Scrambler82 wrote:
I have been looking on line for pricing on a 30" LED Off-Road Light Bar and I need to say I am disgusted with most of the LED Suppliers out there on the Web.

Why should all of the LED Light Bars cost as much as they do, there is no reason !

LEDs are inexpensive, yes it does take engineering to design and bring product to the market but you don't need to recover your costs on every unit.

I recently saw ads for "Light Bar Supply.com", great pricing, POOR reviews, beyond anything I could have written or thought of...  !  
Isn't there a company that makes GOOD QUALITY LED Lighting at a reasonable price AND doesn't charge an arm and a leg for shipping  !

I guess I will be using my old style Off-Road Lighting when I get to that project !

Thanks for listening and PLEASE comment !

You notice I didn't put any question marks... just exclamation point !  I am disgusted  with the US SELLER of Chinese Products !
Not all LED bars are Chinese but often many components are or will be. I won't go as far to insult anyone but if you are in any type of "specialty work" or skilled trade? What do you make an hr? What is your time of life force worth in exchange for monetary compensation?

The reason I ask is this: i.e.  Cree Builds 585K facility in China 

Just a a sideline topic here; GM and Chrysler own more factories and facilities than Ford in Mexico and other countries. Why? Because the average skilled worker here makes $39 Prevailing wage and these companies can pay these guys $2 an hr and they WORK without complaint, they show up for work. When I use to teach in the plants in Detroit back in the late 90's. Chrysler would start you off as a base line worker at $29.29 hr, full bennies in 30 days. Bu 60 days that individual has possible the worst attendance as his fellow crew members, and due to the Union rules, its all you can do to fire one of these guys. They'll move that person around from dept to dept for MONTHs before they gather enough work evidence to rid themselves of the parasite. Now not to say that they dont have similar problems in Mexico, but then again they saved themselves $27 an hr too? and the pickings are plentiful i'm sure.

With that in mind lets not forget the market dictates value too. When there was two companies, Rigid Lighting and Baja designs, and If I recall there was a third company; the best level of Optics, LED's, extruded aluminum housings, Military stainless steel breathers and hardware, Double row 50" LED bar from rigid was a paltry $1799. Every 4Wheel parts store and other shops proudly displayed those bad boys in their showrooms and you bet your sweet keester the [TEST] button 'worked' in the showroom in its best efforts to dry your eyes out from 2 feet away too!

AS soon as a half a dozen new LED light companies started to flood the scene, Rigid marked that top of the line 50" bar up to $2199 - Not down but up.. and they sell for that PLUS $100+ hr at electrical install rate. So expect a $2500 deal if you will.

Now the reality is for many of us, that's a house payment, maybe 2 car payments, and a community-college credit hr payment for your oldest child or Jamman's 'scripts this month [lol]. Let's not forget most people will gladly throw that on a credit card and defer those payments from denting their immediate wallet without question usually, (and we wonder why we work 50+ hrs a week these days).

I'm likely preaching to the choir here but when a company can rake in money on a product that they get made for pennies on the dollar, PLUS bulk, save on labor costs, raw materials, taxes being far less that the import tariffs are laughable because YOU and others like us expect to earn a living wage for the time here in 'Murica to afford ALL the nice things. Really brings $8.25 an hr minimum wage into focus. If only the masses truly understood what time was really worth.




Is there any reason to wonder why companies like Amazon are buying up everything and making ALL of the money? Christ they just bought Target stores now too.. Lobbying to pay for your local and federal government puppets doesnt come cheap when your $100 is worth $34.14 worth of 1980's buying power after inflation. but companies like Cree are raking in $1.65B a year in profit.. Amazon $177.86B but avg persons debt, highest ever known.

I know for some people this answer may seem complicated to relate to let alone barely seem relevant, but those who know better understand it perfectly fine. I know you two above this do, I just feel it needed to be pointed out for future readers of this who may not fully understand how everything comes full circle. I understand your frustration..

As far as products, there's a lot of good stuff out there that is fair across the spectrum of quality, service, and price. But you'll be forced into picking the two that are most important to you. Personally, you know what I roll with by my build sheet but then again, there's nothing wrong with old stuff either except the High wattage drain/bulb replacement issues that plague those things. It is what it is though.

