Whelen Liberty LFL or Federal Signal Valor?????

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astraintx

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Apr 30, 2011
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Cypress, Texas
I just purchased a 2012 Tahoe PPV. I'm a police officer and also have been a volunteer firefighter for approximatly 8 years now. The Tahoe is not going to be in service for "On Duty" but will be used for extra jobs doing patrol for small communities and subdivisions within the county I work for. This envolves making traffic stops and etc. When operating in this function the vehicle will me striped out with magnetic stripes. When not using the vehicle for the patrol E/J's it will be used for every day transportation as well as responding to calls for the fire dept. Thats the short, not so short version of what the vehicle is being used for. I have narrowed down the lightbar choices between the Whelen Liberty LFL and the Federal Signal Valor. Both are relativly around the same price the FS Valor just being $200 more. The whelen Liberty I can purchase for $1,400 and includes a 55" fully loaded with LR11 LED take downs and alleys and rear amber traffic advisor. This is the lightbar that our county units have and it's a great lightbar. My question on this lightbar is it comes with the take downs in the center and I would like to move them to just inside the corner LED's. Is it possible to move these with out any extensive rewiring? Also It comes with red on one side and blue on the other. Except for the corner LED's I would like to stagger the colors. Can this be done without any extensive wiring? I believe these are just plug and play LED modules that can be easily switched. Am I wrong?


Now I can also get the Federal signal Valor dual color for about $1,600 and this lightbar comes with many great features and does a lot of cool stuff. On a side note, it has an odd shape to it that's not popular around my area. I would really like opinions of what you guys think I should do. I also should add I will be operating them off a Whelen Cencom Gold that is already installed in the vehicle. Any input would be great. Thanks in advance.
 
You can stagger them quite easily on the Liberty...but why would you? It'll turn into an ugly purple mess---I've seen it. Moving the takedowns is just as easy.


$1500 is a lot for something that blinks (in my opinion). I got my 48" fully populated Liberty for $350 on eBay (used of course) in good shape. I'm sure you could find a used 55" model in fantastic shape for half the price of a new bar.
 
all the modules on a liberty are plug and play. howerver, i wouldnt change the corner lights around like that. ive seen it also, and it looks terrible.


i would personally go with the Valor. People dont like the shape, because theyre not used to seeing it. With the dual color, you could use R/B for LEO use, and then whatever single color you use for the FD. I also like the option of the full white flood for takedown. the valor bar can also incorporate white flashes into the R/B on the front


take a look at the valors patterns on the right of the page


Valor - Lightbars | Federal Signal
 
I've seen a number of valor's on DC's newer police cars. They are different looking, but they are incredibly bright and the shape is excellent for an urban area - I would imagine it would have equal benefits in a suburban area. I would add that the shape is really only noticeable up close, from a distance of even a few feet or straight on you can't notice the shape. I'd vote for the valor over the liberty any day.
 
The Valor is considerably brighter than the Liberty. And as others have said, the Valor is a strange shape for a reason. The off-axis on that bar is hard to match.


The issue with the Valor is that it will be extremely difficult to change the heads around. This is because of the way that Federal Signal makes their bars. The light segments are not actually modules per se; but instead the LEDs are directly mounted to a board with a reflector below them.


The Liberty, on the other hand, is extremely easy to swap modules around. That is the Liberty's biggest strength. But I wouldn't stagger the colors, as previously stated, as it will turn purple/pink.


If it were me, I would go with the Valor. That is, unless the ability to swap modules around is a high priority for you.
 
I would go with the liberty, It is plenty bright, and can be configured in any way you would like. And I would order with colored lenses. But the ultimate decision is up too you. If the money is in the equation, I would most certainly go with the liberty. If not than maybe the valor is a better choice.
 
Get the valor AND something to put in the rear window, I.E. slimlighters or a traffic adviser of some sort.
 
Fast LT1 said:
Get the valor AND something to put in the rear window, I.E. slimlighters or a traffic adviser of some sort.
Click to expand...

This.
 
