The Ultimate Guide to Rock Lights

What are rock lights?

Rock lights are small but powerful lights installed beneath your vehicle to illuminate the ground directly underneath it. As the name implies, they’ve earned their fame among off-road enthusiasts, especially those who brave rocky trails, muddy terrain, and dark forest paths long after sunset. These lights help drivers spot obstacles like rocks, tree roots, or sudden dips—turning nighttime crawling into a safer, more confident adventure.

While “rock lights” is the most popular term, you’ll often hear other names tossed around at the trailhead or in off-road forums—like courtesy lights, underglow lights, and puddle lights. Each has its roots in different driving cultures, from off-road utility to street-style flair. Most rock lights use a flood beam pattern, designed to cast a wide blanket of light over the terrain beneath and around your vehicle, rather than focusing on distance. It’s all about visibility where you need it most—right under your wheels.

Rock lights are useful in many ways

Driver visibility

Rock lights are, of course, great for driving at night in a Jeep, but people only see them from the perspective of the driver. They are invaluable when crawling along technical ground where tyre placement is critical and progress is slow. Put your arm or head out of the window and look down with the rock lights on to see exactly what you need to.

Spotter visibility

When placed in the right location, rock lights can also be used to illuminate other areas under your vehicle, helping your spotter to see better and providing them with the information needed to guide you safely through the trail. Forward-facing lights can blind the person in front of your vehicle who is trying to guide you, so turning off the forward-facing lights and turning on your rock lights can improve the experience for everyone.

Ambient/camp scene lighting

However, rock crawling is not the only situation in which such lights are useful. In fact, I have other uses for these lights besides driving on tough trails at night. Rock lights are also excellent for setting up camp in the dark because they light up an enclosed space around the vehicle for about 10 feet.

These underglow/rock lights are helpful in random situations due to the ambient light they emit. For example, you could use them to light up your driveway when unloading groceries late at night, or wire them into your interior cab lights to create puddle lights that activate when you open your doors. These lights are as versatile as your imagination.

Pros and cons of rock lights

When it comes to rock lights installed on off-road rigs, there are several key benefits to having them, but also two drawbacks.

Advantages of rock lights in brief:

• Night off-road driving
• Obstacle avoidance

Very tough for the roughest roads

They can be connected as courtesy lights when the doors open.

Multi-purpose applications, including as camping lights, rock lights and area lights.

Low power consumption (~5W per light).

And, honestly...? They also look cool!

The drawbacks of rock lights

We won't make this section as long as some of our other articles, since the limitations and disadvantages of rock lights are actually quite few! The main disadvantage is that they can be time-consuming to wire. When wiring them, you are usually under the vehicle in tight spaces. You also want to run all the wires neatly and out of the way so that there is no chance of them getting snagged on anything when off-roading, and you need to run lots of wires to power the rock lights.

It can also be difficult to find a good mounting solution for the lights themselves, depending on what you are mounting them onto. This isn't too much of a bother on Jeeps and trucks, but it may be more difficult when installing lights on a UTV. However, flush mounts, surface mounts and magnetic mounts can all make life much easier when mounting! Also, there are occasions when you might not have mounting points at the desired angle.

Different ways to mount rock lights:

Bolt-on mounts

Bolt-on mounts are one of the most secure and reliable methods for installing rock lights. This method involves physically screwing the lights into your vehicle’s frame, wheel wells, or undercarriage using brackets or mounting plates. It’s ideal for off-roaders who need maximum durability in rugged terrain, as the lights are firmly attached and less likely to shift or fall off during rough rides.