My thoughts on rigid industries light bar, harness, and mount.
10-28-2017, 03:41 PM
#1
JK Enthusiast
Thread Starter
My thoughts on rigid industries light bar, harness, and mount.
I finally got to install my 50" RI radiance light bar today with the RI mount and harness. I was quite excited to install this but I must say after finally completing it I'm rather disappointed in several things.
First, the packaging was rather minimal. The light bar arrived partially loose in the box as one of the flimsy cardboard supports had torn. Both of the metal mounting brackets were rattling around loosely as apparently a piece of tape or a staple to close the small bag they are in would be too expensive.
The mount arrived with more packaging, but still not great. Both mounts had small chips on the edges through the wrap where the powder coat flaked off (despite no obvious damage to the overall box). Considering how small the chips were, I didn't worry much about it.
Next I started with the wiring harness. I'm not sure what engineer decided to tin the wires that were to be crimped, but they should stop. Not only is it prone to premature failures from fractured solder and loose crimps, the poorly tinned wires wouldn't even fit in the crimps. 2 or the 6 joints slid in, the others I had to reflow the solder on. RI needs to save their time and money and not tin these ends. They are putting cost into something that is reducing their reliability.
After I got the harness on I lifted the bar in place and notice a lovely bend/ding in the heat sink fin. Personally I probably would have returned it for that if I hadn't already had it halfway in place. Plus it was on the top side so it's likely never visible. Secondly, the pigtail on the harness needs to be extended a foot or two. With the length it is now, all of the splices end up being under the mount and you are left with some very loose insulation around the wires to try and route. Another foot of wire isn't going to break the bank but it would really cleanup the install.
Lastly, the gasket they provide could be better. It sticks past the edge of the gasket in the openings they cut near the top by at least half an inch. Scissors solve that easy enough. I also had to cut a channel to run the wiring down as there isn't much clearance between the mount and the windshield frame for a wire to run, but that I can understand as there are different wiring options depending on the bar used.
Overall I'm not sure how I feel about the purchase. It looks good now that it's on and it's definitely bright, but RI could use a little more focus on quality in my opinion.
Also, if it makes a difference, I'm an engineer who helps build missiles. I deal with a lot of solder, wires, etc.
First, the packaging was rather minimal. The light bar arrived partially loose in the box as one of the flimsy cardboard supports had torn. Both of the metal mounting brackets were rattling around loosely as apparently a piece of tape or a staple to close the small bag they are in would be too expensive.
The mount arrived with more packaging, but still not great. Both mounts had small chips on the edges through the wrap where the powder coat flaked off (despite no obvious damage to the overall box). Considering how small the chips were, I didn't worry much about it.
Next I started with the wiring harness. I'm not sure what engineer decided to tin the wires that were to be crimped, but they should stop. Not only is it prone to premature failures from fractured solder and loose crimps, the poorly tinned wires wouldn't even fit in the crimps. 2 or the 6 joints slid in, the others I had to reflow the solder on. RI needs to save their time and money and not tin these ends. They are putting cost into something that is reducing their reliability.
After I got the harness on I lifted the bar in place and notice a lovely bend/ding in the heat sink fin. Personally I probably would have returned it for that if I hadn't already had it halfway in place. Plus it was on the top side so it's likely never visible. Secondly, the pigtail on the harness needs to be extended a foot or two. With the length it is now, all of the splices end up being under the mount and you are left with some very loose insulation around the wires to try and route. Another foot of wire isn't going to break the bank but it would really cleanup the install.
Lastly, the gasket they provide could be better. It sticks past the edge of the gasket in the openings they cut near the top by at least half an inch. Scissors solve that easy enough. I also had to cut a channel to run the wiring down as there isn't much clearance between the mount and the windshield frame for a wire to run, but that I can understand as there are different wiring options depending on the bar used.
Overall I'm not sure how I feel about the purchase. It looks good now that it's on and it's definitely bright, but RI could use a little more focus on quality in my opinion.
Also, if it makes a difference, I'm an engineer who helps build missiles. I deal with a lot of solder, wires, etc.
10-29-2017, 09:38 AM
#2
JK Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Day two and both backlights on the switches don't seem to be working. The switches still function but not backlight. I noticed one flicker on when I hit a bump so maybe its an easy fix. I'll probably update this once I get a chance to pop the panel off and see if I can spot anything. Pretty let down by Rigid Industries quality at this point.
edit: popped the panel off and both switches look completely untouched. It seems awfully coincidental that both back lights would fail in the first day but I cant think of anything that could be wrong with them. Especially since one of them flickered on briefly. I'll email RI soon and see what they say.
