robertcrav
New member
My guess is they have the Epistar LEDS and glass lenses?
LED Light Bars; Post Up Pics
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I have a rigid 20" on my bumper and a no name 50" curved on the roof. There is definitely a quality difference but the 50" was only $250 on eBay. I think they are $2000 from rigid
one thing I will say, if you are going to put one on the roof be ready for some extreme wind noise!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
one thing I will say, if you are going to put one on the roof be ready for some extreme wind noise!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Cree is a chip that is made in the USA however there are many companies that use a knock off Cree chip so are you getting cree.....you have to do some digging.
Epistart is a Chip that is Made in Taiwan.. It is not a bad chip by anymean however you wont get the performance of a cree chip. There is not such things as 3d Cree what you are most likely looking at is the newer style optics that hit the market not to long ago and some people call them "3d" Optics.
For most of the colored bars, there is a chip called San'an. The LED chips they created have a higher efficiency than Cree and produce a brilliant color output second to none. In the End the Chip wont make that big of a deal to the average person and 95% of people wont be able to tell the difference. And on a side note... only about 30% of Cree LED's are produced in the USA now. 99% of Cree Chips in China.... are produces in CHINA... CREE makes chips all over the world.
Epistart is a Chip that is Made in Taiwan.. It is not a bad chip by anymean however you wont get the performance of a cree chip. There is not such things as 3d Cree what you are most likely looking at is the newer style optics that hit the market not to long ago and some people call them "3d" Optics.
For most of the colored bars, there is a chip called San'an. The LED chips they created have a higher efficiency than Cree and produce a brilliant color output second to none. In the End the Chip wont make that big of a deal to the average person and 95% of people wont be able to tell the difference. And on a side note... only about 30% of Cree LED's are produced in the USA now. 99% of Cree Chips in China.... are produces in CHINA... CREE makes chips all over the world.
Vegas_Nick
Adventurer
Not in all cases. The ones that we carry now, and have tested have CREE LED Emitters and PolyCarb lenses. The only thing that I bring in with Epistar emitters are the dual color (amber/white) bars.
Vegas_Nick
Adventurer
Yeah, I was about to say the same thing. CREE makes about 99% of the LED emitters now in China. I think the biggest reason for that is probably the EPA in the US. They use a lot of materials that would be way more tightly controlled in the US during the manufacturing process.
That is my biggest beef with a lot of the LED lighting companies that advertise a US made product when they could say "final assembly done in the US".
Epistar dual color LED's seem to be promising. We really like their amber/white emitter.
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CodyY
Explorer
For me, I won't install a cheapie bar on a customer's rig. Every one that I've dealt with is nothing but pot metal and butter soft hardware.
Joe Schmoe doesn't see the difference of optical quality in the lens and reflectors, but I can't stand behind the install with crappy mounting. The screws ALWAYS try to pull the threads out, and the mounting is considerably undersized for my liking.
Joe Schmoe doesn't see the difference of optical quality in the lens and reflectors, but I can't stand behind the install with crappy mounting. The screws ALWAYS try to pull the threads out, and the mounting is considerably undersized for my liking.
robertcrav
New member
I've been happy with the German Olson chips as well as the CREE
If everything that said "made in USA" was honest like that almost nothing would be "made in USA".
These days it's almost impossible to build something from the ground up in the us and turn a profit, even if that just means the led bar aluminum bits are machined in China.
My lightbars are from LEDWarehouse. They say made in USA but the sales rep was forward with the fact that some parts do come from over seas to be assembled here. And I can live with that
Do I think rigid is over priced? Yes
But you are paying for a lot more than just the name! Like I said I have both and there is a huge difference in quality from rigid and the Chinese lights. I'm not sure if you have ever seen them side by side but the quality difference is clear, not only on the outside but I have pulled both apart and the circuit board and solders in the rigid were top notch as with the Chinese one looked very cheep and some of the solders were not so good. Also the optics are much nicer on the rigid
Chinese 
rigidI under stand you not wanting to pay that much but to say all you are paying for is the name is just not true!
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PolarBearX
Observer
40" curved Tortron light here
I am most likely going with a 30" bar from Trail Worthy Fab
http://www.trailworthyfab.com/Trail-Worthy-Fab-30-LED-Light-Bar.html
13800 Lumens
. Power: 180W
. Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
. Waterproof rate: IP 67
. 60 individual 3w high intensity CREE LEDs
. Current draw 16A @ 12V,8A @ 24V
. Color: Black
. Color Temperature: 6000K
. Material: Die-cast aluminum housing
. Lens material: Lexan
. Mounting Bracket: Aluminum bracket
. Beam: Combo(30 degree spot middle. 60 degree flood outsides)
. 50000 hours above life time
I will wire it up with a wireless kit from Snevey Offroad
http://www.trailworthyfab.com/Trail-Worthy-Fab-30-LED-Light-Bar.html
13800 Lumens
. Power: 180W
. Operating Voltage: 10-30V DC
. Waterproof rate: IP 67
. 60 individual 3w high intensity CREE LEDs
. Current draw 16A @ 12V,8A @ 24V
. Color: Black
. Color Temperature: 6000K
. Material: Die-cast aluminum housing
. Lens material: Lexan
. Mounting Bracket: Aluminum bracket
. Beam: Combo(30 degree spot middle. 60 degree flood outsides)
. 50000 hours above life time
I will wire it up with a wireless kit from Snevey Offroad