Why You Should Rock a Set of Rock Lights
Most of us know the importance of off-road lighting as it gets seriously dark on nighttime trail runs. The farther away from city lights and deeper into the boonies you go, the more important extra lumens become. High-output light bars, better headlights and other upgraded lighting options are a must to see where you are going and keep you out of trouble. Getting lost, driving off the trail or crashing into an obstacle are not the best things during the day and even less fun at night.
To prevent any of those sketchy scenarios from happening, the focus is usually on maximizing forward illumination. The right combination of beam patterns and lights creates a deep, broad field of light in front of your vehicle. With the ideal setup, vision at night is massively improved, and you no longer stumble around in the dark. Night runs become more fun, and you can’t wait to get out after dark.
Life on the Rocks
Lots of light projecting forward is great for most situations but doesn’t help much when creeping over obstacles in low range. Slow speed and rough trails require careful tire placement to avoid getting stuck or smashing your rig. You need to see precisely where your tires are when picking your way across rocks, ruts and other technical obstacles. But with all your lights pointing forward, the area surrounding your tires is often in darkness. Rock lights solve this by projecting light downward around your tires instead of forward. Picking the correct lines is a lot easier with a set of rock lights installed.
What to Look for in Rock Lights
Back in the day, people used tractor lights for rock lights. They were big, cheaply made and broke often. Tractor lights were far from ideal, but there weren’t many options at the time. Thankfully, modern LED technology has changed that and allows for compact, robust and powerful lights. All are traits you want in rock lights, as a small size lets them be mounted almost anywhere. Our Oracle ColorSHIFT® Rock Lights and newly released True White Rock Lights measure only 2 inches across allowing for a multitude of mounting options. And if space is at a premium, our unique and minuscule 3-Watt Single Color LED Rock Lights are even smaller. Those diminutive dimensions also help make for rugged housings with tough lenses. And modern LEDs produce more lumens than any tractor lights could ever dream of.
Another important consideration for rock lights is beam width. The idea is to flood the area around your tires with light, so a wide beam is more important than projecting light over a distance. With a unique three-emitters per-light design, our Oracle RGB+W LED Rock Lights produce a super-wide 230-degree spread of light. It is the best coverage of any LED rock light on the market and is exactly what you need for those dark nights – it also works with our all-new ColorSHIFT® Pro App coming soon. Check out our video of them being installed on a new Ford Bronco below.
Where To Mount Them
Where you mount rock lights makes a difference. Inside the wheel wells is a good spot since the goal is to illuminate the area directly around your tires. Our Oracle rock lights are extremely rugged with IP67 and IP68 ratings against water and dust intrusion. But you still want to keep them out of harm’s way directly behind tires. This makes inboard at the top of the wheel well the ideal place to mount rock lights.
The small size of rock lights and some creativity opens up other mounting options. A protected spot that works well is on the outside of the frame rail near the tires. Tucking rock lights into the recesses of sliders is another alternative location. We have even seen rock lights mounted on the backside of front and rear bumpers. Check out our unique rock light magnet mounts for even more mounting ideas.
Beyond The Rocks
Rock lights are a misnomer as their small size, wide beam and output make them useful in many other applications. One or two rock lights under the hood are perfect for lighting dark engine bays. Trailside repairs and changing flat tires also become much easier with a set of rock lights installed. The low-profile size of rock lights and flood pattern make them ideal for use on the side of roof racks. They can also be used for additional interior lighting and illuminating truck beds. Plus, our ColorSHIFT® Rock Lights look great as accent lights in your favorite color. Rock lights aren’t just for rocks.