# DIY - Installation of LED Light Strip in Trunk



## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

In this DIY, I will walk you step by step through the process of installing the universal 48 LED flexible light strip for your trunk.

Please note that this DIY shows the install on a Volkswagen CC, however the basic steps can be applied to many other models.

I purchased my strip from DeautoKey

The items received were the light strip and several light harness adapters. For my vehicle, a festoon bulb is used for the trunk light, hence I used the festoon adapter, pictured below:




















Step 1: Pull out he stock trunk light housing and replace festoon bulb with the adapter provided




















Step 2: Take the connector end of the light strip (white connector) and fish it through the trunk lining (the side of the trunk where the stock light is located). First, fish it through to the trunk door arm opening. This is done to enable a better grasp of the wire and avoid having to fish it all the way down to the stock light position with one attempt. Pull out some slack, then insert the white connector into the same hole and fish it to the lower position where the stock light housing is located. Ensure you open up the trunk lining compartment that gives you access to the tail lights for additional help while fishing. See pictures below:




































Step 3: Connect the white connector to the Festoon adapter that was installed in Step 1. The resistor gets very hot after about a minute of use. Most of us will rarely keep the turnk open that long, however if you are unloading content from your trunk, you may have the trunk open for an extended period of time. To be safe, I took some eletrical tape and affixed the resistor to the body as shown below just under the bolt (this is located behind the compartment door mentioned in Step 2). This way it does not come into direct contact with any other wires.











Finally, peel off the 3M backing on the back light strip and stick the strip where desired on the roof of the trunk. DeAutoKey suggests heating the adhesive side of the strip prior to sticking so that that adhesive is activated. Personally I used my own heavy duty double sided tape.

Installed pics!!






































Kareem
IG @KOWCC

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## DarthBajan (Oct 22, 2008)

Another great job on the DIY Kareem. They should send you out the LED fog and headlight bulbs so I can get an informed opinion from someone I trust.


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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

munnarg said:


> Another great job on the DIY Kareem. They should send you out the LED fog and headlight bulbs so I can get an informed opinion from someone I trust.


Hey buddy, they actually offered that to me, but with my last experience when I had HID conversion fogs if you recall, it fried my light module (BCM). Car was at dealer for 30 days till parts arrived from Germany.

I am still considering it though....maybe I'll call them up and tell them to send me a set.

Thanks for your kind word by the way!


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Awesome review.

For the tape, here is some information that might help, 3m tape on metal needs to be heated or at least warm so it activates, you also need to press firmly so the glue can work its magic on the metal and adhere.









Thank you for the great, review, we posted it here on our listing:

http://deautokey.com/product/universal-48-led-flexible-strip-for-your-trunk-fits-all-car-models


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## Rlinetexas (Jun 27, 2011)

Great post, and wow now you can actually see I the trunk at night!!


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

I just ordered these. Will be using this DIY.


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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

unctucker said:


> I just ordered these. Will be using this DIY.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Great! 


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Rlinetexas said:


> Great post, and wow now you can actually see I the trunk at night!!





unctucker said:


> I just ordered these. Will be using this DIY.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk





KOWCC said:


> Great!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Thanks for the order, it is a must have mod for your car, the location of the housing is poor and this is the perfect solution. 

:thumbup:


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## TDI Driver (Jan 17, 2006)

Wow, this is such a great idea. Might have to order one of these soon. :thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

TDI Driver said:


> Wow, this is such a great idea. Might have to order one of these soon. :thumbup:


:thumbup: Thank you


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Purchased and installed. Great work guys. As I have said in previous DIY , awesome write-up.









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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Purchased and installed. Great work guys. As I have said in previous DIY , awesome write-up.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks buddy , your feedback means a lot!


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Word to the wise........use another type of adhesive. Going with 3M molding tape. Excessive heat in the trunk does not do the Led strip standard tape good. Found my strip lying in the bottom of my trunk tonight.

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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Word to the wise........use another type of adhesive. Going with 3M molding tape. Excessive heat in the trunk does not do the Led strip standard tape good. Found my strip lying in the bottom of my trunk tonight.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk


Deautokey suggests to heat the 3m backing in order to activate the adhesive. Personally , whenever I get anything that has 3m backing, I ALWAYS remove I and use my own 3m grey outdoor tape.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

The grey tape is what I'm referring to. If 98 here in central NC today was not enough for activation not sure what is......j/k. 

