BD backup kit and rear facing amber lights

I have the BD Gen2 lower grill front light kit and it is super bright. No complaints at all, and I am now considering their backup kit. I kind of want the standard backup kit, but am also considering wiring it instead to an upfitter switch with an additional rear facing S2 located mounted under the rear center sliding window kind of like MD47 did with his rear facing amber to the side.

My thinking is that I put amber covers on them and have three rear facing ambers for Raptor/Off Road events that require rear facing ambers and dust and snow shouldn’t be an issue.

I’ve also been doing a little wiring research, and maybe the best option would be wiring only the Baja kit to come on with the reverse and all three to come on with an upfitter by including a diode to block out the reverse function for the two in the standard kit when the upfitter is switched on.

So I was wondering three or possibly four things

1) Is the standard BD backup kit ridiculously bright, and will it **** people off in local parking lots in town at night? If so I’m just going to use the upfitter!
2) Should I go with brighter “Pro” S2s and simply always use the upfitter switch when I need more light in the boonies…But would this blind people behind me on off road events at night?
3) Would three lights with amber covers like I described above work well on serious Raptor or Non-Raptor events?

By the way, Bailey is gone at BD so there doesn’t seem to be a Raptor expert there!

Since you are considerate of those behind you, I would say get the standard kit in amber.




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JustBillin said:

I have the BD Gen2 lower grill front light kit and it is super bright. No complaints at all, and I am now considering their backup kit. I kind of want the standard backup kit, but am also considering wiring it instead to an upfitter switch with an additional rear facing S2 located mounted under the rear center sliding window kind of like MD47 did with his rear facing amber to the side.

My thinking is that I put amber covers on them and have three rear facing ambers for Raptor/Off Road events that require rear facing ambers and dust and snow shouldn’t be an issue.

I’ve also been doing a little wiring research, and maybe the best option would be wiring only the Baja kit to come on with the reverse and all three to come on with an upfitter by including a diode to block out the reverse function for the two in the standard kit when the upfitter is switched on.

So I was wondering three or possibly four things

1) Is the standard BD backup kit ridiculously bright, and will it **** people off in local parking lots in town at night? If so I’m just going to use the upfitter!
2) Should I go with brighter “Pro” S2s and simply always use the upfitter switch when I need more light in the boonies…But would this blind people behind me on off road events at night?
3) Would three lights with amber covers like I described above work well on serious Raptor or Non-Raptor events?

By the way, Bailey is gone at BD so there doesn’t seem to be a Raptor expert there!

Click to expand...

Hope this answers your questions:

1. The Standard BD kit with the S2 Sports is not ridiculously bright, that setup, is bright, but mounted low and angled down shouldn't be too bother some for temporary onlookers.

2. Since the lights are mounted low and you're wanting to use them as chase lights, I would recommend going with the Pro since lower lights tend to not function as well as rear chase lights due to dust and/or snow being kicked up.

3. Most of our customers do a single or dual rear chase light setup, so I would advise that three lights would work just as well, especially with a higher mounted option.

We've had customers use the BD S2 Reverse light kit and run it on a Aux switch so they could use it as a reverse light when needed and then also purchased amber rock guards to snap on the lights when they wanted to use a rear chase light.

Personally, for your setup, I'd go with the S2 Pros and run them exclusively to an upfitter switch. That way, you have full use of your lights as back-up lights or as chase lights (when used with amber covers). You could see how the brighter S2 Pros handle the debris being kicked up by your truck and then evaluate if you'd like to add a third down the road.

If you'd like us to get you setup with the S2 Reverse Kit with the lights upgraded to the S2 Pro and get the amber rock guards added for you, we'd be happy to do that. Just let me know!

Hope this helps clarify some things for you!

I have the BD designs kit but the instructions only show how to connect as reverse lights. Anyone know how to connect to upfitter switches? Any wires at the rear of truck to connect to?

bp299 said:

I have the BD designs kit but the instructions only show how to connect as reverse lights. Anyone know how to connect to upfitter switches? Any wires at the rear of truck to connect to?

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I ran my wires inside the bedside and secured them using self-adhesive wire retention clips.

There are plastic plugs in the center of the rear floor. I drilled one, installed a rubber grommet, ran my wires in sheathing, then used a little RTV to totally seal it.

You can join the upfitter wires under the hood to bring the power feed into the cabin. ( this way you do not have to run wires through the firewall boots.)

you can then simply wire in your relay ( if so desired) underneath the passenger kick panel.

