Best LED light bar

[fao110]

We are looking at replacing the light bar on one of our trucks.
It is a early 80s Simon Duplex custom engine.
The light bar is a Force Four red/white.
What LED bar would be a good replacement?
And what combination of LED types?
We would want to put as wide a bar as possible on the truck.

Thanks
Tim

 

[pdk9]

Tim, there isn’t 1 “best” light bar out there b/c everyone has different requirements/preferences for their bar. Some things to consider are:
1) BUDGET!
2) do you want slim/low-profile or a taller bar for a larger footprint
3) are you using it just for a warning bar, or do you want it for takedown/flood/scene lighting too?
4) do you want dual-color?
5) Nowadays, another question is whether you want flashing LEDs and/or “rotating” (rotabeam, SLR, etc) LED patterns. Remember that the LED “rotating” patterns are pretty pricey. I personally don’t love them by themselves, but think they are a nice addition when mixed in with flashing light heads)

My overall favorite light bar for fire appatus is the Whelen freedom. Bright as F@#K, dependable, and you have quite a few options (LED takedowns, flashing and rotabeam light heads, options to mount pioneer scene lights on it, etc). Start off with the basic NFPA version and then add some additional inboards as your budget permits. The FedSig Navigator would be my next choice since it has a lot of options and a large footprint. Whelen and FedSig are more the of the “premium” price point, though they do offer some more budget-friendly options like the Justice and Legend. Some ppl here like the vision SLR (V-shaped LED rotators that you see on a bunch of NYPD and FDNY units), but they’re $$$ and I don’t love them.

For a slimmer, more economical option, I’d recommend the Feniex Fusion with the 180 degree optics. The 180 optics provide good off-axis warning, while the 40 degree optics are more intense head-on but lack off-axis power. The benefits of the feniex bar are dual color (you can flash red with entire bar going to flood mode), it’s more affordable than whelen and fedsig, and you can mix and match technologies (ie custom config with 180 optics all around with maybe 2-4 forward facing 40 degree light heads). Sound off nforce is another solid option in a similar price point.

I would avoid code 3 because their LED products are overpriced junk, IMO, and don’t really offer anything special.

If you’re planning on holding onto your Simon Duplex for a while longer, I’d personally recommend getting a basic Whelen NFPA Freedom (corner modules, 2 red inboards, & 2 white inboards only) and using the remaining money to upgrade some of your perimeter warning from halogen/strobe to LED. I think it looks silly when ppl upgrade their rigs with a new light bar loaded to the max but have dying halogen lightheads everywhere else, b/c it’s not a sensible way to maximize a limited budget. Hence, I usually recommend that depts upgrade their perimeter warning (front/side/rear lightheads) over the light bar if their budget only allows them to upgrade one or the other

Hope this helps

 

[H20]

I second the Whelen Freedom

 

[fao110]

Thank you. You gave me some good information.

Tim

 

[SA1]

I would also vote for Whelen Freedom. the guys pretty much covered all aspects.
I'm using Code 3 Excalibur full LED double deck and it's pretty darn bright but expensive though.

 

[Sparky_911]

Throwing my 2 pennies in....The Freedom meets your criteria for "as wide as possible" because it comes in different lengths. I personally own one in 50 inch and it does an excellent job of warning plus is pretty much infinitely customizable depending on your budget.

And like pdk9 said, don't forget other areas of warning. It is sometimes better to update the side and rear warning and just clean up the roof bar (new bulbs, polish/replace domes) than spend your whole budget on one item that only gets seen from one end.

 

[fao110]

At the present time we are looking at options on the lighting package on this truck.
The light bar is around 72 in. wide and that's just a quick number for this discussion. We would not want to go with a new bar unless it's close to the same length. And a led bar that long would be very expensive.
We looked at replacing the halogen bulds with LED bulbs but the bulbs I found were out if the question on price maybe I was looking in the wrong place or the wrong bulbs.

Up dating the lower zone lights from strobe/halogen has been planned. The replacement of the strobes is planned to take place when we have a strobe bulb or power supply failure.

