• Home

So You Want To Light Up Your (fill in the blank)

So you Want to Light Up Your                ?

Great! You've come to the right place. Since 1989 we've been lighting just about every kind of vehicle you can imagine: cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, RVs, semi-trucks, tow trucks, cargo trailers, food trucks, food trailers, golf carts, party buses, snow machines, trains and even airplanes. Simply put, if your vehicle has 12vdc to72vdc power available (or even 110-120vac), chances are we can light it up. In some cases we have created pre-made light kits for the more common lighting applications. However those pre-made light kits aren't vehicle specific nor are they one size fit all. If we don't have a specific light kit for your vehicle, we can easily create one - but we need some information from you. Here's what we need.

  1. Determine the area(s) of your vehicle you want to light up. Under-glow? Grill? Interior? Engine? Roof? Seating area? Other? Be specific.
  2. Determine if you want multi-color (RGB, RGBA, RGBW or RGBWW) or single color lights. Multi-color lights require an LED controller to be mounted between the power source and the LED strips. A single color LED strip doesn't need a controller. Just needs a means by which to turn then on/off and/or dim if that's what you want.
  3. Take measurements of those areas. When doing so, be mindful where you might be able to mount the LED light strips. Our LOW-PROFILE surface mounted LED strips need a smooth, clean, flat, straight area about 2" wide that doesn't span multiple surfaces. This is super important to keep in mind when taking your measurements. The LED strip cannot span two different surfaces on a vehicle that moves, flexes and vibrates. They also can't go around corners, bends or be mounted on a radius. Doing so will guarantee the LED strip will fail prematurely which is not covered under warranty.

    If you don't have a smooth, flat continuous surface to mount to – you can use 1.5" aluminum or plastic flat‐stock (available at just about any home improvement store and we offer it for sale on our website too). Rivet or screw it to the bottom of the vehicle typically near or along the outside edges. Then, mount the LED strip to the flat stock. It makes for a nice, clean installation. Doing it this way also makes it easier to remove the lights if for some reason you want to in the future. It's the method we use for many of our in‐house installations we do for customers. We have a video on our website showing more about how to do this. Here's the link: https://www.boogeylights.com/video-creating-a-smooth-mounting-surface/. This video (and many others) can also be found in our HOW TO VIDEO section here: https://www.boogeylights.com/how-to-videos/ .
  4. The minimum length of our Low Profile LED strip is about 4" (3 LEDs). The maximum length of a single LED strip is about 16' (300 LEDs). There are 100 possible length combinations. Longer distances can be covered with multiple strips. In some cases you might have to build out a suitable mounting surface using aluminum flat bar which is then affixed to the vehicle using screws, rivets, zip ties or 3M dual lock re-closable fasteners.

    For commercial or heavy duty truck applications we use our HEAVY DUTY LED strips which are designed for commercial applications particularly where the LEDs themselves are exposed to the road (e.g. under-glow). They have fixed lengths of 12" (15 LEDs), 22" (30 LEDs), 32" (45 LEDs), 42" (60 LEDs) and 53" (75 LEDs). Multiple heavy duty led strips can be used to span longer distances.
  5. Determine the location where you're going to obtain power. For RVs, this will usually be the house batteries. For semi-trucks, it will be the truck's starting batteries usually located under the driver's side cab area.  In other vehicles these locations vary. In most installations this is where the LED controller will be mounted (assumes you want a multi-color RGB system). If you're going to buy single leds, be mindful of the amount of amperage you're going to need to power the lights. We usually suggest installing a 40amp relay in the switching circuit for single color LEDs.
  6. Take a measurement from that power location to the area of the LED strips you want mounted on your vehicle. These measurements will be used to calculate the length of the power lead needed.

Once you have this information, proceed to our LIGHTING REQUEST PAGE, select the vehicle type you're looking to light up and then answer the questions on the form we provide.

Within a day or two we'll get back to you with options, links and pricing. As an option, you can also give us a call at 800.847.1359 and speak with a product specialist who will walk you through this same process. Either works for us.

For those who travel in or through the Cincinnati/Northern KY area (I75/I71), feel free to stop by our facility in Florence KY and we'll take the measurements for you.