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GODZ MFG's Guide to Elevating Your Overland Adventure with Premium Exterior Lighting Solutions

Are you aiming to enhance your truck’s night-time profile or boost its daytime visibility with the right exterior lighting? GODZ MFG is here to guide you through the practicalities of truck exterior lighting, from the sleekness of LED strips to the safety provided by tailgate light bars. We’ll walk you through selection, customization, and simple installation tips. Upgrade your truck’s functionality and style with confidence as we shine a light on the essentials you need to know.

Key Takeaways

• Truck exterior lighting such as tailgate light bars, running lights, and LED upgrades enhance both aesthetics and safety, providing improved visibility and communication of the driver’s intentions to fellow road users.
• Customizable LED lighting options for trucks offer flexibility in design and function, allowing for personal expression and increased safety through products like multi-function tailgate light bars and LED light bars with various beam patterns, sizes, and mounting locations.
• LED technology in truck lighting presents multiple benefits, including energy efficiency, eco-friendliness, a longer lifespan, and increased durability, with compatibility across different truck makes and models, facilitating easy upgrades in exterior lighting.

Essentials of Truck Exterior Lighting

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Truck exterior lighting transcends mere visibility—it enhances aesthetics and bolsters safety. Key components such as tailgate light bars, truck bed lights, and running board lights play a significant role in this regard. These accessories, such as ultra-bright LED illumination, can be applied to different sections of mid-size or full-size pickups, transforming them into a beacon of safety and style on the road.

Truck exterior lighting proves essential, not only at night but also during daytime. It makes the truck more visible to other drivers, signaling your presence on the road and reducing the likelihood of mishaps. Now, let’s delve deeper into two essential components of truck exterior lighting: tailgate light bars and running lights.

GODZ MFG carries a diverse range of driving lights in both light bar, pod, and round configurations, with beam options ranging from diffused to flood to fog. Check out the incredibly informative Baja Designs 'Vehicle Lighting Zones' chart for tailored light selection based on your driving scenarios and preferences.

Tailgate Light Bars: A Must-Have for Safety

Tailgate light bars extend beyond mere style enhancements for your truck. They serve a critical role in road safety by enhancing visibility, particularly when the truck is slowing down or changing lanes. These rear light bars make your vehicle visible from a further distance, drawing attention to critical signaling functions such as brake lights and turn signals, thereby reducing the likelihood of accidents.

But that’s not all. Tailgate light bars offer multi-function lights that sync with the truck’s tail lights, providing additional:

• Running lights
• Brake lights
• Reverse lights
• Hazard lights
• Turn signals

These integrated functions clearly communicate the driver’s intentions to others on the road, reducing the likelihood of traffic accidents.

Running Lights: Keeping Your Path Illuminated

Every overlander needs to equip their vehicle with running lights, also known as road lights. These are essential for increasing the visibility of your truck to other drivers during the day, particularly at dusk or in inclement weather conditions. But why just stick to the usual when you can enhance your truck’s look while improving safety?

Enter LED daytime running lights. These are not only energy-efficient and low on power consumption, but they also enhance your truck’s visual appeal with their modern and stylish look. Now that we’ve touched upon the essentials of truck exterior lighting let’s dive into how you can customize your truck’s look with LED lights.

Customizing Your Truck's Look with LED Lights

LED lights provide truck owners a wide range of customization options, harmonizing style, quality, and functionality. From transforming the overall aesthetics to adding a dynamic and vibrant effect, LED lights can truly make your truck stand out. For instance, underglow LED lighting upgrades can be activated via a switch or when the truck is set in motion, creating an eye-catching effect.

Moreover, with the availability of removable and flexible LED lights, truck owners can easily customize the look of their ride to match different style preferences, without the need for permanent changes to the lighting setup. But how do you choose the right LED light bars for your truck? Let’s discover that next.

Choosing the Right LED Light Bars

Selecting the right LED light bars for your truck involves more than just opting for an eye-catching design. You need to consider factors such as size, beam pattern, shape, and connector type. The size of an LED light bar is directly related to its illumination capacity, with larger bars offering more light due to more bulbs, but also costing more.

