The Best Lights to Pair with a W990 Visor

Aftermarket visor and lighting style options are endless - seriously. If you're building a custom show truck, the creative combinations you can come up with are staggering.

While most drivers looking for a new Kenworth W990 visor already have their perfect design picked out, often having spotted it while parked at a truck stop or driving down the highway, a little creative inspiration never hurts.

In this post, we'll cover the best aftermarket visor designs and cab/marker light combinations for the Kenworth W990. 

You can also customize a visor with adjacent W990 roof lights to complement the 3/4-inch lights integrated within the visor itself. 

The visor lights for the Kenworth W990 come in a variety of styles, shapes and configurations (including color-changing setups).

Roof vs Visor-Mounted Cab Lights for the W990 Flat Top & High-Roof Sleeper Configuration

For flat top day cab models, the additional visor lights are typically mounted to the roof of the cab (since there's little room available).

For high-roof cap W990 sleeper cabs, lights get integrated into the visor itself. 

Configuring W990 Visor Lights with the Central Cab Lighting?

LED lights have an energy current that flows in one direction. 

They CANNOT be integrated with the wiring circuit of the cab lights. 

Incandescent lights flow both ways; so if they're used as visor lights, they can be wired up to the central cab lighting.

The W990 Drop Visor Style Breakdown

Straight Edge Drop Visors

• Drop Length (The Vertical Inches): This is the actual physical width of the metal sheet (e.g., a 10", 12", or 14" drop). This dictates how much of the upper windshield area is covered.

• Deep Drop (13"–15"): Shifts the truck into custom territory. It brings the top line of the windshield down significantly, hiding the cab interior from oncoming views and giving the truck a heavy, grounded stance.

• Gangster Drop: Similar to a deep drop but paired with an extremely aggressive forward pitch (angle). It forces the eye downward toward the grill, making the entire cab look mean and heavily modified.

• The Pitch (Slammed vs. Standard): This is determined by the bracket geometry. A standard bracket leaves a visible gap between the glass and the underside of the stainless steel to let air flow through. A slammed mount pins the visor completely tight, parallel, and flush against the windshield frame.

Angular Visor Styles

These styles use sharp, geometric geometric breaks to accent the two-piece flat windshields found on traditional long-hood rigs.

• Bowtie: Deeper on the far left and right corners, tapering slightly narrower/higher in the dead center.
• Reverse Bowtie: Straight or shallow on the outer corners, dipping down into a deep, heavy point right in the center.
• Untie: A highly aggressive variation of the bowtie, featuring ultra-sharp, hard-angled geometric geometric breaks across the bottom edge rather than smooth tapers.
• V-Style or Pointed: The bottom edge forms a clean, single "V" shape pointing downward in the middle.

Specialized Visor Drops

Straight or shallow on the outer corners, dipping down into a deep, heavy point right in the center.

Gullwing & Wicked

• Gullwing: Mimics the sweeping, fluid shape of a seagull's wings. It dips down low on the outer edges, sweeps up across the glass, and meets smoothly in the center. It offers an excellent balance of aggressive styling on the sides without totally killing center visibility.

• Wicked: Takes the gullwing concept and sharpens the transitions into aggressive, multi-faceted angles. The bottom profile features dramatic cutouts that make the truck look custom-engineered for the show floor.

Darwin Drop & Curved

• Darwin Drop: A highly prized style in the custom community known for a specialized, deep-pushed angle and custom heavy-duty side brackets. It gives an ultra-premium, heavy-gauge look that holds up perfectly to high wind resistance without flexing.

• Curved / Aerodynamic: Specifically engineered for modern aero-cabs (like the Peterbilt 579 or Kenworth T680) featuring single-piece, wrap-around curved glass. Rather than a flat sheet of steel, these visors feature a continuous horizontal radius that hugs the cab geometry perfectly to maintain fuel efficiency while eliminating the factory plastic look.

Common Cab Light Styles

Watermelon: A heavy, domed lens with internal facets that cut LED light into a dramatic, wide-stretching "starburst" pattern.

Grakon / Torpedo: An elongated, chrome bullet-shaped housing that mounts to the roofline to elongate the cab's silhouette.

Beehive: A stepped, conical lens with horizontal ribs that diffuses light evenly in a 180-degree arc for a classic, retro work-truck look.

Glo Light: A modern LED option using a halo ring or internal diffuser to create a smooth, solid neon glow without visible bulb "hot spots."

Round & Oval (2" & 2.5"): Oval and rounded 2-2.5" marker lights can be inserted directly into the visor light-hole cutout as well as the air breather panels, side fairings, sleeper, and - sometimes, the bumper. 

