New HF Road shock edge lights

That second one looks best.

 

[devils advocate]this is particularly why i prefer shots against a wall like your first post--taken with the light at least 10 ft away. i know it would ruin the surprise on the auxbeam now, but flat-land shots, while showcasing distance qualities, are highly dependent on aim, and drastic differences in optics mean that they all can't be aimed the same, which leaves a ton of variables to the perception of the output. of course, wall shots leave some perception to the 'best' as well, but case in point, i can't go into as much detail on the flat-land shots simply because the optic patterns are now skewed across the ground.

while i trust you did you best for maintaining the same camera settings and test light angle, there are distinct differences in apparent optic angle of the output shown in pictures #1 and #4 that could be claimed that you intentionally miss-angled the reach of those to not look as good as shot #3. though i can understand in #1, as the optics aren't designed enough for the reach, and would result in a very dark image, it does skew the results nonetheless.

this is where taking light readings at specified intervals and creating a stand to ensure that each light is positioned identically can better articulate the focus of your intent to provide accurate data, while also showcasing the lesser quality of the lights optic packages.

also, posting your camera settings also goes a long way to replication of the testing for others-- either for similar lights, or adding additional lights to the comparison later[/devils advocate]

that said:
#1 knockoff
#2 hazard fraught
#3 baja designs
#4 auxbeam

what's interesting to me is how close the harbor freight is to the baja designs in terms of output pattern, and how poor the distance of the knockoff really is. the harbor freight is not exactly the same reach or spread, and it's definitely dimmer, but it's obvious time has been spent in some optimization. i wouldn't trust it for hardcore offroad, but to be 80% of the light for $340 less money, it's really only lacking in bd's 'zone 3', and 'zone 5' in a direct comparison. but recall-- most people installing it currently have nothing in those zones anyways, so any improvement can be significant, even if there's something better, it doesn't mean that having something where one previously had nothing is now worth $340 more of something. really, at $150, i'd just double up on the hf light, and expand zone 4 coverage...

the last test to showcase the non-obvious quality differences would require a thermal probe and a light output meter. take starting readings (ambient, surface front & rear, light output@ 20') run them under a bucket for 30 minutes, than take readings again, another 30 minutes, a second set of readings. then allow to cool for a day, then take new open-air readings.

you'll see the output drop across all of them, the knockoff will very likely even end up shutting off, if it doesn't desolder it's own led's and die. that's really where bd's extra $340 is going to-- the parts that can't be seen, but make a massive difference at the extremes.

 

All great points and I’d say wait till you watch the video if interested, the video in full screen will do a much better job in showing the differences. Stay tuned.

 

Video is up, it’s a long one.
https://youtu.be/KJhZQ--h4bw?si=1SvJsn-RrX1glCnG

Baja Design is still giving the best performance in terms of the distance, zone3 coverage, and the relatively warmer color temperature is much easier to my eyes.

HF outshines BD in terms of the fog pattern like low beam, it covers a much wider area but not as much for zone3 on the far side. and is less bright.

Amazon "LP6" knock offs, no visible spot beam, not great for close to vehicle coverage either.

Now after testing them all, I finally understand why the BD's real deal LP6 is appealing to lots of people amid the price tag. But if you are tight on the budget, I'd take HF over any AUXBEAM or "LP6" Knock offs all day.

 

maybe we can get crash to do a real test

 

I support lighting companies that advance vehicle lighting technology, not those that make knockoff products overseas of major brand lighting companies trying to undermine them. I don’t review knockoff products. I’ve done it once here in post #370, results were as expected, the Chinese knockoffs were exceptionally poor and failed to live up to their advertised claims and failed to match the performance of the product they tried to copy.

 

Just wanted to offer a helpful contribution to clarify a lot of the back and forth in this thread:

It was not my intention to antagonize or trash talk Baja Designs. If you have made it this far, you can see that the first question I had was "where is the LP4 made?". Since in this day and age there are a lot of Harbor Freight-esque companies who market there low-cost product as a good quality high value product, I quickly and incorrectly Jumped to the conclusion that the BD lights must have been made overseas when I received an answer that I perceived to be marketing and I immediately went on the offensive, when in reality, I asked a high level question and received a high level answer.

Baja designs went above and beyond in providing more detailed responses despite my being rude and disrespectful. They did so respectfully when they would have been more than justified in giving me a list of places I could go or things I could do to myself.

IMO, it is abundantly clear that BD makes a top notch light and the cost is justified not only by the product quality, but also by warranty support, user serviceability, and modularity with some of their lights.

All that being said, My tractor maxes out at about 15mph and I only have a couple of acres that are cleared to take care of so you probably won't see me putting BD lights on the kubota.

