Introduction

For most Truck and SUV owners one of the first modifications is a good quality LED Light Bar. Light bars will brighten up the road ahead and can come in handy especially while off roading or driving down a dark country back road where their might be more cows than people.

LED Light Bars are very simply designed while still serving a very important purpose and they come in all kinds of sizes ranging from just a couple of inches to several feet in length.

The most popular LED Light Bar sizes come in 6 inches, 12 inches, 20 inches, 24 inches, 30 inches, 40inches and 50 inch long led light bars. Of course there are many other dimensions available aside from the above stated sizes, but those are the most popular and commonly found sizes.

The best LED Light Bars will produce well over 30,000 lumens of light intensity, and to put that into perspective for you, the average halogen headlight produces 1,500 lumens and basic HIDs produce around 3,500 lumens. Light bars give you an incredibly brighter and broader field of vision at night. LED lifespan is usually 50,000 hours or more.

 

 

Know your local LED Light Bar Laws

Many states have laws regarding high-intensity lights and these light bars in almost all cases will blind drivers of oncoming traffic, especially when not properly installed or adjusted. So make sure you know you’re local laws before purchasing or using an LED Light Bar. 

The last thing you want to do is cause an accident or get an illegal equipment ticket from your local law enforcer. Fines could costs thousands depending on the area you live in.

 

Most Common Light Bar Applications

• Off-Roading: For all the 4×4 owners, off-roading is usually a activity everyone enjoys to participate in. When you’re off the road at night there are no roadway lines, signs or street lights to help guide you. Along with the wildlife that sometimes appears in front of you out of nowhere. All these conditions will be much easier to tackle with a good LED Light Bar. In fact Off Road LED Light Bars are arguably the most common.
• Night Time Driving: While you’re driving down the darkest roads, especially in the country where wildlife is abundant having a broader and brighter field of vision is very beneficial. Just don’t forget to turn your light bar off so you don’t blind the random car or two that might drive by.
• Emergency Situations: These are the “red, white and blue” light bars that are used for police, first responders and firefighters that let other drivers know to move out of the way. Also there are yellow ones that are mostly used for roadside assistance vehicles and tow trucks.
• Boating and Marine: Of course while you’re out at sea or cruising down the river in the dark lighting is very important. Marine professionals highly recommend a bright LED Light Bar to help with docking and taking the boat out of the water after a fun day on the water. Many people mount the light bar on the back of their truck in these situations.
• Heavy Duty Equipment/Construction: Many commercial vehicles these days such as snow plow trucks, tow trucks, road side assistance and power company bucket trucks benefit greatly from the extra bright LED lighting. If you’re in a colder climate that gets a lot of snow you can relate and have probably found yourself tailing a plow truck well the snow covers the roads.
• Home/Garage/Backyard Use: There are many work lights that utilize a mini led light bar which can be used for many things, such as parties, working under your truck, while your remodeling your home or whatever else that might require some bright lighting.

 

Types of Truck LED Light Bars

• Mini light bars or LED light pods usually contain no more then 8 LEDs and find their uses as fog lamps, side lights, spot lights or portable work lights. These come in handy if you’ve broken down on the side of the road.
• Low-profile light bars range between 6 to 20 inches long and usually have a single row of LEDs. These are usually mounted in a truck grill or below the bumper to help provide supplemental lighting while driving at night.
• Full-size light bars range from 20 to 60 inches in length and may have one, two or even four rows of LEDs arranged in a rectangular pattern. These use the most power and require sturdy mounts, no double sided tape here.
• Off-road light bars consist of any of the above and are built of the highest quality standards. They need to standup to the most extreme temperatures, shocks, vibrations and harsh environments.

 

Most Popular Places to Mount Light Bars

A professional installation is always recommended so that you do not void vehicle warranties. Legally, a vehicle manufacturer cannot void the warranty on a vehicle due to an aftermarket part unless they can prove that the aftermarket part caused or contributed to the failure in the vehicle (per the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act (15 U.S.C. 2302(C)) Learn More Here

• On top of the roof near the windshield
• On top of the roof near the rear window
• Hidden inside the front grill
• Mounted directly onto the front bumper
• On the mirrors
• Behind the tailgate
• Inside fog lights

 

Measuring Truck LED Light Bars besides in Inches

Yes, there is more to light bars, then just shape and size. Below are the other important characteristics to consider before buying.

