LED spotlight recommendations

I know spot lights have been done to death on here but this is NOT another thread asking how to install them, I currently have lots of lights on my 110, all wired in correctly using additional relays etc. I am basically asking for product recommendations.



I currently have 6 ring driving lights (link) across the roof of my 110. I am aware that these are very cheap lights but I am more than happy with their performance due to the quantity of them that I have. The problem I have with them is because they are very cheap they tend to only last about 2-3 years before the internals have rusted beyond the point of just cleaning them up and the require replacement. The secondary problem is the current draw due having so many traditional halogen lights which is why I am now looking at LED. I am at the point now where I am going to start replacing them again as they are beginning to fail, so I am exploring other options.

I am thinking about having 2x pencil beam long distance spot light, and 4x driving lights with a similar beam pattern to what I currently have. In time I will also be looking to replace the large Hella spots on the bull bar which, despite being expensive, I have always found to be rather disappointing in terms of their light output. I am happy to take advice on the beam type combinations across the whole setup if the long distance pencil beam lights would be better as replacements for these rather than on the roof.

For now though I am looking for 6x replacements for the roof lights. I would want them to be rectangular and basically the same physical dimensions as the ring lights I currently have as they fit nicely underneath the light bar before the windscreen. I also want them to be LED, have the highest light output possible, and the longest life/most reliable option available. Currently I do not have a budget in mind, so am happy for options in all price brackets from bottom end up to money no object wish list items. I have no experience with LED lights at all so any recommendations/personal experience is greatly received, and I can then decide how much I want to/it is worth spending once I have a range of options.

@dag019 I have a thread going in the General Land Rover area and had an excellent response from @300bhp/ton
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/spot-lights.364229/

meego said:

@dag019 I have a thread going in the General Land Rover area and had an excellent response from @300bhp/ton
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/spot-lights.364229/

Click to expand...

300bhp/ton said:

What are you actually wanting?

I know everyone always calls them spot lights, but spots are for long distance. A light-bar typically is a flood lighting device. So a different result for a different purpose.

Are you wanting to have more light directly in front and to the sides (flood) or are you wanting to put light a lot further down the road (spot)? If you want both, you may been more than one thing, or you'd need to look at some combo items.

As a general trend, spot lights need to have physically larger reflectors or optics. As this will focus the light more. Smaller reflectors or optics are normally tailored for flood light.

Many LED units use clusters of small LED units and optics, so as a rule (not always) will tend to be more floody than spot.

Lightbars can be had from various prices. Ebay sell Chinese ones from about £50, but if you go through a specialist 4x4 shop, you could easily spend £500 on something that looks very similar.

The pitfall with LED units is the quality. Cheap ones may not always be constructed as well, or won't be as waterproof. And while the physical LED will last a long time. The electronics that run them can be more fragile. Then there is the quality and type of LED. Very white light (or sometimes blueish) is harsh on the eyes, causes eye fatigue and bleaches colours out. In urban areas they are ok, but in rural or countryside you'll find they make everything look a lot more grey with a lot less definition. LED units with a warmer or neutral colour temp are harder to find, but work so much better when you have trees/grass, etc that you are lighting up.

The actual output of a lightbar can vary a lot too. Most of the claimed outputs are nearly always lies. Especially for the cheap ones. So this can greatly impact how good or bad they are. Best bet is to go off of reviews for a specific item.

On the flip side, the expensive lightbars from the trendy 4x4 stores. These will generally work well, but are often grossly overpriced. A lightbar they are selling for £500, might be available unbranded for £120.

Click to expand...

