Roof mounted light bar

[Jmart432]

Hi everyone.
I'm looking at putting a 42 inch curved light bar on the roof of my lux using the doz fab mounts.
I know that this question gets asked a lot but oh well. I'm looking at only spending $200 on the light bar itself. I know that some people have great experiences with eBay lights and some people have terrible experiences.
My question is that should I be looking for a bar with the highest watt output (like the 400w light bars on ebay that are under 200) or should I be looking at something with some sort of brand name like the STEDI lights. I know that there all made in china stedi seems to have a bit of a better image.
I'm currently looking at this one - http://www.stedi.com.au/curved-philips- ... -inch.html

Opinions?

Thanks for the help

[LocalFart]

As with most things, you will get what you pay for with an LED bar...

But it depends what you want from it... my brother spend $280 on a 22" Bar with the 10W chips in it from Ironman and I spent $70 for a 29" with 5W chips. His is about 30% brighter than mine and has a further throw of about 100m but mine if perfectly fine for the odd night trip and drives to the farm and back.

As a reference the $70 LED bar made my spotties (Lightforce 170) obsolete as they only just throw further than the LED light.

So you'll just have to ask yourself what you are looking for and if you can justify spending the extra cash on a bit more light.. But keep in mind it doesn't matter how bright your bar is you will still be blinded when you go past a road sign.

[john253a]

Philips 42" are only $120-140 now
Many companies selling 42" for around 100
If you do look at eBay look at sunyee-au mine are from them best value for $$$ I think
And I've had no issue with warranty off them

If you planing to use it for anything other then off-road ditch the idea of roof mount
I have a 42 on roof and it is useless on road

Too bright as it reflects every sign back at you, 1 blinding you, 2 making them nilly unreadable

Being behind you and above you causes other problem
When it rains you can't use it, as you need the darkness that front light give you between the light and you
As it light up the rain drop and throught back at you to the point you can't see

There are just no pros that out weight the cons for roof mount light with blacktop use
My 22" bar mounted is the best all round light I have and use on the blacktop

My 2c
Save your money
Buy a 20-24" mix combo
Like the Philips 200w 24" (rrp $70)
My 22 is a 120watt

[incman]

Aren't all like roof mounted light bars illegal? In all states as per ADR rules?

http://www.unsealed4x4.com.au/4x4-illegal/

[incman]

looks like SA allows roof mounted bars

- The lights may be fitted to the roof of the vehicle.
https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/transport- ... umentation

doesnt appear anyone else does though
https://practicalmotoring.com.au/car-ad ... lightbars/

[john253a]

To my knoladge only sa allows them and you car being reg in another state has no effect in state being driven
So if you travel from ss to wa and get booked it's just bad luck
In vic people are just getting warned some booked but most told to remove and show car at vic roads within 7 days to show its removed
And having covers on them doesn't make them ligal either
Only 2 real resions to have them there is a lot of bush night driving l, other is you like the visual appearance
Knowing what I know after putting mine on I would was my money fitting another on my roof

[knight]

Not super helpful as its for a 2012, but I have the Bullseye 4x4 mounts for my 42inch bar and the work really well. Really solid mounting and no vibrations. I got my lighter from them as well. pretty happy with it and its output. been there for 12 months through some rough stuff and its still perfect.

If you send them a message they might be able to adjust one of there mounts to suit. I found them helpful with sorting mine out.

This is mine with a curved 42inch and the bullseye mounts:


And to do with legalities: Ive been RBT'd multiple times with it up there and its never even been mentioned. I was actually pulled over and made to remove my fishing rod holders and the light bar still wasn't mentioned. Have had it up there for more then 12 months.

I do mostly run it on the road with the fuse out of the wiring harness, unless we are on a trip or I'm heading out west at night. Just for peace of mind in case I do ever get hassled.

[Jmart432]

Thanks for all the responses. Whats everyone's opinion on the actual practicality of having such a big light bar on the roof?
Too bright? Does it reflect off the bonnet? Overkill?

Thanks

[TOYZX]

As for legality if ya silly enough to use one on raod ya bound to get pinned. In the bush they r awesome, ya may as well turn everything else off. Cant beat a good set of spotties on road anyway.

[Jmart432]

As for legality if ya silly enough to use one on raod ya bound to get pinned. In the bush they r awesome, ya may as well turn everything else off. Cant beat a good set of spotties on road anyway.

"Driving lamps may be fitted above the roof line. The driving lamp must be fitted to the front half of the vehicle when measuring from the front to the rearmost point of the vehicle"- Vehicle standard instructions - department of transport and main roads.

[TOYZX]

Well aware of of the laws. Doesn't stop the fuzz pinning people. Plenty get stung out my way for using them on road.

[Jmart432]

Thanks for the help guys. Just another question. Should I be looking at a higher watt bar (like the 400w ones with 5w bulbs) or the 240w and 252w bars with the 3w bulbs. Much difference?

[john253a]

My 42" is 240w 3w mix of spot and flood,
If you haven't brought it spend the money on something smaller and mount to bar
With the change upgrade/add to your reverse with a 4" or 7" flood

[Jmart432]

My 42" is 240w 3w mix of spot and flood,
If you haven't brought it spend the money on something smaller and mount to bar
With the change upgrade/add to your reverse with a 4" or 7" flood

I probably should have said this from the start but i actually already have two 9 inch spotlights (ironman vega 220) on the bullbar which are nothing special but they are something. And I also have two 6 inch flood lights on the tray which I use for reversing and what not.
The problem is that with the two spotlights I have on the front, I can't fit anything else there as they take up the whole space and I don't want to put a light bar above the bull bar as its illegal

[oggy]

Well aware of of the laws. Doesn't stop the fuzz pinning people. Plenty get stung out my way for using them on road.

I use mine (not roof mounted though) , on the road all the time RBT'd in Mulwala a while back and told you arn't allowed to use them in built up areas . Just run them on a separate switch to isolate and make sure they go off when you dip..

[Jmart432]

Hey guys. I think I've got it all worked out just one more question. If I bought a 400w light bar it would be around 34amps (400/12) and therefor I'd use a 35-40amp fuse but does that mean I would have to use wire that heavy? Cause looking at Supercheap, it seems they only sell up to 25amp wire. Would that suffice?

Thanks for the help

[john253a]

You'll need a 50 amp relay
6mm cable (4.5mm2 cross)
40amp fuse between batt and relay

5mm 25amp cable will not cut it
Go down to autobarn or bursons and get 6mm 50amp
Or drop down to a light bar under 300watts


This is my setup
The 22" v's the ipf with 35w hid is very close but led spreads better for slower driving, when I had 100w globes in ipf before it made you want to throw the ipf away

[LocalFart]

Thanks for all the responses. Whats everyone's opinion on the actual practicality of having such a big light bar on the roof?
Too bright? Does it reflect off the bonnet? Overkill?

Thanks

There are a lot of downsides to having a roof mounted larger LED bar. It's almost counter-intuitive to use it if it's raining, the brighter the bar the less you can use it on road as you get blinded by signs and also the whole grey area where cops can target you... But to answer you question about reflecting on the bonnet then I can say that in my experience I had no issues as the light reflected away from you... sometime you may cop a tiny bit from the scoop but that's it.