Let's talk about light bars...40" or larger

[Wander]

Done the search, other than photos topics to show off is there a thread about light bars and preferences. I'll start by calling out a few brands found that make a 40" to go with my roof rack (prinsu or Gobi stealth -- full length).

So, which is best overall. I know we can compare watts, lms, durability, brand name, etc.

Simple, those that have them and off road. How do you like yours and what have u learned? Would you buy again.

Brands I found - black oak, heretic, baja design, rigid, and auxbeam.

Looking for real world use to help pic what might work for my needs. Overland, off road, camping, remote camping.

 

[Wander]

Black oak has a summer sale. Leaning towards the 40 2row vs the Heretic Wraith 40 1row?

 

[CF_Machete]

Even the cheap no name light bars are fairly bright. You might was to throw out $50 or so and try one out. Just make sure it has 1 mounting screw on the ends and before you install it, remove the ends, add a bead of silicon and then reassemble.

If its not bright enough for you, buy a name brand bar and mount the old one in your garage as a work light.

 

[Wander]

Even the cheap no name light bars are fairly bright. You might was to throw out $50 or so and try one out. Just make sure it has 1 mounting screw on the ends and before you install it, remove the ends, add a bead of silicon and then reassemble.

If its not bright enough for you, buy a name brand bar and mount the old one in your garage as a work light.

Thanks for the tip. This is my first time with LED light bar and wanted a little more opinion. Which bar u use?

In the past, we had KC and PIAA round lights, spot and flood.

 

[CF_Machete]

Thanks for the tip. This is my first time with LED light bar and wanted a little more opinion. Which bar u use?

In the past, we had KC and PIAA round lights, spot and flood.

I got this cheap one
42"IN 240W CREE LED LIGHT BAR CURVED SPOT&FLOOD COMBO 4X4WD OFFROAD LAMP 4D Lens | eBay
The light is a bit yellow compared to my 5000K HIDs I have it wired to come on with my high beams with a switch to only activate the high beams.

Its no Rigid, but plenty fine for back roads in the middle of the night.

 

[Wander]

I got this cheap one
42"IN 240W CREE LED LIGHT BAR CURVED SPOT&FLOOD COMBO 4X4WD OFFROAD LAMP 4D Lens | eBay
The light is a bit yellow compared to my 5000K HIDs I have it wired to come on with my high beams with a switch to only activate the high beams.

Its no Rigid, but plenty fine for back roads in the middle of the night.

Specs/information is similar to what I'm seeing from the others. Do u have a closer picture of it mounted. Also interested in the looks of the curved mounted.

 

[flyrv9]

The question I would be asking if I was interested in a light bar is - are the individual LED's replaceable? I have some experience with the smaller light bars of different lengths and after a while, the individual LED's start to fail. They are all connected in parallel so the remaining ones still work; but it starts looking bad to see dark spots along the bar.

 

[Sig_Fan_55]

I have a 32" OPT7 (lots of great reviews here on T4R) in my grill and a 40" Rigid Radiance on my Gobi and to be honest I use the grill one more because of the bounce back I get off the hood when using the rack mounted one. The Radiance uses specially designed reflectors to get a combo spot and flood out of all of the LEDs and is much more of a true white. The OPT7 has held up awesome for the price and I have had zero issues with it. It is more of a 6500 kelvin style light with a more bluish hue to it. I lose a lot of output because I did not cut out the grill and it is behind it but it gives me great output regardless. Throw is not as good as the rigid (or at least behind the grill) but I usually don't need to see that far and if I do I can always kick on the top bar. I would buy both again without hesitation but may vinyl my hood to help with the bounce back. Bounce back may not be as much of an issue on darker colored trucks.

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[Dravur]

Im planning on a 50" Tomar light bar on my roof. Why a 50"? cuz i already have it.

 

[wfo9]

The opt7 are a great value.

I will also agree with a previous poster that roof rack mounted lights are no good You want it on the bumper to avoid all the light contamination. It works good up top if they are pure focused spots.. but hardly anybody has a real need for those.

 

[slysf]

I recently got an amazing package deal on a Gobi Stealth rack with a 40" rigid light bar included. It basically worked out to a 50% discount on the rigid and the price is well worth it. I picked up an el cheapo made in China 50" bar for another project a few years ago and the build quality is night and day. The rigid has a ton more waterproofing, bolts for keeping things tight, stress relief on power cord, included hardware, included wiring, etc. can't speak to other premium brands but the rigid really impressed me.


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[Wander]

So basically when it comes to light bars and placement it's really not a hot topic, such as rims and tire fitting.

Basically, I can buy 5 el cheapo for the price of one rigid or black oak. So el cheapo and replace as needed? Save a buck?

 

[Kashoggio]

So basically when it comes to light bars and placement it's really not a hot topic, such as rims and tire fitting.

Basically, I can buy 5 el cheapo for the price of one rigid or black oak. So el cheapo and replace as needed? Save a buck?

I have a 42" auxbeam on there. Seems good, not water inside and it's bright. I couldn't compare it to the rigid or Baja. Do I use it everyday? Nope , I use it on the back roads and a few times when we went camping. I do have to say that the glare off the hood is absurd and I'm thinking of putting some thing in bumper and replacing the top with a smalller single row led bar.

 

[2flyfishin]

If I were buying a bar for a roof rack or if it was going to be mounted someplace where it could be easily replaced I would go with a cheap one.I personally bought a black oak simply because I was mounting it behind the grill and I didn't want to have to pull everything off to replace it if I could avoid it. Hence I spent a little more but couldn't get myself to spend rigid money.

 

[Grug556]

So what the best brand these days for quality of construction and light output? Baja or Rigid? Or other?

 

[2flyfishin]

So what the best brand these days for quality of construction and light output? Baja or Rigid? Or other?

That's the million dollar question.Lol. After a couple of months of researching I found no real answer because I don't think there is one. Rigid, KC, Baja, VisionX, as well as some others always came up with Black Oak being mentioned as challenging the top names in terms of quality and price (hence why I bought one of theirs). They are all using top bin LEDs, drivers, with really good heat sinks, high ipk ratings (68, 69), and quality housings, connectors, Etc. I think it mostly comes down to personal preference, beam pattern and such. Many advertise the same beam patterns but side by side look much different as their reflectors aren't exactly the same so somebody may say brand x is better while another will say brand y is better and both will be right and wrong at the same time. The bigger question is do you really need a top self bar or will a cheap one suit your needs or wants fine? Like mentioned above, in some cases you can buy 3-5 or more for the cost of one of the top brands.