Many thanks for the link. @300bhp/ton response (quoted above for reference) is exactly why I am asking the question. I am aware I will need different lights for flood and spot which is why I am looking at individual lights rather than one of the bars. From his response it looks like the long distance spot lights may be better on the bumper where they can have a larger reflector etc, and keep the roof for the driving lights.
I was also aware of the widely varying difference in quality, hence asking for personal recommendations. I would be looking for a completely waterproof unit, for both the LED and the relevant electronics driving them as there is no point in replacing what I have because they do not last very long if the led replacement also does not last very long! Googling around seems to be a minefield and there is lots of very cheap ones, very expensive one and misinformation (light output etc) about. This is also why I am not at this point limiting myself budget wise. If I need to spend £500 to get what I want I will probably keep my current set up, but I will at least know what I need for my requirements and how much it will cost.

I was however unaware of the difference the light colour makes which is a consideration to take into account. However they all seem to be the very white/blue light rather than the yellow of halogen.

Some of the ones I have been looking at are from the agricultural market, mainly because there is less Chinese rubbish than the 4x4 market and the requirements for reliability and service life should be very similar. The down side of this is they look to be very very expensive, and I need to work out how much range I currently have as being slower moving a lot of agri market lights have a short distance beam pattern.

If you want a personal experience recommendation as a brand, I went with Truck-Lite to replace my normal 7" lamps. These are of course are not roof or bumper mounted but the quality is good and look like they will last so the others in their range could be up to the same quality.
More expensive than most, whilst not being the most expensive either. They should at least be on your list to review with anyone else's recommendations.
They have similar rectangular shaped driving lights to your Ring ones called 613W (but I have never used those specific ones myself).

Maybe a bit off topic but the last vehicle I had with roof driving lights I found most useful to have a short range and point down in front of the car as it more readily marked out potholes or the near road surface approaching. This seemed to be more valuable to me at the time than pure distance.

Hope you find something well suited.

@dag019 I'm sure @Nodge68 knows a thing or two about LEDs and can offer some advice.

As for my advice, I bought the cheapest ****e from eBay. I bought 4 off 36W for the front and 2 off 18W for the rear. They have been on for around 3 years. One of the front 36W has stopped working, and one of the rear 18W has stopped working. I purchased another 18W to replace the rear, but I refused to pay the massively inflated price for the fronts. I’m sure I paid less than £40 for all 6 originally, but now it’s around £15 each for the 36W (or it was when I last looked).

Very few LED spot lights are "E" marked, so technically can only be used off road.

LED lights that are E marked are very expensive, even if they are actually the same units as a cheaper imported LED spot lights (most are made in China anyway). It's the cost of the approval process which make E marked LED lights expensive, so that's what your are paying for when you buy E marked lights.

You can get LED replacement bulbs that go into normal spot lights designed for filament bulbs, but few of these LED replacements are E marked, if any.

It all depends on budget, what you need and whether you're happy to accept a certain amount of non-compliance in regards to lighting on the vehicle.

Nodge68 said:

Very few LED spot lights are "E" marked, so technically can only be used off road.

LED lights that are E marked are very expensive, even if they are actually the same units as a cheaper imported LED spot lights (most are made in China anyway). It's the cost of the approval process which make E marked LED lights expensive, so that's what your are paying for when you buy E marked lights.

You can get LED replacement bulbs that go into normal spot lights designed for filament bulbs, but few of these LED replacements are E marked, if any.

It all depends on budget, what you need and whether you're happy to accept a certain amount of non-compliance in regards to lighting on the vehicle.

Click to expand...

I am happy with non compliance as they are not used around anyone anyway and LED bulbs does not solve the problem of needing to replace my current units every few years. I currently do not have a budget but currently I am looking for sensible options all the way up to money no object choices. Once I have some suggestions I can then actually make a judgment on what my budget will be.

dag019 said:

I am happy with non compliance as they are not used around anyone anyway and LED bulbs does not solve the problem of needing to replace my current units every few years. I currently do not have a budget but currently I am looking for sensible options all the way up to money no object choices. Once I have some suggestions I can then actually make a judgment on what my budget will be.

Click to expand...

How about a LED bar? I love mine so much, I'm going to work out how to fit it behind the grill of my FL2.