The Toyota Tacoma is one of the most famous overlanding vehicles on the market. In recent years they have also become one of the most popular “prerunning” vehicles in the world.
The Tacoma is known for being insanely tough, reliable, and overall amazing in the dirt. The only real issue with the Tacoma is how weak the factory lighting is. If you’re out on a dark road or off-roading at night time, you’ll see (or not see) how weak the factory headlights are.
Luckily, this issue can easily be solved with aftermarket LED light bars.
In this short guide, we will cover the best LED light bars for your Toyota Tacoma. We’ll also cover the best light bar brackets and the best aftermarket taillights.
Every product on the list is something we would use on our own vehicles and some of the lights on the list we have extended hands-on experience with.
| Brand | Type of LEDs | Waterproofing | Warranty | Price Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid Industries | Cree | IP68 | Lifetime | Check Latest Price |
| Baja Designs | Cree | IP68 | Lifetime | Check Latest Price |
| KC HiLites | Cree | IP68 | 27 Years | Check Latest Price |
| Rough Country | Cree | IP67 | 3 Years | Check Latest Price |
| Rigid Horse | Cree/Philips | IP67 | 1-5 Years | Check Latest Price |
| Auxbeam | Cree/Philips | IP67 | 1+ Years | Check Latest Price |
| Nilight | Cree | IP67 | 2 Years | Check Latest Price |
Best Roof Mounted Light Bars for Toyota Tacoma
Mounting an LED light bar on your front bumper can create shadows which can make driving at night more difficult. One of the best features of roof mounted LED light bars is how they help eliminate shadows on the trail.
This is why you’ll see most trucks running a light bar on the roof instead of the bumper. Unfortunately, a roof mounted light bar can create windshield glare and can make it harder to see when driving in heavy dust.
If you use the brackets that come with your light bar, you’re forced to drill holes in your roof . The weight of the LED light bar on the sheet metal will cause large dents that are expensive to repair and look awful.
For this reason, we will focus on light bars you can get custom brackets for. With custom brackets, the weight of the light bar will spread out and eliminate the possibility of denting.
#1 Rigid Industries 40” RDS Midnight Edition
We love Rigid Industries products. Not only are they brighter than almost any other LED light bar on the market, but they’re also tough. This kind of quality doesn’t come at a cheap price.
If you know a Rigid Industries product is out of your price range, don’t worry we have some cheaper alternatives below. If you want the best-of-the-best for your truck, Rigid is the best choice.
Tacoma’s are superb for prerunning, and prerunning requires a bright light bar so you’re not driving blind. This 40” RDS-Series from Rigid outputs an impressive 20,920 lumens at 300W.
Plus, with their projector design, the light pattern is tight and helps illuminate far down the trail. This helps ensure you’ll be able to see far enough to respond to changes in the trail.
We chose the Midnight Edition because it looks much better and stealthier than the standard chrome light bar, but the standard version is also available for those who want it.
We know a lot of you Toyota guys out there like to beat on your truck and so does Rigid Industries. That’s why this light bar is dust, water, and shockproof. Plus, if you can ever break it, it’s covered by a lifetime warranty.
- Warranty: Lifetime
- Power: 300W
- Output: 20,920 lumens
#2 Rough Country 40” X5 Series
Second, on the list of light bars is a much more budget-friendly product from Rough Country. If you plan on doing simple trail riding or overlanding, you won’t need a light bar with a super tight beam pattern like the 40” RDS from Rigid. You still want decent build quality, but the beam pattern isn’t such a big issue.
This light bar from Rough Country uses a unique “X” design for the projectors. This allows Rough Country to fit a third row of diodes, which increases total light output at the expense of a less tight beam pattern.
They manage the fit the third row of diodes in the same space as a dual-row LED light bar. The light bar out 21,600 lumens at 240W. It’s also water and dust resistant with a limited three-year warranty. For the price, this light bar is hard to beat.
