Welcome back, friends!🔔 In the last article, we introduced to you Isaac's off-road story, his unique insights on off-road lighting strategies, and what builds he wants to do to his 4Runner. (Click here to review if you're interested.)
So, in this article, we will mainly introduce the story between him and the Lasfit brand and his off-road lighting build process on his 5th Gen T4R and review of the
Lasfit off-road led light bars(22", 32", 42" ).
Now, I'm handing time over to Isaac for sharing his badass build! Let's give our biggest applause to welcome Isaac!👏👏👏
Hi guys! It's Isaac again! Happy to share something with you based on actual test results and my offloading experience.
The first is why I need to add light bars.
Since there is no ambient lighting out in the wilderness, and without additional auxiliary lighting, it can be pretty dangerous, especially on shale roads and off-camber ATV trails.
I have upgraded headlights, and while they are useful in the city, it is not enough lighting in an offroad environment, especially if you plan on driving faster than a snail's pace.
It's pretty awesome to be able to have adequate lighting to go wheeling at night. Wheeling at night is considered pretty risky and dangerous without proper lighting. Having adequate lighting makes wheeling at night not only possible but also safe with the right lighting. Even if you do not wheel at night, having auxiliary lighting is useful for finding campsites, and avoiding wildlife on the trail.
The Lasfit lighting solution met all my needs and expectations.
When I first bought Lasfit led light bulbs, I wasn't expecting much, and yet they outlasted every other bulb I've ever tried before and were extremely bright. Pretty much everyone I know uses Lasfit bulbs.
So I wanted to try
Lasfit 3 inch pods, which they sent me for testing. I liked them so much, that I ended up replacing all my LED light bars with Lasfit products. Some of the lightbars I received for testing. I liked the lightbars so much that I replaced all my lightbars with Lasfit products (22 inch, 32 inch, and 42 inch).
At the time, I was looking to upgrade my current lighting components on the vehicle. I had issues with durability with previous lightbars made by your competitors, where either they failed, or they collected moisture, or the lenses became hazy. Also, lighting technology had advanced enough to where I felt that I can upgrade to newer lighting technology with minimal cost. Because my build had the very specific size or dimensional constraints, I needed the thinnest lightbar that put out as much light in a spot pattern that did not cost an absurd amount of money.
Luckily, the Lasfit lighting solution met all my needs and expectations. I was able to fit a 22 inch light bar behind my upper grill for a very stealthy install, that augmented the headlights very nicely. I mounted a 32 inch light bar down low in a slimline bumper and then I moved it over to a full plate bumper. Mounting a light bar down low, allows me to easily spot obstacles, such as rocks or huge holes that could easily ruin your night. Lastly, I mounted a 42 inch light bar on my roof rack, because the Lasfit lightbar was slim enough to cut down on road noise, and it does help when cresting dunes or steep inclines.
I highly recommend Lasfit to my fellow offloading enthusiasts. People are pretty surprised to see that Lasfit makes lightbars and light pods. I always tell them I buy things that work for me and through my offloading experience, and not what is being peddled by influencers on Instagram. The top reasons to recommend the Lasfit brand are the same reasons why I like Lasfit products: 1. durability 2. performance 3. price point (more on that later).
Note: I used a product called Lamin-x yellow light bar film cover, which is basically a tint. Of course, you have to get different lengths and cut them to shape. It's pretty good stuff, very easy to apply (soap and water), and it also acts like a stone projector.
🔊(Editor's Reaction: Really an ingenious idea! By the way, been rigidly tested.🔥The Lasfit Amber light bars will be coming soon with some more beast😍😍😎😎 Stay tuned!!)
The slim design makes the installation easier.
I am running a 42 inch light bar on the roof, a 22 inch light bar in the upper grille, and a 32 inch light bar in the lower front bumper. Getting the 32 inch light bar to fit was not easy. So I had to get creative. I either had to modify the bumpers to get the light bars to fit, or cut down the screws due to clearance issues, and in some cases, I had to use a dead blow hammer and ratchet straps to get the lights to sit properly in my after market bumper.
The 22 inch light bar fits easily in the upper grill of the 4runner, by just reversing the bracket. Since the lightbar dimensions are so thin, it fits as if it were OEM. The 42 inch light bar fits easily on the roof. I'm running a Prinsu roof rack and was able to get the light bar to sit flush with the fairing or wind deflector. The 32 inch light bar pretty much doesn't fit anything, but as I mentioned, it can be solved with some creativity. The picture below shows it doesn't quite fit without more extensive modifications.
The roof mounted light bar is only marginal at best in most situations, but it does become invaluable when you are playing in the dunes, or when you have to crest a hill or dune. Also, roof mounted lights are less likely to get dirty when playing in the mud. Keep in mind though, hood glare becomes an issue with roof mounted light bars. Lower mounted lightbars are much more useful on forest roads/service roads, or ATV trails. You get more usable light since it's positioned down low, with none of the drawbacks of a roof mounted light bar.
Lasfit lighting solutions are the best return for off-road enthusiasts.
As I mentioned before, 3 points made me impressed with the Lasfit light bars: 1. durability 2. performance 3. price.
1.
Durability. Previous manufacturers had failed LED's, overheating issues, or water leaking/sealing issues. I also experience lenses being degraded by UV light over time. Lasfit product hasn't experienced any of those issues. I also abused their products with a hammer, they still survived repeated hammer blows. The housing, lenses, and fasteners are machined very well, and the powder coating is nice and thick.
2.
Performance. I needed a lightbar that was 80 percent spotlight and 20 percent spread, for what I was using them for (desert running). They also had to be very thin to fit in the upper grille and lower bumper. Luckily, the Lasfit lighting solution met all my needs and expectations. It's a dual-functioning light bar that has both spot and flood features. And the light bars were slim enough to be flexible for a variety of installation methods and locations, especially fitting the Grille Mount. They are on par with or surpass the performance of their competitors, especially at their price point.
3.
Pricing. My approach to my vehicle build was to use products that suited my needs, and not what is currently cool on social media. I did not want to end up with an Instagram build. I knew from experience, that there are diminishing returns when it came to cost versus performance. I wasn't looking for top-dollar lights that have a 2 mile light throw because I knew I would never outrun my lights. By the same token, I didn't want to go cheap and have to replace lights every few years, or lights that suffered from durability issues. It just happens that when I went shopping for lights, Lasfit lights just happen to be reasonably priced when compared to similar performing lighting solutions, especially when you look at the total package and what you are getting in return as an enthusiast.
In the end, I would like to see
Lasfit succeed and become a major force in the offroad/overlanding community. My truck is pretty much fully built at this point and built to my specs, but I wouldn't mind testing new products and abusing them. I like representing the Lasfit brand because their guys make great products, and have been very generous to me. I appreciate it.
💡
(Editor's Reaction: Really appreciate Isaac's trust and support for Lasfit. We will definitely keep improving and designing more better products to help more off-road&overland enthusiasts with better set-up choices and optimal trail experiences with the same love and enthusiasm! )
*Hopefully, this helps you out if you're in the market for some new off-road lights and/or are curious about the Lasfit Light Bars. As always, feel free to reach out with any questions or comments.
