about the same as this. I would ultimately say it's up to you, as I can see arguments for both views. Take a look at the Sport Trac:

 

Is the black plastic a part of the fog assembly or a part of the bumper assembly?

 

I looked at one yesterday and it is part of the fog assembly. There appeared to be four mounts on the back of the bumper The plastic is of the same texture as the lower valance. Would the paint stick? In the Mississipi delta the bugs are very bad and have a tendency chipping paint

 

I undertook this task on my wife's old Sport Trac, and was very pleased with the results. Since I did the entire valance, I think it would be easier to do just the interior housing, especially if it's not part of the bumper, but rather the fog light. Surface prep is obviously the key. I basically had to sand the entire bumper pretty much smooth and then used adhesion promoter, primer, and paint with flex additive, followed by clear coat. For the year it was done in Orlando (in love bug season I might add), it held up very well with no nicks or chips due to bugs (although she ran into a pole and that part "spider-webbed"). So as long as you take the time to prepare it properly, you should have no trouble doing it so it lasts a decent amount of time. Being inside the fog light assembly you will probably have minor bug accumulation, so it probably won't be an issue.