How to Install LED Strip Lights in Car Interior?

September 7, 2021

Bring new life to your car with LED Strip Lights.

Add Color to Your Car with LED Light Strips

Adding LED Strip Lights for cars to your interior and exterior can make your car look like it’s straight out of the Fast and Furious franchise. These nifty, long-life lights give a burst of color to the pavement beneath your vehicle. Moreso, they can also light up the footing area and trunk so you can easily spot things inside.

LED lights are famous for their low energy expenditure, so these 12V LED Strip Lights for cars won’t have any impact on your car’s power consumption. Whether you’re looking to shine on the road, or simply make it easier to find your sunglasses and groceries in the car, LED lights can be quite the timesavers.

Setting Up LED Lighting in Your Car

Choosing the Right Product

In order to start the installation process, you’ll first need to acquire the LED lights you’ll be installing in your car. While you may be tempted to buy individual components and DIY this project from scratch, we’d highly recommend you make it a little easier on yourself.

Colorful LED lights require a power supply and adaptor in order to work properly. If you don’t know what you’re doing, getting the right components together can be a pain. It’s advisable to purchase prepared LED light kits that bring USB LED Light Strips for cars. Ideally you can purchase a product like Govee RGBIC Smart Car LED Strip Lights. Kits like these will make the entire installation process easier and much quicker.

Installing the Lights

How to Install LED Light Strips in a Car?

Preparation - Prior to installing the lights you’ll have to buy the lights themselves. Buying an LED car light kit can make your life much easier. Kits will include a power supply that’ll connect to your car’s 12V lighter socket; a controller that’ll help you switch between light settings, likely with a remote and/or your phone; and the LED light strips themselves. The lights for the exterior should come with a protective waterproof layer.

It would be good to prepare a few things besides what’ll come in the box. To facilitate the installation process you might want to have some additional support for adhesion. A strong glue that’ll bond well with the metal of the car can help the 3M tape stick a little better.

You’ll want to make sure the strips are attached in a way that will prepare them for the car’s movements, rough weather, and the inevitable time-induced wear-and-tear. Zip-ties work great, too. And for more cautious people, you could even try drilling some holes for screws and attaching little brackets to hold the lights in place.

Installation - Now for the installation itself:

  1. Make a Plan- Ensure you know where the lights are going to be installed. Some areas that may seem good might be too hidden and will cover the lights, reducing their glow area. Test this out by using a small hand-held light and projecting how the LED lights would glow once installed. Visualize, map out, and measure the area where the lights will go.
  2. Test the Lights- Plug the lights in and make sure they’re working as they should. You wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of installing them and then realize they’re not working properly. Then, use some scotch tape to lightly tape it along the places you’ve mapped out, just to ensure the length is correct before using the real glue. You can adjust them and make a better picture in your mind of exactly how they’ll be situated.
  3. Clean the Area- Remove any dust particles by cleaning the area where the lights will go with a damp cloth, preferably with alcohol spray for quick drying. If the area is rough or has solidified mud then sand it down and clean it thoroughly prior to installing.
  4. After Cleaning- Allow enough time for the areas to dry and do one last sweep to ensure no last minute dust particles are in the way. Then, begin stripping the paper from behind the lights and placing the lights in their prepared spaces.                                                                                  
  5. Reinforce as Needed- As you’re setting them in place, make sure they’re secured well to endure any rough situations in the future. Like mentioned earlier, secure so that they can endure light hits, scrapes, dust, weather, etc. If need be secure with additional glue, zip ties, or even drill some brackets to hold them in place. Regardless of the method, just ensure they won’t fall off.
  6. Start Playing - Now that the lights are set up, the glue has dried, and the power’s been plugged in, it’s time to use them! Use the remote or app to switch them on and begin playing with the different light settings. Try playing different music and watch how the RGBIC chip syncs to the beat so the lights dance along with you. Figure out the light intensity you feel most comfortable with on the interior so it’s not distracting. Match the exterior color to your car’s paint for a continuity effect or go all out with the random color setting.*

*Check with your local authorities if there are any restrictions with exterior lighting. For example, many places disallow the use of blue and red lights, as they can be mistaken for police lights. Double-check to prevent any unnecessary misunderstandings.

Govee LED Car Lights for Interior and Exterior

As mentioned earlier the best LED Light Strips for car interior and exterior are those that come ready-to-go. This way the installation process goes by smoothly and stress-free.

Brands like Govee offer a superior product that rivals that of the top brands, and at a fraction of the cost. Some brands charge hundreds, even thousands, of dollars for the lights and installation. Avoid such brands and rest assured that Govee provides you the best quality at the fairest price.

With Govee, you can get the LED Strip Lights, an integrated RGBIC chip that matches the color of the lights to what you’re listening to, and an app that allows you to run through all kinds of different atmospheres. All easily through the push of a button on your phone. And the best part is, Govee cares about their customers: all Govee products come with a 30-day money back guarantee, a 1-year warranty, and lifetime customer service!

Get Ready to Love Driving

If you didn’t already, once you’ve installed these lights you’ll love driving. You might find yourself wanting to go to the store more often, and wanting to take the long way home. As far as preparing you for the installation process, with this guide you should be ready to go.

Clear up some time in an afternoon that isn’t too busy, and calmly install the lights in and/or outside your car until they’re perfectly fitted and working smoothly. Then, all that’s left is to enjoy. No more dark highways or losing things around your car. Now you’ll be experiencing the comfort and atmospheres of glow lighting. Safe travels!