Our vehicles bring out the adventurer in all of us. From climbing mountains to exploring vast deserts, our trucks, Jeeps, and off-road rides take excitement to the next level. However, to get the most out of your off-road beast, you’ll need the right accessories and upgrades. While this may include cold air intake systems and rugged tires, advanced lights should also be on the list.
In this post, we’ll talk about three of the top brands in the vehicle lighting industry—Diode Dynamics, Baja Designs, and Rigid Industries. You'll learn more about their products and offerings, including features, prices, performance ratings, and more! We'll also tell you where to purchase these top-of-the-line lighting systems and accessories.
Diode, Baja Designs, and Rigid Products
No matter which brand you choose, you’ll find outstanding products that can take your vehicle to new heights. However, while these companies do offer similar products, there are some differences to consider.
Learn more about these brands below:
Diode Dynamics
Diode Dynamics is the newest of the 3, and is known as one of the top options in automotive LED lighting solutions. Founded in 2006, the business uses the latest LED technology and innovative practices to design cutting-edge lighting products.
Automotive Lighting
Diode Dynamics is happy to offer a wide variety of automotive lighting solutions.
Take a look at the different products they sell below:
- Light Bars
- LED Pod Lights
- Fog Light Kits
- Rock Lights
- And More!
With all of these different products to choose from, you’re sure to find something you’ll love. Whether you need light bar kits, LED pods, or a powerful high beam solution, Diode Dynamics has you covered. They also offer mounting brackets and other accessories, so you’ll have everything you need!
Off-Road Lighting
Are you ready to push your off-road vehicle to the limits? The excellent lighting products from Diode Dynamics give you increased visibility in the darkest conditions, providing greater safety and enhanced riding abilities. Whether you need fog lights, simple pods, or a high-quality LED light bar, Diode Dynamics has many options.
One of the brand's top products is the Stage Series LED pods. Diode Dynamics claim that they feature a higher light output than any other compact light out there! While that is their independent claim. We can tell you they are some of the brightest. Different styles are also available, so it’s easy to find the right product for your needs.
One of the popular features on many Diode Dynamics lights are the optional secondary backlighting. The backlight colors can be red, yellow, white or blue.
Most Diode Dynamics lights carry an 8 year limited Warranty.
Baja Designs
Baja Designs is another well-known provider that offers exceptional lighting products. Founded in San Diego in 1992, the company has a deep passion for off-road riding. You’ll see their products on race cars, ATVs, boats, trucks, industrial vehicles, and more!
Lighting Kits
Another leading benefit of choosing Baja Designs is that they sell amazing lighting kits that come loaded with everything you need! Rather than worrying about finding the right mounting hardware, light assembly brackets, and wiring, they provide it all for you. This saves you tons of time, hassle, and stress!
Automotive Lighting
Looking for a new fog light kit? How about lights for your roof rack? Whatever the case may be, Baja Designs has the lighting solutions you can trust. In fact, the company’s engineers and manufacturers only use the best components in the industry when crafting their products.
Here are the automotive lighting solutions they offer:
- Roof Bar Kits
- Full Laser Light Bars
- Linkable Kits
- LED Light Bars
- And More!
Looking for something specific for your vehicle? While Baja Designs has tons of universal products, they also provide vehicle-specific solutions. You’ll fit kits for a variety of vehicle brands, including Ford, Jeep, Toyota, Chevy, and more!
Off-Road Lighting
While Baja Designs has lights for almost any purpose, off-roading is their specialty. They offer superior lighting systems to power the most rugged, beefed-up off-road vehicles. This includes Jeeps, trucks, ATVs, and adventure vans. With durable housings and weather-resistant materials, these products are designed for the off-road explorer. However, their secret is with their vehicle-specific mounts. Unlike universal mounts that may not fit very well, these innovative products are designed to fit your vehicle perfectly. This results in a great-fitting, long-lasting solution that’s also easy to install!
Laser Lights
While standard LED lights can boost your driving vision, laser lighting can take things a bit further. Using a tight 1.5-degree spotlight beam pattern, these lighting solutions are the next big thing in long-distance visibility. In fact, laser lighting helps you see 3.5x farther than other off-road lights! This gives you more vision and clarity while riding, helping you react to sharp turns, jumps, animals, and anything else. These lights also have water-resistant features to stop moisture intrusion during inclement weather.
Baja Designs lights feature their “U-Service” lenses, which allow you to replace driving patterns and colors if you want your lights to project differently. This can be done without replacing your entire light.
Baja Designs has been around for longer than most and have the highest quality standards. Most all Baja Designs lights carry a limited LIFETIME warranty.
Rigid Industries
Rigid Industries is also one of the MOST RESPECTED providers of high-quality lights, lighting kits, mounting hardware, and accessories on the market. The company manufactures top-notch LED lighting solutions for off-road, powersports, agriculture, marine, military, and OEM markets. Formed in 2001, Rigid Industries operates out of Mesa and Gilbert, Arizona.
