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Cheap Amazon Light bar review ($49)

Phillip Berk

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Okay so before I get attacked, Yes I know this is chinese crap... well the chinese part at least. I know this is not the type of parts you put on a $50,000 truck, but after seeing the price and the reviews I had to give it a chance and I've had good luck with Amazon light bars in the past for my bikes and humvees so why not give it a shot. first here is the link to the exact lightbar if you are intrested https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z74Y66Z/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Quality- So I compared it to the lightbar my dad has on his H1, it's a 50 inch bar made by Ridgid, it's about 5 years old but I think it was about $850 when new. Honestly Maybe it'll make a difference 5 years from now but the quality of the bar and metal felt very similar. It seems to be made out of a decent quality aluminum and copies the design of other higher end light bar brands, using the cooling fins etc. It came with 2 style of brackets and 2 sets of hardware, they used SS screws, that impressed me a lot for $49, It's actually not the cheapest 20" you can get on amazon, but has some of the best reviews and the very cool color changing and strobe feature you'll see. It came with no relay or wiring harness so I had to purchase that separately, I got a good one and it ran me about $18 bucks. It also comes with a wireless remote to control the bar and all the features.

Light output- So when it comes to light output I could not compare it to the 40" bar on my humvee or the 52" bar on my dads H1 since they are double the size or more, I did compare it to a $300 military flashlight and it was about the same... LOL, but overall it does more than enough, super clear white light, has flood lights on the side, and a spot in the middle. It is more then bright enough for almost any applications, especially for me. Every led was working and I don't see any discrepancies among them ( knock on wood lmao) Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.10.50 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.11.36 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.09.20 AM.png

Design- It looks like every other dual row light bar on the market, no stupid markings or any of that. The brackets that it comes with work great for 99% of applications, I installed it on the Tac predator modular bullbar and had to grind down the brackets to line up with the holes in the Tac bar, took 20 min, hit it with some black spray paint, boom, looks like it came that way.Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.09.33 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.10.24 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.10.36 AM.png

Features- So this is what really sold me on this... Yes I know its a gimmick and childish, but... having dancing strobe lights and the ability to have the knight rider pattern on a light-bar, well what can I say, feel free to judge haha, The remote is kinda annoying since you have 4 buttons, A turns the white line on, strobe and off. B turns color lights on, you use B to scroll through all the colored lights, C gives the ability to scroll through the lights and have a strobe of each color, then D is the party button. again it scrolls through all the colors but as you go it gives you 5x different light patterns, strobes, zig zags, and the eventually the disco setting, with all the colors. None of them besides white are that bright or really illuminate much, but damn is it fun to play with and show to your friends, if you work construction it is useful though, as it has a orange strobe and zig zag.
Screen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.01.09 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.07.56 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.08.59 AM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-01 at 12.09.47 AM.png
My installing was simple, I bolted it to the tac bull bar, then took the relay and harness I bought and ran it through the tow hook opening, I zip tied it along another factory cable. I bolted the relay to. a random ground, and then took the ground wire and found another screw I could bolt it too. The positive wire came with a nice fuse, and I put that directly on the terminal. I then ran a switch through the firewall and took the panel that has the headlight controls, and took a step drill and put a hole in that panel, popped in the switch and that control the main power. If its off, the remote does nothing, if its on I have full functionality, I can leave the light-bar in any mode, turn the switch off, and when I turn it back on It will be in that mode, so If you just plan to use for white light and do not want the remote that works. Overall, for 49 bucks this is great and I am glad I did it, this a cool functional light-bar with some neat party tricks up its sleeve, quality is great and it is super easy to install. overall I would give it a 9/10

Youtube video I posted showing all the feature and colors-
 
Wow it looks really cool!
I think the price is a good point of this product, not a bad one.
I love the color shifting lights!
I think it's worth every penny.
Thanks for the review.
 
Am I the only one tempted to mount this higher up, figure out how to make the red light chase back and forth, and start calling my truck KIT?
 
Those products always look great for the first 6 months to a year. Then you start losing LED's out of the lights, start getting water intrusion, the metal is faded, the brackets break, etc. Or it happens earlier, you're lucky, and you catch it under their short warranty period. That's one of the reasons Rigid's prices are as high as they are. They're built to last. You could spend $50 every year on a new bar, or several hundred one time. With that being said, Rigid is stupid overpriced and there are other competitors that still have good quality.

I personally have had very good experiences with Opt7 C2 bars, and I will continue to buy them. I had an 8" on my ATV, stored outdoors uncovered, for years, and it never failed to light up. Ran a 32" and a 22" on my old truck before I sold it and left the lights on it. Their 22" will go behind the grille on this truck as soon as I get permission to buy one.
 
So I know that it has a good chance of failing, but for me, it was pretty low risk, also all the wiring is already done so if it goes out and I decide to put another $50 bar on it, it'll take me 15 minutes, unbolt it, and just plug in the new one. Or I can get a nicer one and do the same thing.
 
I had a cheapie lighter on my 4th gen sport, although it was very bright and worked great ( no leds burnt out ). I did notice though over a year or two the lens yellowed quite a bit from the sunlight ( think of the yellow film left on windows from smoking ). It wasn't terribly noticeable unless I was parked next to another truck with a lightbar also.
 
Do you have front sensors on your truck, and does your TAC bar screw them up?
 
Do you have front sensors on your truck, and does your TAC bar screw them up?
Yep when MannymanX said, My car does NOT have the front sensors, I would imagine you would have to refit them with the Bar. I know it can be done but can be more headache then its worth.
 

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