Straight light bar or curved? Brand question too.

[JCruse]

OK I'm finally thinking seriously of getting a light bar. Don't have much use for one but once in a while it would help. Don't really know the finer points so tell me what you know.

Straight or curved? Does it matter, and does curving diminish the brightness much?

One of the following bars is 3 row and the other is 4 row. I suspect this may be overkill but IDK.

Now for brands. I happen to be looking at Rigidhorse and Autofeel (which I suspect are the same) for no particular reason other than they're cheap. $100 for 52" and $44 for 42". I like that $44 price(!) and 42" should be enough I think, though on a full size Front Runner FJ80 rack I could fit more. I figure if it only lasts a couple/few years no big deal. But I need to know from you guys what you think are the better brands and units. Thanks.

 

[Steve83]

My thinking is: what happens when one or a few of the LEDs burn out (and they WILL, eventually)? Toss it & buy another $300 bar? Seems like a waste. So I put smaller LED assemblies on my Bronco. If some the LEDs go out, it's only ~$9 per light to replace, instead of $300 (plus crazy shipping). It also makes mounting them easier because they can be spread around to fit where they're not such sore thumbs. And I can turn on just the ones I need, for any particular situation. The ones under my side mirrors are excellent cornering lamps on-road, but they're also great off-road because I can reach out the window & aim them sort of like spotlights.

I know big LED bars are all the rage right now, but they don't make much sense.