Hi guys looking for a bit of advice. I want a led light bar across the top of my defender. Just wonder if these are any good for the price.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/300W-52-Led...ng-Lamp-Off-Road-4WD-/201547302893?nav=SEARCH

Also are they hard to fit?

Hi Dan,
I fitted one identical to that one, although from a different seller. Like that one, it is advertised as 300W but when bench tested turns out to be 240W. It is still stupidly bright and will require some hefty cable and a high power relay (20A continuous) I used a 50A relay. Also there is a lot of stray light from these so it is best to mount it back a bit from the windscreen to avoid lighting up the bonnet when in use.

I'm a big fan of LED technology. But I'm not truly convinced by these led light bars yet. The LEDs they use are generally not great and with very poor tint and CRI. (you get a cool white to blueish light from them). This is very bad for driving as it bleaches colours and causes eye strain.

At a guess I would also say these light bars are more of a flood than a spot light. So if you want distance they may not be the best thing either.

I also have issues with the placement. For road driving you really don't want the lights on the roof, as it'll just light up the top of the bonnet and be very distracting. And will actually make it harder to see straight ahead. For off road use at night or manoeuvring in a field/yard this sort of light could be very handy however.

That said, for £75 it's not exactly a huge amount of money. But bear in mind you'll only be getting 75 quid quality at best and likely much lower. I'm tempted to say a good set of 100w halogen spot lights would likely be more effective. And halogen will have much nicer tint and CRI (colour rendition index).

I have a 42" one on mine (cost £90 a year or so ago), it's pretty good actually and I would recommend it for the money. Don't use the wiring kit it comes with if it comes with one, as mine starts to smell after using it for a while.

The distance isn't quite as good as traditional spot lights, but it is virtually as far as the normal defender headlights. It is so bright I actually feel bad about going past peoples houses with it on. It does light the bonnet up quite a bit, but also needs angling back some more.

As for fitting it all depends on where you are putting it. Mine is on my roof rack so was easy. The anodising has mostly come off after a year, so that should also be considered.

I know 300bhp says they are a bit too blue, but compared to the side spot lights I have fitted they are quite a decent colour

Ive had one on my 110 for almost 2 years and it still functions perfectly, and the anodising has stood up to the test of time.
Wouldnt be without it when going laning. Choofin bright, I hate turning it off as then i feel i cant see anything even with the led headlights i have in.

james6546 said:

I have a 42" one on mine (cost £90 a year or so ago), it's pretty good actually and I would recommend it for the money. Don't use the wiring kit it comes with if it comes with one, as mine starts to smell after using it for a while.

The distance isn't quite as good as traditional spot lights, but it is virtually as far as the normal defender headlights. It is so bright I actually feel bad about going past peoples houses with it on. It does light the bonnet up quite a bit, but also needs angling back some more.

As for fitting it all depends on where you are putting it. Mine is on my roof rack so was easy. The anodising has mostly come off after a year, so that should also be considered.

I know 300bhp says they are a bit too blue, but compared to the side spot lights I have fitted they are quite a decent colour

Click to expand...

Glad yours sounds to be a good one. I must admit, I do keep looking at these myself and wondering.

And maybe the poor tint and CRI isn't such an issue these days, although it certainly was a few years back. But it's highly possible they have changed the LEDs they are using in many of these.

300bhp/ton said:

Glad yours sounds to be a good one. I must admit, I do keep looking at these myself and wondering.

And maybe the poor tint and CRI isn't such an issue these days, although it certainly was a few years back. But it's highly possible they have changed the LEDs they are using in many of these.

Click to expand...

I have some of the 6 LEDs in a row spots on the side and they are awful, really horrible colour and are getting changed as soon as I have some £ spare.

The light bar is a lot better colour

I have a couple of smaller ones, angled out so you can see the sides when turning in the lanes at night. Although the outer LED's are supposed to have a wider spread, I'm sure they do, it still isn't quite wide enough to light the sides as I like. Having said that, they do work well. MInd, I now want two more. Seeing how well two work, I now want to aim these two fully forward and get two more, maybe slightly smaller, to point them almost directly at the sides, or at least 45 degrees or more!

As can be seen, I also painted the bonnet matt black! This was, however, mainly 'cos it's a chequer plate (fitted when I got it) and blinded in anything more sunny then bright clouds! It wasn't a problem with the LED lights ...

Also added a pair of these Amazon product
Much better value in my opinion, insane range, almost make the light bar redundant.

almost...