Can you turn shit into gold? (light bar mod)

Long story short I'm in the market for a 30" light bar. Had a Chinese 50" on my old jeep that put out a decent amount of light but when compared to rigid or baja designs looked like shit. The issue that most people on the trail who aren't racing the 1000 or have a sponsored rig (including myself) run into is the price for these bars. We are talking about upwards of $1000 for a fuckin light..... which one can argue the whole American made blah blah blah shit but seeing as the LEDS themselves are outsourced it can't be impossible for a cheap quality light.

My idea came from reading this article...... http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/general-4x4-discussion/1073515-diy-hight-powered-led-light-bar.html

What I want to do is take something like this...
http://sidetrackedoffroad.com/tracker-series-single-row-led-light-bars.html

Pack it with quality leds, lenses, and drivers....still keep a ip67 water proofing standard but do it all for under $300.




Has anyone seen this done before? Any reasons why I shouldn't try it?

 

Subbed b/c I have a love hate relationship with Chinese LEDs and want to see where this goes

 

seatough led sells just the reflectors that are nicer and the 4D lenses to mod your own bar

 

I have one installed in my truck and have another brand new in the box. Its super bright no issues whatsoever.
KanSmart 5D Lens 32" 300W CREE LED Light Bar 28000LM Spot/Flood Combo Beam Super Bright Off-road Driving Lamp for ATV SUV UTE with Mounting Brackets &

$109.99

 

Subbed.

 

@mesojdm have a look. Any advice?

 

Black Oak puts out some American well made lights at a decent price

 

I have been thinking of trying this out.
I got shipped a damaged 52" bar from eBay (only 4 led's worked but rest of housing is good.) They shipped me a new one and told me to keep the damaged one.
I'd like to buy the insides or diy.

 

Would be a fun project, but don't expect great results without a lot of trial and error. For a few bucks more you could get one all assembled a little better quality and leave it alone. Trying to retrofit a cheap bar may be more difficult then you think. Quality LED's will need some heat sink, drivers, etc. But if you do, post it up!

 

Im thinking the exact same thing.

This doesn't seem like a worthwhile project.

Mid-tier led bars do exist. Black oak led like said above has some pretty good testimonials.

Stay away from the $50-100 Amazon china special, and then drop down from the "top tier" $800+ stuff.

Problem is finding LEGIT mid grade stuff....some of those cheap shit $100 bars get a jack in price by a reseller an suddenly you are paying $300 for the same thing.