What to Know Before Adding a Light Bar to Your Truck

Ready to transform your truck into a nighttime powerhouse? Adding a light bar can turn the darkest trails into brightly lit highways and make your off-roading adventures even more thrilling. But before you dive headfirst into this illuminating upgrade, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind. From legal regulations to technical specifications and mounting options, let's shed some light on what you need to know before adding a light bar to your truck.

Lighting Options

There are so many light bars available on the market, so it can be difficult to get yourself oriented, and know what to look for. What considerations will be important to you also depends on your personal preference and use case scenario but with that said, there are three main things to look at with regards to the truck lighting options.

Halogen, HID, or LED?

First, you should know about the lighting technology used by the light bars. Nowadays, the most common variants are LED light bars, but you might also come across HID or halogen options. LEDs have very good energy efficiency, and brightness, and are very reliable. Halogen is very dated technology that doesn’t produce nearly as much light and is inefficient when it comes to energy consumption. HIDs are slightly better than halogen but still far away from LEDs. In most cases, we recommend getting an LED light bar.

Beam Pattern

The next aspect is the beam pattern. You can choose from flood beams or spot beams. Floodlights give you a wide angle of light. This is great for off-roading, where you want to see all obstacles and the nuances in the terrain right in front of you. They can also help illuminate worksites or your camp. On the other hand, spot beams provide a much more focused beam of light that reaches further into the distance, making it more usable for driving at higher speeds. More expensive light bars are sometimes equipped with combo beams, which combine both of the patterns and thus offer a more versatile solution.

Light Color

Some light bars might offer other light colors besides the standard white or yellow. Some have the option of RGB lighting or just a specific set of colors, such as red and blue. Here, you should be careful regarding the legal regulations. White and amber lights are generally legal, while blue and red are often restricted to emergency vehicles.

Sizes & Mounting Options

Just as important when it comes to an LED light bar for trucks is the format of the bar itself. There are three main options for where to mount it: roof, bumper, and grille. You have to consider the placement when selecting the light bar for two reasons. First, light bars can be sized anywhere from 10 to 60 inches and each size is ideal for a different placement. In general, 10 to 20 inches is ideal for grilles, 20 to 30 inches for bumpers, and anything larger than that for roofs. Second, each light bar comes with different mounting brackets, and while some are universal, others are location-specific, so make sure to check the mounting brackets included with the light bar before purchasing. Delving deeper into the bracket topic, in rare cases, trucks have pre-designed mounting points for light bars and other accessories, in which case the manufacturer also offers genuine mounting brackets. However, if you’d prefer not to make any irreversible changes to your vehicle, look out for clamp-on or magnetic mounts. They can be installed and removed easily, although they are not theft-proof.

Legal Regulations

We’ve already touched on this above, but we have to emphasize that legal and state regulations are an important aspect when choosing your light bar. In some areas, it’s illegal to drive with a light bar on, whereas others, it’s fine. This mainly concerns the light color and brightness but in certain states, you may also need to comply with other requirements. For example, your truck might be required to have an independent switch for the auxiliary lighting or the light bar to be covered and turned off when driving on regular roads. You’ll have to check these requirements based on your location.

Get the Perfect Light Bar for Your Truck Now

Adding a light bar to your truck can be a game-changing experience for its usability. Now equipped with all the necessary information about them, it is time to choose and install the best truck light bar on your truck. Here you can choose from a vast selection of light bars and other accessories for your truck. In case you still have some questions after reading this article, feel free to ask our sales techs, and we’ll be happy to help you make the right choice. With the right off-road lighting setup, your off-road adventures will become even better!