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Messing around with some LED light bars:
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Sir Sam
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:51 pm    Post subject: Messing around with some LED light bars: Reply with quote

So I'm playing with some lightbar options.

I found one that is perfect for mounting on the westy luggage rack, the lightbar mounts at 23.5 inches, which is the spacing of the luggage rack bolts. Even better the lightbar comes with stainless hardware that threads right into the westy luggage rack mounts!

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Its a super bright light! It makes the stock headlights look like dim little candles!

I also mounted up one of the small floods on the luggage rack as an area light during camping. I think I could mount a couple more along the side to give some more light out on the area I use for camping.

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I'm going to try and get some better night pictures to show off the light output, but its very impressive!

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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 9:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who makes these?
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EL31415
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look similar to dx

http://www.dx.com/p/mz-18w-1440lm-cree-60-flood-wo...MhtdYE76rU
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syncrodoka
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

EL31415 wrote:
Look similar to dx

http://www.dx.com/p/mz-18w-1440lm-cree-60-flood-wo...MhtdYE76rU


To my eye they look nothing like those.
There are a myriad of LED bars that look like these just wondering which brand they are.
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Steve M.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

How is the wind noise from sticking these things out into the airflow?
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Sir Sam
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

syncrodoka wrote:
EL31415 wrote:
Look similar to dx

http://www.dx.com/p/mz-18w-1440lm-cree-60-flood-wo...MhtdYE76rU


To my eye they look nothing like those.
There are a myriad of LED bars that look like these just wondering which brand they are.


These bars use Cree LEDs. They are very similar to rigid to light bars but are not. I'll have to ask who the manufacturer is on these.
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Sir Sam
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steve M. wrote:
How is the wind noise from sticking these things out into the airflow?


Around town I cannot tell these are up there. I haven't driven on the highway yet but the van is already so loud on the highway I'm not sure I would notice.

I'm still just playin around with these and nothing is permanently mounted. So I'm just trying to figure out where they would be useful.
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flomulgator
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Inquiring minds want to know more about that bumper burner and see the output!
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Sir Sam
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 11:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

flomulgator wrote:
Inquiring minds want to know more about that bumper burner and see the output!


Its a curved 50" lightbar. I was just checking out the curve compared to the stock bumper curve, its pretty close. Here soon I would like to put one on my syncro. I didn't mount that one as it would require drilling holes into the bumper in a van that I am not planning to keep long term. Light output is intense! I'll see if my friend can show some photos of its light output.

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freerider15
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey guys, this is Justin, the one with the light bars.

Sam asked me to post up to give a little info. I'll try to do so respectfully without overstepping any bounds Very Happy .

As far as brand, unfortunately that I cannot give out. The reason why: It took me months of sourcing from nearly three dozen different manufacturers, testing, QA/QC checks, etc. to determine who I would choose as my manufacturer. I can assure you these are NOT like the low quality bars on Amazon/eBay.

I'm heavily involved in the 4x4 world, which is where this all started for me.

I'll throw some light output pictures up of my base series:

Jeep Cherokee Headlights on high:
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Single Flood Light Pod:
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22" Bar:
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50" Flat Bar:
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50" Curved bar:
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50" Straight vs. 50" Curved (the straight shot of the curved make the light distance look much shorter than it really is):

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Hope I haven't overstepped any bounds. Mods please feel free to let me know if I have.

- Justin


Last edited by freerider15 on Wed Jan 28, 2015 4:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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MarkWard
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I get that they throw awesome light and draw little current, but I just can't get past the "bling" aspect of these. Give me a set of round Cibies or Marchals I realize there is no comparison I guess I am just old school.
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Freerider,

Thanks for posting your photos. They are pretty impressive.

So, are you going to be selling lights like these?
If you are, I'd appreciate some more info.

-CJ
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tarandusVDub
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 6:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would be too.

My needs are for a shorter bar that would fit mounted under the top of the Twin Peaks grill guard offered by RMW.

http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Twin_Peaks_Deluxe_Grille_Guard_p/rmw-npd01.htm
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the short distance illumination these provide, for low speed exploring at night, etc. And I should say that no question eventually LED will improve and I will have some and never look back. But, for driving at speed in any kind of weather the uncontrolled optics of a forward facing LED must produce some mind boggling light blowback, based on all the places the light is going in the shots.

I point that out for the unitiated. Driving down a highway at 70, you would quickly fatigue from the blowback versus a set of quality incandescent aftermarket lights. And as for distance, if my Vanagon were on that road with my Hella Eurobeams lamps on, you'd see telephone poles illuminated all the way to the horizon.

There is a huge change arriving right now in LEDs where they are rearward facing and the reflector shapes the beam. That is the future and I think that is when they will rival incandescents on many more aspects than simply low power usage. That's not enough in my book to make the switch - quality illumination is the bottom line.
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danfromsyr
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

here here, I'm an old school light guy for real long range illumination..
my favs are the Bosch Rallye lights since that's what I own and now they're priced like vintage gold..
link to my baja w/ these https://www.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/270407.jpg
but a pair of these up at chest height and equipped with 100w H3s will light the road to the horizon and to the sides 90* out..

