When seeking the best visibility for your daily drive, off-road vehicle or ATV, it pays to educate yourself on the latest LED technology, products and options. This comprehensive guide compares LEDs to other popular lighting technologies, tells you how they work and covers LED light bar applications.
You will learn how to compare quality LED light bars from cheaply made ones. Several informative LED light bar reviews are included also. After reading our ultimate guide, you’ll be able to make an informed purchase decision that matches your application and provides the best bang for your buck.
Best LED Light Bars For The Money
Contents
- 1 Best LED Light Bars For The Money
- 2 What is a LED Light Bar and Why Do You Need One?
- 3 LED Light Bar Applications
- 4 LED Light Bar Types
- 5 What Is a Cree LED Light Bar?
- 6 Flood, Spot or Combo – Which LED Light Bar Do I Need?
- 7 Factors to Consider When Evaluating the Best LED Light Bar
- 8 How to Distinguish a Quality LED Light Bar from Cheap Ones
- 9 LED Light Bar Brands – Who Makes the Best LED Light Bars?
- 10 Best LED Light Bars by Size
- 11 Tips on Choosing the Best LED Light Bar
- 12 How to Wire LED Light Bars?
- 13 LED Light Bar FAQ
- 14 Making Your Decision
| Company: | Warranty: | Location: | IP Rating: | LED type: | Measured in Watts: | Guarantee: | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Black Oak Led | Limited Lifetime | FL / USA | IP69K | Osram & CREE | 3w, 5w standard and 10w leds | 30 days | |
Rigid Industries | Limited Lifetime | AZ / USA | IP69K | Osram 3 Watt | Measured in Watts: 3w standard | N/A | |
KC Hilites | Limited Lifetime | AZ / USA | IP67 | CREE 3 Watt | Measured in Watts: 3w standard | N/A | |
Vision X | Limited Lifetime | WA / USA | IP68 | LED 3 Watt | Measured in Watts: 3w standard | N/A | |
Westin | Limited Lifetime | CA / USA | IP68 | LED Watt | Measured in Watts: 3w standard | N/A |
What is a LED Light Bar and Why Do You Need One?
CC http://www.realtruck.com/
A light bar is a short or long array of high-luminosity LED lights. These supplement your vehicle’s stock headlamps. They provide a brighter, broader and penetrating beam of light ahead, behind or to the side. They provide a significant advantage for night driving or when illuminating trails, campsites or work areas.
Light Bar Applications
- Night Driving – Light bars can produce a dramatic difference in road visibility over the brightest stock headlights. By the way, you can check LED headlights for Jeep Wrangler. Those are not so powerful as light bars, but better than stock headlights!
- Emergency Lighting – A light bar is indispensable for lighting accident or breakdown scenes. Their brightness also alerts other drivers to trouble ahead.
- Backyards – A light bar will illuminate an entire yard for parties or cleanup activities. They make an excellent prowler deterrent.
- Boats – For increasing marine visibility and lighting landing sites or docks, light bars are ideal.
- Heavy equipment – Snow plows, graders and tractors find light bars essential in poorly lighted conditions.
- Off-Road – When taking your 4WD or ATV into the backcountry, a light bar is a must-have for hazard spotting or setting up campsites.
Different Types of Lamps
These are the most common automotive and commercial high intensity lamps:
- Tungsten-Vacuum Lights – A tungsten wire filament within a vacuum is heated by electricity causing the wire to emit light.
- Halogen Lights – A high-performance version of Tungsten-Vacuum lamps with a tungsten filament enclosed in halogen or iodine gas.
- HPS Lamps – High-Pressure and Low-Pressure Sodium lamps pass an electric arc through a gas mixture containing mostly sodium.
- HID Lamps – High Intensity Discharge lamps pass an electric arc through gas mixtures that also contain metal salts to form a high intensity plasma.
- LED Lamps – Light-Emitting Diodes are solid state devices that emit light when electrons pass to electron holes. Manufacturers double their efficiency about every 3 years.
