Build quality
Outback corrugations seem to wreak havoc on lights without bulletproof mounting brackets. I’m sure anyone that frequents remote areas will have seen more than a handful of 4x4s with missing or at the very least wobbly driving lights.
While a broken set of lights won’t stop you on the track, my point is more that it doesn’t matter how bright lights are if they won’t stay firmly attached to the vehicle over rough terrain.
The Baja Designs LP9 mounting bracket is made from stainless steel and mounts to the bull bar using three bolts and the light using two. Built from hard-anodised aluminium, the housing of the LP9 is equally burly. From Arnhem Land to the Simpson Desert, so far these pair have held fast.
Made in the US, the LP9s exceed Mil-Spec MIL-STD810G and are IP69K rated where the 6 translates to ‘dust tight’ the highest level, and the 9K ‘powerful high-temperature water jets’ this time the highest level for waterproofness.
Should any issues develop over time, these lights are designed to be repaired rather than replaced, and replacement lenses and optics are readily available.
The Baja Designs LP9s are also designed to disperse heat. Air can pass through the 16 ducting channels on each light. The ridges on the top and back of the hard-anodised aluminium housing are also aid in cooling.
What spread do the lights cover?
Rather than mounting one spot and one flood, each LP9 has spread, beam and peripheral lighting inbuilt, making them designed to work as a matching pair.
Each light has 9 forward projecting LEDs (6 spots and 3 floods) that together produce 11,025 Lumens at 105 watts.
Baja Designs light quality
With so many lights being exceptionally bright it’s build strength and light quality that separate the wheat from the chaff.
Will build strength can be judged simply and objectively looking at the standards met, materials used, basic engineering principles and some real world testing.
On the other hand light quality is far more subjective. The difference perhaps can be likened to a hall lit by fluorescents and a professionally lit venue. Both are bright, but the latter has atmosphere and is a relaxed place to be. Our eyes like it.
that is bright, yet gentle is difficult to create, but it makes a difference to fatigue and the speed at which our eyes can adjust to low beam when encountering highway traffic. The LP9s do this well. End.
Burly, bright and gentle on the eyes – the Baja Designs LP9 is a solid option.