The top rear warning lights are rotating beacon's. What would be a good led light for this location? Need rear and side warning. The LED beacon's I have seen did not impressed me. But it's been a few years since I was looking at the them.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

 

[pdk9]

At the present time we are looking at options on the lighting package on this truck.
The light bar is around 72 in. wide and that's just a quick number for this discussion. We would not want to go with a new bar unless it's close to the same length. And a led bar that long would be very expensive.
We looked at replacing the halogen bulds with LED bulbs but the bulbs I found were out if the question on price maybe I was looking in the wrong place or the wrong bulbs.

Up dating the lower zone lights from strobe/halogen has been planned. The replacement of the strobes is planned to take place when we have a strobe bulb or power supply failure.

The top rear warning lights are rotating beacon's. What would be a good led light for this location? Need rear and side warning. The LED beacon's I have seen did not impressed me. But it's been a few years since I was looking at the them.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

To be honest, it sounds like the best option for you guys with the 72” light bar is to keep it. Do you have a picture that you can post of it? I’m guessing it’s all rotators, but I’d like to see the spacing between them, b/c some ppl add LED modules on the lower deck of their halogen bars to spruce them up. It’s easier to do on other models like the MX7000 and Excalibur b/c there’s space specifically for flashing lightheads, though, than most Force lightbars that I’ve seen (which are single tier and don’t have a lot of spare space). Also, check ebay and here for spare Force 4 parts.....it’s amazing what some WD40, a few new bulbs, and a new lense kit (or polished old lenses) can do to make it look “like new” for only a few bucks

Unfortunately, the LED beacons tend to be pricey, especially the ones with the rotating patterns. I think the SNM Elite is a great economical 360 beacon for you guys at a fraction of the Whelen bar. It’s a good size footprint and lots of flash options.
http://www.strobesnmore.com/Strobes-N-More-EBeacon-Elite-Next-Gen-LED.html

I would try to get ahead of waiting for a strobe/power supply failure and update the LED lighting before that. You have 2 options:
1) replace the current lightheads with Whelen 600s (the 6x4 size lightheads is a standard size)
2) some members like replacing the strobe/halogen bulbs with a LED Feniex cannon hideaway. It does work decently and is definitely better than the old bulb. HOWEVER, I prefer updating the whole unit b/c the LED lightheads have different lense and reflector designs that maximize output/intensity of the LED diodes

Another way to add to visibility to your rig is scene dots....on the diamond plate, you can add yellow/orange dots to form a chevron on the rear for added visibility for little $. Again, pictures of the rig (from all sides) would be helpful to us

 

[fao110]

I will take some pictures if the trucks light bar. The truck is big and we have plenty of room for lights.
We just need to decide on what we want.
One if the things I have been kicking around is mounting a led bar in front of the present light bar.
Nothing is set in stone yet.
I have been looking at the led combination bars. The ones with the emergency lights and flood/take down options.
I saw a local LEO with this type bar and I was impressed with they turned on the floods.
You can never have two much scene lighting.

 

[pdk9]

Another option is to completely gut the inside of the bar (remove all rotators/rotator parts) and replace the interior with LEDs. By removing the rotators (which use up a lot of amps), you’d have space to mount virtually anything you want in there....just remember that the LED color has to match the lense color (on the force light bar) that the LED lighthead is going behind ;-).

I had also been thinking of the idea of an Apollo 800 lights stick dual color in red/clear as a brow light under the light bar (clear flood override for supplemental scene lighting). Since the feet of the Force are probably more spread apart than the length of the 800, you’ll need to create a custom L-bracket, but the plus side to this idea is that you could then use the existing holes for the lightbar feet to mount the brow light bracket, instead of having to add more holes to the roof

 

[fao110]

Here is a picture if the light bar.

 

[fao110]

I didn't post a picture from the front.
But I have plenty if room in the front.
I like pdks idea if a dual color led bar.

 

[Sparky_911]

That's an ol school code 3 triple threat. You could look at using some strobes n more LED beacons (or other manufacturers) in place of the rotator guts. Taller profile.