Best light bar for the $$?

Lurch830

Lurch830

messin' with sasquatch
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Location
Wilton, NC
I've decided I need something more in the lighting department on my F250 than the stock headlights & I'm not a brodozer & don't want to find a picture of my truck in the douche-mobile thread. So I'm thinking a 16"-20" LED bar (wired with my high beams) below the front grill in the lower bumper opening but I'm seeing prices all across the board ($50-$1k). Just looking for advice on what to stay away from & I'd like to keep in under $200 & get the mounting brackets/light bar from the same place if possible.

TIA,
Brandon
 
Light bars are a crap shoot in my opinion. Why not just upgrade your current head lights or add some hella or kc driving lights? Definitely not douche status :D


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Please don’t use that light bar on the street. It sucks for oncoming traffic.

If you are having problems seeing on the road, is suggest looking at upgrades headlights or decent (and legal) fog lights.

If you are using the light bar for off road use, I’d recommend buying the cheapest one possible and replace as needed when it fails. Most cheap ones can be replaced 3 - 5 times for the cost of one of those high $ light bars.
 
I’m a fanboy for Rigid Industries, but I also buy them gently used off of eBay. NOBODY needs a 50” lightbar unless you’re running the Baja 1000. Some good old fashioned Dually cubes go a long way and can usually be mounted simply and cheaply. If you wanna stay legal for the LEO’s, look for SAE compliant. You decide against the lightbar you got from me?
 
NickMaul said:
Light bars are a crap shoot in my opinion. Why not just upgrade your current head lights or add some hella or kc driving lights? Definitely not douche status :D
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I'm going to upgrade to '05-'07 superduty lights, but thinking of adding a light bar too for use with my high beams & hunting.

rockcity said:
Please don’t use that light bar on the street. It sucks for oncoming traffic.
If you are having problems seeing on the road, is suggest looking at upgrades headlights or decent (and legal) fog lights.
If you are using the light bar for off road use, I’d recommend buying the cheapest one possible and replace as needed when it fails. Most cheap ones can be replaced 3 - 5 times for the cost of one of those high $ light bars.
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I'd wire the light bar in with my high beams so it would only be on when nobody is in front of me. I've looked at the cheap ones, and I definitely like the sound of spending $50 over $200 anyday!

BigSouth said:
I’m a fanboy for Rigid Industries, but I also buy them gently used off of eBay. NOBODY needs a 50” lightbar unless you’re running the Baja 1000. Some good old fashioned Dually cubes go a long way and can usually be mounted simply and cheaply. If you wanna stay legal for the LEO’s, look for SAE compliant. You decide against the lightbar you got from me?
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I was going to mount the bar I got from you, but couldn't find a way to mount it that I liked. Instead, its been earmarked for behind the grill on the '71 C30.
 
My son had a couple of the $20 bars off amazon and they did fine.
Lasted a year or so before he sold his jeep. Every bit as bright as a rigid.
 
I had a cheap $20 one off eBay on my Jeep and it worked wonders.
I have a friend that has a small yellow Baja designs light bar on his truck that he uses on his country roads to watch for deer and that is the greatest light I have ever seen.
 
I don't think these days you can really find a shity one. I still know a few die-hard rigid fans that claim a rig can be barrel rolled down a mountain and the light bar will still be fine. But my thinking is, if I barrel roll my rig down the side of a mountain and destroy everything in it, I could care less about a light bar surviving.
So, cheap Amazon lights for me. I have one on both of my vehicles and have no reason to dislike any of them.
 
Again, Rigid fanboy here, I’ll add that almost all will be the same brightness. The only difference I’ve seen is in the packaging. A lot of the lesser expensive ones, aren’t sealed as tight and can have moisture build up inside and behind the lens. IMHO, that’s why they fail prematurely. I’ve never had a drop of condensation in my Rigid. OCD, whatcha gonna do?
 
