Just how bad can a cheap light be?

So this.... https://www.amazon.ca/TURBO-8820lm-..._2?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1471908862&sr=1-2
is $66 Canadian... vs nearly $1,000 for a similar light from Rigid. I know the Rigid lights are the state-of-the-art but are they really that much better?

 

OSRAM is certainly a good semiconductor and lighting manufacturer. Dunno about their bars, but we used to buy their LEDs and display chips

 

The 4 LED pods and the 30" bar on my truck are all cheapos off of Amazon. Never had a problem and they're nice and bright! Maybe not as bright as Rigid, but they serve my purposes well.

 

My buddy has a Polaris Rzr that he put cheap led bars on. Been 7 months and they both have condensation all on the inside of the lense. It makes his bad ass Rzr look cheap as hell.

That doesn't mean all cheapo led bars are going to do that tho.

 

The optics and overall build quality is where Rigid has these other bars beat. Not to say Rigid isn't without fault, they are just better quality overall. Plus, they use better components for their drivers which matters because shitty drivers will kill emitters and leave you with dead LED chips.

Personally, I'd rather spend the money for Baja Designs and never touch them again.

 

i live 30 miles out in the middle of the ocean and salt air is killer to every thing and i got a cheap Amazon special no problems yet.

 

Do you just keep your truck on a boat or something?

 

I put a couple cheap eBay light bars in the grill of my '13. They went through two western New York winters with no problem.

If I recall it was $35 for two 7" light bars.

 

No i live on an island called Nantucket its off Cape Cod. I live right next to the ocean tho and the salt just eats every thing.

 

He lives in nantucket. I guess it's an island. Have you heard the poem about it?

 

Damn, just looked at a map. You weren't kidding about being in the middle of the ocean!

 

Yeah man boat or plane only way off. it not to bad tho a lot of beach to drive on and plenty unpaved roads.

 

I don't care who makes the light..I'd still try to help prevent condensation by checking/adding gaskets and/or silicone.
The ebay lights (auxbeam& xenlight) give plenty of light for me and cost 1/20th the price of some of these "brand name" lights.

 

Thanks everyone... I was hoping it would get shot down and I would just be able to justify the Rigid... sigh!

 

Did I say they're great? Damn autocorrect. I MEANT to say these things suck and you should totally buy the rigids

 

We just saved you money!!

Buy beer. More importantly, buy us beer. Who's with me?

 

I will be honest, I have been looking closely at the Aux Beam stuff, only the 4D optics though. For the money it might be worth trying, even if you have to seal them up better or they slightly underperform.

 

i have rigids on my truck. the largest difference isnt the optics, its the housing. we put them on our class 1 car and they can survive a 100mph crash with a boulder and still work. its actually one of the only things we rarely replace since they take such a beating.

that being said......i dont see 99.999% of people needing a literally bulletproof housing. if you crash at that speed, you have bigger issues to worry about. they are overpriced and worth every penny...but do you NEED them? no. the rest of my LEDs will be Amazon specials. the rigids ill save for the toys

 

Well said!