LED light bars come with different features and options, including a single light option as well as:

• Beam patterns: spot beams (narrow and long-reaching), flood beams (wider), and combination beams (a mix of the two)
• Shape: curved or straight, based on personal style preference
• Mounting location: varies with vehicle size and user preference
• Connector type: must match the vehicle’s wiring system for a successful installation
• Fitting: specific to the vehicle or application

Considering these factors will help you choose the right LED light bar for your needs.

Speaking of installation, let’s simplify the process for you in the next section.

Installation Process Simplified

When installing LED light bars on your truck, prioritizing safety is paramount. Therefore, it’s important to disconnect both the positive and negative terminals of the truck’s battery before starting the installation to prevent any electrical hazards. Also, always ensure personal safety by using proper safety measures and personal protective equipment during the installation to avoid injury.

For the installation, prepare a common toolset that includes:

• Drill
• Wire stripper
• Screwdrivers
• Heat gun
• Adjustable wrenches
• Safety glasses
• Work gloves

Route wiring from the light bar to the switch through the firewall and along the vehicle’s frame, avoiding any moving parts and heat sources for a safe installation.

Install the switch for the LED light bar in a location within the cab that is easily accessible but doesn’t interfere with the vehicle’s controls or driver’s convenience. Properly ground the light bar to a metal surface on the vehicle to ensure a stable electrical connection. Include a fuse in the wiring setup near the battery to protect both the light bar and the vehicle’s electrical system from potential overcurrent problems.

Use the brackets that come with the light bar to determine where to drill on the top or front of the truck, securing the light bar in place. After mounting the light bar, reattach any removed panels and perform a thorough check of the work before reconnecting the vehicle’s battery and testing the functionality of the installation.

Making a Statement with Color and Style

The process of lighting customization for your truck can be enjoyable and fulfilling. Tailgate light bars, for instance, offer a range of colors, sizes, and styles for a sleek or flashy appearance based on personal preference. LED wheel well lights, with their ability to illuminate a truck’s fender wells and rims, provide truck owners with the opportunity to create a unique look using single or multi-color lighting and dynamic patterns.

The range of LED light colors available allows truck owners to choose hues that best match their personal style and vehicle’s aesthetic design. Some popular LED light colors include:

• Blue
• Red
• Green
• Orange
• Purple
• Pink
• White
• Yellow

Customizing a truck with various colors and designs of LED lighting not only enhances the vehicle’s style but also improves its visibility on the road, ensuring it stands out and is more easily distinguished by other drivers from any other vehicle.

Now that we’ve covered customization, let’s discuss the advantages of upgrading to LED technology.

Off-Roading Lighting Essentials

Off-roading offers a thrilling experience, where appropriate lighting can significantly enhance the adventure. Single-row LED light bars are well-suited for off-roading due to their compact size and lower profile, ensuring they don’t hinder ground clearance. Flood lights, on the other hand, are critical in off-roading for their ability to illuminate a wide area, providing visibility for terrain and obstacles close to the vehicle, especially at lower speeds.

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LED lights designed for off-roading should be durable and waterproof, capable of withstanding vibrations, impacts, and environmental stresses. Off-roading LED work lights offer various beam patterns, including spotlight and floodlight, with some providing a combination for flexibility in different off-road scenarios. But how much do these lights cost? Let’s explore that next in our section on light bars across the price spectrum.

Light Bars Across the Price Spectrum

Opting for light bars doesn’t necessarily mean a hefty expenditure. Manufacturers such as:

• Baja Designs
• GT Lighting USA
• KC HiLiTES
• Oracle Lighting

All produce LED light bars catering to a diverse market. These manufacturers offer products with a variety of features, sizes, and levels of durability, accommodating different customer needs.

Despite the differences in cost, high-quality options are available across the various price brackets, ensuring that buyers don’t have to sacrifice quality. Each price point provides a range of light bar selections, ensuring buyers can find a product that aligns with their budget.

Now that we’ve covered the price spectrum, let’s summarize our key points.

Summary

In this illuminating journey, we’ve explored the essentials of truck exterior lighting, the importance of tailgate light bars, and running lights for safety and visibility. We dived into the world of customizing your truck’s look with LED lights, learned how to choose the right LED light bars, understood the installation process, and discovered how to make a statement with color and style. We also appreciated the numerous advantages of upgrading to LED technology, discussed the compatibility of LED lighting with various truck makes and models, uncovered the essentials of off-roading lighting, and navigated through light bars across the price spectrum. With this newfound knowledge, you’re now equipped to transform your ride into a beacon of safety, style, and functionality. Check out the carefully crafted collection of lights offered on the GODZ MFG online store today!