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Why We Recommend LEDs for Light Bars
If you can pardon the pun, LED lighting outshines its competition in many ways except for initial cost. For road and outdoor lighting, it offers long life and efficient light production, but there are additional advantages.
| Type | Lifespan Hrs. | Eff. lm/W | Color Temp | Color Render | Notes |
| Tungsten-Vacuum | 750-1000 | 6-20 | 2700 | 100 | Cheap |
| Halogen | 1000-2000 | 20-35 | 3000 | 100 | Run hot |
| HPS | >10000 | 65-140 | 1800-2500 | 20-30 | Needs ballast |
| HID | 2000-4000 | 80-125 | 2700-5600 | 60-70 | DC converter |
| LED | >20000 | 20-160 | 1100-9000 | 20-95 | Higher initial cost |
What the Table above Measures
- The efficiency of a particular lamp technology is measured in lumens per watt, which tells you how much light you get for a given amount of electricity.
- Color temperature specifies where in the human visible light spectrum the light falls. A lower number indicates a warmer, yellowish light, whereas higher temperature produces a whiter or bluish light.
- Color render refers to the ability of a lamp to recreate natural colors at night.
As the table above demonstrates, LEDs, despite higher initial cost, are most cost-effective over their lifetime. They compare well in efficiency with HID lights and, depending on the color temperature chosen, can create nearly perfect rendering of colors. For better understanding, see some comparisons of light bulbs in household.
Other Advantages of LED Lights
- Instead of depending on a single bulb, a headlight or light bar consists of separate high-intensity lamps, which increases reliability.
- LEDs do not require a ballast or voltage conversion, since they run well at the normal 13.8 volts of most automotive systems. You can run them from portable generators too.
- They project their heat rearward, so the lenses are cool to the touch.
- LED headlamps and light bars, unlike filament lamps, stand up well to vibration and shocks.
LED Light Bar Applications
LED Light Bars for Trucks
A truck LED light bar is an important accessory whether you use your truck for pleasure, work or both. A light bar mounted across the cab is perfect for illuminating any road on dark nights or lighting up a construction site past sunset.Mount one on the tailgate for a super bright backup light. A red LED brake light bar significantly increases your visibility to drivers behind you.
Off-Road LED Light Bars
The best off-road lights brighten the terrain ahead, but must be rugged enough to withstand the bumps and shocks of the trail. LED light bars are ideal, since the lamps are solid-state.
See the LED light bar reviews later in this guide to compare build quality and their ability to resist dust and water penetration.
ATV LED Light Bars
Two short ATV light bars front and back improve your vehicle’s visibility during darkness or daytime, especially on sunken trails or in dunes. It gives you excellent output when it comes to brightness and light-weight intensity.
You can augment these with red strobe LED light bars mounted high on your equipment.
ATV LED light bars draw so little current that you can leave them on when trailering for extra safety.
LED Light Bars for Other Vehicles
Whenever you need to see your surroundings or be seen, one or more LED light bars makes a big difference. A pair of auxiliary LED amber lamps mounted low will penetrate fog, drizzle and the gloom ahead. An LED light bar in your trunk, under the engine hood or the car interior lights up every nook and cranny. An LED brake light bar increases reliability over standard brake lights. Motorcycles and golf carts become safely conspicuous with the addition of strategically placed red, blue or amber LED light bars.
Emergency LED Light Bars
High luminosity and low power consumption make LED emergency lights essential for fire trucks, ambulances, police cars and other public service vehicles. Emergency LED lights fit in vehicle grills, sun visors, mirrors or on the roof. Choose white, yellow, red, blue or a mix to maximize visibility. Their millisecond on-off cycle time makes them ideal for flashing or strobe applications that alert drivers and pedestrians. Bright white LED light bars will flood incident areas with light.
LED Work Light Bars
A long, curved LED light bar producing 24,000 effective lumens will consume less than 300 watts and draw 22 amps, which is less than most headlight systems. It can flood a large work site with bright light. Smaller light bars on a truck rack can provide spot lighting or illuminate a truck bed.
Add a backup battery or generator, and they are completely portable.
Marine LED Light Bars
High-quality marine LED light bars are waterproof and come in a variety of colors. They make excellent navigation lights. White or amber light bars will light up landing sites or dock approaches. Small light bars are great for illuminating controls, hatches or an engine compartment. Their input voltage range is a good match for most marine electrical systems.