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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Word to the wise........use another type of adhesive. Going with 3M molding tape. Excessive heat in the trunk does not do the Led strip standard tape good. Found my strip lying in the bottom of my trunk tonight.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk





unctucker said:


> The grey tape is what I'm referring to. If 98 here in central NC today was not enough for activation not sure what is......j/k.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk





KOWCC said:


> Deautokey suggests to heat the 3m backing in order to activate the adhesive. Personally , whenever I get anything that has 3m backing, I ALWAYS remove I and use my own 3m grey outdoor tape.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Sorry to hear that, the best way is to follow these steps to stick the tape:
http://deautokey.com/how-to-install-trunk-strip-glue-to-metal-trunk


As you can see, the tape takes some time to bond to the metal once applied with enough pressure.

It will stick a lifetime, if that doesn't work, FOAM 3M tape is also good, we can look into adding some in the future, so far we have not heard of the issue after installed with the instructions provided.

Let us know what you find.

Thank you


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

I'm not saying the 3M tape provided with the product needs to be changed, it's not that bad. I think that the very hot temperatures today in NC sure did not help after applying the led strip.

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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> I'm not saying the 3M tape provided with the product needs to be changed, it's not that bad. I think that the very hot temperatures today in NC sure did not help after applying the led strip.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk


We will look into adding foam tape if we get more reports. Let us know how it goes after trying the method seen in the DIY photo.

It sounds silly, but applying that extra pressure with the heat helps the glue bind to the metal, after a few days it will stick and be permanent but if you ever need to remove it, it will not ruin the metal and can be cleaned. And you can even reuse the strip if you use 3m Automotive Foam Tape. 

We tested many different tapes and configuration to get the ultimate LED Trunk Strip, we have not seen this anywhere else with 48 LEDs (crisp white light temperature), including the resistor, the resistor is an important part because in some cars if you have the trunk on and the dome lights shut off, the LED strip will dim too, and the black wire helps keep the install clean.
It is an all around great product. We have been looking to manufacture something unique to our company for a few years, but it is hard to get a new product out in the LED market as everything has already seem to been invented. So improving on a great product is the next step.

And unctucker, sorry for not mentioning this earlier, but we appreciate the great photos. We will use them in some ads. Keep a look out!

Thanks for reading:thumbup:


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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

unctucker said:


> The grey tape is what I'm referring to. If 98 here in central NC today was not enough for activation not sure what is......j/k.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk


This is the grey tape I'm referring it. This is the last tape you will ever have to buy. Take me advice on this. Regardless what temps, this tape works EVERY time and has the best hold I've ever seen.









See my DeAutoKey LED fog light install DIY for additional details.


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

You mean this tape? LoL..... I use it all the time.









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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

unctucker said:


> You mean this tape? LoL..... I use it all the time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No, that's actually a different one. The one I referenced above is slightly thinner, less foamy, and very elastic. It's the best for emblems too. Now they also make it in clear as well.

At the end, use what works best for you 

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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

The thinner one works best, but the one you showed will be good too, you will not notice a difference once installed on the LED strip.

We are looking at selling those 3m foam tape soon as many customers ask about purchasing them from us as after they use them with the product that come installed with them, including our Stainless Steel Seat Inserts and Reverse/brake Resistors. We will also look into adding them to the strip if people are having trouble with the install, the 3M tape that is being used now does take some time to dry and adhere to the metal, but it works best against the extreme hot and cold weather once it is fully bonded with the metal. We are guessing that the extremely hot weather most likely caused it to come apart as it was not fully done adhering to the metal.

Thanks again for the feedback and photos, we think this is the only way to go when lighting up your trunk, an LED in the housing will never light up your entire trunk like an LED strip due to the terrible locations of these housings. :thumbup:


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## Marvin75841 (May 25, 2014)

Ordered this tonight!


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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Simply the best Mod for the money I have ever done to any of my vehicles. The quality and workmanship in this Led strip is very good. Went out of town this past weekend for a wedding. When we arrived at our hotel, we had to park quite a ways from the main entrance. There was very little light in the parking lot. When I popped open the trunk my wife was like "wow" that has not always been like that. It literally lit the ground around us. Very good product and I hope you guys sell tons of them. Thank you.

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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> Simply the best Mod for the money I have ever done to any of my vehicles. The quality and workmanship in this Led strip is very good. Went out of town this past weekend for a wedding. When we arrived at our hotel, we had to park quite a ways from the main entrance. There was very little light in the parking lot. When I popped open the trunk my wife was like "wow" that has not always been like that. It literally lit the ground around us. Very good product and I hope you guys sell tons of them. Thank you.
> 
> Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk





Marvin75841 said:


> Ordered this tonight!


