LED light bar comparisons?

Hopefully I won't get bashed for this but has anyone done a light bar comparison or "shootout"? I mean to actually compare the LED emitters and the reflectors to see which ones emit a better beam (flood/spot whatever - you get the point). I replaced my headlights on my Jeep Wrangler. I did the headlight upgrade with the recommendations from here. For a while the only thing I heard was Rigid Rigid Rigid. Ive seen a couple group buys from a company named Aurora (i know its a Chinese company) that a lot of people are buying. Of course on the Jeep forums everyone yells LED and whats on sale. When I posted up what I did and why I got that strange look from a couple of people who were the only thing they could say was LED is always better until they take a ride in my Jeep and see how much better my headlights are to their LEDs. So is the reflector technology getting better with these light bars? Are there any companies I should look towards?

The basic rule of thumb is that you (don't) get what you (don't) pay for. Cheap junk is crummy no matter how many people go on the internet forums to congratulate themselves for buying it. Good lights do not come from fly-by-night branding outfits ("Aurora"), they come from companies with like JW Speaker, Hella, Cibie (Valeo), and Rigid/Truck-Lite, among a few others. There are a few "hidden gem" types of situations -- maybe this might be one of them -- but again, note they're not cheap. Also, LED lamps come in more than just bar form. There are advantages to lamps with larger optics.

Loads of junk on the market. Everyone and their dog has a lifted f350 with a 50" ebay bar on the roof around here...

I think a better question what do you have for mounting space and what kind of terrain/weather do you plan on using this on/in?

Many led bars list their "spot" optics as 20 or 30 degrees. Far too wide for highway use, causing oodles of foreground light, only really usefull for crawling or offroading.

In addition to the brands mentioned by Virgil I would also take a look at some of Baja Designs products and a select few of the vision x lineup (mostly the light cannons)

Honestly I like the Baja Designs products the best, they have some crazy output, higher water ingress and mechanical impact ratings than 99% of junk on the market, plus they are one of the few led bars that use a realistic CCT (5000k). Im not a huge fan of the hot swappable optics i would leave as spots myself, but at least when the lens yellows/fades/degrades you can buy a new one and replace it yourself. And the spot beam @ 6 degrees will toss 9500lm (rated Squadron XL80 output) a very long ways indeed.

Still waiting for a bar with good optics, 3500k-4500k and 95+ CRI... Maybe one day...

I hate lightbars..or LEDS for that matter. I have 2 amber Rigid Industries fogs recessed in my bumper I like but I stripped off the others I had on my pillars and top of bumper. I prefer good ole' incan Lightforce units. I have multiple lenses for different applications.

Rigid makes a good unit though.

Oversize Image, please review rule 3
These little 2x2 squares with the diffused lens light up a huge area for up close. I want to get different lenses for them and see what they do. My Amber's in the bumper throw pretty far.

mcm308 said:

I have 2 amber Rigid Industries fogs recessed in my bumper. My Amber's in the bumper throw pretty far.

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Sounds like they're either not actually fog lamps, or they're aimed way too high. Fog lamps, by definition, do not have a long beam reach distance. Also, amber is not an appropriate color for fog lamps; they should be white or selective yellow.

Those diffusion lenses are only good as worklights and for bush crawling. They have no place on any road. Even in foul weather at extremely low speeds you will be outdriving them and creating tonnes of backscatter.

-Virgil- said:

Sounds like they're either not actually fog lamps, or they're aimed way too high. Fog lamps, by definition, do not have a long beam reach distance. Also, amber is not an appropriate color for fog lamps; they should be white or selective yellow.

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You are correct but they actually work quite well. However, when I turn on my Lightforce fogs, the amber is overrun and I only keep them lit so the idiots who like to switch lanes at will might see them..lol

Sadden said:

Those diffusion lenses are only good as worklights and for bush crawling. They have no place on any road. Even in foul weather at extremely low speeds you will be outdriving them and creating tonnes of backscatter.

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Those diffused lens are in my toolbox. I might rig them up as reverse lights. That's all they are good for. For the intended purpose, they are awesome but yes, useless on a front end

Sadden said:

And the spot beam @ 6 degrees will toss 9500lm (rated Squadron XL80 output) a very long ways indeed.

Still waiting for a bar with good optics, 3500k-4500k and 95+ CRI... Maybe one day...

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++ on the 3500K - 4500K, but I can't see any reason at all to care about that high of CRI in a headlight. You are moving too fast to "smell the roses" .... or see them in any detail for that matter.

6 degrees with 9500 lumens does not sound overly narrow to me. I have to expect still a fair amount of foreground light? Is this something you have used? Are there any reviews?

mcm308 said:

Sounds like they're either not actually fog lamps, or they're aimed way too high. Fog lamps, by definition, do not have a long beam reach distance. Also, amber is not an appropriate color for fog lamps; they should be white or selective yellow.

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You are correct but they actually work quite well. However, when I turn on my Lightforce fogs, the amber is overrun and I only keep them lit so the idiots who like to switch lanes at will might see them..lol

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Throwing dangerous glare all over the road and laughing about it is inappropriate and immature. There's nothing to be done about that here; you'll have to grow up on your own. However, Rule 11 of this board prohibits advocating illegal and/or dangerous activity, and what you're doing is both, so stop talking about it here now.

