Review: Lightforce 30-inch Single Row LED Light Bar

Fitting a Lightforce LED Light Bar in combination with a set of LED driving lights provides all the light output you could want, right where you want it.

I fitted a pair of Lightforce Genesis LED driving lights to my Navara more than three years ago and have since transferred them across to my Defender, and I’ve now added a Lightforce LED Light Bar. As well as offering impressive light performance, the Genesis driving lights have proved faultless and, when cleaned up, they look as good as new despite serving on several outback, high-country and coastal trips… and being out in the elements 24/7.

Thanks to the performance and durability of the Genesis lights, when deciding to add to my Defender’s lighting arsenal I had no hesitation in opting for a Lightforce LED Light Bar; not only was I confident that (like the driving lights) light output would be good, but I was also confident the light bar would be built tough and be designed to survive the elements.

The Lightforce 30-inch Single Row LED Light Bar (available through the Unsealed 4X4 pop-up store) features a tough extruded aluminium housing that’s finished in a UV-resistant anodised coating, and it has a hard-coated polycarbonate lens. It also features a Gore waterproof membrane with a mechanical seal resulting in an IP69K waterproof rating.

I decided to fit the light bar to the underside of a Yakima roof bar, which features a channel underneath as well as a traditional roof-bar top channel. While the light bar normally comes standard with stainless steel brackets and mounting hardware, this set-up didn’t suit the way I wanted to mount it, but through the pop-up store you also get a free set of Lightforce slide mounts (usually $40), and these were perfectly suited to my preferred mounting set-up.

Fitment was easy: I simply removed the legs of the roof bar, slid the brackets into place, tightened them up, slid the other half of the brackets onto the light bar, bolted both halves together and then refitted the legs. With the roof bar back on the Defender, I then hooked up the included wiring loom and relay to the battery and the high beam circuit, mounted the switch and fed the wiring up the B-pillar, through a gap in the door seal, and then plugged the Deutsch waterproof connector into the light. I then went for a night drive…

The Defender’s standard halogen headlights are appalling, both on low beam and high beam, and while I’ve found the Genesis LED driving lights offer plenty of light down the centre of the road, I always thought light spread could be better. With the 30-inch LED light bar also on, I now have a plenty of long-distance lighting from the driving lights as well as a great spread of light from the light bar. In fact, the light bar also provides a decent throw of light down the centre of the road.

Check out the video below for the installation (excuse my messy work bench) and the night-driving experience.

KIT INCLUSIONS

• 1 x Lightforce Single Row LED Bar
• 1 x Full wiring harness (including relay and switch connector)
• 2 x Stainless steel brackets and hardware
• 1 x User instructions
• Lightforce slide mounts valued at $40

RRP: Special price of $399 (including free slide mount)

Website: Unsealed 4X4 Pop-Up Store