Best Ditch Lights & A-Pillar Mounts for Jeeps and Trucks

Ditch lights are compact auxiliary light pods mounted at the base of the windshield — typically on the A-pillar, the cowl, or the hood hinge area. The name comes from their original use on work trucks and emergency vehicles: illuminating roadside ditches and shoulders during nighttime operations. In the off-road community, ditch lights have become one of the most popular auxiliary lighting positions because they fill a critical gap in the typical lighting setup.

Headlights illuminate straight ahead with a downward bias. Light bars on the bumper or roof illuminate forward and slightly to the sides. But neither effectively lights up the terrain at a 30-60 degree angle from the vehicle centerline — the approach angles, trail edges, and peripheral obstacles that are most dangerous during off-road driving. Ditch lights, mounted high on the A-pillar and angled outward, project light into exactly this zone. They illuminate the area between your headlight beam and the roadside, letting you see trail-edge drop-offs, boulders, tree stumps, and wildlife at the periphery before they become emergency-braking situations.

The elevated mounting position also reduces ground-level glare and shadow effects that lower-mounted auxiliary lights create. Light coming from windshield height casts fewer deep shadows behind rocks and ruts, giving you a more accurate view of terrain contours.

Ditch light brackets are vehicle-specific because the A-pillar geometry, windshield angle, and available mounting points differ between platforms. Using a universal bracket usually results in a sloppy fit, vibration, and a light angle that cannot be fine-tuned. Invest in a purpose-built bracket for your vehicle.

For the Jeep Wrangler JL and Gladiator JT, the most common A-pillar bracket bolts to the factory windshield hinge mounting points on each side of the cowl. These are the same points used by the windshield tie-down straps. Brands like Rigid Industries, Diode Dynamics, and KC HiLiTES all manufacture JL-specific A-pillar brackets that accept their respective pod sizes. The Rigid A-pillar mount kit accepts any Rigid D-Series, Radiance, or 360-Series pod. The Diode Dynamics bracket is designed for the SS3 pod family.

For the Jeep Wrangler JK, A-pillar brackets typically bolt to the windshield hinge area as well, but the mounting geometry differs from the JL. JK and JL brackets are NOT interchangeable.

For the Toyota Tacoma (2016+), ditch light brackets mount to the hood hinge area using factory bolt holes. The Cali Raised LED ditch light bracket has become the industry standard for Tacomas, compatible with most 3-inch pod lights. Diode Dynamics and Baja Designs also offer Tacoma-specific kits.

For the Ford Bronco, A-pillar brackets mount to the windshield frame bolts. The Bronco community has embraced ditch lights heavily, and nearly every major lighting brand offers a Bronco-specific bracket.

The pod light itself is where most of your budget should go. The bracket is just a mounting platform — the pod determines how much light you get and where it goes.

For ditch lights specifically, a driving beam pattern (20-40 degree spread) or a wide spot pattern is usually the best choice. You want the light to project forward and outward at an angle, covering the peripheral zone that headlights miss. A pure spot pattern is too narrow for this application — it creates a bright dot on the trail edge instead of a usable wash of light. A pure flood pattern spreads too wide and wastes output illuminating your own hood and mirror.

The Diode Dynamics SS3 Pro in the driving optic is one of the most popular ditch lights on the market. It produces 5,100 raw lumens (about 3,500 effective) from a compact 3.4-inch square pod with a polycarbonate lens and die-cast aluminum housing. The driving optic provides a 25-degree by 15-degree beam that fills the peripheral zone effectively. At $250-$280 per pair, it is not cheap, but the build quality and optical performance justify the price.

The Baja Designs Squadron Pro is the premium alternative, pushing 4,900 lumens from a 3-inch round pod with patented CopperDrive thermal technology. The Squadron Pro is available in spot, driving, wide cornering, and flood optics. For ditch lights, the wide cornering optic (42 degrees) provides exceptional trail-edge coverage.

The Rigid D-Series (Dually) is the original compact off-road pod and remains a strong choice. The D-Series Pro delivers 3,168 lumens per pod in a flood or driving pattern. At $150-$180 per pair, it offers good value for builders who want a proven, reliable pod without the premium price of the Baja or Diode Dynamics flagships.

Proper aiming transforms ditch lights from decorative accessories into genuinely useful tools. Most A-pillar brackets allow 30-45 degrees of horizontal aim adjustment and 15-20 degrees of vertical adjustment. Start with the pods aimed about 30 degrees outward from the vehicle centerline and tilted down about 10 degrees below horizontal. This projects the beam onto the trail surface 50-100 feet ahead and 15-30 feet to the side of the vehicle — the sweet spot for peripheral obstacle detection.

Fine-tune the aim on a dark trail or in a dark parking lot. Turn on the ditch lights with all other lights off and walk the beam pattern. You should see a well-defined pool of light on the ground ahead and to the side, with no significant spill hitting the sky or the opposite lane. If the light spills upward, tilt the pod down another 5 degrees. If it illuminates your own hood or mirror, aim it further outward.

Wiring follows the standard off-road light relay circuit: battery positive through a fuse to relay pin 30, relay pin 87 to the pod positive wires, relay pin 86 to ground, and relay pin 85 to a dashboard switch. Both ditch light pods can share a single relay as long as their combined draw is under 30 amps (two 50W pods draw about 8.3A combined — well within a 40A relay rating). Run the wires along the factory harness routing on the firewall and up the A-pillar. Use adhesive-backed P-clips or factory clip mounting points to secure the wire run — zip ties work but look sloppy and degrade in UV exposure.