Diode Dynamics, Heretic, Baja Designs ~ Thoughts?

I know there are a couple threads on dump lights, fog lights, light bars, etc....I am curious what the general consensus is regarding light output for the 3 companies listed in the topic line?

Each have lumens and candle power listed (e.g. Diode 113,800 cd and 4,000 lm) on their webpages but "real world" useable light or "throw" is what most interesting to me.

Back in the day driving lights listed the maximum "throw" that the lights gave off to illuminate terrain, nowadays with LED, lumens and CD higher numbers do not always indicate distance illuminated because each LED chip is slightly different.

My intent is to get an amber light bar for the lower bumper of my Tundra (aka stealth bumper light bar).

Spending $600-700 for a 20" light bar is steep....and in the end is it worth it????

What is your experience with the 3 companies I listed?

 

Baja has my vote. I have always used them on my vehicles without a single issue

 

I've seen a lot of people rave about DD and they seem to have a lot of great products but I don't have any experience with them. No experience with Heretic either.

I have a few BD pods and love them for my application.

my other pods and light bars I got from caliraised 6ish years ago and they fit my needs, hit the output I wanted and good price point. years later still have held up great to this day.

 

I've had DD in the past and love it. Currently have their stuff on order and awaiting for shipment

 

I've had great experience with both Diode Dynamics and Baja Designs LED's on my Tundra and other 4wd vehicles over the years, no experience with Heretic. I currently have a balanced mix of DD SS3 Pro pods and a 30" light bar on my A pillars and C4 Overlander bumper. I also have 2 BD LP9 Pros on the bumper which put out an amazing amount of light. The warranty is 8 years for DD and lifetime with BD, so if you take care of them they should be the last ones you will need to buy for your rig. Both brands are not cheap, but I believe you get what you pay for.

 

I've ran Baja Designs on all of my Raptor's and they are worth every penny. You have any issues (I never did), their customer service is as good as it gets. You get a lot more than just the light when you spend the money with BD, and their light is extremely durable, and usable light, much more than just a lumen rating. I've had everything from pocket pods, LP4, LP9, and their laser Onx6 light bars and never had a complaint or problem.

 

Baja Designs just replaced my 40" LED bar with a brand new. It was an older one, and since they don't have parts for it, they upgraded me.

 

Baja makes it easy to swap between amber and clear lenses or driving and spot lenses. Also the finish seems to hold upuch better than DD - which has a tendency to fade rather quickly.

Not sure if DD or heretic allow users to swap lenses but its a big plus. I tried the Amber's and couldn't stand them so swapping back to clear was great.

 

So you have had both DD and BD? Quality wise and light output which one is better for your uses?

 

I have friends with DD and have quite a bit of time behind the lights. For me, it comes down to color temperature. BD is a warmer hue that makes for easier viewing and doesn't destroy my night time vision as much. Being as you're going amber, this isn't of much concern.
For beam patterns, nothing compares to thr driving pattern offered by Rigid. I still prefer BD for the warm hue but the rigid pattern is stellar.

 

@Baja Designs 10000%. Best quality, construction and customer service. Ive had all sorts of goofy stuff happen- dropped a lightbar once and it stopped working- they fixed it, had another one where the bolts holding the faceplates stripped out and they replaced the entire housing, front plates and updated the chips. Baja owns the space and the U service technology is RAD when you need to tweak your set up.

 

Hey @Buellride, Thanks for sparking the question about our products. Baja Designs is happy to announce the first way to measure lighting through ELS (Effective Lighting Score). This will help you visualize the performance of some lights we offer and give you a "real-world" experience. In addition to this, we also have outstanding customer service and a great Lifetime warranty on our products. If you are interested in any of the products we offer feel free to reach out to me directly at brandonk@bajadesigns.com.
ELS:https://www.bajadesigns.com/els/
Best,
Brandon

 

Hey @mmasse, Thanks for your recommendation.