Automotive Lighting
If you’re looking to add heavy-duty lights to your off-road truck or daily commuter, Rigid has you covered. While the company hasn’t been around as long as its competitors, the products are still exceptional. In fact, some drivers believe Rigid Industries has the best automotive lights on the market. Furthermore, they offer great warranties on their lighting solutions; their high-end lights come with a lifetime warranty, while their mid-range lighting products include a 10-year warranty on workmanship.
Off-Road Lighting
When it comes to finding the most superior off-road lights on the market, Rigid Industries does not disappoint. They offer exceptional SAE fog lights, high efficiency light bars, rock light kits, and much more!
One product we highly recommend is the Rigid E-Series ADAPT Pro Light Bar, which is sold right here at Specialty Performance Parts. This one-of-a-kind lighting solution is the first light bar system to offer an adjustable beam pattern optic with the flip of a switch. Additionally, this light is extremely powerful. The Rigid E-Series ADAPT Pro Light Bar features nearly 40,000 raw lumens!
Most Rigid Industries Products come with a limited LIFETIME warranty, Like Baja Designs. The shortest warranty is 10 years.
Lighting Kits
Another leading benefit of choosing Rigid Industries, just like Baja Designs, is that they also sell several lighting kits.
If you’re tired of your factory LED lighting setup, or you need an upgrade from your incandescent lights, Rigid has the top-quality products you can rely on.
Like Diode Dynamics, Rigid offers several models with secondary backlight options such as the Radiance Series, SR-L Series and 360 Series.
Quality and Performance
Whether you choose Diode Dynamics, Baja Designs, or Rigid Industries, you’ll find superior products that are made to perform. However, there are some slight differences to consider. Baja Designs offers products for all vehicles, and they have a keen focus on off-road racing. If you're looking for an edge on the racetrack, or a street legal SAE light, look no further than Baja Designs!
Diode Dynamics also sells top-of-the-line lights, but they aren’t as focused on racing. Instead, they strive to create some of the most reliable lights on the market—that are also street legal!
Many people consider Rigid Industries to have the best lights on the market, and they take innovation to new heights. In fact, they have already made some considerable advancements in the industry, such as their Adapt system.
A perk to all 3 brands are their excellent cooling technologies, which can be rare in other lighting products. This allows the light to stay working at its best without overheating.
Pricing
Pricing is another important topic to discuss. When comparing the three brands, they have similar prices depending on the segment. For example. Baja Designs has a SPORT series, and a PRO series and each have different power levels. The Baja Designs Sport Series is approx. 30% less than their Pro Series. Diode Dynamics also has a Sport and Pro Series, as well as a MAX Series. The Diode MAX is the MOST expensive. Again, each price level has different power levels. Rigid Industries has a Pro Series only, but there are different power levels within, as well as different prices accordingly.
Each tier, just like trim levels on a vehicle will gain more function. While the least expensive 3X3 Size light in the group is the Rigid Radiance. It isn’t the most powerful. Likewise, a Sport Series is less expensive than a Pro or a Max with Baja or Diode. Just because it is more expensive, doesn’t mean you need that much power for every circumstance. In turn, just because it is less expensive, doesn’t mean it is the best option for your situation either.
The one thing to keep in mind, are that every situation is different. Finding the right options for your situation to fit within your budget are what we are here to help you with.
When it comes to kit options for your vehicle.
When the 3 brands don’t have a certain kit, we work with them to develop one. This includes our Patented Plug N Play Harnesses, which complement every light option for every vehicle with all 3 brands.
One example is ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR, Rigid Industries Radiance/Scene Fog Amber LED Fog Light Kit, which you can also find here at Specialty Performance Parts (SPV). This fantastic package is designed for the 2017-2020 Ford F-150 Raptor and the Ford Bronco and Bronco Raptor.
The kit includes the following:
- 1 pair of SPV Premium Fog Mount Brackets with Bolts (no drilling needed!)
- 3 pairs of Rigid POD Radiance Amber Fogs
- Custom Assembled Premium Plug N Play Harness
Not only does this sweet package come with everything to get you started, but it’s also super powerful.
Final Thoughts: What Brand Should You Choose?
Whether you're searching for flood pattern lights, solutions with basic optics, white driving lights, light bars, or automotive LED lighting, you can’t go wrong with any of these brands. However, choosing one company over the other depends on your needs. Each has a different look or style and several different power levels. So it can really be personal preference. After all, each situation is different. For example. Some have an exact need for a focused beam or color etc for specific situations. Others want something that functions for every day, or maybe a certain look or style. All 3 brands probably have options that can work for just about anyone, but just like the vehicle you chose. It becomes an extension of yourself. Sometimes it is looking at the product that speaks to you.
We would encourage you to watch several of our Youtube Videos for demonstrations, reviews and showcases of all these lights. This will help you to visualize some options that my be perfect for YOU. You can see these videos at Youtube.com/jtrischler.
Shop SPV for All of Your Favorite Brands
No matter the brand you have in mind, Specialty Performance Parts carries them all. Whether you’re searching for off-road light bars, ditch lights, fog lights, powerful pods, or any other related products, we're here to help.
Contact us today to build the ride of your dreams!