BigSouth said:
Again, Rigid fanboy here, I’ll add that almost all will be the same brightness. The only difference I’ve seen is in the packaging. A lot of the lesser expensive ones, aren’t sealed as tight and can have moisture build up inside and behind the lens. IMHO, that’s why they fail prematurely. I’ve never had a drop of condensation in my Rigid. OCD, whatcha gonna do?
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But you can replace the cheap chinese ones what...10x before you cover the cost of the rigid...

btw with enough looking I bet you can get one from rigids supplier without the name
 
Ron said:
I bet you can get one from rigids supplier without the name
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But, but... then I wouldn’t be a fanboy.
 
So, I have a lot of Rigid light but that is mainly because when I was working in the Jeep world we partnered with them. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent the money on them. I will say the one light on my Jeep is 10 years old and still works as new. I can tell you the only light bars that I can find that come close to the Rigid in quality are the Aurora brand. I cannot confirm or deny if they are the same materials as Rigid but I know there was a lawsuit and Aurora started using a different optic. Before that you could not tell the difference between the two brands. If Aurora wasn't making the parts for Rigid they were getting them from the same supplier. I could never get a straight answer out of my rigid contacts on this. If I were to buy any other LED than Rigid I would buy Aurora right now. They can be found decently priced but are not the $25-$50 ones you will find on Ebay or Amazon. I think a 20" double row will be somewhere around $200 as compared to $600-$700 for Rigid. just my two cents, take it for what it is.
 
shawn said:
They're illegal now in NC.
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How illegal? Illegal to have mounted or just illegal to have 'ON' while on-road? That will dictate if its wired to an up-fitter switch or tied into my high beams.

rockcity said:
And rightfully so. They suck for oncoming drivers. I usually put on my high beams if some jack ass intends to keep it on when driving towards me.
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Agreed, I can't stand when somebody leaves their high beams on, so I make sure mine are off 99% of the time with oncoming traffic.
Had a guy behind me in line at the drive-in with his light bar on blinding me. Adjusted all my mirrors to return the favor...he eventually caught on & turned it off.
 
Lurch830 said:
How illegal? Illegal to have mounted or just illegal to have 'ON' while on-road? That will dictate if its wired to an up-fitter switch or tied into my high beams.


Agreed, I can't stand when somebody leaves their high beams on, so I make sure mine are off 99% of the time with oncoming traffic.
Had a guy behind me in line at the drive-in with his light bar on blinding me. Adjusted all my mirrors to return the favor...he eventually caught on & turned it off.
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I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for use on the road, high beams or not.
 
rockcity said:
I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for use on the road, high beams or not.
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@tknopp can you clear up some "technicalities" :cool:

I was under the assumption that aux lighting (bars/pods) was legal as long as it was UNDER the level of the headlights
 
CasterTroy said:
@tknopp can you clear up some "technicalities" :cool:

I was under the assumption that aux lighting (bars/pods) was legal as long as it was UNDER the level of the headlights
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Law just says you can't run it on the street.
 
rockcity said:
I’m pretty sure it’s illegal for use on the road, high beams or not.
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Was curious about this as well so I looked up the statute. Looks like you just can't use them on the street. From Senate Bill 182-

Light Bar Lighting Device. – Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, and excluding vehicles described in subsection (d) of this section, and excluding
vehicles listed in G.S. 20-130.1(b), no person shall drive a motor vehicle on the highways of
this State while using a light bar lighting device. This subsection does not apply to or otherwise restrict use of a light bar lighting device with strobing lights. For purposes of this subsection, the term "light bar lighting device" means a bar-shaped lighting device comprised of multiple lamps capable of projecting a beam of light at an intensity greater than that set forth in subsection (c) of this section."
 
I just swapped out the stock lights on my 06 F250. Dramatic difference. Headlight housings from headlightdepot.com, LED bubs from superbrightleds.com. Very happy with the results. That little bit of haze on older lights really cuts the light output.
 
Before and after pics....

Also swapped out the grill (never liked the little bars) and put on 08+ mirrors. Mirrors were the best improvement I made...the lower convex section is actually big enough to be usable on the later mirrors.



DSC_5333-L.jpg

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