 

Hey DSF, Thanks for the recommendation. As a company Baja Designs tried to help out our customers as much as we can when it comes to the lifetime warranty and will even replace a warranty in rough shape with a brand-new light.
Best,
Brandon

 

Hey @AZxp, Thanks for the recommendation. What you described in your reply is our Uservice that comes standard on most lights we sell. This will give you the option to change between amber and clear rather quickly. We also have a variety of driving patterns on our lenses depending on the driving you are doing. Feel free to click on the link below to learn more about our lens pattern options.
ClearView:https://www.tundras.com/threads/baja-designs-clearview.115086/
Best,
Brandon

 

Hey @DexterL, We're always here for you and your lights. Thanks for the positive recommendation.
Best,
Brandon

 

Hey Brandon,
Any chance you guys will make an all driving light pattern? Don't need the spot combo and want all midrange throw.

 

I know you asked about the light bars, as I do not have any experience with their light bars, I did test every optical patterns of Diode Dynamics 3 inch pods. To me, the only one that is great and usable is their fog patterns. Other patterns can't really compete with Rigid or even Auxbeam I have tested. I am attaching a link here just in case you want to watch.



I did just purchased BD's squadron sport and pro pods, stay tuned for comparison video (vs Diode Dynamics fog) coming soon.

Hope whatever I have shared helps whatever you may be looking for in some degree.

 

Hey @AZxp, depending on the light you have we offer a Wide Cornering lens pattern. This will give you more nearsighted light rather than distance.
I will Link the lens replacements we offer in the link below. Also, check out my thread on ClearView. This goes in-depth on each lens pattern and what they correlate to when driving.
Baja Designs Lens Replacements:https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/?page=1&cat1=lighting-lenses
ClearView Post:https://www.tundras.com/threads/baja-designs-clearview.115086/
Best,
Brandon

 

Thanks for the link. I've got 3 pairs of wide cornering on my machines and dig them. Perhaps I'm splitting hairs too much to be marketable but something in between that and thr driving/combo is what im after

 

Correct me if I am wrong, I do believe half of the driving combo's pattern is wide cornering.

 

This makes a lot of sense now that you mention it. For some reason I though driving was it's own pattern. If it's just Wide Cornering, please disregard my drivel

 

Was just on their website, take squadron for example,

this is spot


this is wide cornering


then this is driving combo

 

As @king.cong.1119 mentioned, the driving combo lens will come with half-wide corning and half spot. I would check this lens pattern out for your application @AZxp .
Baja Designs Squadron Driving Combo Lens:https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/squadron-light-pod-lens-kit/?sku=668403
Best,
Brandon

 

Who has availability for the Pro grill strip light?

 

Having just returned from SEMA.... Baja Designs have the best engineering and fit-specific lights currently on market. They've also got a new Tundra fit, mounts in those two weird vertically-shaped intake portals on each side of grille, will hold either two or three lights each. Coming within a couple months. Their SPods switch solutions are tops as well.

 

Hey @photowil, thank you for your comment. We strive to provide you guys with the best aftermarket lighting on the market and are always improving our products. Keep an eye out for those intake portal lights in the near future. Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions about our products at brandonk@bajadesigns.com.
Best,
Brandon

 

I own both BD and DD by far best in the industry. Both allow lenses to be swapped and far superior quality. No issues on either.

 

Baja Designs has my vote! I had them on multiple vehicles with no issues.

 

Ordered the Baja Designs fog light replacement kit bc the OEM fog lights are like a couple of old flashlights running on generic C batteries. Received them in a couple days, and went straight to install. The amount of light is tremendous, way more than this comparison photo with OEM would suggest. Getting the lights aligned on their bracket and aimed properly takes some fussing, but all in all it's plug n play.

Update on install: The Baja Designs-supplied brackets don't point the lights straight ahead, but angle outward just slightly. Result is a lot more light off to sides, yet no apparent loss in the middle. I'll take it, as that spread helps me see more off the side of road, like lurking wildlife. Also, the front trim piece and grill bits on the Tundra are delicate, so watch out on removal.