Feature Friday: Ditch Light Bracket Setups For 5th Gen 4Runner

Barcelona Red 5th Gen 4Runner w/ Baja Designs LED Ditch Lights

We Asked 4Runner Owners What Ditch Light Brackets They Are Running And Why

This Week’s Topic: Ditch Light Brackets

Welcome back to another Feature Friday! If you missed last week’s FF, we looked at oversized tire setups for the 4Runner.

This week we are looking at ditch light bracket options for the 5th Gen Toyota 4Runner. We asked 4Runner owners what ditch light brackets they chose and what they liked about having them on their rigs.

As always, feel free to DM the owners on IG to ask any additional questions about their setup if needed.

Enjoy!

Top Brand Featured

Why Add Ditch Lights To Your 4Runner?

Why Add Ditch Lights & Brackets To Your 4Runner?

While not necessary for street driving, auxiliary lighting is imperative when you’re off-road at night trying to navigate on any sort of terrain. The good news is that you can modify your 4Runner with various aftermarket lighting options to help increase nighttime visibility. That will also reduce the potential risk of trail accidents on your next night run or the next time you’re just cruising down a dark back road.

Ditch lights can help by illuminating the surrounding areas, typically to the side of your rig, to help guide you through incredibly dark, narrow trails.

They typically offer the best performance when positioned around 45° out from the front of the vehicle. This allows you to see out the side of your vehicle where your headlights and fog lights don’t typically reach. Most ditch lights help increase your peripheral vision, letting you see the side of the road, the slope of a hill, or a ditch (hence the name) much better.

If you want to see some popular ditch light options, then check out our previous Feature Friday.

You’ll need to mount them using light brackets. These brackets typically mount with your hood’s factory bolts, which secure them to the hinges.

Several brands offer ditch light brackets. CBI, C4, and Cali Raised LED are among the most popular brands. I typically DM 20+ people on social media every week to gather individuals to feature for our Feature Friday posts. This week, we just so happened to get a lot of Cali Raised LED submissions. To be honest, I wouldn’t blame them! I have the same low-pro brackets on my 4Runner, and they’re an excellent value!

Let’s see why these 4Runner owners chose the ditch brackets that they did.

1. Kory Davis – Vivid Lumen

Super White 5th Gen 4Runner w/ Vivid Lumen Pillar Mounts Ditch Light Bracket Mounts

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Vivid Lumen Pillar Mounts
  • Price: ~$70/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

I really like how easy these were to mount and how low-profile the setup is. The brackets keep the lights low and close to the hood without any issues with the light bouncing off it. I am also running the Vivid Lumen FNG Series Amber Ditch Lights on these ditch brackets.

2. Mark S. (@bao.rnr) – Cali Raised LED

Low Profile Ditch Light Brackets From Cali Raised LED For 5th Gen 4Runner

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Low Profile Ditch Light Brackets
  • Price: $60/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

I purchased these because of their low profile. Some ditch light brackets seem to rub the windshield wipers or scrape the hood, but these brackets have not rubbed in those areas or moved out of place. Also, the powder coat on them seems to be holding up well.

These ditch light brackets work great with my Midland ditch light bracket extension, allowing me to add on my Midland ghost antenna. The ditch lights that I am using are Diode Dynamic SS3 Pro pods.

3. Vandy Chen – KMFDCAE

Super White 5th Gen 4Runner w/ Amazon Ditch Light Brackets

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Amazon Brand
  • Price: $60/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

I chose this company because its design is similar to that of all the other big-name brands. These brackets met all my quality and functionality standards. I paired them up with my unknown brand ditch pods that I bought from a friend and added a little white flair and some yellow tint.

What I love most about my setup is that it works for me. The low-profile design, heavy-duty metal with black powder coat, resistance to rust, and easy installation all come at an unbeatable price of just under $60 on Amazon.

4. Camilo Lopez (@roaming4runner) – Cali Raised LED

Barcelona Red 5th Gen 4Runner w/ Amber Ditch Lights & Fog Lights

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Low Profile Ditch Light Brackets
  • Price: $60/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

I decided to go with the Cali Raised LED brackets because of their low-profile design. This allows the ditch lights to sit just slightly higher than the hood, which is both aesthetically pleasing and practical. Lowering the ditch lights helps keep them from interfering with the windshield when opening the hood. Overall, I am very pleased with them!

5. Diana Colgrove (@pearloftheie_4rnr) – Cali Raised LED

Cali Raised LED Ditch Light Brackets w/ Baja Designs Lights For Toyota 4Runner

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Low Profile Ditch Light Brackets
  • Price: $60/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

When looking for ditch lights, I knew the Baja Designs Squadron Sports had the size and amber coloring I wanted. I discovered the ditch light kit from 4Runner Lifestyle, which included the Cali Raised LED brackets. After reading bracket reviews and watching installation videos, I purchased the kit.

I installed the brackets and lights myself in about an hour with no issues. The Cali Raised LED brackets are awesome because when I’m out on a trail and need a slightly different angle to my lights, I can jump out and adjust the angle in a minute or less. They’re sturdy, don’t interfere with the hood, and look great.

6. Xavier Ibarra (@x__rnr) – Cali Raised LED

Quicksand 5th Gen 4Runner w/ Rigid Industries Ditch Lights

Ditch Light Bracket Info

  • Model: Low Profile Ditch Light Brackets
  • Price: $60/pair

What Do You Like About Your Ditch Light Brackets?

Cali Raised LED is a very popular and reputable brand. Knowing that made it a no-brainer to go with the Cali Raised LED ditch light brackets! The brackets are low-profile and ship with a nice, semi-gloss, black, textured powder coat. These brackets were very easy to install with easy-to-follow instructions.

Final Thoughts

GTR Lighting Headlights For 5th Gen 4Runner & Ditch Light Brackets

After editing this week’s Feature Friday, I now want to put ditch lights back on my Cali Raised LED ditch light brackets.

I think I installed the brackets onto my 4Runner about four years ago, but I haven’t had lights on them for maybe the last three or so years. That’s because I initially just put some cheap pods from Amazon on them, and man, did they rust like crazy in this Florida humidity!

The Cali Raised LED brackets are so low-profile that when I took the rusty pods off, I just left them since you can’t even tell they are there.

We want readers to get inspired by a variety of rigs/products. Next week, we will showcase 4Runners With Viper Cuts to help inspire your future trimming needs.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Dan Kaiser
Dan Kaiser
2 years ago

Sorry, the link got cutoff… Checkout Ronin Metalworks brackets here: https://roninmetal.com/

Dan Kaiser
Dan Kaiser
2 years ago

Hey Jon. Great feature, as always. You should definitely look into an alternative ditch light bracket that I personally use and have been recommending to customers for a while now… The Ronin Metalworks brackets that attach to the inside of the sideview mirror mounting location. These are so low profile as they essentially position your pods on the frontside of mirrors, thus maximizing the light spread (as nothing is lost or reflected off the hood), decreasing wind resistance/noise because they are so tucked away and can still fit with snorkels. Highly recommend! Check them out…

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