Stopping with Style\r A custom truck or SUV just isn¡¯t complete without a set of custom taillights. Taillights are like a fine wine ¨C well, okay, they¡¯re not really like wine. Custom tail lights aren¡¯t anything but custom tail lights and if your truck doesn¡¯t have them, you might as well be ridin¡¯ around in a horse and buggy.\r \r Clear Tail Lights + Police = Ticket\r Not too long ago, clear tail lenses were the big thing. Manufacturers couldn¡¯t make them fast enough to keep up with demand. But there was a problem; they weren¡¯t street legal. State DOT offices started cracking down and the police responded. Tickets started to pile up, manufacturers were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars for making clear tail lights, and production stopped. Everyone looked for a new alternative.\r \r Hello Altezza!\r Nobody knows where the term ¡°Euro Taillights¡± actually came from. The design actually came from a production Japanese car; the Toyota Altezza (In America, we call this the Lexus IS 300). Altezza tail lights feature the styling that we¡¯re familiar with today; a chrome interior with red reflectors and a clear housing. At some point, somebody called them euro tail lights and the name just stuck.\r \r Euro taillights are DOT approved. They have the one key element that was missing from clear tail lights - red reflectors. Without that red reflector you can, and will, get pulled over.\r \r Many Styles, Many Names\r The name ¡°Euro Tail Lights¡± actually applies to most custom taillights on the market. As you read before, the original design had a chrome interior with red reflectors and a clear housing. The range of available styles has expanded in many ways. Some have a carbon fiber designed interior, and are often called Carbon Fiber Tail Lenses or Carbon Fiber Tail Lights. Some are black inside. These are commonly called black tail lenses. Some euro tail lenses have a smoked housing instead of clear, some have flames on them. Some of the newest on the market use LEDs instead of traditional bulbs. They are much brighter than anything currently on the market and the LEDs practically last forever!\r \r The point of all this is to educate you on the history and some of the different styles of custom tail lights on the market. So whether you are looking for Altezza Tail Lights, Euro Tail Lights, or Clear Tail Lights, you¡¯ll know what you¡¯re talking about when it comes down to it.

Will Mahoney is an automotive junkie who lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He likes racing autocross and tinkering with trucks and cars. He currently writes online content and articles for Stylin Concepts, a leading retailer of truck accessories, suv accessories, seat covers, floor mats and any other aftermarket truck and SUV accessories.