Opinions- what would you do

I'm looking for opinions based on experience, I am considering a new light being a 30" dual color behind grill in the gap above the ford or two pods on hood mounts. I currently have a 20 in the bumper.

I know the 30 will give more lumens but it is behind the grill. I know when a light is behind the grill it drastically cuts light output but will it cut so much that the pods provide more?

My only other unobstructed option is a 50 on the roof but I dread the wind noise that I hear about.

I have my brand(s) chosen and they aren't the premium brands as I can't justify them given the amount of use. I don't want it to turn in to a brand debate, just useful opinions of what you would do and why.

This is what I did and it will give you some ideas.

http://www.fordraptorforum.com/f81/13-300-lumen;-14-cree-leds-@-10w-ea-;-30-a-16708/

The 30" behind the grill is not as bad as you would think and the grill does take away light but it is not horrible. As far as pods go... it really just depends on the pods you get. you can get pods that will blow a 30" away even in front of the grill. all depends on what you are comparing.

some brand light bars use lower grade chips and a set of 20W pods will blow them away. Again it really just depends on the exact models you are comparing. I think you will be happy with a solid dual color behind the grill.

Well without sending a pm so everyone can benefit from this. I am comparing a light bar and pods from the same company. The pods are cubes with 4 led's at 5w each. The 30 is a dual row. I don't want to use names just yet so I get an unbiased opinion.

I figure they will be close to the same pricing after I bought the pods and mounts vs the 30, close meaning within $100 difference but willing to pay the extra for more light.

It's not my taste to drill a hole and bolt it to the bumper, I can't see a clean setup by doing that and then I would want a curved which doesn't come in a dual color. If you have any pics of a 30 on a stock bumper please share !

In my opinion, I would do both. You've seen my setup, its just money, LOL. Yeah, and I do want to add hood pods too but I need more switches first. If it was me and I could only make one choice, I would bump it up and go with a 40" behind the grill, more lumens!. Its a super easy install.

RDFTS said:

In my opinion, I would do both. You've seen my setup, its just money, LOL. Yeah, and I do want to add hood pods too but I need more switches first. If it was me and I could only make one choice, I would bump it up and go with a 40" behind the grill, more lumens!. Its a super easy install.

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AS long as the 30" light bar is not a super cheap bar it should blow the pods away and you should be happy with no issues. You can run pods but 40W compared to an average of 180W for a 30" is not something that would be able to be comparable.

40" behind the grill would not be much more and you would get more output yes but it would not be that dramatic of a difference between the two behind the grill.

Id say run the 30" bar and you should be solid.

What type of headlights do you have? I went with a projector set up and the difference is amazing. And the great thing is I can use it every day not just on runs. I went with @RSiWORKS someday I'd like to do a behind the grill but Im not in a hurry now.

You'll get much more range out of a pair of his spots on cowl mounts vs the 30" bar.
Better if you're hauling at night, as opposed to crawling.

I'm running 13+ hid projectors, I think I have it narrowed to a 30".