Light bar. Stedi or....what else?

[signo1985]

So Stedi led light bars are renowned to be one the best bang for your buck products.
Looking at a 32inch model that would give me a decent compromise between spot/flood light, i was set on the 32" ST4K that retails at $280. Link https://www.stedi.com.au/st4k-32-inc...light-bar.html

Than I came across these.
1. https://www.vicoffroad.com.au/32inch...p-4wd-4x4.html
2. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/34-inch-...180191895#rwid


It looks to good to be true, especially the 50dollars osram/philips combo one.
????

[paceman]

bought a 28" double row STEDI for the front of my NT pajero...

it's excellent. wiring harness was really good quality. plenty of mounting options....

it's a great midrange option, without taking a risk on cheapies...

[MiteeWidge]

Have the Stedi 28'' ST4K as well as a pair of their Type X 7'' lights and very happy with both. 7'' with the bar is probably overkill but they are very well made for the price. Done the Sandover , Ptenty and the Cape with them and no issues to date. Used Poly suspensnion bushes as well as their own vibration plates to held reduce the hammering they cop from the corrugations.

[Poita]

Check out their ST3303!

[signo1985]

well i know that the brand is excellent, i can only find good to very good reviews, so that does not concern me at all.


My question was more like, can you still get decent products when spending less than a 100bucks? That combo osram/philips led bar looks great on paper.

I am normally and definitely one of those "you get what you pay for" type of guy, but at 1/6th of the price of the st4k 32inch looks really attractive lol.

Check out their ST3303!

wouldn't suit me anyway, I'm after a 2in1 light-bar while the 3303 from memory should mainly focus on the spotlight side of it.

[Brownie]

I own the 32" Stedi light bar specified by the original poster. Its a good unit that works well, the supplied wiring harness made installation simple. The two cheaper units throw considerably less distance. The Stedi is 1 lux at 810 m whilst the cheapie 32" has 1 lux at 630m and the 34" is 1 lux at 650 m distance. If you were planning to use spot lights as well for distance, either of the cheapies should provide good infill and width to complement your spotties. If you just want one light, the Stedi is the better all round performer.

[Bru9]

So Stedi led light bars are renowned to be one the best bang for your buck products.
Looking at a 32inch model that would give me a decent compromise between spot/flood light, i was set on the 32" ST4K that retails at $280. Link https://www.stedi.com.au/st4k-32-inc...light-bar.html

Than I came across these.
1. https://www.vicoffroad.com.au/32inch...p-4wd-4x4.html
2. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/34-inch-...180191895#rwid


It looks to good to be true, especially the 50dollars osram/philips combo one.
????

It all comes down to Quality vs cheap. If you plan to rack up to 10-20hrs of use in a year & just want some bling. Than get a cheap one. However if you want a light that will last a long time and not have to replace & are going to be using it alot than absolutely you will need a top brand like Baja, lightforce, etc. Those dirt cheap units will loose alot of there original brightness in a very short time as the construction is so utterly poor. Big misconception with LEDs is they are simple and easy to manufacture. LEDs are very delicate and can be killed very quick from heat. Those 50,000hr lifespans are when the LEDs themselves are at 25C but in real world LEDs can easily get to 70-80C. Those temps mean drastically short lifespan which is why people report in just 6months the dirt cheap have lost half there brightness. Sadly even big brands are getting more and more lumens by driving them harder and harder with shorter life. So even a baja may not last that long as one would hope. To get LEDs with high output & good life requires very large space unless they start using water cooling or something.

I can tell you right now stedi are toys, the bogus lumen & lux numbers tell you straight away. some of there dual bars consume huge wattage which is a dead giveaway of poor leds. My guess their quality is only slightly better then those dirt cheap units. Alot of people are using dirt cheap lights, driving a 70,000dollar 4wd with 150dollar lights...I see it all the time

Some tips, avoid color temps over 5500K+ as they will come off as too blue & give an overall cold feeling. Many use 6000-6700K as those leds give higher lumens than lower color temp. Lightforce & baja use lower like 5000K as they have some brains. Another thing is cheap will have poor optics, you may be fooled by all the directional flood until you compare to a quality bar.

Really LB's are more of a gimmick than anything, just another invention to make money. Big problem with a spot/throw bar is they dont throw that far on the main road and often get irritating with all the close range spill.Once you see what a proper pair of LED driving lights do or even halogen you will never go back to a LB combo. A LB of 10-20" is all thats needed for close range flood at times.
Another thing always overlooked is headlights. good HIDs are vital as often when you dip spotlights down your left with crappy dull halogens and trying to see the road. I can drive almost anywhere with HID headlamps alone they are that good.

Avoid rooftop 40-50" LB they are ridiculous for a few good reasons.

[Dicko1]

I,ve put Stedis on several vehicles since they hit the market (or I found them1) about 6 years ago. Never had an issue and one set is on a mates troopie that has done at least 5 Cape York trips, Savannah way twice and tens of thousands of klms through outback Qld. He swears by them. I,ve had mine for 4 years and have never had an issue. You will hear a lot of bullshit from all light manufacturers about output, distance, power consumptionetc.etc. Many on this forum use them and are more than happy. After looking at my Stedi dual row ST303 mate over the road ditched his driving lights and put one on hit hilux. He too reckons its the greatest thing since sliced bread. If you want to blow $1000 on lights...go for it. Then again you could buy a Lexus 4wd....but do you need to?

[NFT5]

I can tell you right now stedi are toys, the bogus lumen & lux numbers tell you straight away. some of there dual bars consume huge wattage which is a dead giveaway of poor leds. My guess their quality is only slightly better then those dirt cheap units. Alot of people are using dirt cheap lights, driving a 70,000dollar 4wd with 150dollar lights...I see it all the time

Some tips, avoid color temps over 5500K+ as they will come off as too blue & give an overall cold feeling. Many use 6000-6700K as those leds give higher lumens than lower color temp. Lightforce & baja use lower like 5000K as they have some brains. Another thing is cheap will have poor optics, you may be fooled by all the directional flood until you compare to a quality bar.

Really LB's are more of a gimmick than anything, just another invention to make money. Big problem with a spot/throw bar is they dont throw that far on the main road and often get irritating with all the close range spill.Once you see what a proper pair of LED driving lights do or even halogen you will never go back to a LB combo. A LB of 10-20" is all thats needed for close range flood at times.
Another thing always overlooked is headlights. good HIDs are vital as often when you dip spotlights down your left with crappy dull halogens and trying to see the road. I can drive almost anywhere with HID headlamps alone they are that good.

Avoid rooftop 40-50" LB they are ridiculous for a few good reasons.

All valid points. I'm not sure that I'd classify Stedi as a bottom dweller, more probably mid range, price point quality, but certainly not top shelf. Exaggerated claims seem to be part and parcel of this industry, something that I'll address in another thread when I get a moment.



It is absolutely true that if you've driven with really good quality lights then returning to the flooded foreground is particularly unsavoury. What we must do though, is recognise that not everyone has the need or the means to buy good lights, which can be very expensive. Personally, I rate lighting as one of the primary safety features of a vehicle and one that should not be compromised.


I take particular note of your point about good headlights. Improvements here don't have to be really expensive and, it is true, can obviate the need for short range supplementary lighting. In my opinion, the headlights are the best place to start, moving on from there as your particular needs dictate.