Every once in a while a product comes across our bench that makes us stop and rethink how many ways one simple part can be used. The GTR Lighting Lightning Strip LED light is exactly that kind of product. We got our hands on the 7-inch version and tested all four colors. We compared their brightness and installed them on our 2010 Toyota Tundra. We used them as super bright puddle lights. This is one of the most innovative LED lighting products we have ever seen. In this article, we will walk you through everything we learned. That way, you can figure out how to use them on your own vehicle.
What Is the GTR Lighting Lightning Strip?
The Lightning Strip is a 7-inch long chip-on-board (COB) technology LED light strip. It uses a black anodized aluminum housing. It is totally waterproof, so you can install it almost anywhere. Put it outside your car, underneath your car, or in the bed of your truck. You can also mount it under the dash or in the trunk. It will keep working in all these locations. When we first pulled it from the packaging, we noticed how slim and clean the housing looked. We were also impressed by how much light comes from such a small piece. Nothing quite like this has existed before in this platform. Its versatility is honestly what makes it so exciting.
One thing worth noting is that the strip is not exactly flexible. However, the LED itself is capable of bending. With equal pressure along the edges, the aluminum housing can bend slightly too. This opens up mounting options on curved surfaces. A rigid bar simply cannot handle these surfaces. If you have shopped for a generic LED light strip before, this one stands apart. It offers impressive brightness and waterproofing. It also includes mounting hardware that we will cover below.
The Lightning Strip is a 7-inch long chip-on-board (COB) technology LED light strip. It uses a black anodized aluminum housing. It is totally waterproof, so you can install it almost anywhere. Put it outside your car, underneath your car, or in the bed of your truck. You can also mount it under the dash or in the trunk. It will keep working in all these locations. When we first pulled it from the packaging, we noticed how slim and clean the housing looked. We were also impressed by how much light comes from such a small piece. Nothing quite like this has existed before in this platform. Its versatility is honestly what makes it so exciting.
One thing worth noting is that the strip is not exactly flexible. However, the LED itself is capable of bending. With equal pressure along the edges, the aluminum housing can bend slightly too. This opens up mounting options on curved surfaces. A rigid bar simply cannot handle these surfaces. If you have shopped for a generic LED light strip before, this one stands apart. It offers impressive brightness and waterproofing. It also includes mounting hardware that we will cover below.
Four Color Options and How Bright They Are
The Lightning Strip comes in four colors: white, red, blue, and amber. White is by far the brightest of the four. When we lit up the red one, it was insanely bright for a red LED. However, red, blue, and amber will be less bright than white. That is simply the nature of colored LEDs. It is not a knock against the product. It is simply physics.
The white version is roughly a 6000K color, and it is way brighter than the red one. We have even seen people use the white strips as daytime running lights, almost like a fog light, adding extra light to the front of the vehicle. It is bright enough that it can pull double duty in a lot of situations.
The blue color is a real standout. It is not a dim or washed-out light blue, it is a very soft, solid, deep blue. It is pretty bright, though not as bright as white or amber, but you cannot really expect a blue LED to keep up with white. Blue has been a huge hit for accent lighting on the inside of a vehicle, on boats, or for underbody lighting.
Amber is probably the most exciting color of all of them, right next to white. If you have ever wanted to add a custom blinker inside your headlight during a projector retrofit or a custom paint job, amber is the perfect accent for that. Because it is waterproof and looks so clean, you do not have to hide anything. It also makes a great option if you are building a custom vehicle, a trike, a snowmobile, a motorcycle, or a rat rod, and you need a slick, easy way to add blinkers.
Powering the Lightning Strip
Wiring these could not be much simpler. All it takes is 12 volts, and you have two wires to hook up, then the product turns on. It does not matter whether that 12 volts comes from an ignition source, a switch on your dash, blinker wires, or an existing puddle light circuit. As long as you get 12 volts to those two little wires, you are in business. If you wire it to ignition, you have yourself a DRL circuit. If you tie into blinker wires, you have a custom turn signal. That flexibility is a big part of why we think this product is so useful.
If you are not a professional installer or a strong amateur, we always recommend contacting your local install shop, the folks who specialize in remote car starters, car audio, window tinting, and lighting. Those are the pros who can figure out the best way to wire it in your specific vehicle. Our goal here is to show you ideas and how we did it on our truck, not to be a step-by-step guide for every car out there. You can also find the GTR Lighting LED strip and other GTR Lighting products through our partner sites if you want to compare options.
Mounting Options: Tape or Studs
When you open the packaging to the GTR Lighting 7-inch Lightning Strip, you get two LED strips and a mounting kit. You might have seen a product kind of like this from another manufacturer, but we push this one because it is the best. It is brighter and has more LEDs in the same size housing, it has better waterproofing, better cable management, and mounting options that nobody else offers.
First, look at where the wire comes out of the housing. It is actually slotted, so you can either mount it flat and have the wiring exit the end without pinching it, or you can drill a hole through whatever you are mounting it to and run the wiring straight out so you never even see the wires. There is also a lot of black silicone where the wiring exits the circuit board panel, which helps keep dust and moisture out and prevents corrosion because it is sealed up so well.
