Lightforce have been the long standing champions in the high performance aftermarket lighting industry, and being a big supporter of local Australian made products, are the brand I have always fitted to all my four wheel drive vehicles when I need to boost their after dark lighting capabilities.
To give you a little history on Lightforce, they are a company which was founder over 25 years ago in South Australia and because of the quality of their product, they are now a leading global brand for portable lighting, driving lights, riffle-scope optics and lighting accessories.
So lets get into it and have a look at their latest offerings in the ever growing world of LED lighting with the Gen2 LED215’s and their 20 inch dual row LED light bar.
First lets talk about the LED215‘s. Both lights on my rig are the spotlights which deliver a very focused beam, however you can also get driving lights which have more of a spread pattern. Because they are sold as individual lights you can also mix it up with one of each.
The LED215’s are 215mm in diameter, with 36x 3w individually focused LED’s which delivers 108w out of each light. The housing is made out of high pressure cast aluminium and covered with DuPont® two-pack automotive coating. They’re rated to IP68, which means they’re dust tight and protected against complete, continuous submersion in water and submersible to 3 meters. Lightforce provide 3 year warranty for these lights and they have a recommended retail price of $690 per light. No wiring harness is included, but plug and play wiring harnesses are available for purchase through Lightforce which assists in convenient installation and maximises the performance from your lights.
If you’re looking for tech specs, here they are:
- LED quantity: 36 pieces x 3w
- Power: 108 W
- Raw lumens: 7794
- Effective lumens: 5013
- Current draw: 8.7A @ 13.2v
- Weight including bracket 3.3kg (7.3lb)
- Distance to 1 LUX – Spot = 912m
- Distance to 1 LUX – Driving = 873m
- RRP: $690 each
Because of the fairly ordinary stock lights on the FJ Cruiser’s, I have converted mine to 55w HID’s which was a significant improvement over stock but still not good enough for prolonged night driving.
Now lets check out the photos of the Lightforce Gen2 LED215 Spot Lights:
Now let’s take a look at the 20 inch dual row LED light bar. These guys are a little different in specs compared to the LED215’s. They feature 40x 5w LED’s and are a combination light, meaning that on either side of the bar you get a spread pattern and in the centre is a spot pattern. They don’t throw the light as far as the LED215’s but give great coverage on the side of the road, which is great for avoiding vehicle damaging wildlife like kangaroo’s and wombats.
Like their round brothers, they’re constructed with a aluminium body with a black anodized coating. They’re rated to IP69K, which is the highest protection rating available. They also come with a wiring harness ready for instant installation! Their RRP is $620 each and come with a 3 year warranty.
And the tech specs:
- LED quantity: 40 pieces x 5w
- Power: 200W
- Raw lumens: 11200
- Effective lumens: 5970
- Current draw: 7.4 @ 13.2V
- Weight: 3.18kg (7lbs)
- Distance to 1 LUX – Combo = 458m
- RRP: $620 each
Now for the photos of the Lightforce 20 inch dual row LED light bar in action:
And with all 3 lights on together:
Personally I think you can never have enough light when travelling the back roads to some of the remote fishing destinations that we visit, places like the Eucumbene River for the Brown Trout spawn run or out to Canberra to fish the Murrumbidgee River for Murray Cod. It’s hard to choose one over the other, as everyone’s requirements are going to be different and what might suit me, might not suit you. If you want better distance, go the LED215’s in a spot, if you want better side of road coverage, go the light bar, if you want a little bit of both then maybe the LED215’s in a spot and a driving light is the go for you….or just get both!
Make sure you check out the Lightforce website to check out all their products, and while you’re at it give them a like on Facebook, follow them on Instagram and check out their videos on YouTube.
Please note that the photos were taken straight from the camera without editing using the following camera settings:
– 5 sec shutter
– F3.2
– ISO 320
Now with a little Lightroom magic..