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Up for review is an 8 head XL6 Xtreme Series Commander LED Warning/Traffic Stick. The Commander Sticks that have 6 or more heads come with both Warning & Traffic Patterns. (Please note: 2 & 4 head units will ONLY be WARNING - without the traffic/director capability). Tested were the XS4 (Shorter 4 diode heads w/linear optics & fluted lens), the SE4 (4 diode LED heads with "cup style" optics, as well as the XL6 (same as the SE4 heads, but with Linear Optics and 6 diodes per head. Note: The Lens are NOT fluted).
The Good: Wow- what can I say. All 3 models tested were simply amazing- but the most bang for your buck (and I mean BANG) is the XL6 Xtreme. The 6 diode, along with the optics- makes for an extremely bright unit. Colors tested were Amber, Red, and Blue. The colors were true- with a Blue that was nice and deep- nothing faded or "Turqoise" here. The different flash patterns avaialble in both warning and traffic mode was mesmerizing (please wear some sunglasses while selecting your pattern!). The housing is extremely sturdy. The lens were clean- which allows for a low-profile installation in both a profesional/full time duty cruiser, or the vollie looking to have lots of bang for their buck- but still have as much as an unobtrusive "Low profile" installation.
The Bad: A recently custom ordered stick required Red to be in either end of the "Stick", with Amber in the middle. The user did not want the Red to be on with the Amber for traffic purposes. Basically- the user wanted to have amber for traffic purposes, but be able to have red light up on either end without being having the amber powered, as well as the other way around. The workaround was a disassembly of the stick, and installation of a separate LED flasher for the red LEDS, keeping the amber sepearte (in a nutshell- when you utilized the director mode- the red would light with the amber). The was the only downside we had with this unit. A switch kit is avaialble for this bar- but if you are retro-fitting a cruiser (as we did in several City Metro cruisers) you have to come up with your own switching method to provide power to "Warning", "Left", and "Right".
The Ugly: The installation kit that comes with the Commander includes Rubber washers to prevent the nut from backing off of the bolt. In two installations where the washers were used- the brackets were definately in place- BUT would not release when attempting to loosen the nut. The carriage style bolt turned in the groove, and ultimately "stripped out" on two bars preventing the ability to remove the stick easily for service purposes. In installations of Crown Vic's, the extra "hump" on the rear deck makes for an awkward installation with the provided brackets- without some sort of customization/fabrication.
All in all- for the price that this LED stick goes for- there is ALOT of bang for the buck. Spend a few extra dollars and go all out and get the XL6- the optics and the additional 2 diodes per head are worth the investment.
Useability: 8
Functionality: 8
Durability: 8
Customer Service: 8
Price: 9
Overall Score: 8.2
Up for review is an 8 head XL6 Xtreme Series Commander LED Warning/Traffic Stick. The Commander Sticks that have 6 or more heads come with both Warning & Traffic Patterns. (Please note: 2 & 4 head units will ONLY be WARNING - without the traffic/director capability). Tested were the XS4 (Shorter 4 diode heads w/linear optics & fluted lens), the SE4 (4 diode LED heads with "cup style" optics, as well as the XL6 (same as the SE4 heads, but with Linear Optics and 6 diodes per head. Note: The Lens are NOT fluted).
The Good: Wow- what can I say. All 3 models tested were simply amazing- but the most bang for your buck (and I mean BANG) is the XL6 Xtreme. The 6 diode, along with the optics- makes for an extremely bright unit. Colors tested were Amber, Red, and Blue. The colors were true- with a Blue that was nice and deep- nothing faded or "Turqoise" here. The different flash patterns avaialble in both warning and traffic mode was mesmerizing (please wear some sunglasses while selecting your pattern!). The housing is extremely sturdy. The lens were clean- which allows for a low-profile installation in both a profesional/full time duty cruiser, or the vollie looking to have lots of bang for their buck- but still have as much as an unobtrusive "Low profile" installation.
The Bad: A recently custom ordered stick required Red to be in either end of the "Stick", with Amber in the middle. The user did not want the Red to be on with the Amber for traffic purposes. Basically- the user wanted to have amber for traffic purposes, but be able to have red light up on either end without being having the amber powered, as well as the other way around. The workaround was a disassembly of the stick, and installation of a separate LED flasher for the red LEDS, keeping the amber sepearte (in a nutshell- when you utilized the director mode- the red would light with the amber). The was the only downside we had with this unit. A switch kit is avaialble for this bar- but if you are retro-fitting a cruiser (as we did in several City Metro cruisers) you have to come up with your own switching method to provide power to "Warning", "Left", and "Right".
The Ugly: The installation kit that comes with the Commander includes Rubber washers to prevent the nut from backing off of the bolt. In two installations where the washers were used- the brackets were definately in place- BUT would not release when attempting to loosen the nut. The carriage style bolt turned in the groove, and ultimately "stripped out" on two bars preventing the ability to remove the stick easily for service purposes. In installations of Crown Vic's, the extra "hump" on the rear deck makes for an awkward installation with the provided brackets- without some sort of customization/fabrication.
All in all- for the price that this LED stick goes for- there is ALOT of bang for the buck. Spend a few extra dollars and go all out and get the XL6- the optics and the additional 2 diodes per head are worth the investment.
Useability: 8
Functionality: 8
Durability: 8
Customer Service: 8
Price: 9
Overall Score: 8.2