Thanks for the order and feedback.

This has become one of our most popular selling products! It gets the job done and you will wonder how you ever lived without it!

:thumbup:


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## ShadowWabbit (Aug 16, 2006)

Might be a silly question but did you disconnect the battery so the trunk light would stay off?


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

ShadowWabbit said:


> Might be a silly question but did you disconnect the battery so the trunk light would stay off?


You don't have to do that. You can simply disconnect the housing plug. Our trunk strip comes with 3 adapters to fit all trunk housings.

Thank you :thumbup:


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## ShadowWabbit (Aug 16, 2006)

deAutoKey.com said:


> You don't have to do that. You can simply disconnect the housing plug. Our trunk strip comes with 3 adapters to fit all trunk housings.
> 
> Thank you :thumbup:


I was thinking of any possible problems I could encounter. I was totally over thinking it :laugh:
Just got back from installing mine (picked one up at waterfest) and it was a piece of cake! Hardest part was picking where to place the light


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

ShadowWabbit said:


> I was thinking of any possible problems I could encounter. I was totally over thinking it :laugh:
> Just got back from installing mine (picked one up at waterfest) and it was a piece of cake! Hardest part was picking where to place the light


Thanks for stopping by our waterfest booth.

:thumbup:


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## ludes98 (Jul 14, 2014)

I cleaned with IPA/Water and it was over 100 degrees on installation day with no humidity. 2 days later it was laying in the trunk. I used the outdoor double stick tape mentioned above (trimmed for width) with no trouble so far.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

ludes98 said:


> I cleaned with IPA/Water and it was over 100 degrees on installation day with no humidity. 2 days later it was laying in the trunk. I used the outdoor double stick tape mentioned above (trimmed for width) with no trouble so far.


Thanks for the feedback, I will fwd this to the lead tech at deAutoKey so they can look into adding a 3m tape to them.

:thumbup:


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## KOWCC (Mar 31, 2012)

ludes98 said:


> I cleaned with IPA/Water and it was over 100 degrees on installation day with no humidity. 2 days later it was laying in the trunk. I used the outdoor double stick tape mentioned above (trimmed for width) with no trouble so far.


The outdoor tape works on anything. You won't find my garage without it! 

With that tape the light strip isn't going anywhere.

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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

KOWCC said:


> The outdoor tape works on anything. You won't find my garage without it!
> 
> With that tape the light strip isn't going anywhere.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


This is true......


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## Marvin75841 (May 25, 2014)

I used some double sided tape I found at my local supermarket and it's working perfectly now. The stock tape on the strip worked for about 20min with the hot Florida weather


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Marvin75841 said:


> I used some double sided tape I found at my local supermarket and it's working perfectly now. The stock tape on the strip worked for about 20min with the hot Florida weather
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


:thumbup: Thanks for working with us.

The 3m tape is great as it will stick to our adhesive and to any trunk, we think the glue is having an issue with some of the metal as it sticks on a lot of other metal trunks including BMW, and other trunks also use the velcro which works well in holding this into place.


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## Marvin75841 (May 25, 2014)

Still my favorite upgrade

I always feel like this..











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## unctucker (Aug 24, 2013)

Marvin75841 said:


> Still my favorite upgrade
> 
> I always feel like this..
> 
> ...


I know right...... I like pushing the trunk button and acting like nothing is different than stock then looking at peoples faces...


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

unctucker said:


> I know right...... I like pushing the trunk button and acting like nothing is different than stock then looking at peoples faces...
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


:thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

Coming soon, engine bay LED Lighting:









Ryan @ GSE 
Vortex Member: Hyde16


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## bwooten (Feb 16, 2015)

*Festoon bulb adapter*

I'm finally about to install my trunk lights. Is the festoon bulb adapter thingy supposed be in one piece? The spring keeps falling off - which makes it hard for the bulb adapter to stay in the light assembly. Hmmm...


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

bwooten said:


> I'm finally about to install my trunk lights. Is the festoon bulb adapter thingy supposed be in one piece? The spring keeps falling off - which makes it hard for the bulb adapter to stay in the light assembly. Hmmm...


Yes, the tension will keep it together once it is seated in your trunk housing. You can also bend together your prongs for a tighter fit.


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## bwooten (Feb 16, 2015)

Thanks! I'll give it a try tomorrow.


