carbinereloaded

Perhaps my expectations are too high? I had some KC "Driving" lights on a SUV a lifetime ago. They would throw light far down the road as well as good side illumination. Those suckers turned night to day for about $200.

I expected quite a bit out of this Putco. The specs looked great on paper, however once installed it seems like they just amplify the illumination without extending the coverage of my headlights much. I have it mounted in my grill and even took the grill off so that the light bar was not obstructed. I've spent hours playing with the aiming as well. The "throw" just isn't there. For comparison sake the Putco is mounted higher off the ground than the KC lights were, so they should be able to throw as well if not better.

All in all, I'm very disappointed with it, was NOT what I was expecting. I have VisionX LED's at the rear of my truck for backup lights; for their size they preform as expected. I have a cheep 20" LED Light bar from amazon ($30) on my quad that throws light further than this Putco.

Am I missing something? I read a lot of favorable reviews on this forum for the Putco, however I have to admit all the pictures I saw were aimed towards buildings/trees, not long distance on the roadway.

At this rate, I wish I would have spent the money on an HID conversion/retrofit. Don't get me wrong, the side-to-side illumination is great, but I really wanted more distance illumination.

Unfortunately now that it's used, I can't return it. I guess I could always sell it

elricfate

Which bar did you end up with? Most bars bigger than 9-12" run a flood/spot combo where the floods are on the outer edges with a spot in the middle. It almost sounds like the bar you got either has a chewed up spot profile or it's just pure flood.

Look at the reflector bowls, if the ones on the outside are orange peel (bumpy) and the ones on the inside are smooth, it's a combo bar. If they're all orange peel, it's a flood bar only.

carbinereloaded

It's a single type bar, meaning all are 5w 15 degree LED/Reflectors.

I guess it's what some people are looking for, just not me.

elricfate

Yea, so, if it's the one I am thinking of, it's no better than a flood. Yes it has smooth reflectors in it and yes they're made narrow, but since it's only 81 watts and they're relatively tiny diodes, all the usable light it puts out might as well be from fog lights.

Pugga

iTrader: (1)

I had a 30" combo bar and had the same feeling (still have it in my garage actually). I swapped it for a pair of Rigid Hyperspots and love it. They put light a long way down the road. Some manufacturers do better with their lenses than others.

idrive

iTrader: (3)

Guess I never saw this originally. I'd have to say something is wrong. When I turn mine on and then turn the high beams on you can't even tell the high beams are on, The Putco 30" far far exceeds the high beams. Guessing it's not getting the power it needs or your bar is somehow defective.

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/30-cu...talled-318430/

There are more pics in other threads that show a huge difference with just high beams and then with the Putco. Big difference. Also when you shine it down the highway and there's nothing down there to see, to reflect back, what are you expecting to see?

carbinereloaded

My problem is that I mounted it behind my grill. I did some testing with it outside the grill and there was a pretty good difference, I just don't like how it looks outside the grill. Ended up pulling it off after a week and put it in my garage. Eventually I'll put it on eBay or something.

idrive

iTrader: (3)

I'd bet it would sell here in the BST


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Pepito113

I drive. I like the location of your light. Can I see some pics of the mounting location from behind. Did you mount the light with the mounting bracket up? A few pics and details would be as some on how you did it.