I do embrace LED lights for my reverse and I have some in the front on the sides.. turning lights.. tucked under the frame to not blind anyone while on but extremely handy for finding and setting up camp in the dark. especially in the rain. though I find many LED lights lack depth (color?) in light absorbing rain. I run old school Bosch fogs up front under the bumper lip for road illumination.

next LEDs for me is underbody puddle "rock" lights for camp illumination but again subtle and in 2 strands amber and white..

rsxsr wrote:
I get that they throw awesome light and draw little current, but I just can't get past the "bling" aspect of these. Give me a set of round Cibies or Marchals I realize there is no comparison I guess I am just old school.

IdahoDoug wrote:
I like the short distance illumination these provide, for low speed exploring at night, etc. And I should say that no question eventually LED will improve and I will have some and never look back. But, for driving at speed in any kind of weather the uncontrolled optics of a forward facing LED must produce some mind boggling light blowback, based on all the places the light is going in the shots.

I point that out for the unitiated. Driving down a highway at 70, you would quickly fatigue from the blowback versus a set of quality incandescent aftermarket lights. And as for distance, if my Vanagon were on that road with my Hella Eurobeams lamps on, you'd see telephone poles illuminated all the way to the horizon.

There is a huge change arriving right now in LEDs where they are rearward facing and the reflector shapes the beam. That is the future and I think that is when they will rival incandescents on many more aspects than simply low power usage. That's not enough in my book to make the switch - quality illumination is the bottom line.

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tarandusVDub
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 7:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

IdahoDoug wrote:
And as for distance, if my Vanagon were on that road with my Hella Eurobeams lamps on, you'd see telephone poles illuminated all the way to the horizon.


Doug what model of Euro beams do you have? How did you end up wiring them? Similar to the LED setup here?
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IdahoDoug
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They are Hella Rallye 3000s, which are the full size 9+ diameter reflectors. In lighting physics, size matters though for decades light makers intent on reducing their costs have tried in semi-truthful ways to say otherwise. There are some clever designs that get a lot of light out of smaller reflectors, but they don't compare to the full size ones.

Anyhow, I have a pair of these bolted to my Wolfsburg bumper with custom welded aluminum mounts and a shaped thick aluminum backing plate on the inside of the bumper. I currently have fog pattern lenses in them, but I also have a set of Euro driving beam lenses (actually not lenses, its an entire reflector/lense unit) for them. I've had an identical set on one of my LandCruisers since it was a month old in 1992. They now have 235,000 miles of unblemished service. I also have a set of the Hella Rallye 4000s on my other Cruiser, which are the updated version of the 3000s.

They are wired with a heavy relay harness I built myself. 12g wire, tinned soldered connections, Bosch relay for each lamp. On one Cruiser, each lamp has its own separate fused circuit and relay and dash switch for complete redundancy. Overkill, I admit. But my wife and I used to roam around the desert in it for days by ourselves.

Anyhow, thats what I have. Most of you won't even have a single friend with a set of full size lamps to look at. But the first time you drive behind a set, you will nod your head and say "Wow, now I get it." That's why all the pro rally teams have racks of full size lights - they wanna win!!
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tarandusVDub wrote:
I would be too.

My needs are for a shorter bar that would fit mounted under the top of the Twin Peaks grill guard offered by RMW.

http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Twin_Peaks_Deluxe_Grille_Guard_p/rmw-npd01.htm


A 30" light bar will fit the RMW bumper between the grill guard posts. I'm planning in installing the Rigid E2 Combo on mine.

http://www.rigidindustries.com/led-lighting/13231
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:51 pm    Post subject: lights Reply with quote

climberjohn wrote:
Freerider,

Thanks for posting your photos. They are pretty impressive.

So, are you going to be selling lights like these?
If you are, I'd appreciate some more info.

-CJ
Yes how much and where to get them. You can pm us with cost. Or put a add in the Samba! Very Happy i
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also, I know this is going to be me sounding like an asshat, but my interest is in getting balanced information out there for my forum brethren.

Justin - you've gotta do something about that comparison photo you are using to demonstrate how bright the LEDs are. I'm referring to the first photo with the Jeep headlights on high beam which you then compare to on the LED shots below it. Obviously, I am not there to see the test vehicle but something is worth pointing out. In the Jeep high beam photo, somehow we cannot even see the first telephone pole on the right. Based on there being 4 fence posts between the Jeep and the subject telephone pole and pasture fence posts typically being 10', I'm going to estimate the telephone pole is a mere 50 feet from the Jeep. And you cannot see it. 50 feet. Those must be the most anemic high beams I have ever seen - that is only 3 car lengths.

I don't know if the lenses are dirty, the camera is hypersensitive to the higher frequencies of your LED lights, or what, but I have to point this out for accuracy, balance, and fairness sake for my Samba brethren. You can tell I am not a fan of the current LED lights (yet), but that aside I think you need to provide a fair photo to start the comparison.
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