LED Strobe Light Bars
LED strobe lights can be white, red, amber, blue or green, any of which can draw attention to potential hazards. Light flashes can be regular or irregular to alert workers to out-of-spec operating conditions. Rotating beacons are simulated by electronic sequential switching. Their low power consumption is suited for portable traffic control and construction warning signs.
Interior LED Light Bars
LED light bars can bathe an outdoor patio or a garage in bright light. Smaller light bars can illuminate workbenches, crawlspaces or attics. Thanks to a greater ability to focus and direct light, we find that the LED light bar create better visibility for the owner. They run from a 12 volt battery or a portable generator, so make reliable backup lighting during power outages.
LED Mini Light Bars
Portable, mini light bars can plug directly into an automotive 12VDC outlet for hazard or interior lighting. They work well for under-cabinet lighting or to brighten a dark closet. They are often used for outdoor lighting accents around ponds or landscaping. These can be supplied with power from a small solar panel and sealed lead-acid batteries.
LED Light Bar Types
LED light bars may contain one LED or dozens. The LEDs within a single bar are usually the same size but power sizes and colors can be mixed. For example, a police vehicle light bar may contain white, amber, red and blue LEDs of various strengths. Some or all of these may flash.
Mini Light Bars |
Full-size Light Bars
The best LED light bar used for road or job site illumination has LEDs with a color temperature of 5000K, which simulates sunlight on a clear day. Custom reflectors or lenses spread, focus or diffuse the beam. Two or more beam angles are created in combo bars. |
Low-Profile Light Bars
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What Is a Cree LED Light Bar?
In your search for the best LED light bar, you will come across the term Cree light bar. Cree refers to the LEDs in the light bar, not to the brand of light bar. All the light bars in this guide’s LED light bar reviews use a version of Cree LEDs.
Cree, Inc., located in North Carolina, manufactures these powerful, highly efficient LEDs. They are the highest quality, longest lasting, and most efficient LED lighting for homes, businesses and roadways.
The finest Cree LED light bars have an efficiency at the top end of the scale for LEDs approaching 120 raw lm/W. With proper current control, they have a lifespan over 50,000 hours. Unlike cheaply made LEDs, Cree LEDs do not fade early. Despite higher initial cost compared to other LEDs, in the long run they cost less to operate.
As an example, a popular light bar choice is a 20″ Cree LED light bar that contains 40 3-WCree LEDs. This runs at 120 watts and produces 9600 effective lumens.
Flood, Spot or Combo – Which LED Light Bar Do I Need?
Unlike standard screw-in home bulbs, which throw light out in all directions, LED light bars concentrate their light in one direction.
The way the light beam is formed depends on each LED’s reflector and the shape of the lens. Modern light bars use computer-aided designs to achieve specific lighting patterns.
The lighting pattern trade-off for light bars is between distance and beam width. For the same luminosity, more distance requires less beam width and vice versa. When a design favors a wider beam width, you have a flood light. More distance is achieved by narrowing the light beam into a spot pattern.
A flood LED light bar typically has between 40 and 120 degrees of beam width. Spots are around 10 to 30 degrees. Keep in mind that flood and spot degrees vary between different models of led light bars.
So which one is best? It depends on the application. Both are useful and a common choice is to buy one of each or purchase a combo bar that has spot and flood functions combined.
A combo works by assigning the jobs of the spot and the flood light to different sections of the light bar. It can do this by dividing flood and spot reflectors along the bar’s length or by splitting the functions between rows. The best LED light bar of one manufacturer allows you to custom design your flood to spot ratio with swappable reflectors.
Factors to Consider When Evaluating the Best LED Light Bar
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How to Distinguish a Quality LED Light Bar from Cheap Ones
With so many manufacturers of LED light bars, evaluating your options can be confusing. Hopefully, through reading this guide, you will come to understand the various electronic, mechanical and operating features common to most light bars. The next question is how to determine which LED light bars will give you the best service over their lifetime.
