Lightbars on roof question.

Hi there guys/gals I have a couple of question's regarding light bars.

To start with I am totally stumped for which brand to buy. I want a quality product that will last. I already have a light bar mounted on the bull bar which is a great white 9 led (just over a foot in length) and it works a charm.

Do they require a roof rack to mount to the roof? or can you mount them to the gutter rail and where can I get them.

also is there much difference between a $500 42" and a $1600 42" price isn't a concern with this as I like to buy a product that's right and buy it once.

Aurora are the best out of the cheaper Chinese bars. If you want a brand then Great whites are really good. I have seen these in action and are good. But having said that, I have a cheap chinese 40inch bar, had it for around 2 years now, being the older technology of Epistar chips, not the new Cree chips, it still is mind blowingly bright. I have just in the last week, removed it from my rack, as I noticed it was full of condensation. Not bad after 2 years. So I removed the end plates and dried it out, then re sealed the end plates up and gave it a lick of paint. As it was black but had turned a gold colour. Looks brand new again.
If I were to buy another light bar, I would not hesitate to buy a cheaper brand again with Cree chips, you do get what you pay for, as the more expensive bars are brighter and more efficient. But I simply cannot justify having say a $800 light on my car when there is a chance you could smash it with a tree branch or it gets knocked off.

Thats my 2c about them. Others I am sure will agree and disagree. If you don't care about spending a lot, get the best. Simple.

As for mounting the bar. I have not seen gutter mounts to suit the light bars. Not to say their isn't. I just haven't looked to see if there is. Most either use a single roof rack bar, like a Rhino rack and mount it to that or like myself, I have it sitting on the underside of the front section of a full length roof rack. Have it mounted as close to the roof as possible because if you don't it will light up your entire bonnet and blind you in the process. I found out the hard way and having a white car it mad things worse. Also if your UHF antenna is white, paint it black....

Cheers.

I originally mounted my 240 watt light bar to a single Rhino rack with a bracket I made from some 40x4mm flat.
ATM i made a purpose built roof rack with bar brackets incorperated.
That will change soon
As for a bar I think single row are down to 8 degree angle for the beam which is a spot, you dont wont spread
spot is more than enough. my double row has Cree LED's the others use epistar I think.
Mount as close to the front of your roof as you can and spray any antennas black because they glare back at you.
where are you??

FYI I paid $200 for my 40" bar and think its awesome had it 3 years now maybe 4 no probs

You lose too much light with a spread beam, being LED but its night and day IMO

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Originally Posted by Timbo15

snip...

Do they require a roof rack to mount to the roof? or can you mount them to the gutter rail and where can I get them.

also is there much difference between a $500 42" and a $1600 42" price isn't a concern with this as I like to buy a product that's right and buy it once.

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Gutter mount - I am guessing you mean for a full width bar not 2 small ones either side.
None around that I know of and given the need to support most of the bigger bars in the middle and ease of aiming etc a slimline roof rack is probably easiest and simplest.

LED technology - Luxeon, Oslon, Samsung and Cree are the big 4 (LED's not Light Bars)
Cree originated from the yank tech universities etc and is the most common in high end vehicle applications simply because of country of origin and so many rednecks (thankfully).
The others are the innovative leaders in industrial and tech applications.
Epistar and a heap of others are 2nd tier and in day to day terms quite reasonable quality for vehicles then there are heaps of el cheapos that are crap.

Quality and price is usually seen in the life, efficiency and robustness of the LED chips and drivers and the heat management.
If you are not planning on having the bar for years and years then cheaper is quite OK.
If you have a look at cheap LEDs versus expensive LEDs most emit very similar lumens per watt.

By virtue of LED design and the how the human eye works, given similar LED focus patterns for distance (spot if you prefer) 3 x 10 Watt LED's will seem better than 6 x 5 Watt which will seem better than 10 x 3 Watt even tho they all have the same total power.

For roof mount I highly recommend single row bars of at least 180 Watts.
Twin row are OK but usually mean lower power LED's and won't fit under a roof rack.
Fitting the Light Bar under gives a heap more protection from branches etc

For mainly low speed off road crawling then spread might be the go.
For most reccy users I agree with threedogs and a mix of focus (spot and spread) or all spot and for formed tracks and road then 100% spot is definitely best as they still throw a lot of light to the side anyway.

I ran my first bar as a mix and have only ever used 100% spot on any I have bought ever since

I haven't seen a curved bar in operation yet so cannot comment on them.

I am with mudski in that Aurora are usually a safe bet for the middle of the range and should last a recreational user for ages.

Wow thanks for all the advice.

Looks like I will be having to attach it to a roof rack.

@ Timbo15 check the "what I did to my Patrol" thread A member
just fitted his light bar to his roof rack, well protected spot too

I've got 2x 22" 5watt dual rows under my full length roof rack and a mates got the same but mounted under a single rhino rack as a removable option, I think on a single roof rack like this would be the easiest option.

In Victoria as far as Im aware, it is illegal to mount on the roof or rack....
I think, no lights above a certain height, maybe headlamp height.
Check local regs before mounting.
I also think if fitting to bullbar, you must have two, one each side.
Dumb really, because these lamps look fantastic mounted anywhere I think.

I just made a plate that clips onto the centre of my 40" bar

Quote:

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Originally Posted by gramgramfirey

In Victoria as far as Im aware, it is illegal to mount on the roof or rack....
I think, no lights above a certain height, maybe headlamp height.
Check local regs before mounting.
I also think if fitting to bullbar, you must have two, one each side.
Dumb really, because these lamps look fantastic mounted anywhere I think.

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Yes ive got some info on the QLD rules somewhere, the OP has no avatar location shown so im not going to bother looking it, as they could be from anywhere in the world ?

Handy Links to the State Regs regards at bottom of article... WA remains the main PIA about roof mounting... typical!!!!!

http://www.aaaa.com.au/newsletter.asp?id=139

Yes, I know I posted the same link in other threads... just doing it so it is easier to find