The plastic trim pieces covering the door sills come off easy and there is a recessed channel that is perfect for running wires underneath.

I'm running 2 S2 Pro flushmounts in my rear bumper ( yes I cut holes in the factory bumper). I am also running a pair of squadron sport lights on the corners of the bed nearest to the cab.

I originally was using a pair of simple corner brackets that TMX gave me when i was there picking up deavers and bumps for the squadrons. These brackets, however, prevented me from using a tonneau cover.

I ended up making aluminum spacers to raise the lights up, then drilled holes in the top bedrail ( where the plastic bedrail caps are) and mounted them there.

If I ever want to removed them, all i need to do is get a new pair of the plastic bedrail covers and no one would ever know that there was a hole underneath them.

We offer the BD Reverse kit with Pro upgrades (you can't buy this setup direct from Baja, so we do it in-house and swap out the Sports for Pros before we ship it to you).

With that said, if you want to run them with ambers I'd recommend going with the upfitter method, this way you can turn them on/off as you need to. We've sold a few S2 kits with amber lenses for this purpose (and it's why we stock the S2 kits and amber lenses of every style).

We offer the JD Customs suction mount kit, which is a single S2 mount but with suction cups, for that temporary install on the trails.

Or, as you said, if you were looking to do something more permanent I prefer the S2 Pros over the S2 sports... even better, go with the Squadrons if you really want some light.

But S2's are nice and small and pretty bright.

S2 Reverse Kit: Baja Designs Ford, Raptor 2017 S2 Reverse Light Kit - 4x4TruckLEDs.com - This has the option to upgrade to Pros as well
S2 Amber Lenses: LED Auxiliary Lights - Baja Designs - Lighting Accessories - Replacement Lenses - Page 1 - 4x4TruckLEDs.com

You'll also want the upfitter wire and extension

Extension Wire: Baja Designs, Squadron/S2 12' Wire Harness Extension - 4x4TruckLEDs.com

Upfitter Connector: Baja Designs Ford Upfitter Wiring Harness, Squadron (Pro & Sport)/S2 - 4x4TruckLEDs.com

I'd go with the Wide Cornering Amber lenses for the S2's. They are sold individually so if you are doing a pair, get 2 lenses.

Now out of the box the S2 reverse kit is designed to tap into the rear lights... so using the extension wire I listed above (which is 12') gets the wire to the front (there is an included y cable already in the s2 kit). And the upfitter wire plugs into the extension and taps right into your upfitter wires, pretty easy. The hardest part is just running the wire and honestly, I think that's easier then tapping into the reverse wires if you want my opinion. No need to tap into anything this way, you can use your upfitter (my own truck has the baja designs squadron pros set on an upfitter switch)

4x4TruckLEDs.com said:

You'll also want the upfitter wire and extension

Extension Wire: Baja Designs, Squadron/S2 12' Wire Harness Extension - 4x4TruckLEDs.com

Upfitter Connector: Baja Designs Ford Upfitter Wiring Harness, Squadron (Pro & Sport)/S2 - 4x4TruckLEDs.com

Click to expand...

So if you wanted to wire the reverse lights into an upfitter, would you need one of each of the above or 2 (since there are 2 reverse lights)?

No just 1 of each.

Within the S2 Reverse kit is a y cable that basically connects both sets of lights into 1 power cable. You then connect the 12' extension cable to this y-cable, and the upfitter cable to the extension cable.

So 1x S2 Reverse Kit, 1x 12' Extension, 1x Upfitter

4x4TruckLEDs.com said:

No just 1 of each.

Within the S2 Reverse kit is a y cable that basically connects both sets of lights into 1 power cable. You then connect the 12' extension cable to this y-cable, and the upfitter cable to the extension cable.

So 1x S2 Reverse Kit, 1x 12' Extension, 1x Upfitter

Click to expand...

Great, thank you.

For someone looking into a multi purpose light for the rear to include occasional reverse lighting but more often scene lighting for camping what is the big difference in the reverse kit at 299 and the pair of scene lighting with harness at 208 on baja designs page. I know light angle but anything else?

Curious why the price difference or do the work Area lights not sell as well. Comparing the standard s2 sports.

---------- Post added at 04:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:30 PM ----------

Or would the reverse kit with wide cornering lens be better setup than scene lighting s2?