Best Lighting Upgrades to Improve Visibility and Style

When it comes to modding your truck, off-road lighting upgrades offer a unique blend of practicality and style for your rig. Truck lighting options exploded in the early 2000s with the advent of LED bulbs, owing to their compact size and low power consumption when compared to traditional truck bulbs.

Even the most cursory search will unearth a wealth of options for the best truck LED lights, but all those options can be overwhelming. Read on for a primer on some of the most common and useful off-road lighting products to help you maximize your ability to see and be seen.

Bed Lights

Anyone who has set up camp in the dark after a long day on the trail understands the benefits of truck bed lights. They’re inexpensive and very easy to install, but they’ll improve your day when you’re out there digging for that last tent peg, which somehow fell out of the bag and lodged itself under your gear.

The most common bed lights consist of LED strips that are fastened to the inside top of the bed wall so that they can throw light into the bed effectively and you can even get sets that allow you to customize the light frequency, if you want to set the mood.

Loading Lights

A variation on the bed light theme is a dedicated loading light that throws light over the truck bed and behind your truck. Typically mounted above the rear window, a loading light has the advantage of providing lighting behind the truck, as well as into the bed itself. Look for loading lights with adjustable mounts to provide the most flexibility.

Light Bars

Truck light bars have become ubiquitous in the off-road scene, due to their compact size and ability to throw huge amounts of light. You can find hundreds of examples in many shapes and sizes at your favorite off-road equipment suppliers but consider light bars with aluminum housings for reduced weight to maximize your fuel economy and keep your rig nimble on its feet. High-quality lenses are also essential for creating a focussed beam of light. You want to be able to throw the light where you intend it and that’s often the difference between a quality light bar and the bargain version.

Light Pods

Light pods are the original off-road lighting option, having been pioneered in the 1960s with the advent of off-roading dune buggies. Those original light pods were simply sealed bulbs fabricated into arrays on the roofs of jacked-up Volkswagen Beetle chassis, with some of the most famous examples coming from the Meyers Manx. Today’s light pods are almost exclusively lit with LEDs, providing creative design options and even light frequency adjustability. You can find modern light pods that mimic the style of those original sealed beams, as well as pods with rectangular or square form factors. The options are limitless.

Fog Lights

Many modern cars and trucks come with a set of clear fog lights as standard equipment, but you can also add additional units to improve visibility in foggy, rainy, or snowy conditions. Your best choice of color for truck fog lights will be selective yellow, which filters out light frequencies like blue and indigo to reduce strain on your eyes and improve visibility in the worst conditions.

Which Off-Road Lights to Get?

If your main goal is to create an off-road beast for tackling the toughest trails, then you’ll want a combination of all the preceding light types for maximum visibility. A light bar above the cab to see what’s ahead on the trail is a must, as are some light pods strategically located to illuminate the trail right in front of your truck, on the sides, and to the rear. You want to be able to see approach angles and clearances over obstacles so that you can determine the best route to keep you moving.

If you want to create the ultimate trophy truck, you’ll focus on forward facing light bars and pods, with several sets of selective yellow lights to help with high-speed running in poor conditions. High speeds present the challenge of possibly outrunning the light you’re throwing, so lenses with a longer focus are a must, and you’ll want to adjust them so that you have intermediate and far throws.

Regardless of your preferred truck setup, adding lighting options to your off-road rig immediately increases its visual appeal and differentiates you from the crowd. The variety of LED lighting options in bars and pods gives you the ability to be creative in designing the rig that best reflects your personal style, and we have what you’re after. Not sure about fitment or style? Our sales techs can walk you through what fits your truck best.