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Thread: LED Lights

  1. #1
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    Default LED Lights

    Hoping to buy a Rhino bull bar, they quote some thing like $850 for led strip lights as an extra, to me that sounds excessive, would some thing like the attached be suitable. Wont be doing too much, if at all night 4 wheel driving but the vehicle is a Ranger whose high (and low beams) are sub normal

    The bull bar
    There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"



Look Here ->
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    I think you mean lightbar, as opposed to striplights which are like .

    Regardless, I wouldn't even consider a lightbar for $850 which is a blatant ripoff, as there are much cheaper alternatives, such as the one in your link.

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    Some are expensive allover...



    I'm with you and fandtm666
    Just get a cheap China set.
    No one will knock them.off that way.
    I found the 4WD Supacentre ones to be really heavy and draw way too much current.

    Have you considered some LED retro fitted lamps in your Ford Ranger headlights too?

    I put some in a Nissan D40, was a marked improvement over standard.
    Brighter and also matched the driving lights.
    Last edited by ol' boy; 22-09-18 at 10:36 PM.
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    I have bought a few of these Chinese Light bars and they have all been way over rated and don't have anything near the output they quote. That's not all together a bad thing though.
    the ones I have got have sill put out a shipload of light. The big one I got Which from memory is a 54" or something similar is awesome. I can't remember the wattage it actually draws but like the rest, they are all 1W LED's not the 3 or 5W they advertise. This bar is so damn bright, it's painful when it hits large road signs the way they reflect.

    As well as giving decent range, they also and more over looked give great spread. I's not the Roo you hit that's sitting there 500M down the road, it's the one that comes out right from your left that is the normal headlights blind spot. the light bars have a 180o or close to it spread of useful light. I think the big bar I got was supposed to be 210W or something but I'm actually glad it's not outputting that.
    It would be TOO bright on roadsigns and reflectors on teh highway.

    The other advantage to the things NOT being up to advertised spec is you can put them on a multimeter, show they draw 1/3rd of their rating and then get a partial refund if not a full one from the seller! :0)
    I would gaurantees they know the things are over rated ( as is all such things Chinese) but they will make out they don't and whatever and tell you some BS story.
    Last guy asked me if I was qualified to fit electrical accessories? I said yes, I'm an electrical engineer, what are your qualifications? I'm not but I clearly knew shitloads more about electricity than this dodgy little runt.

    Anyway, I got a refund and for the $32 I paid for the thing, I'm more than happy.
    I bought a could of smaller ones and have them on transformers for lighting up the yard for parties and when working outside at night. Same thing, 1/3rd the rating. Still good when you get them at 1'3rd the price via refund or you get them to send you another couple of lights in compensation.

    Mains LEDS from china like the floodlights are all the same too. !00W light is lucky to be actually doing 70W but they still light up the yard well.... especially when the 2nd one arrives you got them to send you as compensation for the first under rated one. :0)

    Fkem! They want to rip people off and play games, I can do that too and I hope other people reading this do too. Just claim on they are not as described and the sellers are pretty much stuffed and have to compensate you.

    Other than the lower than advertised rating, I have found the cheap light bars to be pretty good. they generally come with wiring for the electrically inept that makes them installing them easy although surprisingly they seem to include a harness long enough for mounting them on the front of a Ship and running back to the bridge. Only 4 Connections although they put half round terminals on the positive side which I could never seen anyone using but no big deal. I wire them up myself anyway the way I like to do them.

    The smaller 10" bars I got were pencil beam to the point of almost useless because they ran out of range before they had any worthwhile spread but still are good for a reversing and interior light in the enclosed trailer. I just bought a 24" I think it is for the wifes car as we have moved to the outskirts of the city now and there are no streetlights and lots of Roos, foxes, wombats and other creatures that haven't learnt to cross a road and it's a good light too. Would look a bit silly with a 54 across the front of her Subaru Sedan. The range and spread leaves the headlights for dead and she says she feels a lot more confident and safe with it on..... Plus she said lighting up idiots who pull out of side streets at night in front of her is so much more fun.