The following characteristics may be difficult to discern if you cannot physically handle a light bar, but often LED light bar reviews from owners can help determine them:
- The number one enemy of LEDs is heat. A quality light bar will have oversize heat sinks and tight current control.
- If possible, check the operation of a light bar you are considering under different voltage inputs. If the LEDs brighten noticeably as voltage rises, this is a sign of poor LED drivers.
- Look closely at mounting points and brackets. The best LED light bar has sturdy, corrosion-proof mounting hardware and provide options for mounting the bar in different locations.
- Check the IP rating. At a minimum, it must be IP65. IP69K is the highest rating, but few light bars achieve that. Make sure the electrical connectors are IP-rated.
- A wide product line from 3″ light pods up to 50″ bars and plenty of accessories are signs of a quality light bar manufacturer.
- Most importantly, check the warranty. Top LED light bar makers back their products with lifetime or near-lifetime guarantees. Be sure to check the fine print for exclusions.
LED Light Bar Brands – Who Makes the Best LED Light Bars?
That is a question without a definitive answer due to the multitude of customer preferences for specific price points, features and applications. This guide has selected seven well-known makers of quality LED light bars to help you decide who makes the best LED product for you.
Black Oak LED
Black Oak LED is challenging the status quo in the high-end LED light bar industry to the benefit of consumers. They are proving to everyone that building a top quality, durable, reliable LED light bar with exceptional performance can be done without charging sky-high prices.
Black Oak LED Product Lines
Black Oak produces four main product lines:
- Single-Row – Black Oak’s S-Series features a stealth 2-inch profile and powerful 5W OSRAM LEDs. There are six S-Series lengths from 6 to 50 inches with one LED per inch. Raw lumens output is from 3,300L to solar-bright 27,500L and power from 20W to 250W.
- Double-Row D-Series – Black Oak’s most popular line, the D-Series features two stacked rows of ultra-bright 5W OSRAM LEDs in a 3.3-inch housing. Seven sizes range from four inches up to 50 inches with luminosities of 4,400L to a blazing 55,000L and power ratings from 40W to 500W. Curved and Marine-grade D-Series light bars are available also.
- Pods – Black Oak’s compact LED pod lights are four LEDs in a 2×2 pattern encased in a rugged, IP69K, swivel-mount, 3.25×3.23-inch housing. Buyers have a choice of either 5W OSRAM LEDs or super-bright 10W CREE XM-L2 LEDs. Two beam optics are available: High Throw Spot or Wide Flood Optics.
- Rounds – Available in 7-inch and 5-inch diameters, Black Oak’s Round LED Light Bars blend spot and flood optics for the ideal blend of long throw and wide coverage. The larger and smaller round light bars feature 32 or 21 OSRAM LEDs, respectively. Buyers can choose either 3W or 5W LEDs. Luminosities with 5W LEDs are 17,600L and 11,550L for the larger and smaller rounds, respectively.
Product Features
The designs, materials, and components that go into their products meet or exceed anything the competition offers:
- Top-bin, 50,000-hour OSRAM and CREE LEDs
- Oversized, integrated aluminum heat sinks
- Quality, tight-spec LED driver circuitry
- Torture-proof anodized housings
- Shatterproof polycarbonate lenses
- Custom neoprene case seals
- The highest IEC 60529 international standard intrusion rating: IP69K
- U.S. Military-standard housing breathers
- Three beam patterns: Spot, Flood or Combo
- Full IP69K wiring harnesses and stainless steel mounting hardware
- 30-day cash-back guarantee and lifetime limited warranty
Black Oak’s high standards in build and performance come at prices half what competitors charge for equivalent products.
Every Black Oak lighting product comes with a turnkey, IP69K wiring harness that includes cable, relay, fuse and switch. No other maker of LED light bars makes a better product at the value prices that Black Oak offers. Most products receive a further 15 percent discount for military, police and fire organizations.
Rigid Industries
Rigid Industries began producing LED light bars in 2006 and have since become an industry leader with top-rated lighting products made in the USA at their Arizona plant. Their lights are well-rated among off-road enthusiasts. With their acquisition by Penske, they have entered the heavy-duty equipment and commercial vehicle market segments as well.