Frequently Asked Questions

What are auxiliary driving lights?

Auxiliary driving lights are designed to improve visibility during night time driving and inclement weather, providing long-range illumination ahead of the vehicle.

Why do people put light bars on trucks?

People put light bars on trucks to improve visibility for other drivers, especially when making sudden stops or driving at night. Tailgate light bars are often synchronized with brake lights or used as running lights for this purpose.

What is the best light bar for a truck?

Based on popular opinion, some of the best LED light bars for trucks are the JEGS CREE LED Double Row Light Bar, Hella ValueFit Design 6 LED Light Bar, Baja Designs OnX6+ Straight LED Light Bar, ORACLE Lighting LED Light Bar, and Hella Black Magic Series Slim Spot LEDs. Consider these options when making your purchase decision.

Are LED lights worth it on truck?

Yes, LED lights are worth it for your truck's interior lighting and exterior safety lights, as they produce whiter, cooler light that is better for illuminating the road and surroundings. Always opt for bright white LEDs for exterior safety lights.

How to Choose the Best Truck LED Lights

In the world of automotive lighting, LED lights have become increasingly popular for their energy efficiency, brightness, and longevity. Whether you're looking to upgrade your headlights, taillights, underglow or interior lighting, or even looking to add off-road lighting, choosing the best truck LED lights can significantly enhance both the style and performance of your vehicle. In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know to make an informed decision.

1. Different types of LED lights for trucks.

When selecting LED lights for your truck, you have a variety of options. It's important to determine whether you're enhancing your truck's lighting performance or aiming to make it more distinctive in the parking lot. For improving performance, consider LED headlights, tail lights, truck tailgate light bars, bed lights, or even off road cube lights and light bars for enhanced forward visibility. Alternatively, for adding style, explore options like rock light kits, interior lighting, or accent lights that can make your vehicle stand out on the road.

2. How to choose LED headlights and fog lights for your truck.

LED headlights and fog lights are major upgrades from your stock halogen bulbs, but there are so many options. How do you know which ones to choose? Here are a few things to look for when choosing LED headlights for your car:

• Check Compatibility- There are many different size types when it comes to truck headlights. Ensure the LED headlights are compatible with your vehicle.

• Lumens- This is the measurement of how much light the bulb is producing. The higher the number of lumens the brighter the light bulb is, although this number can be heightened by manufacturers. For instance, a bulb may emit 3,000 lumens at start up, but after 30 minutes of driving, its output could decrease to 1,500 lumens. Therefore, evaluating cooling mechanisms and beam patterns of LED headlight bulbs is crucial when making a decision.

• Color Temperature- The color temperature of truck led headlight bulbs typically range between k to k. k light bulbs produce a “warmer” more yellow light vs. the k produces a “cooler” more blue light.

• Beam Pattern- This is the “spread” of the light output. The beam pattern correlates closely with the "brightness" of the LED headlight bulb and uses a reflector to create the pattern. It is important to get bulbs that share the same or similar low and high beam pattern as OEM bulbs.

3. Different types of off-road lights.

When choosing off-road lighting, there's a wide array of options available, such as cube lights, round lights, and light bars. While they vary in appearance, they all serve the same purpose. So, how do you determine the best choice for your needs? The key is understanding the different beam patterns available, which dictate how the light performs. Here's a breakdown of the four main beam types:

1. Flood: This beam spreads light over a wide area at a close distance, making it ideal for illuminating large nearby areas.
2. Spot: Featuring a concentrated beam that reaches far distances, this pattern has a laser beam style light output.
3. Driving: With a beam pattern resembling a large rectangle with a faded cutoff, driving lights provide substantial illumination for the road ahead.
4. Fog: Designed with a sharp cutoff line similar to driving lights, fog lights are typically SAE approved and are perfect for upgrading OEM fog lights.

These beam patterns are available across various styles of off-road lights, allowing you to base your decision on aesthetics and fitment. For instance, cube lights are compact and versatile for mounting in different locations compared to larger lights like a 50" light bar. Additionally, consider the need for specific brackets, as some lights may require them, potentially adding to costs and even vehicle modifications such as drilling. By understanding these factors, you can make a well-informed decision on the best off-road lighting setup for your vehicle.

