LED bars and pods are the latest hot item, and for good reasons. High light output, minimal wiring, small and easily mountable, etc.
Prices range from mega $$$ to minimal $. I'm sure some of the price difference is because now that they've been around for a minute prices are starting to drop, but I've always been a firm believer in "you get what you pay for", and with the influx of brands on eBay and Craigslist I'm sure some are simply cheap knock-offs of quality brands.

So...what's the scoop? Brands to go for/avoid? "Extras" than are necessary such as relays and such? Styles that are better than others?...such as "Cree", which I recently learned is something to do with the lens and not a name brand.

Share the knowledge.

 

I bought a set of 16W 3" pod lights from http://www.kawelldeal.com/ for $39.99 & wiring harness with relay & switch for $13.99. I honestly didn't even want pod lights but my JCR bumper had cutouts for them and I didn't like the look of the bumper with 2 big blank squares cut out. My lack of wanting them is why I spent so little, but now I'm glad I did.

Anyway, install was easy, lights are bright, harness was of a really thick gauge wiring and now I'm glad I have them. Way better than I expected them to be for that price. The brackets that connect to the lights were sort of a pain to line up correctly but for a total of $53.98 I can't complain.

 

I have been running a 50" light bar for the past year from Amazon by a company called Eyourlife. So I can only speak for my experience with their 50" light bar.

For $120. Worth it. However, they're more than likely gonna break at some point.

The light it puts out is beyond remarkable. They definitely do what they are intended to do..bring day to night. I was very impressed. The overall construction was a aluminum body with plastic lense and end caps. Included are two aluminum mounts for you to mount however you want. It all feels very hefty.

Here's where you should pay attention. They are not waterproff. Moisture will collect inside of the lense. This ultimately will lead to its death. My freind's ultimately went out rather quickly after a few heavy rains. Only two LEDs would light in the corner of the bar. Eyourlife replaced it for free and returned our email rather quickly that night. I was very pleased with their customer service. He got a new one within a week or so.

So two weeks in and one bar down. Mine still worked.

I took off the end caps, RTV'd them, and put back together. Did this help? I think so. I ended up swapping it out before it went bad so I have no idea with it sitting in storage. I was chipping ice off it with a small hammer (dont ask) this past January and ended up cracking the lens in the process . Went out a few weeks later. I swapped with my friend's bar with the flood spot flood beam pattern after he decided to not run one anymore, he had the same brand as well.

So three months in we went throught two. One because it sucked, the other because of the hammer incident.

I've had my second for awhile now with moisture starting to accumulate on the inside 6 months in and I'm just waiting for somethng to happen. So far so good. Been going about 12 months now with the current.

My opinion on cheap light bars? If it lasts a year and then goes out, big whoop. I spent $120 for a 50" bar. I think I got my moneys worth. Better than dishing $1200 for a name brand. I will admit its annoying to have to deal with two going out and what not amongst my friend and I. Kind of not cool.
Obviously they aren't the most durable. But hey, they're affordable and if you live in a dry climate, I dont see why they wouldn't do just fine.

 

Subbing to see responses.

 

Both good write ups, thanks fellas.
I don't see the immediate need for a huge light bar, but maybe someday. I am thinking of getting some of the flush mount pods to recess in my stock bumpers since aftermarket bumpers are out of the budget for now.

Maybe I'll give some cheapos a shot. Like Kevin said, for the cost, "big whoop" if they go out after a year. And water issues are basically a non-issue around here, but I'll check to see if I can seal them a little better anyway.

 

i have got 2 cube lights from amazon eyourlife brand. they are a spot beam. very good for what i do with them. I have them pointed into the ditch for animal eyes. I have a 7" on the winch roller. very good for what it does. i do not get or expect any sort of range from any led bar. similarly priced hids will alway have more range, across the entire price range. end of story. i have 6 hids. 2 for mid/long range, and 4 for extreme range.

 

Having ran with guys with tons of $$ in their lights and very little in mine, I think longevity is really the only difference. A set of LED pods off Ebay is like 30$ compared to ridiculous amounts for rigids and the like. You could not tell the difference in brightness 99% of the time. As mentioned before, it is the water-proofing that seems to be where the cheaper ones eventually fail. Might be a year, might be 3 but they will fail. Considering you could buy 10 sets to 1, I'll stick with the cheapies

Another aspect to me is how often are you actually going to NEED them... ive only needed mine a couple times and would rather put $$$ where it counts.

 

The best brand to me and the highest price is http://www.rigidindustries.com/ More budget brands that don't suck http://www.inspired-engineering.com/default.asp and http://olympusoffroad.3dcartstores.com/ as far as mounts i got a long list from a pillar pod mounts to mirror mounts to led bars across the windshield or roof mounted.

 

I'm pretty sure they have been around for more than a minute. Like a long time. Anyway, I was going to order a cheapy off amazon for my birthday by decided I need injectors more so I will wait

 

well i got this amazon bar today for the tow pig, quite bright, it'll do the job for what i need on this truck. im not gonna spew some nonsense how its just as bright as a 1000$ bar, but i will say, i would have paid 250$ and not felt bad about it. there is visible silicone seals around the edges and at the seams from the factory, i think it wont get any water intrusion.
its gonna be interesting to see how it does against my array of air raid lights on the xj.

 

Most of the cheaper ones are ip67 which is water resistance,The better ones are ip68 which are water proof.

 

good info. if you live in a place with lots of rain, get a higher priced one (read good). If you live in the desert(like me), ip67 will do just fine.
but it is good to know there is a difference.

 

Ip 67 is fine for rain 68 includes submersion testing rather than just splash testing.

 

I bought a generic 28" bar off of eBay about a year ago and I'm pleased so far. I think I paid just under a 100 for it. It's one of those "Cree" led bars. I also used a pre-made wiring harness that had a relay on it and wired it directly to the factory fog light switch. Looks pretty sleek on my bumper

 

So Cheap, how can you say NO


(4) small LED's $29.99

A friend has these and has had a couple of small sets, he said these rock in comparison.

(1) 52" LED $68.25