Rigid’s Product Lines
Rigid produces 13 product lines including courtesy lights, scene lighting products and vehicle light bars.
- E-Series – This is Rigid’s original LED light bar designed to project long-distance beams. Included in this category are their E2 and M-Series marine LED light bars in lengths from four inches to 50 inches. E-Series lights come in spot, flood or combo patterns, whereas E2 lights utilize Hyperspot and Specter lighting configurations.
- D-Series – These are versatile 2×2 or 2×3 LED light pods with a variety of mounting options. The D2-Wide pod with amber LEDs makes an excellent fog light.
- Dually X-Series – Duallys are the successors of the D-Series with more and brighter LEDs. The Dually XL Flood features a 3×3 LED array that outputs 2,736 raw lumens of driving light.
Product Features
The features embodied in Rigid products are what they call “The Rigid Difference:”
- 120 raw lumens per watt LEDs with 50,000 hour lifespans
- 97 percent efficient LED drivers
- Oversize, integrated housing heat sinks
- Redundant, multi-section circuit board design
- Patented Hybrid, Specter and Hyperspot optics technology
- Polycarbonate lenses
- Molded silicone lens seals
Rigid also offers Hi/Lo function light bars, infrared lights and dual color light bars in their ever-expanding catalog.
Vision X
Vision X LED light bar products are produced in two locations. Design and engineering takes place in the USA, while manufacturing is done at their Asian headquarters. They have built a reputation for the high-quality lights that have been tested by NASA and are in use by military organizations due to their uncompromising solutions. They also make HID and halogen lighting products.
Vision X Products
In the vehicle LED light bar segment, Vision X has two main light bar lines:
- Xmitter Prime LED Light Bar – This is a dual-row light bar using 3W LEDs housed in an extruded 6061 aluminum housing with shatterproof polycarbonate lens. It comes in lengths of five inches to 43 inches and features bottom stud mounts. Beam options are 10-degree Spot or 40-degree Flood.
- Evo Prime Single Stack LED Bar – In lengths from five inches to 51 inches, Vision X’s new Evo light bars feature a single-row of night-crushing, top-bin 10W LEDs, each of which output 1,079 raw lumens of 6000K light. Available beam patterns are 20-degree Spot or 40-degree Flood.
Vision X also sells a single 90W LED round Cannon light that projects a focused beam over 3,000 feet forward.
Product Features
Vision X produces 15 product lines that cover applications from camera lighting to industrial panel lighting. Their vehicle LED light bars to have several advanced features:
- High-power, top-bin LEDs with 50,000-hour lifespans
- Pulse-width modulation for precise LED current control and dimming capability
- Integrated thermal management of LED heat
- Seamless spot or flood beams via custom optics
- IP68-rated housings
Baja DesignsBased in San Marcos, CA, Baja Designs has made a name for itself as the “scientists of lighting.” Pros / Cons
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KC HiLiTES Light BarsKC HiLiTES has been offering high-performance lighting for off-road vehicles since 1974 and are one of the better known brands for halogen, HID and LED lighting. They operate out of California and offer a full-range of light bar sizes including many made specifically for Jeeps. Pros / Cons
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Lazer Star LightsLazer Star Lights is a division of Weekend Concepts, Inc. They have made LED light bars since 1992 for automotive and power sports enthusiasts. Pros / Cons
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CosmoblazeCosmoblaze is an Australian light manufacturer and distributor that develops extremely tough LED light bars. They are one of two manufacturers reviewed here who have lights that achieve IP69K. Pros / Cons
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Federal Signal Light Bars
For more than 50 years, Federal Signal has been in the business of offering comprehensive lighting and alert solutions for emergency and work vehicles. Two of their most innovative technology solutions are in reflector design and an 85 percent reduction in connection failure points in light bars. Read our popular Federal Signal LED Light review!
Pros / Cons
- Decades of technology leadership in EMS lighting
- Limited selection of work lights, no long light bars that are non-emergency use
Best LED Light Bars by Size
Black Oak 10-Inch D-Series Dual-Row LED Light Bar
Quick Specs for 3W/5W Versions
- Watts – 60W/100W
- Current at 13.8VDC – 4.3A/7.1A
- Dimensions – 3.3 inches high by 11.4 inches long
- Weight – 6.6 lbs.
