In the world of off-road lighting, the LED format has come on strong in the last few years. The termstands for “light-emitting diode,” and denotes the type of bulb used in these lighting systems. New-generation LED bulb technology makes LEDs a viable form of off-road lighting; flash back a couple of decades and LEDs could barely illuminate a living room.
Bright off-road lights are nothing new. In fact, HID- and halogen-driven off-road lights have been lighting up the off-road night for quite some time. The attraction of LED lights goes further than the illumination they provide. LED lights also boast low-amperage draw and long bulb life, and are able to instantly reach full power (HIDs take a little time to warm up) and are more rugged than halogen or HID lights.
When it comes to format, LED bulbs are versatile. They can be packed into a seemingly endless array of housing shapes and sizes. For simplicity’s sake, we focused on round lights last month, and we’re concentrating on lightbars this time.
LED lightbars come in a variety of widths. We chose to test bars in the 20-inch range for a couple of reasons. First, 20-inch bars can be mounted on the fronts of most bumpers. Thanks to their low profile, lightbars can be mounted in front of the grille without adversely effecting radiator cooling. Second, lightbars cost more by the inch, and 20-inch bars are within the budgets of many off-roaders. A 20-inch LED lightbar strikes a good balance between manageable size and reasonable cost.
Several companies make individual LED bulbs. Cree is the bulb brand most lightbar companies rely on. Naturally, Cree offers its bulbs in a range of prices and output levels. Light output and light pattern are a function of the type of Cree bulbs used, the number of bulbs, and the lightbar’s lens optics.
The Lux Meter
Just as before, we broke out our trusty lux meter to quantify how bright the lights were. In this case the term “lux” has nothing to do with luxury; it’s a contraction of the terms “luminous” and “flux.” Oneis defined as one lumen per square meter.
Test Parameters
We used the same testing method for lightbars that we used for round lights last month.
A quick rundown:
• Lux was measured at 6 feet, 60 feet, and 177 feet (the distance from the 4Runner to the fence in the photos).
• The lights were connected directly to the battery using heavy-gauge jumper wires. The engine was kept running.
Photo Parameters
We tested away from city lights in a designated OHV area. The light patterns were shot using a tripod-mounted Canon 50D camera body and a Canon L-Series 16-35mm F2.8 lens. Exposure time was 3.2 seconds using a 5.6 f-stop with the ISO set at 400.
You’ll see an open-ended wrench in the product photos, which is there to provide a sense of scale and measures 16 inches tip-to-tip.
And Finally…
Every lightbar we tested was commendable. All had a substantial, high-quality feel. The lux readings weren’t all the same, but each bar did a great job of erasing the darkness. Check out the beam pattern photos. If you’re trying to run at daylight speeds after dark, a tight pattern with long projection works best. Conversely, for slow-speed trail work a wide-cast flood pattern is what you want. Some of these lightbars are offered in more than one pattern, and some come in a combo-beam flood-and-spot format. When you see what’s here, we’re sure you’ll find the bar that’s right for you.
Baja Designs Stealth
