Truck LED Lighting: Headlights, Taillights and Light Bars That Actually Fit
Ford, F-150
The most expensive mistake in truck lighting is buying a housing built for a different factory headlight package. A plain-English guide to fitment, the brands in this catalog, install difficulty, and the legality of off-road-only lighting, using only what the part rows actually publish.
We earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. Prices are the same for you. Full disclosure
The most expensive mistake in truck lighting is not buying a cheap light. It is buying a good light built for a different factory headlight package than the one your truck rolled off the line with. The housing bolts to the same fender, the years on the box match, and it still does not work right.
This guide covers the 118 active lighting parts in this catalog: 39 headlights, 31 taillights and accessories, 45 light bars and pods, and 3 fog light kits, from seventeen brands across six platforms (F-150, Super Duty, Silverado 1500, Silverado HD, Sierra HD, Ram HD).
One expectation first. Lights do not make power, so nearly every row here carries a gain type of "N/A", and no lighting row publishes lumens, color temperature or beam distance. Where a spec is not published, this guide says so instead of guessing.
RideBuildList earns commissions from some retailer links.
Step one: find out what your truck already has
Before model year, before brand, before finish, find out what your truck came with from the factory. Halogen bulbs, HID, LED reflector, or LED projector. Manufacturers split their part numbers on exactly that line, and matching the model year will not save you.
For the 2019-2023 Silverado 1500, ANZO sells these two taillights:
Same brand, same years, same difficulty rating of 1, same published install time of about 30 minutes. The only difference: the first is listed for trucks that came with factory LED tail lights, the second for trucks that came with factory halogen bulbs. Order by year alone and it is a coin flip.
Headlights are stricter. AlphaRex states plainly on its 2017-2019 Super Duty LED housing that it fits stock halogen headlights only and will not work on factory-LED trucks.
ANZO's 2015-2019 Sierra 2500HD/3500HD headlight is narrower still. Its fitment note reads: base and SLE trims with factory halogen headlights only, and it does not fit models with factory LED DRL headlights or HID models. Trim level, not just year.
The four things that decide fitment
| What to check | A row in this catalog that turns on it | |---|---| | Factory bulb type | The two ANZO Silverado 1500 taillights above, split factory-LED vs factory-halogen | | Trim level | ANZO's Sierra HD headlight, base and SLE only | | Blind spot sensor (BLIS) | AlphaRex's 2017-2022 Super Duty taillight is the non-BLIS version, and replaces halogen tails, not factory LED | | Bed and axle | ANZO's 2015-2019 Sierra HD taillight is dually only; Auxbeam's 2009-2014 F-150 taillight is Styleside only |
Some manufacturers sell a way out instead of a second part number. AlphaRex's 2019-2024 Ram HD headlight works with factory halogen or factory LED reflector headlights at no extra cost, but factory LED projector trucks need an additional converter, sold separately. Its 2008-2016 Super Duty taillight is direct fit, while 1999-2007 trucks need an add-on converter under a different SKU.
Treat the year range as a starting point, not an answer.
What each kind of light is for
Headlights are the only thing here that lights the road ahead for driving. They are also the most fitment-sensitive and the most expensive.
Taillights are the easiest visible upgrade. Almost every taillight row rates a 1 or 2. Among the cheapest parts in the whole catalog is a third brake light replacement, difficulty 1, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Fog lights are low, wide, and aimed short. They are a legally distinct category from headlights and from off-road lights, and several here are sold to meet the SAE fog lamp standard.
Light bars and pods are extra light for off pavement, not headlight replacements. Baja Designs says exactly that on its LP4 A-Pillar row.
Bulbs are the cheapest way into LED if your housings are fine. Auxbeam's 2015-2020 F-150 bundle rates difficulty 1 at about 3 minutes per bulb, plug and play. Bulbs split by factory package too: the 2013-2014 kit is a D3S bulb for factory-HID trucks, a different part entirely.
The brands here, and how they differ
AlphaRex has the deepest headlight and taillight coverage and sells in tiers. On the 2017-2019 Super Duty its PRO-Series is a halogen projector housing running H7 bulbs; its NOVA-Series for the same truck and years is a full LED projector. Both rate difficulty 2. Very different products at identical fitment.