- # of LEDs – 20 OSRAM
- Raw lumens – 6,220/11,000
- Intrusion rating – IP69K
- Beams – Flood, Spot, Combo
- Accessories – IP69K wiring harness, stainless mounting hardware
- Warranty – 30-day money back guarantee, lifetime warranty
This dual-row 10 inch LED light bar from Black Oak LED is the most energetic, assertive illumination you can buy anywhere. The build quality matches or exceeds that from any other manufacturer on the planet. If you want the brightest, toughest LED light bar that is budget-friendly, this is it.
This D-Series 10-inch light offers three beam patterns: Spot, Flood or Combo. You control flight output by choosing either ultra-bright 3W or ludicrous-bright 5W OSRAM LEDs. The latter delivers an industry-leading 11,000 raw lumens of night-to-day 6000K illumination.
Regardless of how you mount this power-packed light bar and the jolts and environmental conditions to which you subject it, it keeps on shining. It owns the highest moisture and dust intrusion rating of IP69K.
The nearly indestructible aluminum housing withstand harsh impacts, while the optically clear, scratch-resistant, polycarbonate lens is virtually unbreakable. A custom neoprene seal and generous application of stainless steel fasteners ensure no moisture penetrates even during submersion.
Pros / Cons
- More light, better build quality and half the cost of lights from other top manufacturers
- IP69K housing and wiring harness thwart water, ice, snow and dust
- Two illumination output options: 3W or 5W top-bin, 50,000-hour OSRAM LEDs
- No bottom mount bracket
Review
Black Oak is making an enormous impact in the LED light bar market with lights built to the highest standards with competition-busting pricing.
This 10-inch D-Series light bar features the finest circuitry, highest-efficiency optics, brightest and longest-lasting LEDs plus a torture-proof housing. These lights are crazy bright and designed to stay that way for the life of your vehicle. This light bar also comes as a 10-inch curved light bar and a 10-inch linear marine light bar.
Conclusion
Black Oak is the new LED light bar market leader with top-quality builds, super-bright, long-lasting LEDs and hugely competitive pricing.
The Black Oak LED 10-inch light bar fits all vehicle types in dozens of applications. It absolutely provides the highest value in LED illumination and durability bar none.
Rigid Industries 20211 Dually Floodlight 4″ Set of 2
Specs
- Beam Type – Flood
- # of LEDs – 4
- Watts – 20 W – 40 W total
- Voltage – 9 – 30 VDC
- Amps – 4 A – 8 A total
- Lumens (eff.) – 1568 lm – 3136 lm total
- Lm/W – 78
- Harness and Brackets – Included
This pair of Rigid Dually Floodlights feature patented hybrid optics, an unbreakable polycarbonate lens, and Rigid’s well-known rugged housing and coatings.
These will outshine your normal headlights with a broad beam. They come with Rigid’s 3-year warranty and an expected lifespan of 50,000 hours plus.
Pros / Cons
- Long-time, quality manufacturer
- Rugged Housing and heavy duty heat sinks
- Custom molded seal
- Wiring harness only 10′ long so mounting limited to the front of a vehicle in most cases
Specs
- Beam Type – Spot – Floodlight model available
- of LEDs – 8
- Watts – 48 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 2 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 1800 lm
- Lm/W – 71
- Harness and Brackets – Brackets only
This single, 8-LED 6″ light bar features a 15 degree, medium range beam suitable for on or off-road driving. A pair of these draws 4 amps and puts out 100 lumens more than a 35 W HID lamp.
You can order the housing in black, chrome or white. At 3″ tall, it mounts in spaces that other lights of comparable luminosity cannot.
Pros / Cons
- Compact size and lightweight
- Die-cast aluminum housing with large heat sink
- 30-degree mounting adjustment
- Brackets only suitable for bar mounting
- 7000K CCT can lead to eye fatigue
Specs
- Beam Type – Combo – 12 deg. spot, 30 deg. spread
- of LEDs – 20
- Watts – 60 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 5 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 4320 lm
- Lm/W – 72
- Harness and brackets – Included
This 10-inch light bar is powerful enough to stand by itself on the hood, bumper or grill of your vehicle. It features a rugged enclosure rated at IP67. With the option of either white or amber LEDs, this light bar is an excellent choice for mid-range illumination of the road ahead.
