Has anyone jumped from Cali raised to a better led bar??

I just installed the amber Cali raised led bar on my prinsu rack.

I Mainly got it for looks and didn’t have high expectations however I’m curious if anyone has made a jump to the better led bar like baja design or heretic and seen a major difference .

I couldn’t justify the price right now but can maybe convince myself later down the road.

Comments of brand or pics would be great

 

Ouch. The open bucket reflector glare off the hood is just awful, greatly reducing night distance vision which is counter to the entire purpose of having a light bar. Exactly why that kind of product should never be roof mounted. CaliRaised is low quality and low performance, any name brand product will be significantly better. However, the only products you should roof mount are ones with focus to eliminate hood glare, so you are not blinded by your own lights and can actually see better, since that is what you are paying for. The only type of products that can do that use TIR optics, or reverse reflector optics, aka Diode Dynamics, Morimoto, or KC Gravity. Anything else that puts out significantly more light like Baja, is just going to blast your hood with that much more light, further limiting your vision, despite having more light output than your cheap china bar.

Just for fun, you might find post #362 interesting, comparing a cheap Chinese bar (similar to CaliRaised) to a real name brand.

 

I had a bunch of cali raised stuff. But the guy above me made me buy good lights. I'd recommend listening to what he says. @CaliRaisedLed is just rebranded Chinese junk

 

"Made you buy"... I just showed you what good lights actually were and how pathetic yours were by comparison.

 

I just bought Cali raised roof rack and diode dynamics 43” bar

havnt gotten either

 

If you’re just buying a light for looks and an occasional use of the bar in the woods or something than i see no reason to spend lots of money. But if you’re actually going to use it alot then go with DD. I have three different light kits from them and they work as intended. I do have BD for my ditch lights and the main reason is that i like the way there wire comes out of the lights its cleaner with no bulky plug visible. As the old saying is. You get what you pay for

 

I have a onx6 Baja designs bar in my lower grill and it is superior to any similar caliraised light bar.
Build quality and how focused/intense the light pattern is better.
I did a direct comparison with a friends truck on a trip to ocotillo wells.

my onx6 also survived a 40mph crash into a Prius. Almost no damage, mostly cosmetic lol

Mine is about 5 years old now and still works like new

is it worth the extra $?
If you frequently go wheelin at night, yes.

for mall crawling and an off road trip 3 times a year, no.

 

Speaking from personal experience, I started with a CaliRaised 32" double row all driving pattern light bar and brackets to mount it behind the lower grill of my 2014 TRD Sport when I first bought it. (I was younger and dumber then.) Everything fit and it put out a decent amount of light, but it just seemed to blow light everywhere instead of straight ahead as I expected with an all driving pattern. I also noticed that the black finish on the bar started coming off in sheets after less than a year. Then I got educated on what really makes a quality light here on TW.

I re-used the CR brackets, but installed a Diode Dynamics 30" single row all driving pattern bar. (And yes, it cost more money.) Man, what a difference. Not only did the single row DD bar put out more light than the double row CR bar, but the pattern was also 100% better / tighter. Sure, if all I wanted was a flood pattern bar to illuminate a camp site, the CR bar would probably have been fine - if it actually survived the test of time.

I used the DD bar for 5 years until I sold the Tacoma to buy a new 4Runner. I couldn't install the DD bar in the T4R due to the forward safety sensor, so I went with DD SS5's instead. The DD bar then went on to live in the lower grill of my son's 2013 Scion tC on a set of custom made brackets. It's still there and working great. The CR bar? Sold it at a garage sale for $20.

 

Hey @N minus 1, Thanks for the recommendation. If that light bar ever does start to cause an issue, reach out to us and get it fixed under its Lifetime warranty.
Best,
Brandon

 

It's worth mentioning that customer service like this is why you buy from brands like Baja designs. I have Baja and KC on my truck and you can feel the difference in build quality as soon as you pull them out of the box.

 

This is great to hear. If you or anyone on the TW forum need anything feel free to reach out to me a brandonk@bajadesigns.com.
Best,
Brandon

 

You stole my credit card actually

 

I've got a cali raised led light bar, harness and switch that's been sitting on the shelf in the garage for about 5 years. I never installed it. There wasn't much available in that price bracket at the time. I've looked at the Diode Dynamics light bars, but the Baja designs offerings are a step above. That said, I love my Diode Dynamics SS3 Max fogs and will probably pick up a set of the DD SS3 pro ditch lights from hotshotoffroad before the sale ends on 12/3.

 

5 years on the shelf is a long time...time for a new home . I am looking to pick one up.

 

Reviving an old thread. But did you use the same wiring harness that was installed for the Cali Raised light bar or replace it with a DD harness? I’m getting ready to upgrade and wondering if I should just plug my DD 30” into the Cali harness? Thanks!

 

I built my own harness and used it with both bars. If I had to choose between a CR and a DD harness, I'd take DD hands down.

 

Nice job building your own.
It does seem kinda counterintuitive to upgrade the bar and not use the harness from DD. thanks for the feedback.