What Are Raptor Lights? (Or: Tacoma Bros, Stop Putting Them on Your Trucks)

The luminescent phenomenon known as “Raptor lights” lit up in 2010 with the arrival of the Ford F-150 Raptor, but the idea of putting three orange lights on a big truck is nothing new. These lights have been legally required on semi trucks, buses, and other large vehicles for decades. You see them on all kinds of pickup trucks and SUVs these days, although technically they have no business on your Tacoma.

Officially, they’re “identification lamps,” but whatever you call them, the three small amber lights in the grille of a truck have become a styling cue for off-road trucks. The F-150 Raptor wasn’t the first truck to wear them, but it definitely started the trend, hence why enthusiasts and the aftermarket often use the term “Raptor lights” regardless of what truck they’re on.

You can thank the federal government, at least in part, for the current fad. When Ford’s extra-girthy, desert-running Raptor checked in at 86.3 inches wide back in 2010, the automaker was obligated to put them on the pickup—any passenger vehicle over 80 inches wide is subject to the same lighting regulations governing commercial vehicles. In addition to amber front identification lights, a set of three red lights must be installed on the rear of these vehicles. These vehicles also require clearance lamps at the corners that are similar to identification lights but called out separately in the regulations.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 108, (aka Title 49, Subtitle B, Chapter Five, Section 571.108 of the Code of Federal Regulations) lays out the legal details around vehicle lighting. Among the statutes you’ll find this gem describing how the identification lamps should be placed on any vehicle 80 inches or wider: “On the front and rear—3 lamps, amber in front, red in rear, as close as practicable to the top of the vehicle, at the same height, and as close as practicable to the vertical centerline, with lamp centers spaced not less than 6 inches or more than 12 inches apart. Alternatively, the front lamps may be located as close as practicable to the top of the cab.”

In other words, the Raptor is wide enough to require the same lighting as big rigs and dump trucks. These lights are like bright colors on a poisonous frog, but instead of saying, “Don’t eat me, I’m deadly,” they say, “Watch the heck out, there’s one big chungus of a truck coming your way.”

Now, why do so many pickup trucks put Raptor lights in the grille rather than on top of the truck like a semi? If you read the regulations like a lawyer, you’ll notice that the feds want these lights both high and at the front of the vehicle. In other words, the default location is along the front edge of the hood. Placing them along the top of the cab like you see on semis is spelled out as an exception to the rule. Heavy-duty pickups with hips exceeding 80 inches often have the indicator lamps affixed to the top of the cab, although nothing’s stopping automakers from placing them into the grilles.

The 88.0-inch-wide Ram 1500 TRX followed in the gigantic footsteps of Ford F-150 Raptor and helped make “Raptor lights” a symbol of modern off-road machines, with the orange identifiers mounted high inside its hood scoop. The Bronco Raptor, which measures 85.7 inches between its fat fenders, and the TRD Pro versions of the third-gen Toyota Tundra and Toyota Sequoia are also lit up like big rigs. Heavy-duty pickups outfitted with dually rear axles (and, subsequently, large width measurements) also bear identification lamps.

There has been some documented conflict between OEMs and state laws concerning these indicator lamps. The identifier lamps atop the 2021 Chevrolet Silverado HD and GMC Sierra HD trucks, required by federal law because of the trucks’ width, violated an annoyingly specific bit of California Vehicle Code 27606, which states, “No person shall own or operate a motor vehicle which is equipped with a light bar, or facsimile thereof, to resemble a motor vehicle used by a peace officer or traffic officer while on duty within that jurisdiction.” To summarize, the code suggests the indicator lamps too closely resemble the amber light bars atop some government vehicles and therefore cannot adorn trucks sold in California.

It’s simple: Your midsize truck is not wide enough to leave the factory with Raptor lights and pressing any number of orange LEDs into your grille won’t add inches to your vehicle’s girth. Notice that neither the new 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter nor the 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor are fitted with these orange telltales, although you can imagine the marketers certainly wish they were.

The legality of adding aftermarket Raptor lights to your rig will come down to local laws, but vehicle lighting is heavily regulated. Unless you’ve installed fenders that push the body beyond 80 inches, adding exterior lights to your vehicle could earn you a ticket from a knowledgeable and ornery cop. When in doubt, refer to your local vehicle code.