Pros / Cons
- IP67 rating
- High efficiency at 90 lm/W
- RFI/EMC protection
- Onboard thermal management
- Not made in USA
Cosmoblaze 120W Dual Row 20″ LED Light Bar
Specs
- Beam Type – Combo
- of LEDs – 40
- Watts – 120 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 6 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 8400 lm
- Lm/W – 70
- Harness and Brackets – Included
This Australian LED light is a premium light for trucks, off-road vehicles and heavy equipment. It features 40 US-Made 3-W Cree LEDS arranged in two rows.
Low current draw is achieved with high-efficiency LED drivers and 97 percent input power to the LEDs. The heat sinks are double-sized to ensure the LEDs exceed their expected 50,000 hours of operation.
Pros / Cons
- IP68
- Low power consumption
- Oversized heat sinks
- 6063 extruded aluminum housing
- Available only from Australia or eBay
Specs
- Beam Type – Flood, Spot or Combo – Combo only on bars > 12″
- of LEDs – 12
- Watts – 120 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 10 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 8400 lm
- Lm/W – 70
- Harness and brackets – Included
This bar comes in spot, flood or combo configurations with a single row of 12 10-watt Cree SM-L LEDs. It is encased in an aluminum housing with a polycarbonate lens. Each bar has dual power inputs that allow daisy-chaining multiple light bars.
Pros / Cons
- Compact 2.57″ profile
- Latest Cree LED technology
- 95 percent efficiency
- 800 effective lumens per LED
- Limited offerings on Amazon
Specs
- Beam Type – Combo
- of LEDs – 30
- Watts – 118 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 9 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 8400 lm
- Lm/W – 71
- Harness and Brackets – Included – 2 sets of brackets
Rigid’s single row product line consists of 3-watt Cree LEDs in a low-profile extruded aluminum case.
It includes their patented hybrid optics that utilize computer-designed reflectors and front lenses that shape the combo beam.
It draws under 9 amps and just under 120 watts to produce 2200 lux at 10 meters.
Pros / Cons
- Over/under voltage protection
- Effective thermal management
- Beam distance of nearly 1 Km
- Two sets of mounting brackets
- Rigid’s raw lumens spec is misleading
Specs
- Beam Type – Combo
- of LEDs – 78
- Watts – 234 W
- Voltage – 10 – 30 VDC
- Amps – 9 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 16200 lm
- Lm/W – 69
- Harness and Brackets – Included – Brackets only
Eyourlife makes LED light bars for the budget buyer. Their 36″ combo light bar features a quartz lens with high light transmission.
They use a channel mount, which allows positioning the mounting brackets anywhere along the length of the bar.
These clamp to the bar with two bolts each. Like their other lights, these feature a cool white 6000K temperature and an IP68 intrusion rating.
Pros / Cons
- High-end features at a budget price
- Channel mount system for flexible installation
- IP68 rating
- High light transmission lens
- Slightly lower lm/W output compared to other light bars
- 2-year warranty
Specs
- Beam Type – Flood – PX7210 is spot version
- of LEDs – 72 – 5-watt LEDs
- Watts – 360 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 30 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 26640 lm
- Lm/W – 74
- Harness and Brackets – Included
The Vision X Xtreme LED puts out almost 100 raw lumens per inch from 5-watt Cree LEDs. The build quality is excellent, rugged, dustproof and waterproof.
Their Prime Drive integrated electronic thermal management, a PWM system, provides tight current management and long LED life. The PX7240 is the 40-degree flood version, whereas the PX7210 is a 10-degree spotlight bar.
Pros / Cons
- High 74 lm/W effective light output
- PWM current management
- Superior build quality
- 1-year warranty seems skimpy
Specs
- Beam Type – Flood, spot or combo – uService changeable optics
- of LEDs – 30
- Watts – 315 W
- Voltage – 9 – 32 VDC
- Amps – 26 A
- Lumens (eff.) – 26000 lm
- Lm/W – 83
- Harness and Brackets – Included
With 26,000 effective lumens from 30 Cree XM-L2 LEDs, there is nothing in the darkness out of its reach. A racer at 100 MPH will not outrun the spotlight.