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## bwooten (Feb 16, 2015)

Alright, this still isn't working for me. I managed to get the festoon adapter in the light fixture, and connect the led strip to the adapter and nothing happens. I assume the led strip should come on right away. I even put the original bulb back into the fixture just to make sure that's working, and the bulb lights up so I know it's not the light fixture.

This is what my festoon adapter looks like: Is it supposed to come apart like this?









Thanks for your help.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

bwooten said:


> Alright, this still isn't working for me. I managed to get the festoon adapter in the light fixture, and connect the led strip to the adapter and nothing happens. I assume the led strip should come on right away. I even put the original bulb back into the fixture just to make sure that's working, and the bulb lights up so I know it's not the light fixture.
> 
> This is what my festoon adapter looks like: Is it supposed to come apart like this?
> 
> ...


Yes, it does.

As you can see, the plastic tube goes inside and you can expand it, and press it together down to 21mm if your festoon is that size, your car has a 42mm festoon.

Once you place it in the trunk housing it will stay together and work.

Thank you for the question and allowing us to explain it better, it was suppose to be in with the package to explain why it comes apart, sorry about the inconvenience


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## bwooten (Feb 16, 2015)

As always, I appreciate your help and quick responses. I squeezed the light fixture tabs enough to hold the festoon adapter, and everything works great. It really brightens the trunk nicely.

By the way, I also installed your HID headlights not too long ago and that looks awesome too! You guys make great products, and your customer service is top-notch!

Bernard


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## aomar296 (Apr 20, 2015)

Hi deautokey

Please advise why my led strip still flickers or stays dimly lit when the trunk is closed

Is this normal? 

Will it eventually turn off?

Will it drain my battery?

Please help


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

aomar296 said:


> Hi deautokey
> 
> Please advise why my led strip still flickers or stays dimly lit when the trunk is closed
> 
> ...


We have not seen this issue before, it could be a loose connection, we noticed you didn't email us for any support? [email protected] - please send more info:
year/make of car(assuming cc, not sure of the year).
how long did you see an issue after installing

It should not flicker and flickering sounds like a bad connection.

Please again contact support for help with more info.


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

http://deautokey.com/product/universal-48-led-flexible-strip-for-your-trunk-fits-all-car-models

new lower price!


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

small update:
3m foam tape is now included with every purchase - this is going to make install much easier - it won't ruin any parts of your trunk liner and can easily be removed, once it is there for a few ours it will not become loose from extreme heat or cold:
http://deautokey.com/product/universal-48-led-flexible-strip-for-your-trunk-fits-all-car-models


Thank you :thumbup:


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

4 Years later and this is our go to DIY for this trunk strip, new EVEN LOWER price for 2018:
http://deautokey.com/product/universal-48-led-flexible-strip-for-your-trunk-fits-all-car-models

This is one of our most popular seller - having the plug and play adapters means it is an easy install with no extra splicing wiring or guessing!

:thumbup:


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## Lencho (Aug 28, 2019)

Hi! Are there pics of this DIY still available? Looks like they used to be part of this post, but no longer is? Interested in getting this for my trunk in a 2006 GLI. Thanks!



deAutoLED.com said:


> 4 Years later and this is our go to DIY for this trunk strip, new EVEN LOWER price for 2018:
> http://deautokey.com/product/universal-48-led-flexible-strip-for-your-trunk-fits-all-car-models
> 
> This is one of our most popular seller - having the plug and play adapters means it is an easy install with no extra splicing wiring or guessing!
> ...


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## apache42 (Mar 19, 2018)

KOWCC said:


> In this DIY, I will walk you step by step through the process of installing the universal 48 LED flexible light strip for your trunk.
> 
> Please note that this DIY shows the install on a Volkswagen CC, however the basic steps can be applied to many other models.
> 
> ...


The pics seem to be missing from this how-to, apparently due to some software glitch in the 6 years since it was posted. I don't suppose there's a .pdf or other form of this how-to which still has the pics? Thanks in advance!


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## deAutoLED.com (Jun 1, 2012)

It is very straight forward - we include OEM adapter ends to put into the housing.

Let us know and we can help.


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## dub_fan (Apr 25, 2018)

deAutoLED.com said:


> It is very straight forward - we include OEM adapter ends to put into the housing.
> 
> Let us know and we can help.


What's the electrical load of your LED strip, and how does it compare with the current draw of the stock bulb in a modern VW?
Is there enough current available to run two of your strips in parallel?


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