Baja Designs Squadron Series LED Pod Lights

A Lighting Solution for Your Toyota Tundra
2023

Chances are, you already know a bit about Baja Designs and their Squadron line of lights, and you’re planning on using their lights for your next project. But, why are there so many different models and beam patterns? Why would you need one model or beam pattern over the other?

Here, we’ll answer these questions while we go over each Squadron light and discuss who each one is and isn't for. The Baja Designs Squadron pod lights just might be the right choice for your 2023 Toyota Tundra.

There are currently 4 models for the Baja Designs Squadron light pods: The SAE, Sport, Pro, and Racer Edition.

What are the Baja Designs Squadron LED Light Pods?

Currently, there are 4 main models of Baja Designs Squadron lights.
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The Squadron Sport and Squadron Pro are the more standard, conventional style LED pod lights, while the Squadron SAE and Squadron Racer Edition are more specialized.
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- Squadron SAE: 20 watts, ~2,300 lumens.
- Squadron Sport: 30 watts, ~3,200 lumens.
- Squadron Pro: 41 watts, ~4,100 lumens.
- Squadron Racer Edition: 45 watts, ~4,300 lumens.
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The Squadron SAE is a bit more use-case specific. Its SAE certification and wide cornering beam pattern makes this light a popular upgrade for your vehicle’s fog lights. The Squadron Sport and Pro up the power, and are available in multiple beam patterns. All 3 of those Squadron models are designed for near and mid-field lighting, with certain beam patterns being able to light up an area as large as halfway down your field of view.

The Racer Edition has a modified spotlight beam pattern that is optimized to focus all 4,300 lumens straight ahead, as far as possible. This is important in many types of racing, such as Baja or rally racing, as the speeds are much higher and having clear visibility as far ahead as possible is a must.

The Squadron Sport and Squadron Pro are the more standard, conventional style LED pod lights, while the Squadron SAE and Squadron Racer Edition are more specialized.

Baja Designs Squadron Pod Beam Patterns

The Baja Designs Squadron pod lights come in driving/combo, wide cornering, spotlight, and work/scene beam patterns.

Let’s go over beam pattern options for the Sport and Pro models. There are 4 beam patterns to choose from: driving/combo, wide cornering, spotlight, and work/scene.

- The driving/combo beam pattern is the most popular option and is designed for trail or street driving, offering maximum trail coverage in a single light.
- The wide cornering lens is specifically designed for cornering, dust, and fog conditions.
- The spotlight pattern is narrower and longer, making it ideal for illuminating further down the trail or road.
- The work/scene pattern is a very diffused pattern designed mostly for industrial or construction-type purposes, capable of lighting up a large area such as a camp or job site.

Each of these beam patterns have their own specific use case, and with Baja Design’s uService technology, you can swap the lenses to change the beam pattern and color of your Squadrons. You could potentially mount multiple sets of lights with different beam patterns and color tones to cover multiple lighting scenarios.

Who Are the Baja Designs Squadron Pods For and Who Aren’t They For?

With a price point ranging from around $130 for a single Squadron Sport to around $530 for a pair of Racer Edition pods, multiple beam pattern choices, and a variety of housing styles, there’s something for pretty much everyone.

If you’re looking to spend as little as possible on a set of cheap pod lights, the Squadron lights probably aren’t the best option.

With an IK10 impact rating and an IP69K waterproof rating that makes these lights submersible up to 9 feet, these lights are built to handle most things you can throw at them.

At around $130 for a single Squadron Sport that’s impact rated, submersible, has a limited lifetime warranty, and is backed by the reputation of Baja Designs, we think these pod lights are a no-brainer.