Truck Valance Lights: Where They Mount and What They Light Up
Valance lights are one of the most asked about setups we sell, and one of the least understood, because the word does not tell you much on its own. This is a plain guide to what they are on a truck, where they mount, what they light up, and how you power a strand once it is on the vehicle.
What a valance light actually is
A valance light is a low, forward facing light that mounts along the bottom edge of the body. On a truck that is the lower front panel and the rocker line down each side, the area a lot of people call the valance. Ours are pure white LED lights on a single strand, built to sit low and wash light down and out, not up into traffic. They are an exterior accent and a ground light, not a headlight and not interior trim.
Where they mount on a truck
The strand runs along the lower body. Most people set it under the front valance and along the rockers so the light falls on the ground beside the truck and just ahead of the front tires. Because each light is its own small unit on the strand, you can space them to match the length of the panel you are lighting instead of fighting one long fixed bar. That makes a valance strand easy to fit to a short bed, a long bed, or a body with steps and cutouts in the way.
What the light covers
The job of a valance strand is even, low light along the side of the vehicle. It fills the shadow that headlights and rock lights leave along the body, and it puts a clean line of light on the ground where you step out. On a work truck that means you can see the ground at the door at night. On a show truck it is a styling line that follows the body. It is pure white, so it reads as light and not as a color wash.
Plug and play, with no splicing between lights
Each light on the strand is fully gel injected and runs on weatherproof quick connectors. That matters for two reasons. The gel fill keeps water out of the light itself, and the sealed quick connectors mean you are not cutting and splicing wire between each light. You plug the strand together, and the connections between the lights are already made. There is no soldering down the line and no open splice sitting under the truck in the road spray.
Powering the strand
Here is the part people miss. The strand is plug and play between the lights, but you still bring power to the kit yourself. You have three clean ways to do that. You can run it to a switched and fused circuit, you can tie it to a factory upfitter switch if your truck has them, or you can use one of our harnesses that already carries a relay, a switch, and a fuse. If you want the simplest path, the wiring harness and wireless remote gives you the switch and the fuse in one kit and adds wireless control. We walk through all three paths in our guide on how to power a light set.
How far a strand reaches
A single valance kit reaches up to nine feet total once it is laid out. For most single side runs that is plenty, and you trim the layout to the body rather than the wire. If you are lighting both sides or a longer body, plan your layout first so you know how many kits the vehicle needs before you order. If you are still measuring and want to know where stock stands, our lead times page has the current word.
Trucks, RVs, and big rigs
Valance lights are not only a pickup part. The same sealed, plug and play strand goes on an RV or a big rig, where there is even more lower body to light and more reason to want a clean line on the ground at a stop. The weatherproof connectors are the reason it holds up on a vehicle that lives outside and sees weather every day.
Where to start
If a low, even line of pure white light along the body is what you are after, start with the plug and play valance light kit and decide how you want to power it. Pair it with a rock light setup like the pure white rock lights and you cover both the ground under the truck and the line along the body. Both are pure white, so they read as one clean system rather than two mismatched add ons.