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This might sound like a stupid question but I couldn't find anything on it on the forum. I was telling my friend I want to get an LED lightbar instead of going with the same setup I had on my old truck(4 Hella Off-Road Lights). He then told me I should get the same thing because the LED lightbars don't shine as far away as the round off road lights do. I like the lightbars because of the cleaner look they give but in the end I want something that will get the job done. My question is, does anyone have experience, pictures and or know any information about how much further the LED lightbar shines compared to say 4 Hella/KC etc. off road lights.
Here is a picture of the 4 Hella Off Road lights on my old truck with a smittybilt light bar. On my new truck I think I would get the smittybilt light bar but instead of 4 hellas i would get one lightbar that fits across. Also, with my 4 off road lights I was able to turn the outside 2 towards the ditches and the inside 2 straight ahead. With an LED lightbar how far towards the ditches does it shine or is it only straight ahead? Can you get a curved bar for the smittybilt mount and if so how far towards the ditches does it light up?
Your hella lights will more than likely be brighter than any crappy generic led bar you get, even if it is "Cree". My personal preference would be 4 rigid duallys, 2 spot and 2 flood. Or if you wanna spend a few more bucks, get the hyperspot d2s and the driving pattern d2s. The driving pattern d2s are a great beam for wide spread light with good projection.
I've seen many comparisons on led light bars to hid round lights, and the hids outshine the leds bar none. My cousins trophy truck runs them for just that reason. Although they shine further, the beam isn't as clean as the LEDs, that is if you get rigid or Baja designs or visionX. eBay lights (and trust me I had 4 led light bars from eBay) have terrible light patterns based off their optics. LEDs may not shine as far as the led bars, but the LEDs give a great beam spread with pretty astounding projection.
I had a roll bar with 5 kc day lighters on my roll bar that loved to drink some current on my 250. My 30 inch rigid light bar puts those to shame. Mine is a spot flood combo and the best of both worlds.
I also have x ray vision hids on my ranger that cost more then my rigid light bar. They see a little further but they have to warm up which is very annoying. I would have bought a rigid for it if I could go back. I have duallys on the front and back of it as well.
Your hella lights will more than likely be brighter than any crappy generic led bar you get, even if it is "Cree". My personal preference would be 4 rigid duallys, 2 spot and 2 flood. Or if you wanna spend a few more bucks, get the hyperspot d2s and the driving pattern d2s. The driving pattern d2s are a great beam for wide spread light with good projection.
I've seen many comparisons on led light bars to hid round lights, and the hids outshine the leds bar none. My cousins trophy truck runs them for just that reason. Although they shine further, the beam isn't as clean as the LEDs, that is if you get rigid or Baja designs or visionX. eBay lights (and trust me I had 4 led light bars from eBay) have terrible light patterns based off their optics. LEDs may not shine as far as the led bars, but the LEDs give a great beam spread with pretty astounding projection.
wow that was a great response, Thank you! Im not a big fan of those dually's on the mounting bars, almost looks like to much bar not enough lights. I think I would rather go with the HID round lights before those on a mounting bar.
I like the fact that the light bar takes up the space on the mount and is a clearer light beam. I wouldn't want to be disappointed if I lost a substantial amount of distance with the lightbar output vs HID rounds. That's what I loved about those light. Living in northern ontario with moose, bears, deer and all sorts of wildlife everywhere bright lights are a must for me
I also have x ray vision hids on my ranger that cost more then my rigid light bar. They see a little further but they have to warm up which is very annoying. I would have bought a rigid for it if I could go back. I have duallys on the front and back of it as well.
This post reminds me. How are those light bars with snow?? I know my hellas would get snow on them but they ran so hot that the snow and ice would melt off. These being LEDS obviously they don't run hot so does snow and ice just build up on them?
Is it a huge noticeable difference in how much further?
I am in south texas so that's not a issue really for me, however I did use to live a little more north and we got a bad ice storm about a year ago. We took the ranger ( its a beast ) and left the 150, it was stock at the time. It has duallys and I don't remember having issues with them. I didn't need the x rays that morning so didn't even turn them on. If I remember correctly the light bar gets warm but not hot. I have seen some of the cheap light bars get so hot you can't touch them though.
When it's foggy and raining here, I throw Amber covers on my D2s. Cuts through fog great! I've read they do well in snow, but we don't get much of that white **** down here!
01-03-2015, 05:01 PM
LED Lightbar vs Round Off-Road Lights