Last edited on Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 01:03 am by Undrstm8ed

Last edited on Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 01:57 pm by Scrambler82

Last edited on Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 05:30 pm by Undrstm8ed

Last edited on Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 06:04 pm by Undrstm8ed

Maybe unimportant for some, but I noticed a few things of its design characteristics I thought were interesting to point out and I just like to pick apart at holes in things, my bad. Respectfully, you get what you willing to pay for and or see value in regardless. No blame or digs intended.


The physical Mentions
It is a fixed configuration and has zero upgrade ability as far as lenses/filters go. The 4 outermost LED are "The combination of two 60-degree flood beam and one 30-degree spot beam makes it lighter and wider" meaning that they are using specifically the largest part being 80% of the light as a flood, of course you will see a great deal wider, sometimes taller light pattern which would leave the purchaser with the thought that they got the brightest light possible whereas depth or distance will be mostly shadow light. 


Diving deeper into the 80% of the lights 30° beam pattern for projection point and the dual 10% / 60° beam patterns, one can see a defined overlap for some projection of spot forward. Why did I look at this? Two reasons. A) they keep calling it a work light in their description, 6 times to be exact where only once they say off-road light. Which is it? The description and physical elements of it define a "worklight" pattern. Going back to audio theories. Anyone can glue and screw 6 sides of wood together, punch a hole in it for a speaker to fit, and the box is gonna go thumpa-thumpa.. same theory should mentally apply to a bunch of LEDs wound up [over driven/clocked] higher than a Chinese Watch.


Yet at the same time, your OEM headlights, a device required by D.O.T. and "law" by many peoples interpretations are only required as a mostly spot light to illuminate 300m. Light temperature I am sure can affect some things as well.

Now, I realize we're talking about AUX lighting here and NOT headlights but I'm using the headlights as a "standard" in operation as well as illumination perspective for a guide because everyone has a similar set of headlights and if they've driven their car at least once at night. can relate to the overall view seen by them in both low/high beam modes at some point. Also NOT everyone has any variety of AUX LED light bars on their vehilces despite claims that their foglights MAY be the only AUX lighting they will ever need [purchase]. And.. There is a great deal of confusion regarding lighting regulations in the industry. One common mistake is using the term "DOT approved." The United States Department of Transportation is not an approval agency and will not approve products. In the past, USDOT has sternly warned manufacturers that claim that their products are "DOT approved;" the correct language is "DOT compliant." Which obviously these AUX LED bars are not.

However, the area of auxiliary lamps on vehicles is another confusing part of the regulations. The good news is that auxiliary lighting in general is allowed for installation on vehicles. The one important condition is found pursuant to [url=https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0ahUKEwiYqPyblZDaAhUQxmMKHQmnBlcQFghCMAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhttp://www.nhtsa.gov%2Fstaticfiles%2Flaws_regs%2Fpdf%2FMVS01092008.pdf&usg=AOvVaw1dBycYQiXGPfPGd4WWpmoi]49 U.S.C. 30122[/url] : if equipment is installed by a manufacturer, distributor, dealer or motor vehicle repair business, that equipment, as installed, must not make inoperative any of the required safety equipment. If an item of equipment impairs the effectiveness of the lighting equipment required by FMVSS-108 , we consider the installation of such equipment to have rendered the lighting systems partially inoperative. ((An interesting further read: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2017-title49-vol7/xml/CFR-2017-title49-vol7-part595.xml also https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a25827/the-enginerdy-dept-dot-in-the-dark-headlight-tech/ ))


2007 Ranger Standard Low beam Wattage


2007 Ranger Standard High beam wattage



Light position high/low will change the needs and desired patterns and even inches from point a to point b can change that and the effects of the lighting too. This style of light offers no ability to swap out lenses whether for adjustability nor replacement. I guess for $28 you just buy another one but.

Which is where other thoughts come into my mind.


The Unmentionables

They do offer a 30 day money back Guarantee.. well everyone will do that to an extent from honest companies seeing no other alternative to satisfying a customer to "As seen on TV" ads..

2 Year limited warranty and why don't they mention their warranty ANYWHERE on their site? No mention of it anywhere but on their about page not only do they tell you all of their reasons to buy from them.. note that their warranty isn't on that list. So much for CYA. Granted I've seen some luck individuals claim non-issues. But peace of mind, a lot can be said for a lifetime warranty even if its a limited one. http://www.yitamotor.com/about-us 

Further "Limited" options. In Bars alone its either 24" or 50" curved..

Note they always say A-Class LED's.. they cant even give you a name such as Cree, Phillips, OSRAM, LG, Zytech, or others.. its that obscure of branding.

