185w LED Driving Lights Review

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

G'day all,
Since there seems to be no reviews at all about these lights with any sort of substance I figured I'd step up to the plate.
I'll be reviewing a pair of 185w LED driving lights I recently purchased and installed and compare them to my old setup.
Old Setup:
2x Lightforce XGT halogens, 60w no name LED bar and standard headlights
http://s8.postimg.org/i86xdu86d/Old_Lightforce.jpg

New Setup:
2x 185w LEDs from Vic Offroad, same 60w LED bar and headlights.
http://s15.postimg.org/5drvhktpn/LED_off.jpg
http://s1.postimg.org/e863adt1b/LED_on.jpg

Out of the box
Out of the box the lights seem good quality. The company offers a full 2 year warranty which is on par with any other light setup. The supplied wiring kit is ok, I chose not to use it though. The 4 supplied covers are great (2x spread, 2x spot) but i feel the way they attach to the lights could be improved, but time will tell.

Installing
Installation is the same as any other driving lights but keep in mind they are 185 watts each which is a total of 30.8 amps @12v so make sure you run a 40A relay with sufficient wiring. The bases are strong with several holes you can put the bolts through. I found the supplied bolts too long and I also replaced the regular nuts with nylocs. I also put a rubber base between them and my bullbar.

Comparison
I found them overall better than my old setup by far. The light pattern is constant with no bright or dark spots. I found light extended beyond 400m but in all honesty anything you're going to hit you won't see till 100m or less away. This is where, even with running 2 spot beams, the spread is impressive.
I tried out a 1x spot and 1x spread setup and found that to be very impressive with a great distance and spread with a good consistent light output.
Compared to my Lightforce's the mounting system is superior with 2 bolts holding the lights in place from moving up and down. I really liked that as I had issues with my Lightforce lights moving after long stretches of corrugations

Improvements that could be made
As with any LEDs I've ever come across there is a lot of light wasted pointing to the sky. I'm no engineer so not sure if this is something that can be engineered out. But having said that there is no huge bright spot on the ground.
As previously stated the way the covers clip on could be improved, they just don't seem to be held in by much.

Overall
Great lights. I highly recommend them to people and for the price ($370) you can't go wrong!

If you're not convinced check out the YouTube link with video comparisons!
https://youtu.be/tuY6c47qjPs

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

So hit the dirt for the first time last night. Only did 1km of dirt with medium corrugations and both lights shifted out of position significantly. Did some investigation on them and concluded that the way they are attached to the bracket a lot of the weight is in front of the pivot point of the lights. With each light weighing in at 4.5kg a piece you can see how this is an issue.
I see the solution to this being another small bolt place through the half moon shaped adjusting channel to physically prevent the lights from shifting downward.

[Alexl8891 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Alexl8891]

So hit the dirt for the first time last night. Only did 1km of dirt with medium corrugations and both lights shifted out of position significantly. Did some investigation on them and concluded that the way they are attached to the bracket a lot of the weight is in front of the pivot point of the lights. With each light weighing in at 4.5kg a piece you can see how this is an issue.
I see the solution to this being another small bolt place through the half moon shaped adjusting channel to physically prevent the lights from shifting downward.

I have the same lights... i had the same issue. Just change all the original nuts, washers and bolts and you won't have a problem. Did cape leveque without them shifting once. The original hardware is very poor quality. A couple of my nuts actually had no thread in them!

[Losso Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Losso]

I have the 8 inch versions. 314 bucks off ebay. Fit inside my xrox bar nice. As far as I can tell they are exactly the same, just a few LEDs less than the 9 inch.
Mine have 4 bolts for vertical adjustment, and 3 to mount to bull bar. Also, the kit came with rubber spacers for between light bracket and bull bar, and plastic inserts for between the bracket and the light itself.
3 weeks in and no movement. 1 hour of decent off road in that time.

[JimmyC Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close JimmyC]

Further review:
Found some little plastic 'C' style clips that came with the lights but I never installed. Solved the movement issue. Also replaced the Allen key bolts with High tensile bolts and they are now solid as a rock.
Well worth the investment.