40" M&R vs. 40" Blackhawk

[Nitrous Kyle]

Ok, I have decided to pull the trigger on a 40" lightbar to put behind the grille. I am having trouble deciding between the M&R or Blackhawk. I like the 8 degree spot beam pattern that the Blackhawk has in the combo bar but am worried that the 90 degree flood pattern is "too much" flood for behind the grille. The website doesn't have listed the number of LEDS that are spot vs. flood so I am not sure how much this would effect the light output. The M&R I understand can be bought with 30degree and 12degree beam patterns, not sure if you can do a combo or not. Perhaps some vendors can chime in on this?

Like I said this bar will be going behind the grille and will be my only light upgrade for a while. What would you guys recommend between the two bars mentioned above? I am leaning towards the M&R with the a 12 degree spot pattern or perhaps a combo 12 and 30 if it can be done.

 

[MandR Automotive]

Behind the grill the all 12degree works best. Let me know how I can help

 

[Nitrous Kyle]

Behind the grill the all 12degree works best. Let me know how I can help

I was assuming that this was the case, the tighter the beam battern, the less diffusion you would have due to the grille.

Does anyone know if the Blackhawk can be configured in all 8 degree spot pattern?

 

[debordj]

I have the M&R 12 degree spot behind grill and really like it.

 

[BIRDMAN]

Mike looks sexy in shiny suits if that accounts for anything

 

[MandR Automotive]

Mike looks sexy in shiny suits if that accounts for anything

You big flirt haha

 

[amphibian]

The website doesn't have listed the number of LEDS that are spot vs. flood so I am not sure how much this would effect the light output.

You can kindof tell if you look closely at the picture, it looks to me like there's 8 (4 top 4 bottom) on each side that are flood. I could be wrong about that but when I saw it I was wondering the same thing and that was what I figured out.

One concern I have about the TMX bar (and I haven't asked them about this yet, so I could be wrong), but just looking at the pics it looks like their bar sits about 1"-1.5" higher in the grille than say the M&R or rigid bars. That doesn't sound like a big deal until you realize that it puts more of the light behind the "FORD" rather than the mesh. Anybody want to correct me on this?

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

i have the blackhawk 40, unfortunately i did not have a chance to install it in my truck.... which might have been a good thing. but here is the light in my shop. the outside 8 on either side are flood with a slightly diffused optics and the inner are spot. i have no complaints about this bar. infact i have a 50" and 4 spots coming soon too.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

another pic. no light

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

now with light.