Illuminating Trunk Beds

ACTUAL SITUATION WHERE WE COULDN'T SEE A DAMN THING

IT'S THE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE

Work UTVs like the Polaris Ranger are a gift to any man (or woman) that likes to get things done…

But we noticed we kept having to use a flashlight, headlamp, or phone to unload the bed at night. Using one hand to shine light, we only had one hand to unload. It was unnecessarily annoying.

So, we asked R&D what we could do about it.

Enter the Engineers

We decided the trunk bed light should turn on automatically like a fridge light when you open the door. But when we got into it, we realized that technology is too sensitive to the bumps experienced off-road.

After a few prototypes, we moved to a magnetic sensor that identifies when the tailgate opens and closes to automatically turn on when you need it. And so the first UTV automatic trunk bed light was born.

MAGNETS OVER SWITCHES

Magnetic sensors delivered the perfect experience. They never engage when they shouldn’t, regardless of the terrain. And the lights will always turn on when you open your bed door.

DON’T BE BLINDED BY THE LIGHT

A common complaint we heard from riders is that they don’t like getting “blinded” by roof-mounted light bars trying to function as trunk lights.

We knew we wanted to design lights that pointed down and away from the eyes of the person unloading. This meant we needed the light to be located within the trunk bed itself.

RED LIGHT DISTRICT

Enter the red trunk bed light prototype. We initially were only going to make white trunk bed lights, but Brandon (Head of Sales) wanted a red version so he could use them while hunting.

Red LEDs are better for hunters and nighttime riders because they preserve your night vision, and animals have limited sensitivity to red light wavelengths.

HAUL MODE

When we were riding with the light during prototyping, we realized that when the tailgate was left down to haul something in the bed, we didn’t need the light to automatically turn on. Enter “Haul Mode”.

We decided to include a rocker switch with the trunk light that lives in your dash next to you, so you can override the “automatic” trunk light feature.

NO KEYS, NO PROBLEM

One other thing we noticed while using our Ranger is that when you’re unloading at the end of a night, you’ve already taken the keys out of the ignition.

So what good is a trunk bed light going to do for you if the machine’s off?

R&D had an answer: we engineered the light’s automatic tailgate feature to work even with the keys in your pocket.

When you close your tailgate, the light automatically turns off.

For those concerned out there, there’s no risk of battery drain as long as you close your trunk when you’re finished.

PLUG & PLAY INSTALL FOR ALL?

All RAVEK lighting products designed to be “Plug & Play. Each light comes with a wire harness custom designed to match the OEM harness on your specific machine.

But, every rule is made to be broken…and in the case of the trunk bed light, there was an even better option than Plug & Play. Drawing power from the battery terminal allowed us to do three things: 

Simple DIY installation that doesn’t require any complex wiring (no soldering, crimping, or t-tapping)
Drawing power via ring terminal is what allows the light to turn on even when the SxS is off
Make our Trunk Bed Lights compatible with every popular work UTV (Rangers, Mules, Defenders, Generals, Pioneers, Uforces, Gators, Commanders – they all have the same size battery terminal)

We include enough extension wire to accommodate any work UTV. You’ll get some zip ties so you can bundle any extra wiring you don’t need. The install takes inexperienced installers 2 hours.