LED 20" Light Bar Review.

There is a lot of focus around LED lights now days, and a lot of fuzzy information. For example, many folks see an LED light, on Ebay, or Amazon, and figure that, since it says it uses "Cree" LED's, that it must be just as good as a higher priced light, of the same size. Obviously construction is going to play a role in the cost. Most common is cast/extruded aluminum. Some, such as Heretic, use Billet Aluminum simply as a marketing tool, but at a higher cost. The quality of the Aluminum used may play a part in price, but I don't have the ability to compare material make up, so Im going to give my findings based on my own research.
First, there is more to an LED than just a name. Simply stating a light is a "Cree" LED is kinda like saying "I bought a Ford...". Well......Which Ford? Truck? Car? Tractor? You don't know.
Most lights off Ebay, or Amazon from a "No name" manufacture, use a Cree Xlamp MX-6. Its a bargain emitter, and puts out a decent light, but doesn't have the "throw" of a better emitter. The higher up you go in emitters, up goes the cost. When you look into the actual components that make up these less expensive lights, the more you find that you get what you pay for. However, in some cases, you DONT get what a manufacture may be charging you for. Ive put together a few light bars, and did a couple tests to see whats what. Here we go.......All the lights are the same "Driving Beam" pattern.
This is the area of street I did the test on:



First, a higher quality Chinese light, advertised at 8500 lumens output. You get a glass lens, and decent quality. A single reflector sheet is used, and it has an IP67 rating for water/dust intrusion.



The light has a good beam pattern, and a pretty wide spread of light up close. at 140 feet, It registered 435 Lux. A good light, but doesn't have the "throw" of a higher priced Light bar. Im not listing a price, as the prices are all over the map. You get a 1 year warranty most of the time, but good luck if you have to use it.




Next up, is the KC Hilites C20. Using Cree XBD LED's, its rated at 10,800 Lumens output. It uses a Lexan lens, and is IP67 ratted for water/dust intrusion. It uses a single piece plastic lens, with a nice Black cover over the exposed chrome parts, to give a cleaner look.





Light has a nice beam, with a little more throw than the Chinese light bar, albeit less flood up close. At 140 feet, it registered 510 Lux. MSRP is $523.58, and it has a "23 Year" warranty. However, if you open it up, the warranty is void. Sadly, the light is mostly made from parts imported from China.





Last, is the Baja Design 20" OnX6. Rated at 12,900 Lumens, and Using Cree XM-L2 LED's, they are near the top of the LED food chain. The light uses thicker material, screws and is much better sealed, and rated at IP69 for water/dust intrusion. More importantly, something that people don't think about, is that the wiring is rated for submersion as well. The Lexan lenses are user changeable, and doing so doesn't void the Lifetime warranty. MSRP is $769.95, and its mostly made in USA.




The light has a beam that doesn't photograph well. However, please notice the amount of visible objects off to the sides. The side illumination is stellar. Not only did this light out distance the other 20" bars, but it out distanced my entire light set up I had mounted. No combination of lights could illuminate further than 1/4 mile, however, this light not only did, but it clearly illuminated the side of a building that was at the end of the street. Photos couldn't pick it up, but I was surprised. If you look close, you can see that about everything was illuminated down the street. At 140 feet, it registered 795 Lux.





In the end, looking at a few things, I thought of this:
Warranty. Users ability to change lenses. Construction. Light output. And where predominately made. Considering these, the Baja Design light is clearly superior.



Special thanks to ColtsTRD for the help, and input during this review!

 

Sorry folks....didn't know it was locked.

 

I didn't have the means to get an accurate weight of the bars. The Chinese light I used was a Spot/Flood combo. The KC light uses a "diffused" reflector, while the Baja Design light uses the actual lens to give the desired light pattern. As for determining a light, With this review, I personally found that you don't need a 40" or 50" bar to get clean useable light. For one thing, Overhead bars give a shit load of glare from the hood, negating any distance vision you need at night. Yeah, they can put out a lot of light, but the glare kills your vision. Personally, Ive built my lighting system based on friends who have actually run night challenges, or events. Auxiliary lighting near eye level, giving peripheral illumination, with the distance light coming from the front. This gives no glare off the hood, and allows for my distance vision to be un affected.

 

The Chinese lights can be surprisingly good compared to KC, but you don't get build quality, ability to change the lenses, IP69 rating, or warranty. Those things are enough to justify the extra cost in my eyes.

 

I use a calibrated light meter from a photographer friend of mine. I can get the name if you like.

 

Total watts of the bars were:

Chinese bar = 120
KC C20 = 120
BD = 126

The Baja Design bar has a 6 watt advantage. Not enough to create that large of a gap in output. However, the quality/bin of the LED, driver board, reflectors, and lens affect total light output. BD claims to be the only manufacture that drives their LED's at the advertised wattage.

 

In most cases, they take the gross lumen ratting of a single LED, then multiply it by how many LED's they have. Then give that as the output. KC Hilites actually posts their findings in a PDF. The BD bar calculated out to be closer to 14,000 lumens than the 12,900 claimed. Kinda like underrating an engine. Its nice to see the numbers on paper, but a bonus to see they actually outperform whats advertised.

 

The VisionX is a good light, however, they are rated about half of what the BD bar is.