Do you like your LED light bars? Impressions?

[fjc8871]

This is exactly the reason I didn't go with a 50" single row on the roof. After doing the (2) 10" I really don't see myself having a need for that much light. I am not driving deserted stretches of road or trail at speed and you can't use it on the highway, without blinding everyone. I bought a couple flush mount D2's to use as backup lights to be cut into the wind deflector in the rear but I have decided against that idea too because it would blind other drivers. So I think I will do (4) D2 diffused at the corners of my roof rack for campground lighting and call it done.

I am running D2 wide beams for rear lighting. They are blinding but do put out plenty of light. I have a set of D2 driving that I am selling. If they dont sell then I will use add as side lighting.

 

[UWdave]

I know "to each hisown", but you guys spend a lot of money and time on lights.

For low speed wheeling in the NW, you can't beat a $40 pair of HELLA 6" rounds.

 

[2000UZJ]

I know "to each hisown", but you guys spend a lot of money and time on lights.

For low speed wheeling in the NW, you can't beat a $40 pair of HELLA 6" rounds.

1) LED lights are badass
2) it's my job designing them
3) low draw, compact.
4) Light weight, fit perfectly on racks.


Nothing will compete with a pair of 6" Hella's and HID's. LED light bars are bright, but the technology and optics just isn't available yet to penetrate 1000ft+. I agree, the best bang for your buck is autozone lamps and a eBay HID kit for a whopping $85.

 

[fjc8871]

1) LED lights are badass
2) it's my job designing them
3) low draw, compact.
4) Light weight, fit perfectly on racks.

Nothing will compete with a pair of 6" Hella's and HID's. LED light bars are bright, but the technology and optics just isn't available yet to penetrate 1000ft+. I agree, the best bang for your buck is autozone lamps and a eBay HID kit for a whopping $85.

Agree! Although, this is the main reason for the extra lighting...

 

[js93cruiser]

1) LED lights are badass
2) it's my job designing them
3) low draw, compact.
4) Light weight, fit perfectly on racks.


Nothing will compete with a pair of 6" Hella's and HID's. LED light bars are bright, but the technology and optics just isn't available yet to penetrate 1000ft+. I agree, the best bang for your buck is autozone lamps and a eBay HID kit for a whopping $85.

Hey 2000, what do you think about "ok led light bars"? I have a rigid and wanted one of these for my front bumper, would the light color look the same?

 

[asutherland]

Agree! Although, this is the main reason for the extra lighting...


View attachment 698935

ya!

 

[2000UZJ]

Hey 2000, what do you think about "ok led light bars"? I have a rigid and wanted one of these for my front bumper, would the light color look the same?

Well, it's a horribly long story, I'll make it much shorter. I wanted to purchase LED light bars for the 100 a few months ago. I went through all possible options in the US, moved to Taiwan, and ended up purchasing a few from a Chinese company. When I got them, I quickly found out that they were kind of crappy. I started breaking each unit down and finding flaws in their design. I kept relaying information back to the company and I quickly noticed they had done some research, and changed their design. I shut my mouth (for a few months and noticed the changes stopped, and their emails came back) and worked on some of my own light bars based off another companies (Yes, I took the generic LED light bar housing, but made a totally different optic, so I'm not just copy-pasting another ones work). After a few (6) revisions I was happy. I began seeking out companies to produce them privately for me, I wanted to go into full scale production and create a new line of affordable LED light bars for the market, and specifically for the MUD community with special pricing, and many other perks for you guys. After a few rounds with the company I originally purchased from, they decided my design was years ahead of what their team could come up with. So I told them, either buy the design (and I could pay for college), or sign a contract and produce only for me. They figured they could just buy the design and make more money and that's how the story went. Funny thing is, that design has ended up on MANY LED light bar companies websites, including OK LED's, so apparently it is good. I have both "prototypes" on my truck, and I can also get them at a heavily discounted price. I have wanted to set up a group buy, but I have tried in the past, unfortunately the "Vendors Market Place" gets as much traffic as a Barrow Alaska ice cream shop. If there is interest, and the moderators will allow it, I am not opposed to setting up a 80 Series group buy.


Just to show you guys, when I got the light bars from the company, they had a whopping 30* spot (Rigid's Flood is a 20*). I was able to toss their horrid TIR optics and create a free form reflector that can produce a 12* spot, and a proper 20* flood They utilized a silicone seal that was pressed between the housing and end cap, which constantly leaked. IP67 was a generous rating to say the least. They have since contacted me, they want me to revise their single row light bars as well as their utility lights. I am debating whether I should just create my own, or just create and sell the designs. The only problem is I have time to mess with that stuff on the weekends, my full time job, and being a full-time college student really won't allow me to make a full blown business out of it, and by the time I have time, the LED light bar industry will be about the size of the halogen off road light industry, which is massive, and full of high quality and garbage. Leaving no entry to a new product.


