If you are interested in investing in an off-road LED light bar for your vehicle, you need to decide what type of light beam you want your light bar to have. Here is an overview of the three most common beam patterns on the market today for LED off-road light bars.
#1 Flood Beam Light Pattern
If you want to light up a large area with light from your vehicle, a flood beam light pattern is probably what you are looking for. This light pattern is really wide and provides an intense amount of light on a focused area and residual light over a larger area.
This type of light beam is great if you want your vehicle to provide extra light when you are parking. For example, if you are camping, you can easily turn on your flood beam on your LED light bar to light up your camping space. When you are in motion, you can use it to ensure that you can see the entire road and area that you are trying to navigate.
With a flood beam, you can immediately light up the vicinity that you are in just by turning it on.
#2 Spot Beam Light Pattern
If you want something that is a little more focused, you want to go with a spot beam light pattern for your LED light bar. This will provide you with light that you can focus on a specific area. For example, if you are off-roading and need assistance seeing the trail, you can focus the spot light beam directly on the road in front of you.
Most spot beam light bars are designed to be manually moved. That means you need to have a general idea of where you want the light bar to be pointed when you get in your vehicle for it to be effective when you are off-roading. If the beam is not pointed in the right direction, you'll generally have to manually adjust the beam.
A spot beam will not light up a large area, but it will provide you with a very focused and intense source of light.
#3 Combination Beam Light Pattern
If both the flood light and spot beam light pattern sound appealing to you, there are also combination LED off-road light bars that you can purchase. These light bars come equipped with both flood and spot beam lights. This is a great way to light up a large area and a focused area at the same time.
The only real downside to this type of light bar is that there are generally not as many flood or spot beam lights are there are when your light bar only has one dedicated type of light. You have to split the light pattern between the two types of beams.
Think carefully about why you want a light bar and what you intended to use it for before you purchase one so that you are able to choose the light pattern that best suits your unique needs.
Share