- Warranty: 3 Years
- Power: 240W
- Output: 21,600 lumens
#3 Rough Country 40” Curved Black Series (Editor’s Choice)
Third, on our list is another product from Rough Country. The “X” design on the light bar listed above is fine for trail riding, but it can’t project light very far. Again, the distance of the light beam isn’t going to be an issue if you’re just cruising down some trails, but it can become dangerous once you starting driving fast.
We chose the standard version of their curved light bar which should theoretically project the light further out.
Part of the reason we chose the Black Series is that of how much better it looks than the standard Chrome version. This LED light bar from Rough Country outputs 19,020 lumens at 240W, which isn’t super amazing but it should project the light further out.
It has an IP67 waterproof rating which means it’s water and dust resistant. It’s all covered by the same three-year warranty as the X5 series.
- Warranty: 3 Years
- Power: 240W
- Output: 19,020 lumens
#4 Auxbeam 50” Philips 5D
Next on our list is the 5D Philips from Auxbeam. This light bar uses tight projectors which will send the light much further down the trail while also being cheap.
Unfortunately, this exact light bar only comes in a straight design so if you want a curved LED light bar you’ll have to look elsewhere.
What makes this light unique are the deep “spot” projectors and diffused “flood projectors” which help put the light where you need it.
This light bar outputs a claimed 28,800 lumens at 288W, but it’s probably closer to 23,000 lumens. This is because Auxbeam won’t list the numbers from a proper light output test, but rather the estimated output of all the LEDs combined.
Like I mentioned above, the 5D design helps project the light in a tighter beam pattern great for high-speed prerunning. Unfortunately, the low cost comes at the price of quality.
Auxbeam backs this light bar up with a short one-year warranty and mentions nothing about water and dust resistance.
- Warranty: 1 Year
- Power: 288W
- Output: 28,800 lumens (Questionable)
#5 Nilight 50″ Super Slim Straight
For those of you out there who simply want something super cheap will light up the trail enough to impress your buddies, we highly recommend the Nilight Super Slim.
This is by far the cheapest roof-mounted option for the Tacoma, but it isn’t lacking on features. With a super slim design, the total profile of this LED light bar is much thinner than the other options on the list.
This is great for Tacoma owners who want something minimal that won’t attract excessive amounts of attention.
Output for this LED light bar is listed at 24,000 lumens from 250W of power draw. The projectors are a mix of flood and spot to help give you the best possible coverage on the road.
Typically with extremely cheap LED light bars you sacrifice any sort of warranty, but this light bar is covered by a manufacturer 2-year warranty!
- Warranty: 2 Year
- Power: 250W
- Output: 24,000 lumens (Questionable)
Rough Country 40” Curved Brackets
Like we mentioned above, bolting a light bar directly to your roof with the included brackets is a terrible idea. Not only will it look ugly but it will also put massive dents in your roof.
Plus, if you ever remove the light bar for any reason you’ll have two large holes in your roof where water can get it.
These brackets from Rough Country are cheap and bolt to your factory roof rack. This will save you from roof dents and drilling holes directly on your roof. Plus installing these brackets will be way easier.
The brackets are made of steel and covered with a black powder coat finish so you won’t have to worry about them bending or breaking.
Xprite 50” Straight Brackets
If you end up going with the 50” Auxbeam light bar we recommended above then you’ll need these brackets. They perform the same job as the brackets listed above but they are specifically designed for a 50” straight LED light bar.
They also make these brackets from a tough full steel construction so they won’t bend. They’re also powder coated black so you won’t have to worry about the paint chipping off over time.
Best Bumper Mounted LED Light Bar for Toyota Tacoma
Although roof-mounted LED light bars are great at eliminating shadows on the trail, they have one major design flaw: windshield glare. This happens when the light emitting from the LED light bar shines down onto the windshield.
This can make it harder to see at night especially if you’re driving in lots of dust. A light bar mounted on your bumper will not cause any windshield glare, so it may be the better option for you.
#1 Rigid Industries 30″ ADAPT Series Black
Sitting at the top of our list is the all-new Rigid Industries ADAPT series using Rigid‘s new Active View Technology to change the beam pattern on demand. This improves the overall utility of the light bar as it can adapt based upon the speed of the vehicle with the use of an optional ADAPT GPS module.
