LED Car Underglow Lights: Custom Appeal and Convenience

Have you been looking for a quick, affordable idea for how to make your custom car or truck stand out from the crowd – one that doesn’t require extensive modifications, is fully customisable, and doesn’t run directly afoul of ADR compliance? Perhaps you need to consider LED-powered underglow lighting.

Remote controlled underglow lighting, sometimes referred to as ground effects lighting, allows owners to add one-off underbody illumination to their vehicles without investing a boot full of cash and time into costlier, more traditional ground effects. What’s especially appealing about underglow lights is that they’re not make, model, or even vehicle-type specific. They can be installed on any size car, ute, or RV, and even can be managed entirely with the swipe of a finger.

Underglow LED Lighting Gives Your Vehicle Custom Appeal and Convenience

When it comes to customised show and off-road vehicles, there aren’t many mods that offer the eye-catching appeal or personalisation that LED car underglow lights do. These modern lighting accessories are the perfect way to add a dazzling highlight to custom paint jobs, wheels, and bodywork, all with the benefit that they can be installed in 2-3 hours, and without any special tools or equipment.

For decades, custom car builders have turned to everything from modified factory courtesy and puddle lights, to costly neon tube setups to create their underbody lighting solutions. The convenience and simplicity of modern LED technology, however, has opened up in a whole new arena of possibilities when it comes to ground effects lighting. And, it offers a range of advantages over earlier solutions that include:

• A broader range of customisation. Unlike earlier generations of underbody lighting systems that were limited to a single colour, today’s LED kits offer up to seven colours with full RGBIC (Red, Green, Blue and Independent Control) capabilities that allows multiple colours to be displayed at the same time.
• High lumen output when needed. While the naturally softer lighting of underbody neon gas tubes always depended on reflectors to direct more light down and outward, premium LED underglow kits are capable of flooding a 120 degree viewing area with up to 9000 lumens – that’s the equivalent of a 600W incandescent globe.
• Low power consumption. Although it’s understood that when parked, an underglow lighting system can be a heavy load on a car battery, an independently wired LED underglow lighting setup consumes up to 90% less than a neon tube solution, allowing owners to avoid needing to install an auxiliary battery, or to periodically start the engine to prevent the battery from draining.

The versatility of premium grade LED car underglow lighting offers more than just ordinary customisation benefits, though. As they’re not restricted to installation only on flat surfaces, and don’t require the rigid road and environmental protection that’s necessary with neon gas tubing, they can also be used as powerful supplemental exterior lighting for caravans, RVs, and trailers. That’s more usable lighting for camping, getting of the grid, or performing repairs after dark.

LED Kits Offer Maximum Illumination With Minimal Equipment to Install

Make no mistake: custom car builders in Australia are all too aware of the legalities surrounding the installation, and the regulated use of underglow lighting. Both have to be performed in accordance with Australia’s prevailing design rules and relevant state-managed Road Traffic Regulations. That’s why in addition to being turnkey, custom car builders also expect top quality underglow kits to be safe, and as well as consistent as possible with the most current compliance requirements.

Fortunately, high end lighting solutions like ELGlow® Universal underbody kits aren’t just transformative illumination combinations. They can be counted on for everything customisers need to install a perfectly fitted and fully featured lighting setup, and consist of a straightforward list of components that include:

• Six (2x front, 2x side, and 2x rear) all sequential, seven-colour IP68-rated LED strips;
• Corresponding invisi-strip rubber strips to help conceal the individual LED chips;
• Underside-mounted wiring harness with LED driver module, on/off switch, battery terminals, and Bluetooth RGBIC controller;
• A 54 animation-mode remote control; and,
• A full complement of mounting hardware, fasteners, and zip ties.

Together with all the principles for safety and reliability, kits like the ELGlow also rise convincingly to meet customisers’ requirements for functionality. That’s because in addition to handheld remote control operation, these premium kits offer the option of control from any Apple or Android capable device. By downloading the system app, car owners can switch between display modes, adjust colours, and customise glow levels directly from their smart phone. It’s maximum functionality from a family of kits which, when properly installed, provide stunning results.

Trust Pre-Installation Prep to Yield the Best LED Performance

Regardless of whether it’s a single LED lighting kit installed on a competition-only showcar, or multiple kits installed on a full-sized RV, location matters when it comes to underglow lighting. Where and how the strips are positioned is as much a matter of efficient planning, as it is roadworthy compliance or optimised illumination.

While the best underglow kits typically provide incredibly thorough layout and installation instructions, there are a few points that customisers need to remain extra vigilant of when performing an install:

• Proper mounting surface preparation. As the bulk of today’s underglow lighting strips are held in place by high-strength adhesive backings, builders and installers need to be sure that the mounting surfaces on the vehicle are free from any residue or undercoating that could cause unexpected separation.
• Proper wire placement. Customisers need to be sure that their lightstrip wiring harnesses, especially when using multiple strips, are outfitted with proper inline voltage protection, and that all LED driver modules are sufficiently secured and located as closely to the strips’ power source as possible.
• Avoiding drivetrain and suspension components. With the flexibility that kits like the ELGlow afford installers, it’s important to be sure that LED strips are routed away from exhaust systems, along with any other rolling or rotating components.

Installers have to consider too that the risks of intermittent shorts in harness connectors, and the possibility of strip damage from striking on-road obstacles are always present. Adhering strips along frame members instead of directly on body panels significantly reduces the chances of unwanted connector or LED damage.

The Final Word

At the end of the day, there’s simply no comparison between today’s LED underbody lighting, and the systems that were used a generation ago. While neon and fully customised lighting solutions can certainly be appreciated for their ingenuity and old-school charm, the fact is LEDs outshine them in virtually every respect.

The eye-catching appeal of personalised LED underglow lights can make ever the most ordinary car look special. No matter the type of vehicle you have, they’re an investment that you won’t regret making.