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Finding a good lightbar


luwaimn

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Ridgid and Baja designs are the premium brands,  but they are quite pricey. I’ve heard the brand Auxbeam is decent, and looks more affordable.

https://www.amazon.ae/Auxbeam-Waterproof-Off-road-Military-Equipment/dp/B00T9GBWYE/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=auxbeam%2Blight%2Bbar%2Bwith&qid=1590549166&sr=8-4&th=1&psc=1

Having the Chinese branded ones all year round on the car will limit their lifetime. That was one of the reasons I went for the magnetic pads. 

 

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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41 minutes ago, Srikumar said:

Bumping up an old post.

Just wanted to know some good LED Light bars that are available in the market at a reasonable price. I am in the look out for a 24 inch LED light bar, so some suggestions and recommendations are much appreciated.

@Javier M which brand of LED light bar you are using now?

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Let's root for each other & watch each other grow.

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7 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

@Javier M which brand of LED light bar you are using now?

I was about to write about it. 😁

I bought mine in carid.com - they have different brands and sizes. The brand I bought is called Lumen.

A 30 inch bar goes for 900 aed, Including shipping. They are a bit pricey but they are very bright. 

 

 

 

Screenshot_20200527_074909_com.android.chrome.jpg

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I recently bought a light bar for the TJ - knowing that the night drives are on the way and we needed something to replace the cute, but not so effective round spots that were on the car. 

I bought through Banggood (Chinese website). Not too expensive. Additional charge for the lighting loom, which in the end I did not use because we wired them up to the existing aux light switch in the cabin. 

Having tried them once or twice in the dark since then (a challenge because the curfew means we were not out after 8pm) they seem adequate. Like most things 4x4. You can go for expensive straight away and buy the 'best' but sometimes the best is not the best for your vehicle. The compromises we made here were that it needed to fit into the car in a way that did not spoil the looks, block the radiator or cause a lot of attention from the police because we are not running with them covered. And, of course, price. If in truth we are only going to have 4 - 5 night drives, an AED 6000 investment in lights felt too much. 

 

image.png

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3 minutes ago, Wrangeld said:

If in truth we are only going to have 4 - 5 night drives, an AED 6000 investment in lights felt too much. 

Who says you will have 4-5 night drives....? lololol.

4-5 night drives every week X 4-5 months = 16-20 night drives every year.

May, June, July, Aug, Sep

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8 minutes ago, Gaurav said:

Who says you will have 4-5 night drives....? lololol.

4-5 night drives every week X 4-5 months = 16-20 night drives every year.

May, June, July, Aug, Sep

There was a qualifier there ... IF ... Yes, I intend to get full use for my investment. 

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LED lights, much more complicated as we think.

2D till 8D nowadays, watt, amperes, Lumens, colours (white/ amber), Driving, Flood, Spots, Curved/ Straight.

Brands, The higher end brands> €€€€, you pay for reliability, newest technology and compatibility. In a Baja race, the last thing you want, is that a light stops working. This what you pay for. 

Curved LED bars are in general more expensive than straight bars. (more expensive to fabricate).

Colour, amber gives better visibility in fog and dust, this is why you see most of the Can-ams on Thursday and Friday evening in Badayer with amber lights.

Lenses, Diffuse, spots, driving/ combo, all different lenses to spread the light to your needs. A light of a certain amount of lumens can be bright for short distance, but won't work for long distances et vice versa.

Bars vs Spots, this is a preference, but with a few spots, you have the advantage of adjusting them to your needs, you can play with different lenses. For example the inner ones for long distance and the outer ones for short distance (cornering). A perfect setup would be a bar in combination with spots.

 

So now comes my opinion. Ask yourself, what is the purpose of your auxiliary lights? 

- Is it for night drives in a group, or are you going to race a Baja, or maybe overlanding by yourself in the future? What I try to say with this, if your light stops working in a group, it will not be a big deal, you will get out of the desert safe. You could ask yourself if it is necessary to spend 4000 AED for a LED bar.
- Where can you mount your LED bar, do you want to integrate them in the grill, on the roof, hood, or maybe few spots in/ on the bumper.
- Look at other cars and ask other members where they got their LED lights and what they paid for it. Don't buy blind without any knowledge a bar. 
- There are bars with different lenses on the outside. If you don't want to go with a setup of a combination of spots and bars then this might be the bar for you. 

Welcome to the science of light. :)

 

 

 

 

 

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I have had a good experience with Toby's light bars available at Dragon mart and through their own shop in Deira Car Accessories side near Hyatt Regency. I had 3 friends I helped getting those lights, they are well priced, not cheap, and as per the feedback they have served well for over 2 years now for 1 of my friend and about a year and a half for the other 2. Hope this helps. However 24 inches means you are going to have it around the front bumper which will give you god visibility in front, if you are looking for a far vision it is better to have a roof mounted one atleast 50 inches.

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On 7/13/2019 at 12:46 PM, Frederic said:

https://www.desertcart.ae/products/47075192

these are the magnetic pads I bought. 

I only have one thick black cable running along the side of the windshield that goes to the engine bay. Doesn’t bother me during the drive.  I hook up the lights by using a regular three pin household power plug. 

89E1582F-9314-45D9-843B-43F595C3A8A7.jpeg

This looks like a really good setup. But I want to ask you that is, can you share me a link for the light bars which are compatible with these mounts or if I can find them locally.

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31 minutes ago, luwaimn said:

This looks like a really good setup. But I want to ask you that is, can you share me a link for the light bars which are compatible with these mounts or if I can find them locally.

B4BACE30-C71D-4456-8FE4-BC8E77761528.jpeg.6c99fae65ad8ee0e76638f37a3fdf16d.jpeg

 

 

the pads come with bolts so you can basically bolt anything onto it.

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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