It is one of a few light bars with an impressive IP69K rating. It features Baja Design’s uService® replaceable lenses and optics, CopperDrive thermal management and a 5000K natural daylight color.
Pros / Cons
- IP69K rating
- Slight curve to match grill or windshield
- Aircraft grade, anodized aluminum housing
- Natural daylight color reduces eye fatigue
- 30-day return, limited lifetime warranty
- Relatively expensive
Tips on Choosing the Best LED Light Bar
Obviously, LED light bars are not created equally. Their differences include available options, brightness, light color, beam width, heat management, and mounting technology, just to name a few. To reduce potential confusion, start with determining your specific light bar needs.
How Much Light Do You Need?
Most 20″ LED light bars provide more than enough light for good or inclement weather when driving on paved roads. Consider starting with a couple of low-mounted 4″ or 6″ floodlight bars, which will dramatically increase road visibility. If you do a lot of off-road night driving, then larger light bars, up to 50 inches, are useful.
Mounting Options
On most cars, your mounting options are somewhat limited, so low-profile light bars make sense especially for grill mounting. Trucks can mount light bars on the roof, rack, hood or grill, so size and profile are less important.
How to Wire LED Light Bars?
Here are a few important tips on how to wire your LED light bar yourself:
- First, disconnect your vehicle’s or equipment’s battery. Remove the negative/ground clamp first to avoid shorting to the vehicle’s chassis.
- Use automotive grade wire designated as GPT, GXL or TXL. GPT is the most common.
- Use the correct wire gauge. Too large a gauge wastes money but an AWG too small risks overheating the wire, which might lead to a panic-inducing fire. Google a gauge-to-amperes table, which includes how many feet you can run before you need a thicker wire.
- For big draw light bars, you need large gauge wires, e.g., 6 or 8 AWG. To avoid long runs of thick cable, use a relay between battery and switch. Then you can run lighter gauge to the relay and heavier wires from there to the light.
- Keep wire lengths short as possible and utilize standard wire colors: black for negative, red for positive and yellow from a relay to a switch.
Judging Quality
It is true that you could buy 2 or more less expensive light bars for the price of a quality one. However, do you really want to risk light bar failure when you need it the most? Reliability and performance come at a cost.
That said, you can make a rough assessment of a manufacturer’s or distributor’s product quality by looking at three things:
- Length of warranty and warranty terms
- The breadth of their product line including accessories
- Reviews from people who actually use their products
Where Can I Buy an LED Light Bar?
There is probably no better way to make a personal assessment of LED light bars than to get your hands on several of them and judge for yourself their build quality and performance attributes. Do this by visiting local shops that carry the brands in which you are interested. Most shops have cutaway demo models so you can examine the insides, especially the heat sink and current limiting technology.
Before you buy a light bar at your local shop, however, be sure to check the manufacturer’s web site or online outlets such as Amazon or large automotive accessory distributors. These often have specials or large discounts that local shops cannot meet.
LED Light Bar FAQ
Making Your Decision
Hopefully, this guide has answered all or most of your questions about how LED light bars work, what kinds of features to look for and how to judge which model is best for your application. The LED light bar reviews here are good examples of the variety of products you can expect to find.
The good news is that if you are shopping for an LED light bar that there are plenty of manufacturers, styles, and capabilities to suit any need. The bad news is that too much choice can lead to decision paralysis.
If you are new to LED light bars and cannot take advantage of the advice of friends who already have them, then the best route is to start with smaller, less expensive light bars to get a feel for their capabilities. Also, study LED light bar reviews carefully. Finding manufacturers who offer 30-day hassle-free returns will minimize your risk.
More confident consumers, with this guide and some additional personal research, will be able to find the qualities and capabilities that fit within their budget more easily on the first try.
Whichever type of consumer you are, do your research and take advantage of the many online reviews available to make an informed decision.