For actual mounting, you have two methods. The first is the 3M double-sided tape, which pretty much anyone selling this kind of product uses. The second is what makes the GTR Lighting version different: you get studs that thread into the corners of the aluminum housing. You line the strip up to whatever you are attaching it to, mark where you want your two holes, push the studs through those holes, and use the supplied nuts (and maybe a washer) on the back side to hold it in place. That gives you a flush, secure stud mount on any flat surface, which is a big advantage when you want something more permanent than tape.
Installing the Lightning Strip as a Puddle Light on Our Tundra
On this 2010 Toyota Tundra, we decided to install the Lightning Strips under the door panels to act as super bright puddle lights. We already had Toyota truck LED logo projectors up front and GTR Lighting logo projectors in the back, mounted in the bottom of the door panel. There was nothing wrong with the logo projectors, we just wanted to try something different, so we removed them and put the Lightning Strips in their place.
Because we already had wiring tapped into the positive and negative on our factory puddle lights, we simply reused that existing wire. That is what makes this such a slick application. You already have a 12-volt light that turns on when you open the door, and the Lightning Strip is so slim it fits right between the bottom of the door panel and the interior of the truck. If you want to try this yourself, mock the strip up under the door first to make sure you have enough clearance between the bottom of the door panel and the top of the door threshold.
We chose red for this build because it looks really cool against the black truck. We soldered our connection, since soldering is always better than tap connectors, then fed the short power wire up the same way the logo projectors were wired. Since there was already a white LED in the door, we swapped that out for a red one too so we would not have any conflicting colors. For the actual mounting, the bottom of the door was cleaned with alcohol, then we removed the paper backing to expose the double-sided tape, lined the strip up, and pressed it in place. The longer and harder you hold it, the better the adhesion. We did not need the stud mounts here, but on a different door panel they would be the most secure method.
The result is a super bright red puddle light. Open the doors at a car show, a cruise-in, or even the grocery store, and you get this explosion of light and color. It is a great look, and any of the four colors would work just as well for this application. If you have been searching for a COB LED puddle light, this is exactly the kind of clean, bright result you can achieve.
Endless Uses Beyond Puddle Lights
The puddle light install is just one example. The versatility of the Lightning Strip is really where it shines. On the back of a truck, amber and red strips open up all kinds of ideas. You could do a custom blinker or brake light, mount them vertically for a Cadillac-style look on a hot rod, or run a line of them under the tailgate with amber on the outside for turn signals, red in the middle for brake and parking lights, and white in the very center for reverse lights.
Speaking of reverse lights, the white strips are bright enough to serve exactly that purpose. You could mount them flush on your rear bumper for some wild reverse lighting, or hide them so nobody sees them until they turn on, giving you a stealth reverse light. In the bed of a truck, one strip on each side facing in will light up the entire bed. For interior accent lighting, one strip under the dash or under the seat throws a ton of light across the floor because the output is diffused rather than tightly focused.
A lot of Tundra owners like to add a daytime running light product right under the headlight, but that usually means replacing a whole section. With the Lightning Strip, using the stud mounts and the flush mount wiring option, you could mount it right there under the headlight, curve it to match the shape, and end up with one of the most low profile and brightest DRL products you can imagine. Whether you have the factory bumper or a custom setup, there is a spot for it. Between DRLs, reverse lights, custom blinkers, brake and tail light accents, underbody lighting, boat and emergency vehicle lighting, and interior accents, the list of uses just keeps going.
Frequently Asked Questions
What colors does the GTR Lighting Lightning Strip come in?
It is available in white (about 6000K), red, blue, and amber, with white being the brightest of the four.
What is the Lightning Strip made of and is it waterproof?
It is a 7-inch chip-on-board LED strip housed in black anodized aluminum, fully waterproof so it can be used inside or underneath a vehicle.
How do you power the Lightning Strip?
It only needs 12 volts across its two wires, which can be tied into an ignition source, a switch, blinker wires, or existing puddle light wiring.
What mounting options are available?
You can use the included 3M double-sided tape or the stud mounting kit, which threads studs into the corners of the aluminum housing for a flush, secure mount.
What are common uses for this LED strip?
It can be used as a puddle light, daytime running light, reverse light, custom blinker, brake or tail light accent, underbody or bed lighting, and interior accent lighting.
Meet the Experts Behind Headlight Revolution
Chris Nelson – Founder
Before founding Headlight Revolution in 2011, Chris worked as an automotive install technician specializing in lighting, sound systems, and engine performance parts. He has personally tested thousands of lighting products and works directly with lighting engineers to evaluate the technical performance behind every recommendation.
Josh Beberg – Content Production Manager
Josh leads hands-on testing and content production at Headlight Revolution. From beam pattern comparisons to real-world installations, he works directly with lighting engineers to ensure every review is grounded in measured results, not marketing specs.
