Factory off-road trucks have gotten a little ridiculous — in the best way. What used to mean lift kits, custom suspension, and a weekend at a specialty shop now rolls off the dealer lot with 14 inches of ground clearance, adaptive air suspension, rock-crawl modes, and enough power to make a rock garden feel routine. To sort out which of these actually do it best, U.S. News & World Report ran its first-ever Best Adventure Vehicles awards.
Here's the fun part for us: we build a bolt-on, no-drill LED kit for every single truck on this list. So below is the rundown of who won — and exactly where to light yours up.
How the trucks were judged
Instead of crowning one overall champion, U.S. News split the field into three classes — midsize, full-size, and electric — and named a winner and a finalist in each. (Compact trucks were left out, since only the Maverick and Santa Cruz exist; heavy-duty pickups were skipped too, because their size works against them on tight trails.)
Each truck was scored on its off-road geometry — ground clearance and its approach, breakover, and departure angles — along with the hardware that actually matters in the dirt: all-terrain tires, skid plates, rock sliders, locking differentials, and low-range gearing. Evaluators drove every truck on and off pavement, focused on the most capable trim, and gave lineup-wide nods to nameplates that stayed strong across multiple trims and price points.
Midsize: Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro (winner) & Jeep Gladiator Mojave (finalist)
The Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro took the midsize crown. The Tacoma has been the best-selling midsize truck in the country since 2005, got its first full redesign in a generation for 2024, and now offers the widest spread of off-road trims it ever has — TRD Sport, TRD Off Road, Trailhunter, and the top-dog TRD Pro. The Pro builds on the Trailhunter with Fox QS3 internal-bypass shocks, an aluminum front skid plate, a reinforced rocker, the optional 326-horsepower hybrid, and 33-inch tires. Its party trick is inside: IsoDynamic Performance front seats with their own shock-damping system that soaks up trail hits so you're less beat up after a long day.
The Jeep Gladiator Mojave took finalist — and notably finished ahead of the Rubicon in the scoring. Jeep tuned the Mojave for desert running with 2.5-inch Fox internal-bypass shocks, front hydraulic jounce bumpers, a 1-inch lift, 33-inch tires, rock rails, and a rear locker. It pairs Wrangler-grade articulation with real rear-seat room, which makes it one of the few genuinely trail-capable midsize trucks you can also live with daily.
Light it up: Toyota Tacoma LED kits · Jeep Wrangler & Gladiator LED kits.
Full-size: Ford F-150 (winner) & Ram 1500 (finalist)
The Ford F-150 won full-size — and the F-150 Raptor scored the highest of any truck in the entire field. The F-150 wins partly on sheer breadth: the Tremor covers the affordable end (4WD, 33-inch tires, skid plates, a rear locker, and low-speed trail control), the Raptor steps up with Fox racing shocks, a wider track, a 450-horsepower twin-turbo V6, and 35-inch tires, and the Raptor R tops it all with a 720-horsepower V8 on 37-inch tires. Same dealer, same warranty, same service network at every price point — which matters a lot when you're a long way from pavement.
The Ram 1500 took finalist as an entire lineup rather than a single trim. The RHO anchors the performance end with a 540-horsepower twin-turbo inline-six and a wider body, while the Rebel and Warlock cover the more accessible tiers with 420-horsepower sixes, 33-inch tires, and lifted suspensions. One footnote worth knowing: the revived Ram 1500 TRX and its 777-horsepower supercharged HEMI V8 wasn't on sale when the judging happened, so it doesn't appear in the results — but it's back now, and we're already set up for it.
Light it up: Ford Raptor LED kits · RAM 1500 RHO LED kits · RAM 1500 TRX LED kits.
Electric: Rivian R1T (winner) & GMC Hummer EV (finalist)
The Rivian R1T won the electric category and, five years after it became the first EV pickup to reach real buyers, it's still the benchmark. It was engineered for the dirt from the first sketch: Rivian targeted 14 inches of ground clearance and landed on 14.9, it fords up to 43 inches of water, and the latest quad-motor setup makes 1,025 horsepower and hits 60 in 2.5 seconds. Its midsize footprint is a real advantage on the narrow, wooded trails where bigger EV trucks struggle.
The GMC Hummer EV Pickup took finalist as the R1T's polar opposite — big, loud, and deliberately extreme. The tri-motor version makes 1,160 horsepower, it steers all four wheels, and its crab-walk mode lets it move almost sideways to pick a line through tight approaches. The trade-off is size: at over 7 feet wide and 8,500-plus pounds, it's happiest on open desert and rock rather than threading tight trees.
Light it up: Rivian ditch lights · GMC Hummer EV LED kits.
The one thing every winner still gets wrong
Here's the theme across all six: these trucks leave the factory more capable than ever — and their lighting is still the weak link the moment the sun goes down. Factory headlights are built for a paved road at legal speeds, not a desert wash at pace or a rock line in the dark. That's the gap we close, with vehicle-specific, bolt-on kits that use factory openings and hardware — no cutting, no drilling.
Whether an award winner is already in your driveway or sitting on your shortlist, there's a kit ready for it.
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Light up your winner — every kit is bolt-on with no drilling:
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