Button / Penny (3/4"): Miniature, minimalist LED pods mounted in simple drilled holes to create dense rows of "chicken lights" along skirts and visors without bulky chrome. Dual-revolution color-changing lights CAN be added to a visor as long as the primary color is amber (a DOT requirement). 

The Best Visor & Lighting Style Combinations for the W990 Kenworth

You can mix and match any lighting style to go with your new visor, should it have the right size of light-hole cutouts. 

The Traditional "Big Rig" Aesthetic for the W990

The Vibe: High-end, classic owner-operator luxury. Think heavy chrome, long hoods (Peterbilt 389, Kenworth W900L), and a deep respect for trucking tradition.

• Visor Style: Bowtie or Reverse Bowtie
• Lighting Style: Grakon Torpedo Housings with Watermelon Lenses

Why It Works:

The bowtie visor creates a dynamic frame for a traditional two-piece windshield, dipping low on the edges and rising slightly in the center to highlight the cab's vertical center post. Placing Grakon torpedo housings on top follows the natural forward pitch of the roof.

When you drop watermelon lenses into those housings, the intense "starburst" light pattern shoots downward, brilliantly reflecting off the polished stainless steel of the bowtie curves. It maximizes night-time presence while keeping the iconic factory silhouette intact.

The Rugged W990 Outlaw: Deep Drop Visor with Button Lights

The Vibe: Aggressive, low-profile, and intimidating. This aesthetic mimics the chopped-top look of custom hot rods and lowriders, focusing heavily on minimalist, ground-hugging lines.

• Visor Style: Slammed or Gangster Drop
• Lighting Style: 3/4" Button (Penny) Lights or "Shaved" (No Roof Lights)

Why It Works:

A slammed or gangster visor drops so low over the glass that it becomes the absolute focal point of the upper cab. Putting large, bulky chrome light housings on top of a slammed visor completely ruins the chopped illusion by adding vertical height right back to the roofline.

Instead, top-tier builders either "shave" the factory cab lights completely for a smooth, unbroken roof look, or they drill tiny 3/4" button lights flush into the top face. This keeps the roofline completely flat when the truck is parked, but provides an incredibly clean, floating line of pinprick lights at night.

The Period-Correct W990 Retro Setup

The Vibe: 1980s-themed appearance. This light/visor combo celebrates the rugged, functional history of classic transport, perfect for restored antique rigs or vintage day-cabs.

• Visor Style: Standard Drop (10"–12") or V-Style / Pointed
• Lighting Style: Beehive or Teardrop Lights (Glass Lenses)

Why It Works:

Before the industry shifted entirely to polished stainless steel and high-intensity LEDs, trucks relied on structural paint-matched visors and diffused glass markers. A standard drop or a V-style visor grounds the truck in a specific era, mirroring the simple, functional lines of vintage split-matrix grilles.

Pairing this with ribbed beehive or aerodynamic teardrop lights yields a soft, warm, 180-degree amber glow. The heavy ribbing of the beehive diffuses the light instead of casting sharp rays, giving off a true "working-class" heritage feel that looks like it rolled straight out of a mid-century diesel terminal.

The Modern Slim, Sleek Aero Setup

The Vibe: Ultra-clean, futuristic, and mathematically precise. Designed for modern aerodynamic cabs with massive, single-piece curved windshields where standard flat chrome pieces look completely out of place.

• Visor Style: Curved / Aerodynamic or Untie (Sharp Geometric Cut)
• Lighting Style: Glo Lights (Halo/Infinity Style) or Flush-Mount Smoked Ovals

Modern aerodynamic rigs depend on continuous, fluid body lines. A curved visor wraps around the glass seamlessly, looking like a factory-molded extension of the roof rather than an afterthought.

By pairing this setup with Glo lights or smoked flush-mount ovals, you eliminate visible diode "hot spots" entirely. The seamless, neon-like glow of Glo lights perfectly matches the high-tech, digital-dash aesthetic of modern trucks. When turned off, smoked or clear lenses blend completely into the paint, leaving a totally clean, high-efficiency finish.

Design Takeaway: Sharp, geometric visors (like the Untie or V-style) crave directional, faceted light (like Watermelons). Smooth, sweeping visors (like the Curved or Gullwing) look best with diffused, seamless lighting (like Glo lights or flush-mount arrays).

Shop for Kenworth W990 Visors at 4 State Trucks 

Complete your front-end overhaul with a new stainless steel or paintable aluminum lighted visor. Match the style with the rest of your cab, including the front grille bars, roof and side panel marker lights, and stainless steel trim pieces across the cab and front hood. We stock a massive inventory of parts and accessories for the W990 model. Find heavy duty truck parts in Joplin, MO with 4 State Trucks.