++ on the 3500K - 4500K, but I can't see any reason at all to care about that high of CRI in a headlight. You are moving too fast to "smell the roses" .... or see them in any detail for that matter

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Because, low CRI does inhibit seeing and identifying some objects, even at very low speeds.

6 degrees with 9500 lumens does not sound overly narrow to me. I have to expect still a fair amount of foreground light? Is this something you have used? Are there any reviews?

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Aimed completely neutral at 3 feet off the ground it means that the beam wont even begin to touch the ground until around 60 feet or so. A 20 degree bar mounted at the same height touches down a mere 17 feet out, normally much closer When combined with a 40 degree flood it begins to touch down a mere 9 feet away...

BD does offer some tighter spot optics yet, they have some bars at 4 degrees, which wouldnt even begin to touch the road until over 85 feet out mounted 3 feet off the ground.

Higher is better.

Its why I say all these "combo" spot/flood bars are all useless at highway speeds, as aimed properly they saturate the foreground far too much.

There are no objective reviews that I know of.

mcm308 said:

when I turn on my Lightforce fogs, the amber is overrun and I only keep them lit so the idiots who like to switch lanes at will might see them..lol

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Amber is not a color used for forward lighting. Fog lamps are also not conspicuity lamps-- be sure your sidemarker lamps and front position lamps are functioning properly, along with your headlamps-- those are the lamps one should depend on for other drivers to see them and not switch into your lane.

Sadden said:

Because, low CRI does inhibit seeing and identifying some objects, even at very low speeds.

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For practical purposes in automotive lighting where you are using around 4000K, no. You may wish to believe this to be true, but it just is not.

Sadden said:

Aimed completely neutral at 3 feet off the ground it means that the beam wont even begin to touch the ground until around 60 feet or so.

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That's not 6 degree total beam angle. There is lots of light outside 6 degrees and with 9500 lumens, there will be a reasonable amount of foreground light. It's a reflector as well, so there will be plenty of spill. Given the size of the optics and the LED requirement, that 6 degree may not even be full width and/or is a bit of a spec play. FYI, you need to get the racer version for the full 9600 in the spot. The version with just 1/2 dedicated to the spot may be more useful.

Its assumed that there is always some spill, especially with small reflectors used in LED bars. My point being that hotspot intensity is not touching the road surface until xxx feet. And that further out is better in a driving lamp that is to be used at highway speeds.

-Virgil- said:

The basic rule of thumb is that you (don't) get what you (don't) pay for. Cheap junk is crummy no matter how many people go on the internet forums to congratulate themselves for buying it. Good lights do not come from fly-by-night branding outfits ("Aurora"), they come from companies with like JW Speaker, Hella, Cibie (Valeo), and Rigid/Truck-Lite, among a few others. There are a few "hidden gem" types of situations -- maybe this might be one of them -- but again, note they're not cheap. Also, LED lamps come in more than just bar form. There are advantages to lamps with larger optics.

Click to expand...

Sadden said:

Loads of junk on the market. Everyone and their dog has a lifted f350 with a 50" ebay bar on the roof around here...

I think a better question what do you have for mounting space and what kind of terrain/weather do you plan on using this on/in?

Many led bars list their "spot" optics as 20 or 30 degrees. Far too wide for highway use, causing oodles of foreground light, only really usefull for crawling or offroading.

In addition to the brands mentioned by Virgil I would also take a look at some of Baja Designs products and a select few of the vision x lineup (mostly the light cannons)

Honestly I like the Baja Designs products the best, they have some crazy output, higher water ingress and mechanical impact ratings than 99% of junk on the market, plus they are one of the few led bars that use a realistic CCT (5000k). Im not a huge fan of the hot swappable optics i would leave as spots myself, but at least when the lens yellows/fades/degrades you can buy a new one and replace it yourself. And the spot beam @ 6 degrees will toss 9500lm (rated Squadron XL80 output) a very long ways indeed.

Still waiting for a bar with good optics, 3500k-4500k and 95+ CRI... Maybe one day...

Click to expand...

Virgil - Completely agree - a LOT of junk. And a lot of people fall for it. It is what it is. The link you posted for some reason isnt working. Looks like an issue with its security certificate. I know LED has come a long way and Im hopeful what they are going to have in the future. I keep on telling people that its not just about how bright lights are but how the lights are directing the beam.

Sadden - not a big light bar fan either. Especially when the people who have them I do not believe turn them on at all. I do like those light cannons - just not the price (damn are they expensive).

All - I just thought there would be some sort of "shootout" with all these LED companies. How did this come up? I have a 2015 Jeep and as I am sure you all know...the lighting system absolutely SUCKS. So, I wanted to improve the lighting on the Jeep by making what I have available work the best it could. First -headlight/bulb replacement - Cibie H4 with Osram 70/65w bulbs. Just replaced the fog lights - Hella 90mm H7 fog lamps.

Sadden - mounting space - I just recently put on a Full Metal Fab bumper ( http://www.fullmetalfabworks.com/apex-2-front ) and no winch.
Use - (a couple) I am finding myself more and more on some mountain path. Im considered emergency personnel so I have to get to work no matter what the weather conditions are and the streetlights in the area seem to go out more and more often. And plain a little extra light never hurt anything!

And no Im not planning to use any of the aux lights on a everyday basis.