There are no moving parts inside the ADAPT series light bars making them reliable just like any other Rigid light.
Using state-of-the-art projectors and cleverly placed led chips, Rigid created 8 selectable beam patterns ranging from a super tight 15-degrees to a wide 90-degree flood.
While function is a top priority with this light bar rigid also gave it some sexy RGB accent lighting that can be changed with the push of a button to be any color in the rainbow
For anyone looking for the top of the line in 30″ light bar, this is it. With an impressive 22080 max lumen output at 281 watts and 65-degree beam angle, this light far surpasses anything on the market.
To top it all off the Rigid ADAPT is water and dustproof backed up by a lifetime warranty along with all the wiring and mounting hardware to get you up and running
- Warranty: Lifetime
- Power: 281W
- Output: 22,080 lumens
- beam pattern: 15º-90º
- Power: 118W
#2 Rigid Industries 30” SR-Series Midnight
Once again we will recommend a Rigid Industries product because of their insane light output and quality. Mounting a light bar on your bumper makes it much more susceptible to getting hit by stuff (rocks for example) so you’ll want a tough light bar.
Mounting a light bar inside your bumper requires a single row light bar which is also why we picked this one. Unfortunately, this light bar is a little expensive so we’ve also listed a cheaper alternative below if you’re on a budget.
This light bar from Rigid Industries outputs 11,250 lumens at 118W which is an impressive lumen/watt ratio. We recommend the Midnight Edition because of its awesome looks.
You won’t want a shiny chrome light bar when trying to keep it semi-hidden in the bumper. Just like any other Rigid Industries product, this one is water, dust, and shockproof. It’s also backed up by Rigid’s lifetime warranty.
- Warranty: Lifetime
- Power: 118W
- Output: 11,250 lumens
#3 Rough Country 30” Single Row Black Series
Unfortunately, the Rigid Industries light bar is very expensive. You get what you pay for, but not all of us can pay for high-end LED light bars. Fortunately Rough Country makes a budget-oriented product which works well.
This specific light bar uses a single row design necessary for mounting inside a Tacoma bumper. We picked the Black Series because of its awesome blacked-out appearance. Plus, it comes with a nifty light bar cover for when it’s not in use.
This LED light bar from Rough Country outputs 12,000 lumens at 150W which is actually 750 lumens more than the much more expensive Rigid Industries light bar, but it requires more power than the Rigid Industries bar.
It’s covered by the same three-year warranty as the other Rough Country LED light bars we listed above. It’s also water and sun resistant with its IP67 rating.
- Warranty: 3 Years
- Power: 150W
- Output: 12,000 lumens
#4 4WDKING 30″ Single Row
Of course, not everyone wants an expensive LED light bar. Although there is a noticeable difference in quality, cheaper LED light bars are very popular for Tacoma owners who just want something simple and cheap to get the job done.
If you’re looking for the cheapest and best option, we recommend the 4WDKing 30″ single row. It offers a similar design and power usage of other options on the list, however, it is lacking a few key features.
The biggest key feature missing from this LED light bar is a warranty. For the price, you can replace this LED light bar a few times while still being cheaper than some of the other options on the list, but if a warranty is a must-have item for you then you’ll have to look elsewhere.
Power consumption is rated at 150W, however, light output isn’t listed anywhere. The body is constructed from high-quality aluminum and features an IP69K rating! For the price, this is one of the best bumper mounted options for the Toyota Tacoma.
- Warranty: None
- Power: 150W
- Output: Not listed
Rough Country Bumper Brackets
These custom-built bumper brackets make installing your 30″ light bar on your Tacoma simple and clean. They give an almost factory look to the front of the truck so you won’t be attracting too much-unwanted attention after you park your truck.
They construct these brackets with high strength steel so you won’t have to worry about them failing on the trail. Mounting them couldn’t be easier as there are no holes to drill just a couple screws and you’re good to go.
If you’re still unsure what LED light bar you want to buy be sure to check out our full Light Bar Buying Guide for more information.