4. Commercial lighting for trucks.

If you rely on your truck for work, enhancing its safety and functionality can make a significant difference. When working near roads, it's crucial to have more than just hazard lights. Consider installing LED strobe light kits, available in pod or tube styles, which come in various colors and include a controller with built-in emergency strobe and traffic directional patterns. These lights greatly increase visibility and safety on the roadside. Additionally, commercial running board light kits can be installed on your truck’s running boards to provide extra illumination. These kits offer running lights, turn signals, and emergency strobe patterns for added safety. For nighttime work in the field, truck headlights pointing at your job site may not be sufficient. LED area lights can provide substantial additional illumination on a job site and some models can be mounted on your vehicle to light up the surrounding area. LED truck bed lights are also a valuable upgrade, making it easier to locate tools and equipment in the bed of your truck. Another handy option is a portable LED work light that can be kept in your truck's cab. Some of these portable lights even feature built-in strobe patterns, offering extra visibility and safety if you find yourself stopped on the roadside. Whether you use your truck for work or leisure, there are numerous LED lighting options available to enhance both safety and functionality.

5. Different ways to control LED truck lights.

When choosing LED truck lights, it's crucial to consider how they are operated. This might seem straightforward, but there are several options available. In the past, installing lights meant purchasing rocker switches and finding places to mount them in the truck, then wiring everything to the battery. However, now there are switch panels, also known as switch packs, which simplify the process. These switch packs include a controller that mounts on the dashboard and a hub that mounts under the hood. The advantage of switch packs is that the controller typically features between 6 to 12 buttons, allowing you to wire in multiple accessories that connect to the hub under the hood, which in turn connects to the battery. This setup offers clean and easy wiring. Some controllers even offer bluetooth connectivity, enabling you to control the lights using your smartphone.

For those interested in color-changing lights, a dash-mounted controller allows for adjusting colors and patterns by cycling through buttons. Alternatively, smartphone-controlled lights offer extensive customization for underglow and accent lighting. There are also addressable LED light kits that can be controlled via smartphone or a key fob controller, putting a ton of customization options at your fingertips. Some smartphone-controlled LED light kits even feature sensor wires that can convert underglow lights on the truck into additional turn signals or brake lights.

6. Installation.

If you're considering installing LED lights on your truck yourself, it's important to carefully consider the installation requirements when choosing which lights to purchase. Understanding these requirements not only helps you select a kit that's easy to install but also ensures durability and optimal light performance. Some color changing LED light kits utilize a "daisy-chain" wiring method, where lights connect in series from the controller. Alternatively, there are kits that feature custom electrical connectors for enhanced waterproofing and reliability. These kits typically offer straightforward installation and greater longevity. On the other hand, certain kits may only provide lights and wires, requiring special tools, connectors, or soldering for installation, which can be time-consuming and introduce potential weak points in the lighting system. For a hassle-free installation and a dependable LED light setup for your truck, prioritize kits with "daisy-chained" lights and specific electrical connections on both lights and wiring.

7. Want to stand out from the crowd?

Now, let’s say you are building your dream truck and you want it to be seen from space… here is what you need! Rock lights  will shine light completely under the truck, giving it the UFO look. Wheel ring lights are mounted behind your wheels and will shine through your wheels and light up everything inside of them. For the interior of the truck, interior light kits will come with flexible strips to light up all of the footwells and under the seats of your car. There are even LED bulbs that will fit directly into your dome lights and will connect to your to change colors. If you want to give the interior a premium look, check out fiber optic kits. If you do more driving off the road, be sure to check out cube lights, round lights, and light bars to help light up the trails!

When selecting the best LED lights for your truck, whether it's interior lighting, underglow, the best LED headlights, or tail lights, the key is finding a balance between style, functionality, and legal compliance. Each type serves a unique purpose in enhancing both aesthetics and safety. Whether you go for vibrant underglow to turn heads on the road, bright headlights for clear visibility, LED tail lights for added safety, or ambient interior lighting for a comfortable driving experience, your choices should reflect your personal preferences while keeping practicality in mind. Take your time to research and select the right LED lights based on your needs, preferences, and vehicle specifications.

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