Ken Brubaker
Senior Editor, Four Wheeler
The tail end of your truck is most likely the furthest point from the driver's seat, and thus it tends to be the most often overlooked area when it comes to nighttime lighting. Making sure that the trail ahead is properly illuminated is usually at the forefront of our thinking, but what about the hard-to-see obstacles that lurk behind your truck? Eventually you're going to have to back up, and as we all know, most stock back-up lights don't even come close to generating enough light to adequately illuminate sheetmetal-bending trees and rocks.
An easy and effective solution to this problem is the IPF Back-Up Light kit. This complete bolt-in kit includes a powerful, black steel-case light with a prism-cut hardened glass lens, a 55-watt halogen bulb, weatherproof connectors, a unique switch that allows for either manual or automatic control, and a complete snap-together wiring loom and relay.
Where to mount the light is the next question. In our case, we soon found that the tail-end of our Wrangler didn't offer too many options. Fortunately, Sun Performance Products offers the neat Back-Up Light Mount, which mounts in the center of a rear-mounted spare tire. This simple yet effective device mounts the light high and out of the way in a receiver hitch-style mount that doesn't hinder removal of the spare tire.
The Back-Up Light Mount installed in a matter of minutes, while Matt at Attitude Performance in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, installed the IPF Back-Up Light kit in approximately two hours. Not only does the new light offer substantially improved lighting off-highway, but it also works great as a utility light to illuminate trailers and work areas.