• Color temperature: The best way to render colors correctly at night is for the LED light temperature to be near 5000k. When using a hotter temperature, such as 6000k or more it will start inducing eye fatigue and could even do damage to your eyes after prolonged exposure. These hotter colors appear more blueish-white.
• Brightness: The most accurate way to measure a lights brightness is by effective lumens. Some manufacturers will rate their LED light bars in raw lumens. To get the effective lumens number then multiply the raw lumens number by 0.8.
• Input voltage: The best LED light bars are manufactured to work within a wide range of voltages. This operating range is usually between 9 to 30VDC.
• Intrusion protection: This is known as “IP Ratings” and this measures the LED light bar’s resistance to accidental contact, moisture and small dirt particles. Most LED light bars sold online have an IP68 rating while there are IP ratings ranging from IP65-IP69k. The higher the IP rating, the more durable the LED is.
• Light efficiency: Lumens per Watt is means to measure efficiency. The higher the number, the higher the LED quality. Many of the better selling light bars are rated at 30,000 lumens or more.
• Beam configuration: The four different configurations for light bars is diffuse beams, flood beams, spot beams and combo beams. Combo beams are flood and spot functions mixed together. The width of the beam is measured in degrees, the higher degree is a wider beam and the lower degree is a narrower beam.

 

4 Ways to Evaluate Truck LED Light Bars before Buying

Here are some of the most important areas for evaluating the quality of the best  LED light bars.

Heat and Current Management

An LEDs worst enemy is too heat. An overheated LED can have it’s lifespan cut short by up to 90%. Excessive heat overdrives the LEDs with too much current. Some of the cheap led light bars are known to do this just to improve brightness. Answer the questions below while comparing LED light bars before you buy.

• Is there enough airflow within the light bar housing to dissipate heat?
• Are the circuit boards made with a copper core, which helps reduce heat?
• Are there large heat sinks made of aluminum with proper fins integrated into the housing?
• If LEDs brighten or dim with voltage changes then cheap LED drivers have been used and this will shorten the lifespan of the light bars LEDs.

Wiring

The cheaper low quality light bars come with short thin wiring and often no connectors. The best light bars have plenty of length in their wiring along with a thicker gauge wiring harness that includes a heavy-duty switch, a relay, fuse box and waterproof connectors.

Brackets

Cheap LED light bars often don’t even come with mounting brackets and when they do, often they are not very sturdy causing the light bar to move around too much. This can cause the light bar to break it’s wires or even fall off all together.

The best light bars available on the market will come with sturdy mounting brackets that are made of stainless steel and are adjustable. Stainless steel will last longer then cheaper options. The mount is designed to be a vibration damper to keep the light bar riding smooth while you’re riding down rough trails or driving on a pot hole ridden road.

Warranty

If you plan to drive your truck for years to come then a good warranty is important to protect you light bar investment. The best LED light bar manufacturers will back their product by at least a 10 year up to a lifetime warranties. Each company is different and most warranties are not “bumper to bumper”. Always double check to understand exactly what the warranty covers.

 

High Quality LED Light Bar Example

Vision X is a highly rated manufacturer of the best LED light bars on the market. They have a large array of light bars to choose from for every application imaginable. Even the U.S. Border Patrol and NASA uses these.

The Vision X Xmitter Low Profile Xtreme is just one example of the high quality well-built light bars they have to offer. It is a low-profile, single-row light bar that comes in 8 different lengths ranging from 4-50 inches. It uses the highest quality 5W LEDs available that output nearly 500 effective lumens each.

Their Pulse Width Management LED drivers are the best in the industry and even allow the use an external PWM integrated dimmer control. The Xmitter Xtreme utilizes both electronic and mechanical thermal management known as ETM for maximum LED life and brightness. These light bars are available in beam widths of 10- or 40-degree beam with exceptional forward penetration.

Conclusion

 

While the cheap LED light bars appear to be equal in quality to that of the top rated ones, they often cut too many corners in important areas causing pre-mature failure. The component deficiencies will put added pressure on other parts significantly shortening the cheap LED light bars lifespan.

As with anything higher quality means a higher price. But that doesn’t mean you cannot find a good value. Using the information we’ve provided above should allow you to find the best LED light bar that will fulfill your needs. If you’re driving on smooth surfaces and only plan to use a light bar here and there for convenience than a cheaper option could be right for you. But if you’re planning to go off-roading alot and you put a beating on your vehicle now, then you’ll likely want to spend a little more money to cover all of the areas of concern mentioned above.

 

Be sure to check out the related posts below for more great LED Light Bar reviews.

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