Rigid/Cree $500 versus Amazon sub $100 Light Bars

[Chargerrich]

Planning to put a 50/52" light bar on a Blackhorse roll bar for my 2015 Longhorn and have been surprised by the range of prices in the name brand light bars like Rigid/Cree with those - likely asian imported - bars that are 1/6th the cost.

Yes I know you get what you pay for, but a light bar is easily replaced so if they actually work, even for a few years, it might be worth going cheap on this one item.

Any experiences with these off brand light bars?

Leaking?
Burnout?

 

[jgruberman]

Planning to put a 50/52" light bar on a Blackhorse roll bar for my 2015 Longhorn and have been surprised by the range of prices in the name brand light bars like Rigid/Cree with those - likely asian imported - bars that are 1/6th the cost.

Yes I know you get what you pay for, but a light bar is easily replaced so if they actually work, even for a few years, it might be worth going cheap on this one item.

Any experiences with these off brand light bars?

Leaking?
Burnout?

I got an Auxbeam from Amazon for just over $100... works great, no issues with the bar.

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[WillO]

I bought these off Amazon for 30$ and have had them for about 6 months. They are very bright, sturdy and if they crap out, or get smashed by road debris or even stolen it's only 30$ to replace. I don't see why I would spend 5 times that for the sake of branding.

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[Rzrman328]

 

[iam_canadian22]

Once you see the output from rigids in person you quickly see why they are so expensive, that being said i dont run one either due to price but very satisfied with my serius led pro series bar.

 

[brandonjansen]

You can get cree LED light bars on Amazon or eBay cheap as well. Cree is just the type of LED's that are actually emitting the light.

I've been running an eBay light bar on my truck for almost two years now with no issues whatsoever. To me a Rigid Industries light bar simply isn't worth the cost on a vehicle that's on road almost always. If you were baja racing at night or something along those lines and needed the best of the best that might be one thing. But for the average guy that's going to be overkill.
I'd recommend doing a bit of searching to find some good options on eBay or Amazon, they certainly aren't all equal. But as long as it has cree LED's you're generally good to go. I would hesitate to buy more off eBay. I plan on getting a few more for my Rzr off there to be honest. For the cost you simply can't beat it. I could go through 10 eBay bars for the cost of a Rigid.

 

[maxtor182]

Some really cheap light bars have a plastic lens. I wouldn't go with that but other than that, as long as they put out sufficient lumens they should be good. I have a set of rigid spots on my bull bar and I believe they have lifetime warranty on the lense. I also had a 42" light bar I bought online for $150 and it worked awesome


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[chrisp2493]

I bought a 22" for $70 from eBay. I've only had it for a month or two but it works well and I was happy with it. But I also can't say how well the light output compares to an expensive one. I use it for back roads when no one around. It also works well for people who won't turn off their brights lol


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[jgruberman]

My two cents for comparison? YouTube videos. That's why I went with the cheaper one... not enough difference to be $400 worth

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[Wandell]

I have two Omotor LED bars that I purchased from Ebay. One is on my Ram and the other is on our Wrangler. I've had mine for about two years and the one on the Wrangler is just over a year old. I've had no problems with either.

 

[elliott000]

I have a 12" china bar on my bush rig bronco. Its fine, it makes me wonder why you would want a 50" bar. Kinda overkill i think, more a cool factor. As far as rigid goes. If u can afford it go for it. If not, a cheap one will be more than enough

 

[Mauzz]

I went with Black Oak LED for my front bumpers. They are more than the amazon brands and less than Rigid but they do carry the same IP rating. For me driving decently fast on dirt roads through cow pasture at night a little extra money on the forward lighting seemed worth it. For my auxiliary reverse lighting under the truck? Auxbeam for the win...

 

[WillO]

Planning to put a 50/52" light bar on a Blackhorse roll bar for my 2015 Longhorn and have been surprised by the range of prices in the name brand light bars like Rigid/Cree with those - likely asian imported - bars that are 1/6th the cost.



Yes I know you get what you pay for, but a light bar is easily replaced so if they actually work, even for a few years, it might be worth going cheap on this one item.



Any experiences with these off brand light bars?



Leaking?

Burnout?

Can I see a pic of the roll bar if it's installed? I'm interested in getting that for mine


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[blackbetty14]

U get what you pay for. The light output of a rigid is incredible compared to cheap bars. However I don't use mine often enough to warrant the cost. I have. 42" curved rigidhorse off amazon $130 in 5D and it's suppose to be a 400w bar and it's bright but it only pulls 8amps or about 100w of power. The LED chips are suppose to be 5w Cree but they are more like 1w cheap LEDs. Still bright but not even what they advertise. I also run a cheap 42" straight single row below the bumper and it's also a 5D and bright. Combined they aren't nearly as bright as a single rigid.

I also have a 42" curved bar that I swapped out bc it wasn't bright enough to really see over my headlight and fog light retrofit. Together I have about $150 in LED bars and it's fine... still 1/6 the price of a rigid.

But I can gaurentee that all the cheap bars aren't even close or 1/4 of the rated output. I've disassembled a 42" curved and it's of adequate construction and hasn't let any water in any of them. The polycarbonate lense is what you want.

I will say don't bother with anything but the 5D, 4D doesn't have the spot of a 5D and the old come reflectors are so outdated I wouldn't bother.

 

[TRXHemi]

Check Amazon for the Shanren brand. I have a 42" curved that has been flawless!! No leaks, great output, and now it's about $50 shipped! For that price, you just can't beat it.

I'm sure Rigid has better output, but that price...... and I do not use mine enough to warrant that difference in $$.

 

[Needaram]

I have been running an Amazon bar for about a year and I had a little flaking on the edges that I covered up with plastidip can't even tell. Works great and I use it all the time

 

[02Steve15]

Check them out on ebay. I've had that on for about a month now. No complaints.


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[BlownGP]

Check them out on ebay. I've had that on for about a month now. No complaints.


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I love those these things have gotten so cheap.

Just like when HID kits first came out, they were like $600, now you can get them for $30.

If I used my light bar like your supposed to, I would get a Rigid. But don't think I will pay for a $1000 bar when I can get the same one for $89. lol

 

[02Steve15]

I love those these things have gotten so cheap.



Just like when HID kits first came out, they were like $600, not you can get them for $30.



If I used my light bar like your supposed to, I would get a Rigid. But don't think I will pay for a $1000 bar when I can get the same one for $89. lol

Yeah I looked around online for a little before going with that. 5 year warranty and pretty cheap. Don't have to spend an arm and a leg if it goes bad after 5 years on a replacement either.


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[02Steve15]

I can't wait for a serious snow storm at night so I can turn that thing on too. Obviously not when there is oncoming traffic [emoji41]


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