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16 Isuzu NPR Medium Duty Rebel Off Road Rebelzilla Overland Expedition Truck

Lighting 101: Best Lights for Commercial Truck and Trailers

Quality lighting is crucial for getting work done as a commercial truck driver that transports cargo. Maintaining visibility to other drivers is essential, but it’s also important to ensure you can see the road ahead clearly at all times. Spending time to learn about effective light upgrades, and what types of lights will perform best for your truck or trailer is worthwhile. 

Most commercial trucks and trailers rely on halogen light bulbs or incandescent lights still today. These lights are functional, but they’re not the best option available. Get familiar with LED commercial truck lights, and other modern light accessories so you can choose upgrades that really work.

06 1990 Land Rover Defender 110 6x6 Perentie

Difference Between Commercial Truck Lighting & Trailer Lighting

There are huge differences between LED lights for trailers and LED lights for commercial trucks. By taking the time to understand those differences you can avoid getting the wrong lights for your specific use case and instead choose lights that will work well for you. 

The major difference between truck LED lighting and trailer LED lighting is that the trailer lights must meet specific requirements to make your trailer legal to drive on the road, while truck LED lights are merely accessories to help improve your vision or your visibility, or they’re upgrades to existing lights already installed on your truck. 

As a trailer owner, it’s important to understand that you need a white license plate light, two red tail lights, a pair of brake lights, and turn signal lights for your trailer to legally pull it. Without a version of each of these lights, you could get in trouble for driving on roads. There are LED versions of all these required trailer lights and choosing an LED option allows you to meet your legal requirements while using low-powered, bright, and low-maintenance lights on your trailer. 

Truck light upgrades include accessory lights, spotlights, warning lights, and bulb upgrades for lights around your vehicle. There’s less of a need to worry about legal requirements when updating your truck lights so you can focus on performance improvements instead.

04 Wheel Backspacing Swamper Bogger Tire Rub

Offroad Racing, Fog & Driving Lights

For off-road racing adventures, and driving through fog and other weather conditions, LED light upgrades can offer superior performance versus halogens or incandescent lights. LED lights are optimal for off-road driving because it’s possible to get a powerful light bar that delivers impressive off-road vision while maintaining reasonable power requirements. There are many varieties of off-road accessory LEDs available for a commercial truck, and they can be angled at the road, straight ahead, and in many additional directions helping you to see more around you than stock lights allow. 

LED fog lights can offer a warm color that’s ideal for seeing in poor weather conditions, but LED driving lights can deliver a cooler light tone that provides improved clarity when driving in clear conditions. LED lights are more versatile, they use less power, and they tend to last longer than most halogens. This is why truck drivers consider them as upgrades for their off-road lighting and as replacement fog lights. Get excellent quality LEDs for your truck and you’ll see better in a wide range of off-road racing events and through more weather conditions.

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Replacement Headlights, Tail Lights & Bulbs

Replacing standard headlights and tail lights with LED upgrades is an effective way to give your vehicle a modern look and achieve a better light output. Changing your lights is as simple as replacing the built-in bulbs with LED replacements, or installing full replacement modules. 

Replacement headlights often emit pure 6000K white light for improved vision, but other colors are available. The lights are available as direct output and projector-style designs. The replacement taillights feature a similar appearance thanks to their red lens construction, but they rely on a cluster of long-lasting shock-resistant LEDs for improved reliability and brightness. Many standard headlights can be upgraded to LED bulbs without changing out the housing for a low-cost improvement.

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LED Interior & Dome Lights

Upgrade the interior of your vehicle with LED lights for brighter and more long-lasting performance. Interior lights are often an afterthought for truck drivers, but these lights control how well you can see inside your cab, and when they fail, your work environment suffers. That’s why it’s nice to upgrade stock lights with durable LEDs.

Most interior lights can be replaced with LEDs today, and making the replacement is a powerful upgrade. Often the replacements are simple LED light bulbs that install the same as standard interior lights. Swap the dome light, map lights, console lights, and more using these replacement parts.

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Light Mounting Brackets & Cradles

Accessory lights require brackets and mounts for reliable installation. Even some LED headlights require the use of specialized brackets during installation. Fortunately, there are brackets designed for specific truck and trailer models, making them simple to install. 

Get access to durable stainless steel, and powder-coated mounts for the exterior of your vehicle. These heavy-duty brackets are designed to withstand weathering capably and to provide a secure hold for many years. When you add LED lights for commercial trucks, the accent lights can be installed on brackets designed to install easily. Most mounts utilize stock truck hardware for a seamless installation that looks natural and holds up reliably. The right brackets can help you avoid drilling or cutting your truck to install lights. 

Whether you need LED lights for trailers, LEDs for commercial trucks, or both, you can obtain long-lasting products from 4 Wheel Parts that install simply and perform well. There’s a nice range of bulbs, light mounts, and accessories to choose from for most purposes. The lights are designed to make your truck and trailer more visible and to improve your view while driving down the road, and that’s exactly what high-quality products will do for you. 

If you’re still relying only on stock lights, improve your driving experience significantly by using a few light upgrades. As a commercial truck driver or the owner of a fleet of trucks, it’s worth making simple light upgrades for safer driving conditions and a more enjoyable driving experience.