Yeah, you could probably increase that wire size several gauges higher, and go ahead and up the current to 3A max. Since you’re using DTP copper MCPCB’s I don’t think that would be a problem. But then again, I could be wrong. I’m looking forward to results from your testing! :partying_face:
Thanks for posting, build threads are the best 
That is pretty darn AWESOME.
Very nice work. You have plenty of heat sinking to drive those emitters pretty hard.
No. Build quality is good. All worked. I fried two playing with their PWM hookups, but that was my fault. I ordered three batches. Took about 4 weeks to deliver each time.
Not yet. Many projects in the queue still.
Actually I think the vertical beam angle could be narrower. I’d like less light on the ground in front and more in the distance, so I bought some XQ-E Hi emitters to test. With the same lenses, they should get more Cd per lumen and the vertical should decrease from 13 to 8 degrees, per Carclo.
This bar might be obsolete very soon.
Man what a sweet build!
Welcome to BLF. I can’t explain how but someone reading here certainly can tell you how to set up your high beam vs. El Jefe shots either as an alternating GIF or even cooler is the hover-over trick so when you hover over it with your cursor it switches between high beams and El Jefe. It doesn’t matter if you do that or not it just sounds cool. Anyway, well done. I love the stealth factor. That straight on shot looking into it looks awesome. Looks literally like one solid bar of light. :+1:
It’s long, thin and cute :heart_eyes:
Awesome work
Thank you for sharing
Nice light and some good welding.
Wow this is super sweet.
Great idea! Done and done.
Nice!
Way to take advice and go beyond. :+1:
The smooth transition is a very nice touch. :+1: :+1:
This is truly awesome! I’ve been wanting to do some DIY lightbar for a while now with all the available options being extremely expensive or just plain crap.
Do you have a link for the optics?
Very nice work, thanks for sharing! I am planning a similar project myself…… if I ever get caught up on things.
Frankly I don’t think the $2000 light bars are all that either. Bling seems to be the primary goal over function. But then again, image is everything. No one would want to buy a plain black rectangle.
I got the optics here:
http://www.ledsupply.com/led-optics/10003-l25-carclo-lens-20mm-elliptical-spot-led-optic
Good work mate you beat me to it. I’ve starting modding a small light bar for my girlfriends car. It’s 12 inches so it sits inside the bumper. Output aim in 10-15k lumens I was going to go crazy and use XHP70s but it will cost to much. I made my own heatsink also. I am not sure about where to mount my driver.
I am more worried durability then output I think.
excellent build …I run ebay cheapies they leave a bit to be desired…
thanks for posting
I’m sure you can make a better light bar than what you can get off the shelf. You can space 20mm lenses and star boards 25 mm apart, so 12 LEDs in 12 inches, you can easily get 12,000 lumens using XM-L2s. http://www.ledsupply.com/leds/cree-xlamp-xm-l2-leds?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIya2939Wy1QIVkTRpCh3ohQAwEAQYASABEgInw_D_BwE
The Carclo website has beam patterns for their lenses with practically every LED available. You can get lenses for the XM-L2 in spot, flood, or elliptical and design it how you want, for example: http://www.carclo-optics.com/optic-10003l25?opticfamily=20mm Once you find the pattern you want, you can get them from LED Supply or Mouser.
I’m looking forward to seeing your build!
That looks really sleek! I like the logic behind your roof rack mount as well. There are quite a few examples of mounts just above the windshield which can cause whistling/wind noise problems and the thought of glare or the hood lighting up didn’t even occur to me. This seems like an achievable project for the DIY’ers but aligning the drilled and tapped screw holes must be difficult. If you don’t mind, just a few follow up questions for you.
Can you tell us a bit more about the size and dimensions of the heat sink and c-channel you made?
Are you going to modify it in the future with any thermal management circuit?
Any plans on upgrading the current from 2A to 3A?
Any condensation or moisture problems so far?
Wow that is some awesome work and awesome pics in your post. Please let us know how those drivers hold up, I’ve been considering them for similar projects, on a much smaller scale 
What made you choose the xp-g2 out of curiosity? Is you’re truck set-up with an extra battery or high-current alternator? Noticed any electrical changes or anything while running El Jefe? Thanks!