Improving back-up illumination

I've read these forums on occasion for a while and appreciate your collective level of educated sophistication and diligence to adhere to DOT standards. That said, if there's a solution to my challenge that I've not suggested below, please don't hesitate to share. I'm a total amateur in this realm!

My truck is a newer Ford F-250 and while the OEM back-up lighting is adequate, I feel it could withstand improvement. My goal is to increase rearward lighting in an inconspicuous manner- that is to say NOT mounting lights directly into or under the bumper. There are 2 pre-existing holes in the bulkhead of my truck bed(below the tailgate and above the license plate) which many folks use to mount an ID bar such as this one from Trucklite. I would like to avoid drilling holes so my initial plan was to fab a similar panel (to the Trucklite piece) using flat bar stock and into which, secure two Putco Luminix flush mount 3 LED modules. LINK

I'm not finding many LED modules that offer a shallow mounting depth comparable to the Putco which needs just .75" of depth. Unfortunately, the Putco unit's beam spread is only 15* and that seems far too narrow for reversing. Perhaps the mounting panel could spread the beam wider, if I angled it 150* in the center, but still, 15* is 15* and even at 10 feet, the beam is projecting about 3ft(??) of focused light.

Are you aware of an LED module that uses a wide beam and offers shallow mounting? I only have about 1.5" of depth with which to work before interfering with the tailgate. This Peterson lamp looks promising, but will it cast a little more light or a WHOLE LOTTA more light?

Thanks in advance!

Not sure if it's depth is too great for you but on my Jeep wrangler I was using a single baja designs S2 Pro in flood/work pattern that lit up area behind me pretty well.
Really nice quality light. Its not ebay cheap for what size / output it is but I thought worth the price.

Do you not want to mount under bumper for aesthetic reasons?

pooneej said:

Not sure if it's depth is too great for you but on my Jeep wrangler I was using a single baja designs S2 Pro in flood/work pattern that lit up area behind me pretty well.
Really nice quality light. Its not ebay cheap for what size / output it is but I thought worth the price.

Do you not want to mount under bumper for aesthetic reasons?

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Thanks for that!

I looked up the S2 and it could very well "maybe" work. The depth might be close- hard to tell just yet. I guess that's the other challenge here since I can't drive to a store and test fit anything.

Regardless, you felt like one of these lights provided ample coverage?

Yes, you're right- for cosmetic reasons, I'd like to avoid mounting anything in or below the bumper.

A single S2 pro that I had in the wide/flood pattern wasnt too bad - its all subjective though. I find it to be adequate for me.
Hope this pic helps - so the only light that is on is the s2Pro. I dont have my jeep in reverse gear for this pic i just took now. and no flash on camera (first pic i took i forgot to turn that off )

MorganM said:

Thanks for that!

I looked up the S2 and it could very well "maybe" work. The depth might be close- hard to tell just yet. I guess that's the other challenge here since I can't drive to a store and test fit anything.

Regardless, you felt like one of these lights provided ample coverage?

Yes, you're right- for cosmetic reasons, I'd like to avoid mounting anything in or below the bumper.

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The picture is very helpful, thank you! Just for better context, where is the lamp mounted? It appears offset to the passenger side.

yes - didnt think you would notice but I do have it mounted on passenger side and pointed slightly to right. I used to have it pointed straight behind but ended up mounting another light on spare tire (cheap ebay 36w). hopefully you can see it in pic below.

MorganM said:

The picture is very helpful, thank you! Just for better context, where is the lamp mounted? It appears offset to the passenger side.

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I can see it.

I think a pair of S2s may work, I have several dirtbikes and I'm familiar with BDs products in general- great reputation. Think I'll give them a call and see what they say.

Thanks for the idea! Cool jeep too, you have a pretty substantial light on the back- what's it used for?

Keep in mind that reversing lamps are a federally-regulated motor vehicle lighting function.
Be sure to wire the lamps such they do not automatically turn on any time the reverse gear is used, as they can cause an accident should they blind another driver, and use those lamps only when no other drivers are present.

pooneej said:

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Where's your CHMSL?

This is another instance where it's important to remember that we do not get to just throw any ol' light we want on a vehicle and say "There, it lights up white and it goes on when I'm in reverse and it's pointed backward, so it's a back-up light!". There are (mandatory) safety performance standards for reversing lamps, just like there are for every other exterior lighting function on a vehicle. It is very easy to cause dangerous levels of glare with white light to the rear, so reversing lamps have a strict limitation on the amount of light they can throw above horizontal. That said, the standard does not require very much light at all -- it is required to inform others that you are backing, not really to light your rearward path.

You can fix this easily and safely, but throwing flood lights, work lights, driving lights, or fog lights on the back of the vehicle is not a safe or legal way to do it. Get these lamps, two of them, and mount them in these grommets. Space them as far apart as you can, and if you can't or won't make cutouts in the rear bumper bar, then attach these brackets. With this setup you get a lot of well-focused, widely-spread light without unsafe and illegal upward glare light, they draw low current so there's no need for a relay (just tap into the existing reversing light wires), they're completely sealed and waterproof, etc.

yeah, no - I have the reverse lights on their own switches (sPOD). I do use my jeep for real off road type activities and there are occasions where I am out in the dark so rear mounted lights are a necessity to me. I need real light output not stock reverse light output. I'm guessing the OP needed same. I never use the lights in an inappropriate instance. but thanks!

the light mounted to the rear spare is a 36w cheap ebay light. My little brother gave me a pair and they were sitting around so I mounted one there. supplemental lighting for when I'm out after dark on the trails

MorganM said:

I can see it.

I think a pair of S2s may work, I have several dirtbikes and I'm familiar with BDs products in general- great reputation. Think I'll give them a call and see what they say.

Thanks for the idea! Cool jeep too, you have a pretty substantial light on the back- what's it used for?

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Virgil are there any currently produced fog lights that would fit in as a reverse light that you would recommend to improve on factory back-up lights?

fastgun said:

Virgil are there any currently produced fog lights that would fit in as a reverse light that you would recommend to improve on factory back-up lights?

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See here.

Yes, I read that but I also have read your recommendations of the past and wondered if there are currently produced fog light that you would recommend. You wrote: "I can think of a lot of fog lamps that would comply with the spirit and often with the specs of the J593/FMVSS108 requirements for backup lamps, and would give you a lot more light than a vehicle's ordinary factory-equipment backup lamps."

There are a number of fog lamps today but few good backup lamps.

fog lights for reverse lights? you want a wide/flood/work pattern. no?

fastgun said:

Yes, I read that but I also have read your recommendations of the past

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That's the thing about the past: it's passed. That's why we call it the past. Products get discontinued, other products get introduced. Sunrise...sunset. Sunrise...sunset -- swiftly fly the years, etc.

There are a number of fog lamps today but few good backup lamps.

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There are plenty of good reversing lamps available today. I linked to one such lamp.

Thank you very much, I was hoping that some of them would still be around. We need several good backup lights for our trucks.
The backup lights you linked to have a limited range of mounting options that will not easily be over come.
We shall "fiddle" around and see what can be found.

fastgun said:

The backup lights you linked to have a limited range of mounting options that will not easily be over come.

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Yer kidding, right? There are all kinds of bracket and mount options for standard-size lamps like this! What kind of mounting difficulty do you face?

Perhaps a backup camera, since they're mandated on all new cars?