*This article was originally created by Abe A@Caliguy. All the photos and content are authorized by Abe A.
Editor Foreword:
Last month, we invited several Jeep owners to test our OEM Aux Switches Panel for Jeep Wrangler JL / Gladiator JT. We look forward to seeing their real feedback, creative ideas, and how our switches could help them with the building process!
Today, we are very happy and honored to receive an unbiased review from @Caliguy, which can not only provide real and objective feedback and reference cases for more guys who are curious about the Lasfit Jeep aux switch panel kit but also provide us with some useful constructive suggestions for further product upgrades. Many thanks to Abe@Caliguy for sharing such great content with us!👏👏👏
Hello Fellow Jeepers!
This is Abe here! I am providing what I think may be an extremely useful review and comparison of AUX buttons for our beloved JL Wrangler (yes JT owners can use this review too!) I like all of you, love modding my Jeep and the more OEM my mods can look, the better which brings me here today. We are comparing the Voswitch JL300 and the LasFit Black button Aux kit. I am not reviewing the left side red locker portion as I have a rubicon and don't want to mess with my OEM lockers. Let the fun begin!
Vehicle:
2022 JLUR 3.6 E-torque with no aux buttons!
Disclosures:
I was selected to participate by Lasfit to provide a review/comparison in exchange for their free product. However, I have made no promises or exchanges for any favorable reviews. This is a 100% unbiased review and there is no penalty to me or anyone else if this doesn't result in a favorable review for either party. The Voswitch JL 300 was purchased by me. I trust that Lasfit will utilize these reviews for their benefit and make product changes that make sense, but full disclosure, what may be a negative aspect for me, can easily be a positive aspect for someone else. So let's begin.
Price:
- Voswitch JL300 - $239
- Lasfit - $269
Features:
- Voswitch JL 300 - Strobe/flash/momentary functions; customizable buttons; 6 AUX buttons; no programming needed.
- Lasfit - OEM look; multiple mounting options; large buttons; No programming needed.
Packaging:
Voswitch comes in a generic box, everything was organized, the installation manual was inside the box with clear instructions, and nothing really notable.
Lasfit comes in really nice packaging, pretty organized but there were some loose zip ties, a rubber firewall grommet and the metal mounting hardware sitting loose in the box. mine came undamaged so not a big deal, but I can foresee rough handling by the shipping service making a difference here for some folks, especially if the brackets bang against each other in the box. Also, there is absolutely no installation manual provided, not even a QR code, but there is an easy link on their website, alongside a few Youtube videos that appear easy to follow.
Initial Impressions:
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Voswitch
Voswitch quality is great, I noticed right off the bat that the terminals are screw down terminals that require your device wires to connect to their male counterparts. While I found it's not 100% necessary, you can simply stick a wire under the terminal and screw it down.
Lots of custom icon stickers to customize your buttons, however I am using mine to add heated seats to all 4 corners and needed to order more stickers to meet my needs as there weren't enough. But then again, most people don't add heated seats to the rear seats, let alone put the controls up front where the rear passengers can't turn them on themselves.
The buttons have a click feel and don't really match any other buttons in the jeep, they're fine, but make an annoying click sound when pressed, and don't feel the high quality when pressed.
The installation appears simple enough. The relay box is high quality but there is a giant switch logo on top that screams cheap aftermarket which I painted with flat black.
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Lasfit
Lasfit quality seems just as great if not better with a few minor concerns. The wires appear nice and high quality to the touch, not flimsy whatsoever, and wrapped in a nice cotton (or whatever it is) layer.
The relay box is very very nice, and I immediately noticed you don't need to mess with it. it is watertight, inconspicuous( no Large noticeable cheap looking logos), solid construction, and small! smaller than the Voswitch relay box. I'm guessing it's because it has 2 fewer relays than the Voswitch.
I did notice the AUX terminals are just 4 wires that you connect to with no hardware to connect them with. I can only guess we're supposed to just twist our wires together, maybe solder them, or purchase our own male and female connectors and connect that way which is what I'll be doing. Cool enough there are a total of 8 leads (2 per aux button) with one set that stays in the engine compartment, and the other set that goes inside the cabin in case you want to power accessories inside, this is awesome that the Voswitch does not address at all!
As for the buttons themselves, the quality seems great, the silver trim is actually plastic but seems to match very closely to the OEM metal trim on the rubicon buttons. The buttons themselves match closer to the OEM buttons but seem like they depress a little too much or the spring in them is a bit too soft. I feel like a more positive engagement and spring back could be beneficial here. The text on the buttons leaves a lot to be desired but we supposedly know that going in. The roman numerals are a bit odd, the font seems slightly off, and I think I would have preferred buttons 1 and 2 next to each other rather than on top and bottom of each other but the Mopar switches are arranged the same way. They are obviously not customizable.
Read my future plans for these buttons at the bottom of this review. I feel like this is where Voswitch has the advantage but I can't imagine an economical way of having these buttons and having them customizable without Lasfit stocking many different kinds and having their customers order buttons when they purchase their kit for what they will use it for.
