I have been wanting to mount these up since I bought them and, guess what, the stars have aligned. Thanks to recent advice from Alternative Off-road. (Initial order through different vendor and I would rather not muddy this review). Highly recommend AO as a vendor. I have not used all vendors and I am sure there are many that are equally as great. Now....
There are countless of options for reverse lights. The list can go on forever. I decided to give a pair Baja Designs S1 amber wide cornering a shot. And, when compared to other single source LED lights on the market (KC Flex series, VisionX CG2 3.7” and Rigid Ignite to name the obvious) the BD S1 on paper is a clear obvious winner. And, when breaking down features and output...clearly a better value $$$ wise. Do the math and research and you will see for yourself. It is obvious BD knocked it out of the park with this small compact power house light.
I decided to mount these on my front bumper top hoop for ease of photography. I put a piece of card board behind to assist my IPhone 8 (I need to upgrade lol) in auto focus and to compare size with my BD 20” ONX+. (Don’t mind the wires hanging down, they are from neither light).
You will notice one bezel has been flipped. This is a great feature of “U-Service.” This will help display the company brand correctly when later mounted upside down under my rear bumper.
^ look how beautiful and crystal clear that optic looks. Zero imperfections and very reflective.
For all you circuit board and CREE LED freaks out there lol. Looks damn good to me and professionally made. My understanding is it is the same CREE XHP50 LED found in the BD XL80. Also, I am digging the powder coat
^ I drove out to my usual spot and got a day time photo of the terrain. This hill is 530’ away measured with Google Maps GPS.
^ I got tired of standing out there and waiting for pitch black. Here is a night shot in all spot. I think the environmental conditions could have been slightly better. It was windy as heck and there was a good amount of dust/ dirt flying in the air. So, it looks hazy because it is reflecting off the dust a little bit. Very annoying. I had grit in my teeth from the damn dusty wind. Looked pretty damn good in person though.
^ I put the amber wide cornering lens back on. I like this color/ pattern and it should be great as a reverse light. Total over kill lol and I will not be flashing people in the face with these.
After being out in the dust bowl, I came home and rinsed the dust off some components. Not the lights themselves. No detergent or cleaning products used. Just a light rinse and air dry over night. Perfection.
Will get everything reassembled tomorrow. I will grab some reverse light photos in the near future.
I got a camper shell on my truck and....
Gotta represent.
Also, thanks TG. Grab a pair of S1’s and enjoy. Great price point with adequate output.
I do have one thing I would like to see improved. A quick disconnect before the switch would be a great, thought out and needed feature.
^ ramming that through your engine bay into your interior sucks. Especially when other wires are taking up space in the hole. Also, you have to carefully pull the wires off the switch and then put the wires back on once the switch is set in the dash/ console.
This may not seem like too big of a deal. And honestly it isn’t. But, the switch/ wire connectors are sensitive and easily damaged (i learned from previous experiences with Rigid doing the same thing as BD).
^ VisionX has a quick wiring disconnect before the switch that I love. Maybe incorporating something like this? Ease of install would be improved for the average Joe
In closing. I am very happy with the BD S1. The harness issue is minimal but a product review that is 100% positive lacks credibility. So, it is important to fully discuss the product. What do you guys think overall? I am very happy. More output photos to come. Thanks for reading.
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Love that location, looks great.
