If you are into off-roading and Overlanding, light bars are a great addition to your vehicle and they will be useful to you, especially at night. Light bars provide effective illumination of a huge area of the road so that you can identify hazards or emergencies. LED light bars deliver bright light at a low power cost and with huge reliability. If you want light bars for off-roading purposes or you just want more light than originally given to your vehicle by the factory, here are the things you need to know and consider when buying light bars.
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Before buying light bars, consider your goal. Know why you need them, will you use them for night driving, camping, or off-roading? Depending on your needs, light bars will provide additional visibility. You should just consider the light output in lumens from one bar to another to determine how far they reach according to your needs.
Features of Light Bars
Here are several features to consider when buying LED light bars;
Shape
There are two shapes in which a light bar comes in; a curved LED light bar and a straight LED light bar. Which shape you will get depends on your personal preferences and driving needs but curved light bars are better at lighting up a large area but they do not light up a long distance while the straight LED light bars are the opposite of curved, by getting much better distance.
Mounting
You should also consider getting a light bar that fits the truck. Some light bars are 4 feet wide and can be mounted anywhere, while others are meant to be mounted on the roof so make sure you get the right size. You can also get a Bluetooth, smartphone-controlled light bar if you are tired of a traditional switch.
LED Colors
You can get light bars that change colors. Depending on where and how you plan to use the light bars, different colors could have a different meaning. This is why light bars are a part of emergency vehicle lighting which is one or more visual warning lights fitted to a vehicle for use when the driver wishes to convey to other road users the urgency of their journey, or to provide additional warning of a hazard when stationary,
For example, white light is the brightest and is best for any and every type of driving. However, amber light is best for driving when there are low visibility conditions, such as fog. Blue, red, and green colors are frequently chosen for emergency vehicles.
Water Proof
If you plan on off-roading most of the time with your vehicle, and you know that your light bar will get wet, and probably get an electrical problem, then it is important to buy a light bar that is waterproof. How waterproof an item is, is measured by an Ingress Protection Code.
A rating of IP67 is more than sufficient, with the first number showing how well the item is protected against solid particles, and the second number indicating how well your light bar is protected against water.
Size and Lumens
Light bars come in different sizes and light bars measure their brightness in lumens, which means the light bar with more lumens, is brighter and also more expensive as well as larger. LED light bars range in size from 4 inches to 50 inches. When buying make sure you get the highest lumen bar that fits your budget and also check the legality issues when it comes to light bars in your area.
Rows
The number of rows a light bar has is another thing to consider. When it comes to the number of rows, there are two options to consider, single row or double row light bars. Double row light bars produce more light compared to a single row, and they are also more expensive than a single row light bar. When buying single row or double row light bars, you may also consider factors such as the size of your vehicle, and personal preferences when it comes to your vehicle’s illumination.
Beam Type
The beam type/ pattern of the light bar refers to the width of the beam that the light bar will produce. Light bars have 5 beam types: driving, scene, combo, flood, and spot. The most popular are flood and spot because they offer a wide beam that reaches a wide distance. Spot light bars are best used to navigate dark back roads in whatever use your vehicle has, while flood light bars are best at illuminating a wider area at a shorter distance.
Price
You don’t want to break your bank with light bars but it is important to buy a durable and reliable light bar at a reasonable price. Light bar prices range from $100 to $8000 depending on your own purchasing power, vehicle needs, and a light bar brand you would love to buy from.
Famous Light Bar Brands
Each brand offers a unique touch to their off-roading light bars, which makes the brands stand out with their light bars options. Some of the popular light bar brands include;
KC HiLiTES
KC HiLiTES offer many off-road light bars with round lights that are water, dust, shock, and vibration resistant. Their brand also offers spot beam type of light bars and the sizes of their products range from 10 inches to 50 inches.
Baja Designs
Baja Designs is an award-winning LED light bars manufacturer who was the first brand to also venture into laser light bars. Their products are very reliable and customizable and their sizes range from 8 inches to 51 inches for their OnX series light bar lines and 10 inches to 50 inches for their Stealth series.
Rigid Industries
This brand is known for durable light bars with sizes ranging from 4 inches to 50 inches. Rigid Industries uses advanced technologies in making their light bars as shown by their Adapt Series line which has light bars that use a GPS module to change the focus of the light based on your speed. If you don’t want to manually adjust your lights when driving in different speeds, this feature may be important to you.
It is important to consider all these things when you want to purchase a light bar to support your off-roading adventures, on top of all that it is necessary to consider your budget, the light bar features you would love and your light bar uses. Especially for off-roading activities, a light bar that is waterproof, well mounted, and offering a bright light could be useful in making you feel more in control and safe in your off-roading adventures and at night.