Look at the 'company photo'.. between the name "Yita"-"motor" and the people present here. Who do you wanna bet is the owner of Yita? Albeit its the short Asian woman far bottom right :)

Where do you think your parts are coming from? How many people on all the forums we're on do you here complain about not having enough money to spend on things you really want/need but yet shop companies like this and Walmart and dollar stores loaded with Chinese crap to start with? And who did you vote for in 2016? riiiiggghhht... doing all we can for each other as Americans to support jobs in this country if not on the local levels nation wise. That may even turn out hypocritical since the 1987 founded South Carolina company Cree is building a 585k facility in China now... So I may find myself retracting that statement soon.


Which is WHY you can't even buy direct from them and ONLY even through their own site Amazon... You cant even buy direct from them and you think your going to see any warranty work/replacements?

And for as many back links I've done for this company already in this post, I am in NO WAY affiliated or expecting earning compensation for a boost in a sale.. lol


And I'm gonna say it.. The last decade or so of EBAY, Craigslist, Walmart mentalities in NO way justify blatant regard for value but the nonsensical BS is beyond hypocritical. And this stems from a generalization, I am far from pointing out or at someone at all here. But there is a community at large across many spectrums of platforms here from one brand or hobby to the next who peruse and try to mimic or mirror all of these "Things" from magazines, Instagram, Brands or badge demo's, Pinterest, Youtube, and any other place people forage for ideas and thoughts to upgrade the things they have. Ask your favorite race driver, how much did they spend to get 2/10ths shaved off a lap or their times? Do you think any of these guys and gals racing cars went to home depot for some PVC pipe and a 3" K&N filter to build an intake kit for their cars/trucks/boats? And don't give me sponsorships as an excuse because for the last 3 decades in ANY industry, NO ONES doing big things without being noticed for being bigger to start with and even then very few things are completely free or even discounted heavily unless you're a complete asset as to why their numbers are getting turned. Every manufacture, performance/audio shop, organization out there has been burned repeatedly. Add economics to the mix and even less are contributing.

My point being in the end here is we're all in some way or form glamorizing something someone else has or a feature we didnt buy or get from some other source or another. Those people in those cases SPENT the money to have it, or that feature, that look, that suspension setup, that audio rig, that RTT, that off-road trailer, those wheels and tires, and yes... they probably spend/spent a great deal on the arm-candy it all attracts too. Few if any of those types of people saved a ton of money shopping at or on the aforementioned avenues and since the majority of the people do shop at the bottom of the pricing index's if you will, I guess there's no shame in pointing out how like people will ask Gold and platinum prices on the   they sell most times as if the vehicle they took it off of had gold bars behind the dash despite being 20 yrs old and having all the miles possible too. Don't ask, ya don't get goes both ways I guess in used and or new products.

Personally, I feel you're in business to be in business, there is nothing wrong with the word profit but by using logic used everywhere else in the selling world, even when grossly distorted.

But when companies lose ground or go away fast is when they try to appease the masses with the cheapest prices possible and their overhead or ha, in these days a single or pair of crappy reviews tied to some business conspiracy tumbles out of orbit and sinks them due to poor business practices.

And finally on the subject, I'm not trying to change anyone's mind in this per se' I'm just voicing my $ .02 into it because of my beliefs. We all believe in different and even odd things. I felt it fair to point out some subject matter I feel was being ignored. Not expecting anyone or everyone to appreciate my odd way of thinking it may be but then again I buy things altogether differently too. That could probably be expanded upon against my favor further but it is what it is.. wont be the first or last time I'm considered against the grain.








Side Mentions
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/headlight-use-laws-for-all-50-states 

I also like to point out that all of these "laws" [Statutory codes] in almost EVERY state are as vague to say your headlights MUST be on when you 'CAANOT' see 1000ft in front of you. Hmmmm, so someone who has 20/20 vision or better may be cited or pulled over and harassed even though there is no REAL measurable way to enforce this verbiage? What if the officer making the stop wears glasses and STILL CAN'T see 1000ft in front of themselves? But you can see beyond that? Who's going to carry the range finder or measuring tape and pace that   out? Would you to defend yourself or will the Officer because he assumes or presumes you can't? Slippery slopes if you ask me.

Last edited on Wed Mar 28th, 2018 08:48 pm by Undrstm8ed

Last edited on Thu Mar 29th, 2018 02:56 am by Undrstm8ed