DIY: Offroad Roof Light Bar

[Nakashige]

I have a Curt Rack I could let go John if you are interested it no longer has a plastic fairing on it

[jarheadgixxer]

I know that the BAJA Blazzers aren't the greatest, I did the same setup, I was wondering if it's because they have the 55w H3's, Wondering if anyone has tried the 100W H3 bulbs and if that well make a difference? What type of Bulbs do the Hella's run? To swap out the 55w to 100w is only $15-20. But still thank you James for the DIY light bar this is a awesome looking light bar, I get complements all the time on mine, of course in here In SoKY no one has seen a lifted Envoy.

[galacticfuzz]

It's not the bulbs that make the lights, rather it's the reflectors in the light is the biggest factor in the quality of the light thrown. I tried throwing a set of 100w h3's in a pair of cheaper lights at one point and the only success I had was getting really hot lights. It didn't improve the spread of the light or abilities of them. Quality lights (Hella, PIA, KCHilites) are the best options to go with, especially from the start.

[Trail X]

I agree Drew. The light output from the bajas is purely due to their poorly designed and shaped reflector. That was a lesson I learned after a year of being frustrated with the bad light output from the bajas. Not sure if you saw Jason, but around page 2 I did eventually change mine out for some Hella 550s.

[TBYODA]

On these roof mount light bars is any reason to use specifically the rectangular lights, light pattern, low profile or some other reason than just coping what James and others did?

[DirtyBacon04]

I imagine it's because of the lower profile. If you had circular 4" lights, i dont see it being that big an issue, but if you got 7" circles with no protection, A) You'll suffer noticeable MPG decrease. B) Much bigger target to catch some sort of FOD. C) the leverage would wear on the mount and/or round out your mounting holes.

IIRC, Regulator has circle lights (looks about 5"), so you can ask him if he'd do it any differently. I think circular lights generally have better light dispersion than rectangular (of matched quality) for being up high.

[Trail X]

No reason here, I guess I did it just for the aesthetic. I didn't want to look like this:



Members have done all sorts of different lights though.

[v7guy]

I noticed a difference with the blazer lights, they did help. But I would agree with James that they just aren't really enough. I would rather have the blazer lights than nothing, but there are plenty of better options. I think the LED lightbars are becoming a very very attractive option.

[DirtyBacon04]

Aside from the rediculous prices!!

[navigator]

....I think the LED lightbars are becoming a very very attractive option.

I bought two 36W LED light "bars" off of eBay for my boat. I think they were about $115 for the pair. They do really well for running my jon boat at night. I'm unsure how they compare to offroad lights but I have thought about getting some for my TB. I think they are about 2700 lmn. They are flood/spot combo lights that the center portion are spot and the edge lights are flood.

I also have two 18W flood LED bars for the corners of the boat($65 for the pair). They do a better job of flooding the area than the 36W but obviously don't throw the same distance. We ran them about 5hrs the other night along with a 50lb thrust trolling motor and the group 24 battery was still about 33%.

I'm really liking them so far and they seem well made for CCC items.

[HARDTRAILZ]

Link to them?

[navigator]

here are the 36W
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251286944893?ss ... 1497.l2649

here are the 18W
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330966099209?ss ... 1497.l2649

[navigator]

also, on the 36W, some have a single mount base and some have 2 mounting bases. That light is pretty heavy so if I were looking for one I would make sure it had the 2 mounting bases. The 18W seems to work fine with one base.

[drburke]

40" light bar from ebay on the rack. Puts all of my halogens to shame, really. Something around 20,000lum. Got it for half the price on ebay off of a friend.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/40-CREE-LED-LIG ... 90&vxp=mtr

[Trail X]

Nice! We need some night time comparison pics of that sucker. I was wondering when we'd get someone mounting one of those up!

[v7guy]

I started reading about them on arfcom, they seem to work pretty alright, I'm interested in the longevity
they've got comparison pics in this thread...

http://www.ar15.com/mobile/topic.html?b ... 808&page=2

[Regulator1175]

I imagine it's because of the lower profile. If you had circular 4" lights, i dont see it being that big an issue, but if you got 7" circles with no protection, A) You'll suffer noticeable MPG decrease. B) Much bigger target to catch some sort of FOD. C) the leverage would wear on the mount and/or round out your mounting holes.

IIRC, Regulator has circle lights (looks about 5"), so you can ask him if he'd do it any differently. I think circular lights generally have better light dispersion than rectangular (of matched quality) for being up high.

Four 55 watt PIAA area pattern on the roof and two 150 watt KC's driving beam pattern on the bumper. They produce a lot of light!