While vans make up the larger portion of light commercial vehicle sales, it’s pickup trucks that have gained significant traction, with registrations of common models up by 92 per cent over the last decade. Models like the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and VW Amarok (among others) are popular for their off-roading ability, decent carrying capacity and more car-like handling than traditional vans. Equipped with torquey diesel engines and 4×4 drivetrains, they have the pulling power and agility for towing trailers in weekend getaways or hauling necessities to the construction site.
Why Upgrade Your Pickup? 
Rising sales have also spawned a huge aftermarket, packed with quality pickup truck accessories meeting different needs. Regardless of your pickup make, model or age, the long list of aftermarket goodies helps your 4×4 truck in more ways:
Increased Functionality and Storage
Get considerably more carrying capacity, improved security and peace of mind when on the road. Options like custom pickup trays, innovative slide-out drawers and reinforced fibreglass and fully-featured pickup hardtops help utilise the entire bed with options for internal shelving and additional height for larger items. These aftermarket pickup accessories pair well with traditional roof rails when carrying exceptionally long items.
Upgraded Style
Pickup trucks are more about utility than anything else, and entry trims can’t be more basic in terms of styling. Aftermarket options, ranging from packaged exterior body kits and alloys to LED lighting and exterior trim additions, provide subtle details that round out into a more cohesive and appealing design when carefully matched. Parts and accessories are often colour-coded to match your truck’s factory paint, but can also be optioned in gloss, matte, polished and chrome finishes to accentuate finer styling cues.
Enhanced Performance and Power
Tuning the suspension, beefing up the brakes or toying with stock power numbers with simple additions like aftermarket air filters and exhausts transforms your pickup into an entirely different beast. Sportier suspension reduces body roll for crisper handling, big-brake kits up safety with shorter stopping distances, and power upgrades provide extra pep in towing or off-roading.
These additions can be matched with aftermarket alloys for a lower sprung mass (necessary in faster acceleration) and more strength when loading the bed with more heft than usual. Add grippier rubber in lower profiles for increased traction on wet roads and highway driving.
Comfort and Convenience
Tailgate assists, rubberised bed liners, aftermarket seat covers, cabin lighting and 12V sockets are just a few affordable aftermarket extras that simplify loading and unloading, improve comfort on longer hauls, and provide convenience in everyday driving, such as charging phones or hooking up camping essentials like fridges.
Higher Resale Value
Higher-mileage and older pickups can benefit from improved resale with functional additions like well-appointed hardtops, roof racks, integrated tow bars and a decent set of alloys. These are essentials that most buyers on a budget actually need.
Pickup Mods Worth Your Cash 
Tonneau Covers: Style and Security
Keep tools and equipment safe and secure from prying eyes and typical British weather with tonneau covers. Choose roll-up or foldable soft tops in durable materials like vinyl and canvas for simplified bed access, flexibility across a range of sizes and heft, and quick installation. Or go with the enhanced security and weather protection of retractable, folding and one-piece hard tonneau covers in aluminium, fibreglass or engineered plastics. These pair better with the truck’s rugged aesthetic and can be optioned with additional cross-rails rated for 100 kilos of extra carrying capacity.
Aftermarket Lighting: Improved Visibility
Entry trim versions of popular pickups like the Ranger and Hilux (XL and Active, respectively) get mediocre halogen headlights. While work-grade, halogens offer lower efficiency, reduced brightness, higher power draw and shorter lifespans than comparable LEDs usually seen in higher trims. They also produce a yellowish tint that’s not easy on the eyes, and beams that fall short with narrower beams, especially on country and B-roads where pickups see more action.
Upgrade LED conversion kits go brighter, shine in a more neutral hue, use less power and last up to ten times longer. They’re also not affected by temperature and weather extremes. Similar upgrades include grille and roof-mounted pods, light bars, and aftermarket fog, spot, and flood lights that complement the headlights for increased visibility, no matter where or how you use your pickup.
Exterior Body Kits: Aero Performance and Aesthetics
The boxy styling in pickups is a statement of function over form. But if you want to stand out and benefit from improved handling (and lower fuel use), dress your pickup with an aftermarket body kit. Stylised aftermarket body parts, including front splitters, spoilers, side skirts and rear diffusers, add visual appeal to the otherwise mundane design of most trucks, accentuating ruggedness and aggressive go-anywhere looks.
The parts also have performance benefits, especially when optioned in lightweight reinforced plastics or carbon fibre. Redirecting oncoming air, exterior body parts improve the aerodynamic coefficient of your truck, leading to reduced drag and lift and a more stable ride. Something you’ll notice in sharp bends and during abrupt braking. For the best results, melding both style and performance, choose packaged body kits from established brands and have the parts installed by a professional.
Suspension Upgrades: Street Comfort and Off-road Agility
Factory pickup suspension is primarily geared for handling heavy loads, often resulting in a jittery ride with an empty truck bed. Moreover, the coil spring front and leaf spring rear setup in most models isn’t the last word in handling or comfort, with excessive body roll in corners and road imperfections easily making their way into the cabin.
Consider pairing stock springs with performance shocks to counter spring rebound and compression rates and get a comfier, more controlled ride. These pickup truck accessories are the more affordable alternative to a full air suspension setup – consisting of height and pressure adjustable air bags instead of metal springs front and rear.
If off-roading is your primary goal, then aftermarket lift kits with longer, stiffer springs, long-travel shocks, revised angle control arms (and optional spring blocks) ensure higher ground clearance and the ability to go with larger wheel and tyre combos. These push the truck chassis 2″ to 6″ off the ground, enough for serious off-roading without scraping the underbody. And if you’re more concerned about looks and front rake, consider a levelling kit to align the front and rear axles and maximise grip through all four tyres.
Aftermarket Alloys: Looking the Part
Heavier and smaller (16″ and 17″) steel wheels in unassuming designs are what come standard in entry and mid trims, before spending thousands more on higher trims or special editions that also throw in a decent set of alloys.
The latter are more affordable as aftermarket options, often in more appealing multi-spoked designs, larger and wider rim dimensions (for increased traction with more rubber on the road) and dozens of colour and finish combos (matte, gloss or stain black; powder-coated, chrome, two-tone, gunmetal, bronze, etc.) to match other optional factory or aftermarket pickup accessories.
The benefits, besides style (and design options with higher malleability), are the lower sprung mass for improved acceleration and nimbler handling, and generally higher rust resistance in wet conditions. Choose wheels based on size to fit the tyres of your choice, bolt pattern styles to ensure they fit the wheel hub and from brands that balance advanced production methods (flow-forming and forging for increased durability) with reasonable prices.