As for the color, most light bars will burn right around 5500-600K. These are going to burn right around 5575K, which will be a pure white. They are 3W LED with a phosphorous coating to bring the color temp back down (most companies use this method). The OK LED's utilize a Epistar 3W LED, which may not be as preferable as the Cree, but if you watched the Chinese Olympics, every single LED was Epistar's. They are driven in pods of 4 LED's that is mounted to the housing and fully sealed with permaseal around the lens. Power draw is obviously less than a 5W or 10W bar, I did change a few things around and amp'd a 30" to 10W, however after about 40 hours of constant burn time the internals got so hot it melted the wires, so back to the drawing board. If a company says it's their design, I beg to differ. I have been posting pictures of them on my hundy before they were even on the Chinese companies PDF files they send out. When I say before, I mean about 5 months. The Rigid Industries light bar will burn a very similar color, the other light bars are going to burn slightly whiter/bluer, but it will still put out a huge amount of light. However this addition plus in the kelvin scale isn't enough to drop the lumen count, or reduce the amount of usable light the human eye can capture. It may be ~2% at most.



Again, if a moderator wants to PM and give me the OK, I can begin a group buy, assuming there is interest.

 

[AKFJ80]

I am not sure if this was addressed previously, but is there any issues with hood reflections mounting the lights on the roof rack?

If I am not mistaken this is less of an issue with LED optics?

I am going to go with the RYDEL fab lights found on the Pirate forum.

Super slick lights with different modes like a handheld light. and easily changed optics at a whopping 1.50 per lens.

 

[lugueto]

I am not sure if this was addressed previously, but is there any issues with hood reflections mounting the lights on the roof rack?

If I am not mistaken this is less of an issue with LED optics?

I am going to go with the RYDEL fab lights found on the Pirate forum.

Super slick lights with different modes like a handheld light. and easily changed optics at a whopping 1.50 per lens.

Check out fjc8871's pics. You can see the reflection, the question is how blinding is this reflection and how does it compare to regular, roof-mounted lights!

 

[js93cruiser]

Well, it's a horribly long story, I'll make it much shorter. I wanted to purchase LED light bars for the 100 a few months ago. I went through all possible options in the US, moved to Taiwan, and ended up purchasing a few from a Chinese company. When I got them, I quickly found out that they were kind of crappy. I started breaking each unit down and finding flaws in their design. I kept relaying information back to the company and I quickly noticed they had done some research, and changed their design. I shut my mouth (for a few months and noticed the changes stopped, and their emails came back) and worked on some of my own light bars based off another companies (Yes, I took the generic LED light bar housing, but made a totally different optic, so I'm not just copy-pasting another ones work). After a few (6) revisions I was happy. I began seeking out companies to produce them privately for me, I wanted to go into full scale production and create a new line of affordable LED light bars for the market, and specifically for the MUD community with special pricing, and many other perks for you guys. After a few rounds with the company I originally purchased from, they decided my design was years ahead of what their team could come up with. So I told them, either buy the design (and I could pay for college), or sign a contract and produce only for me. They figured they could just buy the design and make more money and that's how the story went. Funny thing is, that design has ended up on MANY LED light bar companies websites, including OK LED's, so apparently it is good. I have both "prototypes" on my truck, and I can also get them at a heavily discounted price. I have wanted to set up a group buy, but I have tried in the past, unfortunately the "Vendors Market Place" gets as much traffic as a Barrow Alaska ice cream shop. If there is interest, and the moderators will allow it, I am not opposed to setting up a 80 Series group buy.


Just to show you guys, when I got the light bars from the company, they had a whopping 30* spot (Rigid's Flood is a 20*). I was able to toss their horrid TIR optics and create a free form reflector that can produce a 12* spot, and a proper 20* flood They utilized a silicone seal that was pressed between the housing and end cap, which constantly leaked. IP67 was a generous rating to say the least. They have since contacted me, they want me to revise their single row light bars as well as their utility lights. I am debating whether I should just create my own, or just create and sell the designs. The only problem is I have time to mess with that stuff on the weekends, my full time job, and being a full-time college student really won't allow me to make a full blown business out of it, and by the time I have time, the LED light bar industry will be about the size of the halogen off road light industry, which is massive, and full of high quality and garbage. Leaving no entry to a new product.


