Lasfit LED Pods As Chase Lights/Reverse Lights- Install and Review

Lasfit 3″ LED Pods For Reverse Lights or Chase Lights – Step-by-Step Install & Review

Having proper lighting is extremely important in keeping you safe and allowing you to have a good time no matter where you are. One of the most neglected lighting areas is reverse lights. People are always focused on lighting the road ahead, but what if you have to turn around?

The stock reverse lights don’t provide anywhere near enough light and, even with some LED replacement bulbs, it still feels like there isn’t enough light. I was considering some LED replacements and, when I saw the new Lasfit Pods were released, I decided to use a set of the pods for reverse lighting (chase lights).

Lasfit vs Other Brands

The two leaders in pod lighting are Baja Designs and Diode Dynamics, but just in the past months, Lasfit has released its own line of LED pod lighting into the competition. One of the things that stood out to me about Lasfit, compared to the other companies, is the price point.

Specs

LED Power: 18W
Input Voltage: 9-30V
Current: 1.3-2.7 amps
Lumens: 2315LM
6063 Aluminum
Operating Tempertaure: -40° to 185°F
IP67 Water Proof Rating

Price

These are by far the most inexpensive pods on the market, at about $130, whereas the Diode Dynamics SS3’s and Baja Designs Squadrons cost +$200. I have a set of SS3’s that I use as fog lights, and I absolutely love them, but $200 for some lights is a lot, and I certainly can’t justify Baja lighting. I was very excited at the low price point on these lights—I seriously feel like I got a lot of bang for my buck on these.

Find it Online

Lasfit 3″ LED Pods: Check Price
Diode Dynamics 3″ LED Pods: Check Price
Baja Designs Squadron Pro: Check Price

Quality

Out of the box, these lights look just as good as the competition. They come with powder-coated brackets and all of the hardware required. The overall design is awesome and the pods themselves have an aggressive look. Lasfit makes incredible LED headlights with very high standards in design and durability. I believe those standards have carried over into the creation of these new pods.

Variations

Just like the competition, Lasfit has made a series of lenses for their pods so you can change how the beam pattern is projected. They have flood, spot, fog, and driving patterns along with yellow or clear lenses. I think the variability is important because it makes the lights more versatile and allows them to be used in more applications than if it was just one option.

This is one of the unique features of big-name brands like Baja Designs, but the Lasfit lights are a fraction of the price. It’s extremely convenient to be able to alter your beam pattern, but if you happen to damage or crack a lens, it’s nice knowing that it is replaceable without the cost of a new light.

Install Overview

This install should not take more than 2 hours, though it took me closer to 6 because I did not have a plan and I repeatedly had to go purchase more materials that I did not have. I attached the brackets to the side of my roof rack and ran the wiring down the weather stripping on the roof, from there I ran the wires down the windshield. I hope that this article also becomes a guide on how to non-invasively wire chase lights because I found this method to be very pain-free.

I did a lot of research trying to find a good way to wire chase lights but every install I came across involved wiring through the hatch and underneath the trim panels inside the vehicle. That seemed much too complicated and I did not want to break any of the panels/trim on my vehicle, so I wired the lights along the roof and down the windshield.

The Lasfit Pods do not come with a wiring harness, Lasfit does sell a wiring harness that I purchased separately that is compatible. However, when I tried to use the harness I realized it was not nearly long enough (it was most likely designed for ditch lights, not to run the length of the vehicle). With that said, I still used the harness but I just had to buy more wire to extend it.

Tools and Materials

What’s In The Box

These lights come with everything you need to get them wired in. Since they are designed to be ditch lights or fog lights, running them off the back of your 4Runner requires a few extra steps since their wiring harness is too short.

Two Lasfit LED Pods
Two Black Powdercoated Brackets
Mounting Hardware
Two Male Deutsch Connectors
Extra Yellow Lenses (part of a promotion)
Mounting Instructions
Wiring Harness (sold separately)

Step 1. Assemble Pods

Attach the pods to the brackets using the designated hardware.

I suggest hand-tightening the hardware down first, then use the provided hex keys to finish tightening. I did not tighten mine all the way down because I wanted to be able to manually rotate the lights if need be. This will also allow you to get the beam pattern you want more easily because you can quickly change the direction of the lights.

Step 2. Mount Brackets To Roof Rack

I have a Prinsu Design Studios Roof Rack, which has slots along the side rails, so I fed the mounting hardware through the slot to mount it to the rack.

The mounting hardware Lasfit provides does not fit the 1/4″ gap on the Prinsu Rack side rail slot. I went to home depot to pick up the necessary 1/4″ screws. I still used the washers and lock washers that Lasfit provided and just sourced the hex screws and nuts.

You might be wondering why I did not mount the lights to the back cross beam, but I actually tried that first. When I went to open my trunk hatch, it would not open because the pods were in the way.

