Why Some Pickup Trucks Have Those Amber Lights On Top
When you see a huge, menacing pickup truck pop up in your rearview mirror, ever wonder what those five amber lights on top are for? Well, they're to tell you that the vehicle in your mirror is ... big.
They aren't installed by owners to make large trucks more intimidating; they're required by law. Marker lights are mandatory for vehicles wider than 80 inches under Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108, and the two types of them — identification lights and clearance markers — serve different purposes. Identification lamps are the three closely positioned lights at the truck's center, while clearance lights are the ones on both outer ends. Unlike LED lights and spotlights, their purpose isn't to illuminate the road ahead for better visibility. It's to warn fellow motorists that a big boy is coming their way.
The identification lights in the middle notify other motorists that a wide vehicle is approaching, requiring more lane space than most other vehicles on the road. The clearance lights on the corners, as the name suggests, outline the vehicle's width to show just how wide it is. The three identification lights must be mounted at the same level and, to get more technical, be spaced 6 to 12 inches apart. As the standard states in the Code of Federal Regulations, they have to be placed "as near the top as practicable," with the rule applying to the clearance lamps, too.
Some trucks rock the amber lights up on the cab, while others, like the Ford Raptor, wear them on the grille. With trucks getting bigger and wider — among the worst truck trends — quite a few must have the lights, too.
Ram's Heavy Duty lineup — the 2500, 3500, and 4500, with their split headlights and improved Cummins engines — are beefy boys packing serious horsepower, capable of hurtling down the road with sub-7-second 0–60 times, which is where the identification lights really come in handy. Ram also has an innovative way of integrating the marker lights in the 1500 TRX, placing them in the hood scoop. The TRD Pro version of the go-anywhere Toyota Tundra, as well as the more family-friendly Sequoia, also feature these lights, integrated pretty well into the grille. The off-road-worthy GMC Sierra HD, the Chevrolet Silverado HD, and the Ford F-450 have gone down the traditional route by installing these all-important lamps to the top of the cabin.
Not all vehicles wider than 80 inches require marker lights, which Ford told the world following the launch of the broad-shouldered Mustang GTD. The American carmaker argued that, despite the GTD's width of 81.9 inches, it didn't require amber marker lights, since those are mandated only for approved dual-purpose vehicles.