As for the color, most light bars will burn right around 5500-600K. These are going to burn right around 5575K, which will be a pure white. They are 3W LED with a phosphorous coating to bring the color temp back down (most companies use this method). The OK LED's utilize a Epistar 3W LED, which may not be as preferable as the Cree, but if you watched the Chinese Olympics, every single LED was Epistar's. They are driven in pods of 4 LED's that is mounted to the housing and fully sealed with permaseal around the lens. Power draw is obviously less than a 5W or 10W bar, I did change a few things around and amp'd a 30" to 10W, however after about 40 hours of constant burn time the internals got so hot it melted the wires, so back to the drawing board. If a company says it's their design, I beg to differ. I have been posting pictures of them on my hundy before they were even on the Chinese companies PDF files they send out. When I say before, I mean about 5 months. The Rigid Industries light bar will burn a very similar color, the other light bars are going to burn slightly whiter/bluer, but it will still put out a huge amount of light. However this addition plus in the kelvin scale isn't enough to drop the lumen count, or reduce the amount of usable light the human eye can capture. It may be ~2% at most.



Again, if a moderator wants to PM and give me the OK, I can begin a group buy, assuming there is interest.

That is ALOT of info about lights! Holy cow, thanks for the response! If you set up a group buy I'm 100%in!

 

[Sam Stewart]

I've seen Nick's lights and they are stupid bright and the quality looks really good. I plan to get one when I come up with somewhere to mount it.

 

[fjc8871]

Check out fjc8871's pics. You can see the reflection, the question is how blinding is this reflection and how does it compare to regular, roof-mounted lights!

I have my hood partly blacked out with a matte black vinyl decal. It does help with the glare.

I picked it up from amaesing @ www.amaesingdecals.com

 

[2000UZJ]

I'm sure the paint on the 100 is very similar to the 80's. my truck is silver and the hood glare isn't bad. I've had lights on the roof for a little over a year and I've learned to block it out. A hood black out would be nice, but I'm not a fan of the look. I'll take some photos sitting behind the seat when I get home Sunday night.

 

[AMMO]

I'm sure the paint on the 100 is very similar to the 80's. my truck is silver and the hood glare isn't bad. I've had lights on the roof for a little over a year and I've learned to block it out. A hood black out would be nice, but I'm not a fan of the look. I'll take some photos sitting behind the seat when I get home Sunday night.

It's not so much the paint as the angle the hood sits at... The 80 hood is really flat, 100's might have a slight drop to be a tad more aero... Blacked out hood deff helps!





41" Spot / Flood China 240W

 

[FastCarGuy]

Just got in on this: https://forum.ih8mud.com/sale-parts/655020-led-bar-group-buy.html Price seems good! Hopeit holds up.

 

[86tuning]

I'd like to do two smaller LED bars recessed into the grill like scotty's. Stealth and bright.

 

[2000UZJ]

It's not so much the paint as the angle the hood sits at... The 80 hood is really flat, 100's might have a slight drop to be a tad more aero... Blacked out hood deff helps!



View attachment 699085

41" Spot / Flood China 240W

I don't think Toyota thought about aerodynamics with the 100 either . I think the angles may be the same...15,000 lumens on the roof is going to hit the hood either way. The problem with these vendors is they may know where the LED light bars came from, but that's where their knowledge stops. It's sad, I have sent emails to various people regarding the LED light bars they sell...absolutely clueless.That means they don't really know what they are looking at, and where improvements need to be made. I see these guys starting these group buys with ultra cheap prices and flooding the market with a lack of knowledge, and they can't offer trouble shooting if something were to go wrong.

I'll open a GB in the vendors market, and I'll be one of the few that know can help you guys if something were to go wrong, or assist in making the right decsision when it comes to vehicle lighting, which is the most over looked area of a vehicle. What guides you and your family home at night? It's surely not the 20" rims, or folding rear seats.

 

[AMAESING]

Have a 40 on top and 20 on bumper, both china's are solid, not going to use that much so buying cheap was a good deal for me. Ill spend money on other important upgrades like regear, etc are key. But if money no option, then rigids would be a good buy.

Here's some Picts of mine.

 

[1973Guppie]

I am waiting on buying led light bars. I think we are going to continue to see some serious retail price errosion on these in the next few years.....

 

[lehn20]

I could use a 40inch for my Inti rack and a 20inch for the ARB bumper.
Maybe a rear facing 10 inch as well.

Will check vendor forum.

Can we get some price estimates?