Tips for Purchasing LED Truck Lights

Adding LED lights to a pickup truck is a popular form of modification. Purchase the right lights for your needs by employing the following tips.

One of the main ways that people like to modify their pickup trucks is to add or switch out lights. Aftermarket lights can give your truck a more impressive look and come in handy while you’re off-roading, camping, or driving in dark conditions. Not all lights are created equal, though, so you may need a discerning eye to find the right one for you. To help you, we’ve outlined some tips for purchasing LED truck lights.

Decide on Light Type

There are a whole host of light types that you can install on your truck for different purposes. Therefore, to start, you should decide on what you’re looking for. Ask yourself what the lights will need to do for you. If you want a way to deal with fog, you’ll want to find fog lights to install below your main headlights. For an appearance upgrade, grille lights and extra reverse lights for the truck’s rear may be ideal. Off-roaders often install lightbars or pod lights on top of their roof or near the side mirrors to give extra forward illumination when they’re far from bright streets.

Look at the Amp Draw

The amp draw of a light is a measure of how much energy it will use up while it’s on. You don’t want a light that has an amp draw that is too high, as this can quickly drain your battery. For anyone who frequently drives through more remote areas, this can be a nightmare. As a result, when you consider larger LED lights, you must look at their amp draw to make sure that it isn’t too high. You should be able to find efficient varieties that won’t compromise on utility despite using less power. For smaller lights, amp draw is usually not an issue.

Check the Brightness

Another tip for purchasing LED truck lights is to check their brightness. This will help you avoid a scenario where you go through the trouble of hooking up new lights to your vehicle only to find that they’re too dim to be useful. Manufacturers measure truck light brightness with two metrics: lux and lumens. Lumens are simple in that they are units that measure a light’s output. They’re a good reference for decorative lights that you want others to see on your truck. However, they may not necessarily be indicative of how bright a light is from your perspective as the driver. For this, lux is better. These units tell you how bright the light cast onto the surface in front of your vehicle will be. You should know the lux for any type of light that you use while behind the wheel, such as fog lights. Note that lux do change based on the distance of the surface from the light, so a manufacturer should specify a reference distance for lux.