Good and affordable?

[Swede.]

Been looking at getting auxiliary lighting for my rig and noticing something interesting. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground! It's either cheap '$59.95 super mega bright LED bar!' from China/Amazon or the top brands like Baja Designs, Lightforce, VisionX and Rigid (which the two latter still is made in China...)
Anyone know of a 'good brand' or company that have quality gear at reasonable prices!?

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish. LEDs are cool and low draw, but Hella halogen driving lamps will throw light farther than most LEDs and price is not too bad. Hella halogen fogs seem to have better cutoff than most LEDs. I have Hellas on my PW, plus a Morimoto (I think) LED bar. The LED is great for short range stuff in clear weather, but useless in fog or heavy mist. The only place I like LEDS is for work lights on the back of the truck. But I do have Hella halogens on the back of the PW and Rigid Dually whatevers ( the expensive ones) on the back of the Tundra, and the Hellas work better. However the Rigids were a much simpler and cleaner installation.

 

[llamalander]

I've been using Black Oak LED's, they are bright, color matched and seem well sealed compared to the cheap Auxbeam lights I've tried. Closer to Rigid than China in price, they ship with a decent harness and have been no trouble to mount.

Black Oak LED Lights - LED Light Bars, Mounts, & Accessories

Black Oak LED is your top choice for LED light bars, mounts, & accessories. Discover quality products designed to take a beating in the toughest conditions.

www.blackoakled.com

 

[Swede.]

Been thinking halogen and HID for distance but will likely do much slower moving while dark so close and peripheral light is likely better. Obviously good with both too!
Seen 'black oak' pop up, I'll check them out closer.

 

[whitenoise]

Take a look at the Tecniq Steelhead work lights (google it). They are built in the US and are very well made. They have a lifetime warranty (although I dont know personally how good that is). The lens design actually makes sense compared to even some of the big names. I dont know what the price is but certainly under $100 for a pair of LED pods similar to the Rigid Dually.

 

[Swede.]

Ended up getting four Hella 'ValueFit 500 LED' lights that I whipped up a stainless mount for. The lights where about 400 bucks delivered and I felt that even though they aren't the brightest out there and made in China (like most things...) the QC from Hella feels like better than many. And with a total of 8400 lumen (measured according to Hella) they do light up pretty good.

 

[Swede.]

I like companies that don't even ask when it's warranty and just give you new stuff. One big reason I got some 'Patagonia' clothing and gear. They give zero *******s if you abused if or simply just wore it out, they repair or replace it nomatter.

 

[MiamiC70]

Diode Dynamics

 

[vintageracer]

Ended up getting four Hella 'ValueFit 500 LED' lights that I whipped up a stainless mount for. The lights where about 400 bucks delivered and I felt that even though they aren't the brightest out there and made in China (like most things...) the QC from Hella feels like better than many. And with a total of 8400 lumen (measured according to Hella) they do light up pretty good. View attachment 641308View attachment 641309

You also might also want to consider installing a set of LED Daylight replacement headlights for your Jeep to match Hella's you installed. Best upgrade I have made on my vans, pickups and Suburban for night driving without auxiliary lighting.

 

[Swede.]

First thing I did was replace the crappy (and broken) OEM sealed beams with (also) Hella 'Euro spec' H4's. Made a big difference too, but now when using the auxiliary lights you barely see the high beams at all! ??

 

[broncobowsher]

I was getting close to asking this same question. There are a ton of import lights that sometimes have good results. But often the reviews are not exactly lasting. Water ingress? it survived being washed so that must be good right? Forget about actually dunking it under some cold water in a stream crossing and how much moisture gets sucked inside the housing. Light output, IT's Great! Sprays light in every direction, up, down, left, right. It's durable, it just survived the first trip into the desert last night. Yes, these reviews are garbage. Someone wanting to be proud of there cheap purchase.

Looking at companies that actually make lights (and not just rebrand them into there box) and are willing to stand behind there product. Rigid made there name in the off-road race world 15 years ago. I have a few of there smaller lights and am very happy with them. The pricepoint is a bit steep, thus I have only done a few of the small ones. But there are honest in there numbers. I've put the lights on power supplies and they actually draw the rated power. Which is impressive as many of the others (disposable discount light source) are often telling some fibs in the power department.

Couple years ago a friend got a side by side. After looking at his options. He got the super cheap amazon light. Broke it. Got different one. Drown it. Got a different one. I can't remember if he kept this one or replaced it with one with a better light pattern. His comment was even with replacing the light multiple times it is still way cheaper than a name brand light. For me, I'm looking at building a custom bumper that will hold this light. Integrated, not added on. For me that means I want a good light the first time out. I don't want to have to rebuild the bumper a time or two in order for different lights to fit. Not ready to drop a grand+ on a Rigid just because I know it will work. But am willing to spend a little more than the roll of the dice super cheap stuff as well.

Diode Dynamics is a name that has come up. Baja Designs is another. I was hoping for more.
Outside of that it is the rebranding of China mass production.
Or go broke getting a Rigid.

 

[Swede.]

'Diode dynamics' have come up quite a bit lately for sure. They are hard charging in PR for sure and looks to have some good, high output lights AND made in USA. Which to my knowledge only 'Baja Designs' is the only other brand that is.