light bar price differences.

Im looking to get a light bar, and also fog lights for my new BAMF hybrid bumper. Looking hard at Diode dynamics for fog lights. Possibly looking to run a amber SAE fog light, a white combo light, and then the SSC2 in white facing more outwards toward the ditch in the bumper. But looking at the 30 inch light bar for the middle, the price difference is crazy between brands. For a DD 30 inch is only around 320, but for a Heretic, rigid, or Baja, its around 800+... so, why are DD a leader in Fog lights with comparable prices to others, but yet the others are twice the price and more for a light bar of equal size? what are the differences, and why would i go with one over the other? thanks

 

Not sure if you seen the write up .
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/

 

yes, ive been reading through that, which is what made me look into diode dynamics. Was originally looking at baja and heretic. But pricing the light bars, the prices are dramatically different

 

I bought Diode Dynamics 18" LED Light bar and been pretty happy with it. The nice option with Diode Dynamics is that you can change the lens colour from clear to amber or driving lens to wide later on.

 

You get what you pay for, for the most part.

My Rigid lights have only ever been out output'ed by a Baja Designs of almost 2x the cost.

Some lights might be close in brightness but the seals and lenses aren't as good or they don't have the same quality of coatings or protections such as under voltage over voltage, short circuit, wrong polarity, or A/C protection, warranty, repairability etc etc.

For instance I have one Rigid pod I bought used the previous owner had cut off the sealed deutch connector to use a more common one unfortunately and condensation built up and killed one diode but the other 5 still work and it's still brighter and more useful than most other pods, few other lights are circuited up like that, if one diode fails it takes out the whole light usually.

Another major consideration is the actual lens, on the Rigids they're high quality polycarbonate, they've got pretty good scratch protection for polycarbonate, and I have had mine on my truck for several years now and they still look brand new, a guy at work I noticed put a light bar on his truck and within 6 months the lens was beginning to yellow and the body was being to fade and chalk, the paint was chipping and the aluminum underneath was corroding as well as his has considerable condensation inside and I know my truck sees more direct sunlight and offroad use than his.

So yes there's more to an expensive lightbar than just paying for the name.

Don't cheap out on lighting especially if you plan to depend on it.

Now that said my rear facing lights are cheaper as I don't depend on them like I do my forward lights but they are still good.

I scooped most of my lights up via group buys, discounts and used sales which is how I have the amazing lights that I do on my truck without breaking the bank.

So it really depends on how much you feel you need the light and how severe the use is going to be.

If it is just for the look get whatever and just maintain it, maybe repaint it with better paint etc. If you feel you need the light or will depend on it working and lighting the way at speed at night there is in my opinion no substitute for Rigid and Baja Designs.

 

From my understanding, the DD ss3 pods TIR optics and build are a bit more advanced than the light bars. I had an 18in bar before in the driving pattern and it was awesome. Great focus without much stray glare, but i wasnt a fan of the 6000k leds. Too much eye strain. I now run their ss3 pro pods with the driving optic and i did the clear lens swap on the yellow lamps so i have 4000k color. They are awesome and very easy on the eyes. Super bright and focused. I run them wired to my high beams and they are all the light i need for distance. I also run ss3 pro fogs in yellow for near field which are also a ton of light with a very wide spread.

 

Check out VIVID LUMEN and use my code: TONYA20 for 20% off. They have a wide variety of light bars and pods. Even sell LED bulbs. They also have a "switch-pro" variant at a good price.

 

If it helps you decide, I have DD 30" hidden light bar in combo white. It is just a little brighter than my stock high beams, but throws the light wider. I am satisfied with the purchase.

 

Mounting location also has a huge effect on lights. The higher up the more effective. I ran the 18inch DD in the lower grill and now i run the pods behind my upper grill with cutouts. Pretty big difference. I bet that 30inch bar would work better higher up, even if partially blocked by a grill. On second thought..depends which grill you run lol

 

Rigid all the way man!

Headlights:
Hikari Ultra LEDs on High and Low in factory projectors.
Fogs:
Rigid 360 SAE in Yellow with Rigid Toyota trim kit
+ Rigid Dual 6" SAE SRs in Yellow on custom mounts and separate switch
Driving bar in grille:
Rigid 30" Driving/Spot combo bar with trimmed Pro grille.
Ditch lights:
Rigid Dually Side Shooters on Meso mounts
Roof bar:
Rigid 40" curved RDS spot beam on Rough Country OEM rack mounts with KC hidden wire channel
Mirrors:
Meso puddle light and button kit (love this set up).
Clear Lamix on everything.
All run on new AuxBeam 8 button kit with auto dimming (surprisingly great product).

 

It must get extra dark where you live.

 

Sort of. I park on barrier beaches and light up surf breaks 500+ yards out with the bars for night surfing when all the tourists leave. Its works amazingly well and the second battery will run for a few hours with the engine off. The selective yellow fogs really help in late night winter blizzard driving on Maine-NH-VT trips between mountains.

 

More hacked grilles in here that I’ve seen in any other thread. Props

 

I have DD ss3 and there series 2 as reverse lights
I put a 30 ish inch light bar hidden and I used rough country moderately priced and have no issues in the past year its been almost a year already since I installed it
Just another option for you

 

DD fogs are made in USA and the Max is actually the most expensive fog light option at ~$550, compared to the other brands around $350-400. They're all competitively priced since they're all made in USA and feature the brands highest tech. DD is the current leader since no one has a fog light that can match their light output/intensity currently, but you'll have to dish out extra cash if you want the best.

For light bars, DD is made in china where as Heretic, Baja, KC, and Rigid are made in USA. They also don't have the latest technology that their fog uses. This is why they're substantially lower in price. If DD ever decides to incorporate the optic and led emitters from their Max fogs, and made them domestically, they would be around the same price as the other high end big brands.