Storm4200 said:
all the modules on a liberty are plug and play. howerver, i wouldnt change the corner lights around like that. ive seen it also, and it looks terrible.

i would personally go with the Valor. People dont like the shape, because theyre not used to seeing it. With the dual color, you could use R/B for LEO use, and then whatever single color you use for the FD. I also like the option of the full white flood for takedown. the valor bar can also incorporate white flashes into the R/B on the front


take a look at the valors patterns on the right of the page


Valor - Lightbars | Federal Signal
Click to expand...


 
I am also a Texas police officer and I also use my POV (formerly a Tahoe, now a Silverado) for on and off duty work. I use Whelen Liberty and Freedoms only. I like the ability to switch out colored modules with ease. Used Liberty light bars and modules of every description can be found often and at about 50%, or more, off street selling prices. I regularly see late model, passive, Liberty bars, in excellent condition, sold right here on ELB, at $600 to $800.


The Valor is a terrific light bar. My only objections are the price and the difficulty in swapping out modules.


If the price is no object and you order it in the color (s) you want, then it is just a matter of esthetics whether you go with the Valor or the Liberty..


PS: Using magnetics is an excellent idea. I went from conventional graphics on my Tahoe to magnetics on my Silverado. It makes it a lot easier to blend in when going grocery shopping wearing shorts and a t-shirt. :) When I had permanent graphics I had to always make a conscious effort to dress professionally so I could be in public without embarrassing myself. Not so, with magnetics. I can now remove them and go out in public and embarrass myself with less fear of embarrassing my profession. :)
 
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I find the different needs of responders very interesting. In 13 years of full-time sales of emergency equipment (it's my day-job, not a garage business), and giving multiple seminars on emergency warning, etc., having supplied literally thousands of lightbars to all kinds of agencies, I have never...not ONCE... had a request from someone to change lightheads around.


We had Ontario police agencies go from all red to red/blue a few years ago, but those were new heads. Even with the ROC bars (which they don't have), we would have just replaced the 2 passenger side boards on their Arjents.


Likewise, I can count on one hand how many times I've had someone ask about programming different siren tones in to a siren. Generally people (that I sell to, anyway) don't care as long as it's loud, reliable, reasonably priced, easy to install, and they can depend on you for service.


No slam intended towards anyone, but it's just interesting the differences in priorities.
 
leftcoastmark,


I'm sure I am an exception to the norm, but I change modules on my Freedom and Liberty bars 3 or 4 times year. I use my vehicle for on and off duty police work. I use red and blue primarily on duty, red/blue/amber for off duty, and all amber for my non-LEO pilot car business. i swap modules around just to address the task I am currently undertaking. I use the same vehicle for all 3 tasks.


I also have some red / blue / amber combo Liberty bars and one Freedom that now have muliples of each color that can be used as desired, however, they have less overall output because there is usualy 4 or more modules not in use. I still prefer swapping the modules as I think most appropriate to my need.


Being able to buy modules at reduced prices and swap easily keeps me buying Whelen.


Terry


PS: My next prject is making a quick disconnect for my lightbar cable so I can undo the two pylon mount nuts and undo the quick disconnect on the cable and swap bars instead of modules.
 
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with the plug-and-play feature of the liberty, you won't have any real re-wiring to do, but i recommend against staggering the different color lightheads. To be honest, i would do red on 1 side and blue on the other side OR do pairs of modules (for example, in the rear, i'd do


Red Corner/Red/Blue/Blue/Red/Red/Blue/Blue Corner), so that you don't get one purple blur.


As far as which i'd go for, i'd take the valor, hands down. the liberty is a great product, but the valor is superior. yes, it'll take a while to get used to the look, but the quality of the fedsig lightheads, the triangle shape (which helps intersection and side warning), etc. make it make choice
 
Retired1 said:
leftcoastmark,

I'm sure I am an exception to the norm, but I change modules on my Freedom and Liberty bars 3 or 4 times year. I use my vehicle for on and off duty police work. I use red and blue primarily on duty, red/blue/amber for off duty, and all amber for my non-LEO pilot car business. i swap modules around just to address the task I am currently undertaking. I use the same vehicle for all 3 tasks....
Click to expand...

That's probably a major difference - up here, police cars are owned by the municipality and are not taken home, and are never owned by the individual officers. In rural areas (of which we have lots), the RCMP officers will drive their patrol cars home, but that's because they're usually the only officer in the area and are on call 24/7.
 
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