Install:
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Voswitch
Voswitch took about an hour. The hardest part was drilling a hole through the firewall plastic cover which needs to be done for both aux switch banks and I needed to do it for other mods in my jeep anyways. The manual calls for installation on the drive side. That's where I installed mine. I do however also have a Voswitch JL 400 grab handle aux bank which was supposed to be mounted on the passenger side (or can be mounted on the driver side) but I have a Rugged Ridge snorkel that utilizes the area on top of the battery on the passenger side so that Voswitch is stuffed sideways next to the battery. I think I plan on moving that to the driver side, if I end up keeping the Lasfit which can be mounted somewhere entirely different and doesn't interfere with the snorkel kit.
Installation was fairly easy, with one wire connecting to the switch bank, and all the other wires are run through the engine compartment and to the battery and fuse box. I notice there are separate options to have the aux bank run when the vehicle is on only or anytime, which require an included fuse tap and a low voltage shut off.
Taking apart the dash was the easy part, unscrewing the right side bin was the hard part as those screws were on a bit tight but the Voswitch went on easily. Placing stickers on the buttons is fairly easy if you don't have shaky hands. At 32 years old I still couldn't get them perfectly straight.
When the Voswitch is powered on, the lights are bright white that bleeds through the edges of the stickers which is kind of annoying, and are always illuminated including the power button which is also kind of annoying. I am only using 4 out of the 6 buttons and put blank stickers on the two center buttons but the light bled through so badly that I needed to put a second layer of blank stickers over the first and now no light bleeds through. Thank goodness I bought an extra sheet of stickers! I'm considering cutting another blank sticker to put over the annoying power button but it will look funny since it's not recessed. Overall, it's great that we can put custom stickers, but not the best quality.
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Lasfit
Lasfit seems a bit more work to install but it really wasn’t. The installation manual online is probably the clearest manual I have ever seen! Great photos, in color, and super simple to follow!
The install location is 100x better, allows me to move my grab handle Voswitch to the driver side and free up my rugged ridge snorkel (which I currently have to remove every time I need access to it) but was pretty simple. Since I don't need to access the relay box anymore, I can install this next to the battery and forget it for good. This is a huge benefit for me since I have that snorkel.
Also took about an hour to install. Their method is to wire to the battery but connect to the dash buttons to tell it when to turn on and off. It also has automatic backlit lights that turn on when your headlights are on! This has some pros and cons as it appears you cannot power your aux buttons/devices while the jeep is off, and even though the backlights get power in remote start mode, pressing them still won’t turn them on, the vehicle needs to be started for the buttons to work. I do love that you don't have to access the relay box to connect your aux devices, unlike the Voswitch which is a pain every time to undo the waterproof grommet.
There are a lot more wires to connect inside the vehicle, and it was a tight fight behind the dash controls, I feel like this could've been simplified but it's not a big deal, it was still pretty simple! The leads on the inside of the jeep are extremely great for me since they will be powering seat heaters inside the cabin. I love this!
Once installed, it truly looks OEM, minus the button font but I plan on fixing that (See below plans). When the button is on, it shines an amber light and stays on until the button is pressed again. This is perfect for me but others may have a need for a momentary or strobe, etc.
Overall, I like the fit and finish and feel of the Lasfit better than the Voswitch. A couple of things I don’t like is the backlighting doesn’t quite match as it’s a bit of a warmer color than the rest of the buttons. Also, there’s no memory, so the buttons turn off when the car is off and when you start the car again, the buttons are in off mode. I’d love to have them saved on the on position for my heated seats when turn on the remote start in the mornings.
Future Plans:
I have ordered a couple of different paints to see if I can match the red used by jeep. I plan on painting the Lasfit button rubicon red or "Redicon" then taking them to a laser engraver and having them engrave seat heater icons on them. If i can do this successfully, it is a no brainer that i will be keeping the Lasfit on my rig and putting the voswitch up for sale. If for some reason I fail in that plan, either I can't get the paint to match, or the laser engraving is unsuccessful, I think overall I will be keeping the Voswitch.
However, I have a friend who does cerakote professionally, and i think he can match the rubicon red and because it's just paint and surface engraving, we can do unlimited attempts so I am optimistic that i will be keeping the Lasfit on my rig permanently. I can also easily paint them black and have them surfaced engraved to the icons I want, but I really want matching red buttons.
Painted them swapped the metal bezel part from the OEM Aux buttons so it matches a little better. Next to the laser engraver to get my custom seat heater icons put on them. It’s not a 100% perfect match to the red but I’d say about 96-98% matches.
Overall Comparison:
Both units offer advantages and disadvantages depending on what your priorities are. If you are going for an OEM look, Lasfit wins by a landslide, if you are looking for customization (different modes and button stickers) Voswitch is what you want. If you're not afraid to tinker, you can easily get the Lasfit to have the custom buttons you want. To say one is better than the other is tough because they both have their pros and cons and it just depends on what your priorities are.
For me, with my custom mods to the Lasfit, it's a clear winner for me and my specific use. In summary, I only need 4 buttons for my heated seats, i want it to match, i don't like the illuminated buttons on the Voswitch but I also want the buttons to clearly depict what they're for. If you're ok with generic "AUX I, II, III, IV" buttons depending on your purpose (It's important to mention that Jeep comes that way form the factory too) and you don't need all 6 buttons, Lasfit is a clear winner. However if you need 6 buttons, and specific button icons are a must for you without the extra effort, Voswitch is for you.
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