Review Of China 2x2 Cubes & 30" Bar

[Ni9mm]

Okey Tay....hope your trucks don't melt.

 

[Reptar]

bet half you guys barking about spending 8-10 times as much on Rigids because they're "assembled in USA" probably have a foreign car parked in your driveway, foreign brand TV's hanging on the wall, and posting from computers made overseas. I'm all for buying American, but I'm not going to bend over and spread them for an overpriced light "assembled in USA" with parts still coming from China, over one that is priced right from China. You can't beat $165 shipped for a 30" light bar! I ordered one last week, got it a few days later, and already installed it. It's EXTREMELY bright! I have rigid dually flush mounts in my rear bumper for aux reverse lights, and the 30" Chinese light behind the grille puts out a ton more light than the set of rigid duallys in the rear bumper. I know the 30" has more LEDs than the duallys, but the duallys aren't obstructed by the grille, so I was very impressed with this $165 light!

My 40" Blackhawk LED bar is arriving today. So I'll be able to compare that 40" against my Chinese 30". If I had known about these sooner, I would have ordered the Chinese 40" too instead of the Blackhawk.

I really want a 20" in amber for the bumper. I figure the lower the better for the amber since it's better for fog and snow both color and height wise. Infinite, any pics/details on the covers you got? Unfortunately doesn't seem like anyone besides rigid offers clear lense amber LED setups.


Oh and how are you mounting the 30" between the grille supports? I used the rubber pads to wedge between the LED bar and the existing holes with fender washers to bolt it in, but nothing stops it from rotating up or down. Has anyone come up with a clean/easy way to mount to set alignment and keep it from rotating?


And a FYI, you can't ground to the hood, it's fiberglass lol WHOOPS!

 

[infinitereality]

I mounted my 30" bar exactly like Birdman's write-up. Only thing missing was some shorter bolts, I used spare washers till I got some. Once in, works great!!

BTW, I did ground mine to the hood latch. Caught me off guard, light didn't come on when I initally tried it... Hood has to be closed for it to come one which actually since kinda cool since no need to see up with the light, lol.

16W 18W CREE Flood Spot LED Work Light Offroad Lamp Amber Red Blue Black Cover | eBay
These are the exact ones I ordered. While they are the cheapest, definitely do not expect speedy shipping like you get on the lights (different vendor)!! I ordered on Sept 30 and finally got them delivered on Oct 23! But I wasn't in a big hurry for them so no biggie. Also don't forget they are yellow in person, not amber like my 20" amber Rigid bar.

 

[pat'sRAPTOR]

What's yellow? The cover or the actual light

 

[GTC-NOVA]

You guys in California are so lucky...!!! Can put pretty much anything on the Raptors! And you have a ton installed - that's for sure! I like the way you installed the LED's behind the front grils. Nice job. Can you PM me how you did that installation? Is it legal in CA to install these LED's behind the grils?

Thank you

 

[krww06]

Sorry if I missed it, but where did you get the mounting brackets from for your Rigid 2x2 Look-a-likes? Did you get them directly from Rigid, and if so, do you mind if I ask how much they were? Thanks.

 

[infinitereality]

The covers are actually amber colored but at night when light is shining through them they are yellow.

I used Rigid mounts, I think they were $90 shipped and it even includes the harness... Though you need to cut the tabs off and use some weather proof connectors.

 

[Jordan@Apollo-Optics]

I know I'm gonna sound like a **** here but, Oh well !

I just cant support this. I do my best to support American companies. I'd rather save and buy Rigid or some other brand from my home than send money to China. Not trying to turn this political, you guys do whatever makes your wallet feel good.

I'm out on this one.

I might buy some for target practice. Just to see if they still work after I shoot them. Better yet, one of you guys shoot them then post up the results. You can buy more they're cheap as hell right?

You do realize that since it's sold by an American owned company the money spent goes towards American GDP, right? You're still supporting an American company with American citizens. Just like Ford did with your "American" truck, they bought shit from China and just sold it here. The only difference is Ford had to put the lug nuts on your wheels to secure them to the truck. But since you think everything from China is shit...uh have fun when your American Made in China wheels crack when you offroad?

 

[Reptar]

I mounted my 30" bar exactly like Birdman's write-up. Only thing missing was some shorter bolts, I used spare washers till I got some. Once in, works great!!

BTW, I did ground mine to the hood latch. Caught me off guard, light didn't come on when I initally tried it... Hood has to be closed for it to come one which actually since kinda cool since no need to see up with the light, lol.

16W 18W CREE Flood Spot LED Work Light Offroad Lamp Amber Red Blue Black Cover | eBay
These are the exact ones I ordered. While they are the cheapest, definitely do not expect speedy shipping like you get on the lights (different vendor)!! I ordered on Sept 30 and finally got them delivered on Oct 23! But I wasn't in a big hurry for them so no biggie. Also don't forget they are yellow in person, not amber like my 20" amber Rigid bar.

Got a link to that birdman write up?

The one benefit of grounding to the hood ground strap or to the engine bay, rather than the latch, is while it may not seem like you'd need the light for anything with the hood open, it's actually an EXCELLENT engine bay light at night. With the 30" on with the hood open, enough reflects off the grille that it lights up the whole engine bay perfectly.

That LED cover is only for the small ones right? No luck for one for a 30" or 40" bar?


On another note, I got my 40" Blackhawk in today. First impression I was PISSED! The box was IDENTICAL to the 30" one I got from ebay. The light looked identical, the wiring looked identical, but the price was over double at $550 shipped instead of about $225. But after I went out to my truck and compared it to the ebay 30", my anger subsided lol. The heat sync fins on the 40" Blackhawk are textured to increase surface area and cooling, the ebay one is smooth. The Blackhawk one has hardware on the front casing, the ebay one looks like it's more snapped together or something. The Blackhawk one has beefier wire insulation, the ebay one had more of a hollow insulation around the pair of wires. And looking into the LEDs, the Blackhawk one has square chips, the ebay one has round dots, so at least I know the blackhawk isn't just a re-shipped ebay one, it is better quality. And I know the 40" has 33% more light capability being 33% bigger than a 30", but it really did blow the 30" out of the water in comparison. The 30" made a HUGE difference over the headlights, but man oh man the 40" just takes it over the top daylight lol. Some of that may be beam pattern though, the 30" illuminates more area up close, the 40" illuminates more area far away. They both serve a distinct purpose which is good, it's not just redundant light.

All that said, I'd still buy another ebay 30" in a heartbeat for the price, and if I had known about them before I ordered my 40" Blackhawk, I would have bought the 40" ebay one too. I may actually buy an ebay 20" one to mount on my trailer for backing up.

 

[infinitereality]

Thanks alot for the feedback man!!! Just what I wanted to compare the 2! I'd still love to know the heat difference between the two, just because! I do know, according to specs, the China 30" draws more amps than the Rigid 40"... But that all could be due to size though.

You have a point with the under hood light. I had the cheap $30 700 lumen one already (have a review on the forum some where), China-made, that I use for under hood and connected directly to battery so it's easy to cut on/off. Here's Birdman's write-up, it's spot on!

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f81/30-kc-hilites-led-upper-grille-install-no-brackets-25682/