The Frankenstein Build! LT/Expo/Trail rig..and BS

Yeah, figured it was Chinese. The curved shape was intriguing too. Might fit better than a straight bar. You know how the '01-'04 nose is rounded. Not a lot of depth available at the apex of that curved nose.

At about 600 feet, the LFs are 2 ~20' discs of light. I think it would be cool to have a well lit road surface from 100' out to 400' and at least as wide as the trees illuminating the sides of most FS roads.

 

The LFs don't do that? I'm confused..you say they are spots at 600. What are they for the 100-400?

No idea how the curved will fit. It does mount from the ends so not sure it'll line up with the predrilled holes.

For sides, seriously, the best bet is dedicated ditch lights.

 

love the new sig gif

 

Haha thanks

 

I'm not doing ditch lights. No offence to others who like then, but I don't. I wont put those or side mirror lights on the redhead. Besides, I am not referring to lighting up into the trees on the side of the road. What I meant to say was "...at least as wide as the trees lining the sides of most FS roads."

So all this gets away from my original question. What is the best way to compare the various bars based on light performance if I can't rely on the information always supplied (lumens) by the light bar sellers?

 

Mike, have you tried the combo or flood pattern on the LF's? I run a clear spot cover on my drivers side 170 and a combo pattern cover on my passengers side 170... Helps spread that hyper spot of the 170 out. Plus you can twist the whole reflector of the 170 like a mag light and spread the light out!

Edit: also, i love the fill i get in front of me directly from the rigid dually's.

Edit: also, also, reeeno403 has the visionx canons and loves them, and he came from the lf170's...

 

I'm not sure what the combo filter looks like. I have 2 clear covers and 2 amber covers. One of the amber covers has ribs in it, the other amber is like the clears except it is amber. No patterns in those 3 lenses.

I cant remember ATM which side the amber/ribbed on is on right now but I have played with them. The ribbed one does spread the light a bit on that side. I have also rotated the housings to change the focus but all it seems to do is thin out the light.

edit: Are these the ones you are talking about? http://www.visionxusa.com/product/led/6-7-50-watt-led-light-cannon/

 

Yea those are what i'm talking about. I was going to go with two of those but...so spendy for me at the time

Yea if the cover is ribbed just in the middle with a bit of clear around the edge it's a combo filter. If the whole thing is ridged then it's a full flood cover.

 

Yeah, the visionx canons are spendy aren't they.

I have one of these.



The other yellow has no patterns in it.

 

that's a combo pattern. It took me a while parked in front of walmarts concrete wall at night to get mine setup good...

 

I've done that too. Maybe I will revisit this. How far away from the wall were you?

 

The thing with LED bars is you can't totally know with cheap brand stuff. Only higher quality and expensive stuff will provide you with the data you need.

But you can look at the LED chips they us. Crees are better. And if they use a reflector type setup or real optics. Optics will usually be better on dual rows.

I still want those led canons...

I know you don't like the ditch lights. But I miss understood you on the width.

Id also switch to the clear filters. The yellows will knock down the output a bit.

 

Monte, what beam pattern is your bar? Im liking this ATP led bar and would like a second opinion.

It has 8 degree spot and 90 degree floods on the end.

ATP 40" Curved CREE LED Light Bar for Off Road Trucks ATV UTV with Wiring Harness and Mounts

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MX8U7B4...UTF8&colid=ZD1EUKK2CK5R&coliid=I1OY766V96PU8L

 

My bars do not have optics, just the internal reflectors because they are very cheap. And that's fine for me since I use mine as just fill lights anyways.

That bar looks fine too me. Nothing crazy. It is curved and has the wider optics outside so I bet the spread is great. But that's common with LED bars anyways. No idea how the distance will be but it is 240w so it'll be plenty of light.

 

I just backed up from the wall until I felt like it was where I wanted the light to be best focused distance wise. Was quite a ways from the wall though, maybe 100'+?

 

Im more interested in the 8* vs typical 30* spot. I generally like the 30* but the throw distance leaves much to be desired. I hope the 8* would give me some good distance.

 

There is so much more info needed to determine that. How well the optic works mainly. It'll work better I'm sure but idk how much better.

 

Thanks Marc, I'll give that a try this weekend.

Is the light output diminished by the clears? Might be just a tad but certainly not as much as the ambers. No clear combo filter.

I don't think it would be a good idea to run with no covers at all tho. I considered this for about a millisec.

 

No I'm saying ditch the Yellow ones for clear ones. Or blue.

 

What did i say? I understood what you were saying. No blue please.