best / cheapest light bar

Hi does anyone know what would be the best light bar (preferably roof mounted) for my 4 door 2002 Toyota Tacoma?

thanks

 

Best and cheapest are highly opposing directions.

 

if you have any recommendations, regardless of price that would be awesome too lol

 

Theres a brand on Amazon called NiLight. Way cheaper than any of the overpriced brands. The 20" has worked well for me over the past few years but they have a ton of different sizes

 

Whatever you do, don't get tricked into FCK. Just sayin'

 

I have Nilights as well. Love them. been on my rear bumper for 2 years now, no leaking, fogging or yellowing. So cheap its hard not to put them everywhere

 

Here's cheap: https://www.lightingever.com/catalogsearch/result/?form_key=aZS7rvOqKlFt3fj8&q=truck

 

Can’t remember my brand but check Amazon and read the he’ll out of the reviews. Some aren’t as waterproof as they say

 

what size nilight fits on the roof the best?

 

The link just takes me to Amazon, do you know which specific light you have, including the length of it?
?

 

what brackets are you using?

 

Something like Baja Designs will have vastly superior output and much better whiter light and last longer than cheap Amazon/eBay bars which don’t put out much by comparison and are very blue in color, which is poor for night vision contrast. Human eyes cannot focus on a blue light source so most people look at a blue light bar and think it is exceptionally bright, when if you measure the output they often are not. That said many do not use their light bars that often as you cannot run them on the street with other vehicles, so a high quality bar like Baja Designs often isn’t worth the investment to many.

 

The NiLight brand is actually a pretty good quality of light. And for the price Ill run it until it dies, throw it in the trash, buy another one, and repeat 4-5 times before I even get close to the cost of a "name" brand.

Theres a lot of over-hyped over-priced equipment in the offroading industry/ community/ whatever (and Ive fallen for some of it.) But LED bars are one thing that really gets me. Its just not worth the extra money imo To each their own though

 

Roof mounted lightbars are by far the "best" light you can get because of the perspective. The higher the light source is off the ground, the smaller the shadows, and the farther down the road the light is projected.

It depends on the type of driving you do if this type of light makes sense for you.

If you're hauling balls in the desert and need to see 6 miles ahead of you, get a lightbar on the roof, and get a good one.

But...

If, you are like most people and just need a little extra visibility when wheeling at night with some friends, maybe consider a couple ditch lights instead. You can easily make (or buy) brackets that mount them to your hood hinges, and you can aim them off to the side, down towards the ground at your front wheel, etc... I know that when I drive at night, I like to see as far to the side as I can when going around tight corners (I don't have ditch lights - wish I did), whereas my headlights do a decent job facing forward.

Lightbars project a LOT of light, even the cheap ones. And if you are traveling in a group, you better be the lead rig, or you need to turn that crap off because you're blinding the rig in front of you, and you're probably going under 20mph. So even when you're off road you still need to be considerate of other drivers.

If you're going for the brolander look, by all means pick up a cheap lightbar. Hell you probably don't even need to wire it up, lol.

 

Amazon is definitely your best bet. I picked up a 42in curved about 4 years ago for 90 bucks. I haven't had any problems with leaking or LEDs going out. Hell it's even taken a hit from a decent size bird going 70mph.