ANZO USA sits mid-range and publishes unusually specific fitment restrictions, which is a feature. Morimoto tops the headlight range and is one of the few brands whose rows carry manufacturer compliance statements.
Auxbeam covers the low end with bulbs and third brake lights, and also sells housings. Its rows publish the least install detail, several showing "n/a". Baja Designs, Rigid Industries and KC HiLites are the off-road specialists, so the legality section matters most there. Diode Dynamics appears mainly in fog lights. Recon, Spyder Auto, Winjet, Raxiom, Spec-D Tuning, Oracle Lighting, Putco, Rough Country and LTW Motorsports fill out the middle and budget tiers.
Install difficulty, and what needs wiring
The catalog rates install difficulty 1 to 5. Across all 118 rows, 92 rate a 1 or 2, nothing rates above 4, and one row hits 4.
| Job | Difficulty | Published install time | |---|---|---| | LED bulb swap, Auxbeam F-150 | 1 | About 3 minutes per bulb, plug and play | | Taillight swap, ANZO Silverado 1500 | 1 | About 30 minutes | | SAE fog kit, Diode Dynamics Silverado HD | 1 | 30 to 60 minutes per Diode Dynamics | | Headlight housing, AlphaRex Super Duty | 2 | About 1 to 1.5 hours, plug-in replacement | | RGB DRL kit, Oracle Silverado 1500 | 4 | 4 to 6 hours, shop recommended |
The rough rule: replacing a factory assembly in its factory location tends to be plug and play. Adding light where the truck had none needs a harness, a switch and a power source, and that is where the hours go.
Watch for bracket-only listings. Rigid's A-Pillar mount for 2021-2025 F-150 and Raptor is a bracket only, about an hour, pod time separate. It runs the other way too: Rigid's SR-Series and KC's FLEX ERA 3 are universal parts needing a vehicle-specific bracket.
Legality: read this before you buy a light bar
Nothing here is legal advice. Vehicle lighting law varies by state and changes, and a manufacturer's compliance claim is the manufacturer's claim, not a guarantee about your truck where you drive it. Verify before you buy.
Compare these two Baja Designs kits for the same 2015-2020 F-150, both listed at under two hours with no drilling:
The Sport version is flagged off-road use only and not DOT/SAE certified, with a note that using it on public roads may violate state vehicle lighting law and could affect insurance and liability. The SAE version is the road-legal version of the same kit.
Three traps beyond that:
Mixed-compliance kits. Several kits bundle a compliant light with an off-road-only light. The catalog flags these and says not to represent the whole kit as street legal.
Off-road-only by default. Rigid's street-legal SR-Series row notes that most of Rigid's catalog, including D-Series Spot/Flood, E-Series, RDS, Radiance, 360-Series, Adapt and Revolve, is off-road-only unless the SKU explicitly says SAE or Street Legal. KC's FLEX ERA 3 Dual Mode SAE pod is recorded as the one clearly street-legal-marketed pod found in KC's catalog on this catalog's research pass.
Color. Oracle's ColorSHIFT DRL row notes that white and amber are considered on-road legal colors, with other hues intended for customization and subject to local regulations.
What to skip
Any listing where you have not confirmed your factory package. That is this guide in one line.
Unverified compliance claims. Auxbeam's 2006-2014 F-150 fog kit is flagged in the catalog as claiming "DOT Approved" in marketing without independent verification against a certification body.
Parts that knowingly break a compliant function. Morimoto's X3B third brake light for the 2024-2026 Raptor carries a manufacturer statement that it causes loss of a compliant marker-light function on that application.
Expensive off-road bars if you mostly drive on pavement. KC's Gravity Titan overhead bundle is the most expensive lighting part in this catalog, rated 3 to 4 hours for a roof mount plus wiring, and flagged off-road use only.
Where this catalog is thin
Fog lights are the smallest category at three rows, all Ford or Chevrolet, and Ram 2500/3500 has three lighting rows in total. Several rows, particularly Auxbeam's housings, publish no install time at all. If a spec this catalog does not carry decides your purchase, get it from the manufacturer's own page first.