Step 3. Wrap Pod Wiring

A thick wire with a Deutsch connector on the end is attached to the backside of the pod. The problem is that it is too big to fit inside the weather stripping. Wrap it around the rear mounting feet of the roof rack. You might have another solution but this worked just fine for me. You should also use a zip tie or two to keep the wire in place.

Step 4. Cut Wiring Harness Extension

This works best with two people, but basically, you just want a rough estimate of how much wire you need to get from the pod to the bottom of the A-Pillar.

Take your extra wire and begin measuring how much you need. I did this by myself by setting the spool of wire at the bottom of the A-Pillar and unraveling enough wire to get me to the pod. You definitely want more wire than you need because you can always cut the wire again if need be.

Then cut the wire; do this for both sides.

Step 5. Attach Wiring Extension

Pull the positive and negative wires apart at one end and strip both wires. Then take your butt connectors and crimping tool and crimp one butt connector to the positive and one butt connector to the negative.

After that, take one of the male Deutsch connectors from Lasfit and crimp the positive wire into the butt connector with the other positive (red) and the negative (black) wire into the butt connector with the other negative.

Make sure to gently tug on the wires to make sure they are tightly crimped in the butt connectors.

Now, take the male Deutsch connector and push it into the female connector that runs from the pod.

Step 6. Run Wire Down Weather Stripping

There are little slots on either side of the weather stripping. Feed the wiring into those slots starting from the butt connectors until you get to the A-Pillar. Be patient with this as the wires may not conform with their new shape right away, working in the heat was helpful because it made the wires a little more malleable.

Step 7. Heat Shrink

The wires are going to run down both sides of the windshield.

To hide the wires, you’re going to cover them in heat shrink. Cut two pieces of heat shrink slightly larger than the length of the windshield (remember more is better), one piece for the drivers’ side and one piece for the passenger.

Then feed the wiring through the heat shrink until it is at the top of the A-Pillar.

Step 8. Remove Debris Caps

There are two plastic caps in the bottom corners of the windshield, pop your hood so you can remove both of them. This is not hard, just get your hand underneath them and pop them out. Set these caps aside, we will be putting these back on later.

Step 9. Run Wiring Into Engine Bay

Take the wiring and feed it into the engine bay. Once the wire is in the engine bay, make sure none of your wires running down the windshield are exposed. If not, put the debris caps back in place; this will help keep the wire taut to the gaps beside the windshield.

Step 10. Attach Harness To Battery

Using the Lasfit wiring harness, attach the positive wire to the positive terminal and the negative wire to the negative terminal. Then bolt the relay to the bolt hole of your choice along the wall of the engine bay.

Step 11. Cut Lasfit Harness

Now that the Lasfit harness is connected to the battery, take the harness ends with Deutsch connectors and run one to each of the red and black wires that you ran into the engine bay in step 9. You’re not zip-tying anything yet, you’re just getting a relative idea of how much wire you should.

Once you reach the red and black wire, determine how much excess harness you have. Cut that excess off (this includes cutting off the Deutsch connectors). Strip the wires on the ends of the harness and the ends of the red and black wire.

Step 12. Connect Wires

Take your stripped red wire and push it into the butt connector and crimp down. Now, take the striped red wire from the harness and push it into the opposite end of the same butt connector and crimp down. Do the same for the black wires and repeat for the driver’s side.

Step 13. Test Lights

Test the lights to make sure everything is connected properly. If the lights do not come on, retrace all of your steps to make sure you’ve connected everything correctly. Even one wire not being crimped well enough could be the cause of a malfunction.

Step 14. Wire Management/ Switch Install

Cut the switch off of the harness about 4-6″ away from the switch. Tape the end of the harness and feed it through the firewall. It should poke out somewhere in the driver’s side footwell. Then reattach the wires from the switch to the harness with butt connectors. The switch is backed with adhesive, so pull off the adhesive cover and place the switch wherever you want. Then pull the excess wire back into the engine bay.

Zip tie all of the wires in the engine bay, keeping the harnesses out of potentially hot areas that could cause damage. I ran the passenger side harness along with a large group of wrapped wires that runs along the back of the engine bay. Once you’ve finished with the wiring management, you’re done!

Final Thoughts

I am very excited about these new LED Pods from Lasfit. The overall look of these lights is awesome and they are extremely bright. The pods have a very even beam pattern and they have an excellent throw. Lasfit prides itself in making long-lasting lighting products, so I don’t doubt that these lights will outlast the life of my 4Runner.

These pods are great if you are on a tighter budget but still want high quality; they don’t break the bank and are still highly functional. You could buy three sets of the Lasfit Pods for the cost of one set of Squadrons which is outrageous. The fact that they are so cost-effective makes it hard for me to look anywhere else.

5th Gen Mods, Acc Lighting, Accessories, Electrical, Install, Lighting, Roof Racks

Lasfit LED Pods As Chase Lights/Reverse Lights- Complete Install and Review