    My suggestion is go fairly large on the Lightbars because they will NOT be anything like rated unless you pay a fortune for them but they are still bloody good and represent excellent value for money when you get half or 2/3rd of what you paid back! If you stacked 2 of the medium ones, You could have a LOT of light in a pretty compact package.

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    Default LED Lights

    Be wary with the location you choose to place the lightbar, or any forward facing driving lights. It is against the ADR to have a forward facing light, such as a lightbar or driving lights, on the roof facing forward, except in states where an exception applies, or to specific users where an exception applies. Likewise, it is also against the ADR is have anything mounted to the top of a bullbar that protrudes.

    Those who frequent 4wd forums will find it is getting more and more common for people to be stopped and issued a defect for driving lights on the roof and on top of the bullbar.

    Something to be aware of during any install.

    I used to run a cheaper LED lightbar across the top of the bullbar, and an even longer one on the roof, but switched several years back to a better quality set of round LED driving lights only in the ‘normal’ position in the middle of the bullbar. The one on the roof (mounted under the roof rack) was simply too bright, and reflected too much on the bonnet, antennas and somehow managed to refract from the curvature of the windscreen straight into the cabin. It went very shortly after being installed. The one on the bullbar blocked vision slightly, but I find the round LED driving lights in the bullbar to be no less effective that the longer bar. It’s also safer and compliant.

    Edit: haven’t seen those Rhino bars before. They look pretty sleek, and mould nicely with the vehicle, but at the prices I’m seeing online they seem as expensive that an ARB Sahara bar equivalent!
    Last edited by peteramjet; 23-09-18 at 07:05 AM.

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    Oceanboy, the low beam bulb change is on the list to do, high beam from what i have read is a night mare to change
    There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"

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    Apart from Peteramjets advise about where to fit those 'Bar Lights', be wary of 'upgrading' your Headlights to anything other than what is approved for that make and model of vehicle, at least in NSW.
    The other States now seem to be getting picky about what you alter on a vehicle now and of course, remember what is legal in one State may not be another and could get your vehicle defected which would not be fun when you many Km's from Home.
    I stand unequivicably behind everything I say , I just dont ever remember saying it !!

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    Personally hate light bars....
    I knew a few lads that have bought these and are happy.

    Smaller and Lighter than the 4WD Supacentre ones, also a lot cheaper....

    Slimmer too



    Yes, please don't laugh at the specs, we all know it's rubbish.
    They are cheap and work and no one will cry if a roo hits them
    If u want to go on an expedition get a Land Rover, if u want to come home from an expedition get a Landcruiser!

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    those expensive LEDs are a major theft risk , as others have mentioned. I had a pair knocked off while parked on a job site in Dandenong , even with the expensive anti theft fittings added. Now i found the cheap ones work just as fine for the amount of times they will be used. I even got the cheap ones for free - the shop was throwing them out because they were blowing fuses. removed the side cover , found the cheap wiring insulation shorting out , replaced wire , back in service

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    Working in Dandenong, lucky the rest of the car was still there
    There is a fine line between "Hobby" and "Madness"

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    You do get what you pay for, but, you also must consider is where, when, and how much driving you do. Way back in the day, I had Cibie Super Oscars on the front of my car because I was up and down the Stuart Highway regularly. Now, I still do a lot of country driving, but the worst I am likely to encounter is a Roo. As has already been observed, it ain't the one you see that's the problem, it's the one you DON'T see. I have a set of cheapie led lights on my Hyundai which I have no hope of overdriving in South Aust given the open road limit is only 110kph. My Jackaroo has a couple of H1 Lightforce lights on that, but, again, it doesn't do too much night driving anyway. Provided that whatever you buy illuminates the road ahead, with a good spread so you can see what is hiding on the side of the road, you're laughing.
    I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...

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