Rock Lights Installation Guide: Placement, Wiring & Color Options

Rock lights are compact, surface-mounted LED fixtures designed to illuminate the ground directly beneath and around your vehicle. On the trail, they serve a critical functional purpose: lighting up the rocks, ruts, and obstacles immediately below your axles and rocker panels — the blind zone that headlights and light bars cannot reach. When you are crawling over a ledge at 2 mph in the dark, being able to see exactly where your tires are relative to a jagged rock edge is the difference between a clean line and a cracked differential housing.

Beyond trail function, rock lights have become one of the most popular aesthetic mods in the Jeep community. RGB (color-changing) rock lights let you light up your undercarriage in any color for shows, meetups, and campsite ambiance. Some controllers offer Bluetooth app control, music sync, and programmable patterns. The key is understanding that trail-functional rock lights and show rock lights have different placement and output requirements — and many owners install both.

For maximum trail visibility, place rock lights at six to eight points around the vehicle, focused on the areas where you need to see obstacles relative to your tires, axles, and vulnerable undercarriage components.

The highest-priority positions are the four wheel wells. Mount one light inside each wheel well, angled downward and slightly outward so it illuminates the ground from the tire contact patch out to about 3 feet. This lets you (or your spotter) see exactly where the tire meets the terrain. Use the factory wheel well liner bolt holes or self-tapping screws into the inner fender metal. Avoid mounting on plastic fender flares — vibration will work the screws loose within a few trail runs.

The second priority is the rocker panels. Mount one light under each rocker panel, centered between the axles, angled straight down. These illuminate the ground in the area most likely to contact rocks during a side-hill traverse. Weld-on or bolt-on rocker guards from companies like EVO Manufacturing, Artec Industries, and Rock Hard 4x4 often include pre-drilled rock light mounting holes.

Optional positions include the front and rear differentials (one light each, aimed forward and rearward respectively) and the transfer case skid plate area. These are most useful on vehicles with low-hanging drivetrain components that are at risk of contact.

Single-color rock lights (typically white or amber) are purpose-built for trail use. They are simpler, cheaper, and brighter per watt than RGB alternatives because all diode energy goes into one color wavelength. White (5,000-6,000K) provides the most natural ground illumination for spotting obstacles. Amber is popular for dusty or foggy conditions because the longer wavelength scatters less in airborne particles, similar to amber fog lights.

RGB rock lights use red, green, and blue diodes in combination to produce any color in the spectrum. This versatility makes them the go-to for show lighting, campsite ambiance, and any situation where you want your Jeep to stand out. The trade-off is that RGB lights produce less white-light output than dedicated white LEDs of the same wattage, because the RGB phosphor mix is optimized for color range rather than peak white luminance. Many high-end kits (like those from Oracle Lighting, ColorSMART, or Rigid) include a dedicated white mode that bypasses the RGB mixing to deliver a brighter white output, partially closing this gap.

If you can only install one set, go RGB with a dedicated white mode — you get trail functionality and show capability in one installation. If budget allows, run a set of dedicated white pods on the four wheel wells for maximum trail visibility and a set of RGB pods on the rockers and differentials for aesthetics.

Rock lights operate in the harshest environment on the vehicle — submerged in mud, blasted with gravel, soaked in water crossings. Every electrical connection must be waterproof to IP67 or IP68 rating (submersible to at least 1 meter for 30 minutes).

Most quality rock light kits include a pre-wired harness with a central junction box or driver module. The junction box connects to battery power through a relay and fuse (same wiring principles as any off-road light), and individual runs go from the junction box to each rock light pod. Route these individual wires along the frame rails, secured with UV-resistant zip ties every 8-12 inches, tucked above any components that flex or move (control arms, track bars, brake lines). Use split loom tubing over any section of wire that passes near exhaust components or sharp edges.

For RGB kits with Bluetooth controllers, the control module should be mounted inside the cabin or in a sealed enclosure in the engine bay. Water intrusion into the RGB controller is the most common failure point for aftermarket rock light kits. Seal every wire exit point on the controller box with marine-grade adhesive-lined heat shrink or silicone sealant.

At each rock light pod, the connection to the harness is typically a two-pin or four-pin (RGB) weatherproof connector. Apply dielectric grease to the pins before mating. After connection, wrap the joint with self-fusing silicone tape (not electrical tape, which degrades in UV and moisture) for an additional waterproofing layer.