Rigid the Surefire of LEDs for cars? (1 Viewer)

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I can’t speak for Rigid specifically as I don’t own any. I do have BajaDesigns lights on both my vehicles. And I have some cheap LED lights.

Pretty much all the cheap stuff has leaked or developed condensation on the inside of the lens. Mounting hardware and brackets are far superior on my BajaDesigns as is the finish on the lights. I had a rock hit break one lens. A quick call to BD and new lens sourced. Wiring harnesses way better. It’s natural to believe the internal circuits will be much better as well.

I’ve read in a few places how the cheaper LED’s will loose output or dim over time but I’m yet to run anything that long to witness firsthand.

In the end you can buy many new cheap LED lights for the investment in a high end set. I don’t regret buying my BajaDesigns.
 
I have a modest pair of Baja Designs Squadrons and really like them as well.
Recently heard about Diode Dynamics and considering a pair of their yellow fogs.
 
I’ve owned cheap LED lights and have had condensation on the lens and corrosion on the housing. They are bright, but don’t throw the light well which results in less usable illumination.

I have a Rigid 20” light bar on my patrol car and it’s bright. When running code on the highways at night people don’t move over very readily, but when I put the light bar on strobe they move long before I get there.
 
We sell Baja Designs (same price range as Rigid, which some customers have supplied for installs) and have compared a number of knockoffs to the expensive lights. While the LED chips themselves are probably similar in output in most cases, a few things stand out for the US brands:

1. Quality control is MUCH higher
2. Lens technology is much better. This leads to better “throw” of the light/better beam pattern. Also tied to #1 in that lenses are aligned better with the chip. Have seen plenty of chinesium lights where the chip was actually not visible because it was completely hidden by the reflector.
3. It seems like the housings are made of much denser material for the US lights, which just means they will be more durable.
4. Mounting solutions (provided with the lights) are much nicer
 

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