Just sent this off to RI. Hoping to at least get some replacement switches and whatever dampener solution they have. We will see.
edit: in the event anyone cares to know, I never heard back from RI via email at all. I'm hoping to get a chance to call them soon and at least ask for switches and the dampener but we will see...
edit: popped the panel off and both switches look completely untouched. It seems awfully coincidental that both back lights would fail in the first day but I cant think of anything that could be wrong with them. Especially since one of them flickered on briefly. I'll email RI soon and see what they say.
Just sent this off to RI. Hoping to at least get some replacement switches and whatever dampener solution they have. We will see.
Hi,
I recently purchased a 50" Radiance light bar, Jeep JK brow mount, and harness kit and installed them over the past weekend. While I do like the light and its output, I found myself very disappointed with the quality of all 3 components.
The light bar arrived loose inside of the box (the flimsy cardboard cutouts that were meant to hold it in place had ripped in the corners) despite no damage to the box itself. Both of the metal brackets had fallen out of the bags they were loosely placed in and were rattling around in the box. And there was a fairly substantial dent in the fin on the rear of the bar that I unfortunately did not notice until after I had the harness spliced on and halfway routed (I would have returned it otherwise). Also, it would be very nice of you guys could consider extending the pigtail on the light bar by a foot or two. It kind of sucked having to deal with positioning the splices halfway down the mount. I understand its a universal product, but a little extra wire would definitely be appreciated and isn't going to break the bank.
The mounts are extremely sturdy but were fairly poorly packaged. Both arrived with chips in the powder coat along several of the edges where the single layer of packaging wore threw. And the provided gaskets stick passed the edges of the mount by about half an inch where the openings near the top of the mounts are.
The harness could use a few improvements as well. Based on what I saw, I'm assuming you guys do not follow IPC standards for electronics. Please stop tinning the wires on your light bars and harnesses. Not only do the poorly tinned ends NOT fit into the crimps you guys provide, this is a terrible industry practice (not to mention its costing you guys money to do). Wires that are tinned before crimping are prone to fractures and loose crimps.
Lastly, both of the back lights in the switches seemed to have failed after less than 24 hours. I find this rather coincidental to have both fail, but they definitely worked the first day and now they do not. The switches still function and I did notice one back light flicker when I hit a mild bump while driving. Perhaps someone from tech support could advise me of something that may have gone wrong, but spdt switches seem pretty simple.
With all of that said, I was hoping that you guys could send me two replacement switches as well as the harmonic dampener for the fins.
Thank you,
Josh
I recently purchased a 50" Radiance light bar, Jeep JK brow mount, and harness kit and installed them over the past weekend. While I do like the light and its output, I found myself very disappointed with the quality of all 3 components.
The light bar arrived loose inside of the box (the flimsy cardboard cutouts that were meant to hold it in place had ripped in the corners) despite no damage to the box itself. Both of the metal brackets had fallen out of the bags they were loosely placed in and were rattling around in the box. And there was a fairly substantial dent in the fin on the rear of the bar that I unfortunately did not notice until after I had the harness spliced on and halfway routed (I would have returned it otherwise). Also, it would be very nice of you guys could consider extending the pigtail on the light bar by a foot or two. It kind of sucked having to deal with positioning the splices halfway down the mount. I understand its a universal product, but a little extra wire would definitely be appreciated and isn't going to break the bank.
The mounts are extremely sturdy but were fairly poorly packaged. Both arrived with chips in the powder coat along several of the edges where the single layer of packaging wore threw. And the provided gaskets stick passed the edges of the mount by about half an inch where the openings near the top of the mounts are.
The harness could use a few improvements as well. Based on what I saw, I'm assuming you guys do not follow IPC standards for electronics. Please stop tinning the wires on your light bars and harnesses. Not only do the poorly tinned ends NOT fit into the crimps you guys provide, this is a terrible industry practice (not to mention its costing you guys money to do). Wires that are tinned before crimping are prone to fractures and loose crimps.
Lastly, both of the back lights in the switches seemed to have failed after less than 24 hours. I find this rather coincidental to have both fail, but they definitely worked the first day and now they do not. The switches still function and I did notice one back light flicker when I hit a mild bump while driving. Perhaps someone from tech support could advise me of something that may have gone wrong, but spdt switches seem pretty simple.
With all of that said, I was hoping that you guys could send me two replacement switches as well as the harmonic dampener for the fins.
Thank you,
Josh
edit: in the event anyone cares to know, I never heard back from RI via email at all. I'm hoping to get a chance to call them soon and at least ask for switches and the dampener but we will see...
Last edited by AXIS; 11-07-2017 at 07:19 PM.