However, you sure as shit won't catch me putting harbor freight lights or any other cheapo knock-off brand on any of my vehicles whether it is for on or off-road use. I am a strong believer in buy once cry once.

@crashnburn80 if you are looking to do some lighting tests, I will probably be buying some lights (either jw speaker or BD, maybe a bit of both) in a few of months, I would gladly loan you whatever I get for the non-destructive light testing, I would of course want them back once testing is completed. I will be in the market for DOT approved fog lights, reverse lights, and some off-road only floods or spot/driving lights.

 

Oh how the turns have tabled..

Seriously though, glad you came back around. Its really easy to grab the pitchforks when so many companies out there abuse the market with overpriced chinese knockoff products, sold at an overpriced "overland" premium in the US, with no discernable differences besides a logo. But thankfully, BD aren't one of those companies; I think its why so many come to defend them, whether they own BD products or not (I don't). The products speak for themselves, but the customer service seems to be worth the price alone. While BD products don't exactly meet my budget/needs, I wouldn't consider any other lights if my needs were different. Also the only reason I'll ever buy tires from DTD. A tire is a tire, and they're the same everywhere you go, but the customer service can't be beat.

 

A big part of my light testing is grassroots tacomaworld sponsored, where forum members send me lights for testing and I send them back once testing is complete, this is pretty common. Lights I tend to focus on though are standardized beam patterns, meaning SAE compliance patterns. In off road lights there is no pattern standardization and it becomes really challenging to compare an apple to a grapefruit in a meaningful way when there is an entire supermarket of other fruit with no standards between them. Feel free to ping me when you are looking. I've got threads covering hundreds of lighting products evaluations, 2 that you mention being fogs and driving lights:

SAE Fogs: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-led-sae-j583-fog-pod-fog-light-review.554813/
SAE Driving: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-sae-j581-aux-high-beam-thread.696597/

Honestly haven't been impressed with JW Speaker for as much accolades as they receive. I've tried several of their products and while color temp is absolutely amazing and beam pattern is great, the optics design is dated and output intensity isn't there compared to the competition. I can send you an handful of links if interested. Similarly for BD, their latest fogs are a big improvement over their earlier generations, but they still lag way behind industry leaders like Diode Dynamics and Morimoto for that specific compliance pattern.

 

I am liking these pair of Harbor freight road shock edge 6 lights so far.

 

I have the 5 inch set and they are not to bad I got them on sale for 70 bucks each ! I would definitely prefer a set of BD if I could afford them , but these will do the job until then ! But I hear a lot of people saying there good until there not but you don’t want to be on a trail when they go out when you need them the most . Hopefully these will last !!

 

I agree with this. You have to pick and choose where you wanna drop cash and where you wanna save and budget. You can't buy the most expensive everything. Although I really have my eye on the diode dynamic ss3 fogs pro or max with backlighting

 

Torture tested my Harbor Freight Roadshock Edge light, in short, it did well enough.

https://youtu.be/ctHvg3MsbsE?si=bcHFJNWxBDe2fZYa

 

So im new hear and I wear a breitling on occasion and use surefire . Im not prepared to buy BD but what I see is they do have a cage code for govt purchasing . Not exactly sure but I believe to have that the item must be made in the US ?

 

Do not go by cage codes to validate the USA thing. I have worked in two major shops trying to save our tax dollars and I can tell you on its face that just because it is inventory doesn't make it USA made.

 

Yeah it will come to me later I keep thinking itar but thats export .

 

Price to performance ratio seems good for my purposes. That pine branch is about 100 yards and this is just one light

Low beam


High beam


Side angle

 

@Baja Designs Never had a single issue with any of my lights over years, I'm a fan for life. I don't give a shit if they were made in North Korea
hand built by Kim. They work every time I need them, all the time.

I'm in a large group of overlanders and off roaders with many different builds and a huge range of financial ability between us. I can tell you from experience everyone with knockoff lighting has had to consistently replace lights. It's either water in the housing, terrible light pattern when compared to quality brands or they just stopped working all together. And that is fine for people, if thats you, enjoy your knock offs. Assuming that there is no difference is just incorrect.

Remember, just because it's too expensive for you now, does not mean it's always going to be too expensive for you. When you have the choice and the means, you will purchase quality parts. That goes for everything from furniture to pots & pans. It happens, we all start somewhere.

 

Ok update time, lights have taken being backed into with no damage and no water in the lenses after being run through the river multiple times. The relay in the wiring kit took a dump but other then that the lights themselves have been amazing.

 

only question is how they compare to DD SS5 max

I have $70 Hella kit simply cuz I did not do that ($700)