How I wired my aftermarket seat heaters in my 2nd gen Tacoma, lots of pictures.

Tools and such

Socket wrench set.
Phillips Head screwdriver
Wire cutter. pliers. Wire stripper
Multimeter
Lighter or Heat gun
Heat shrink tubing (or electrical tape if you have no self respect)
Zip ties
10 Gauge in line fuse
3 Tap a Fuse ATC mini low profile taps
Muscle t-Shirt (so you can look like a d-bag)
Wing nut connector
Butt wire connectors. I like the ones with shrink stuff on them....
Copper Car battery terminal lug




Step Zero: Install your heating pads. I just stuck mine to the bottom of my new clazzios and slipped them on. There are lots of good instructions for whatever you plan on doing out there. Read the instructions carefully about cutting and placement.




Step one: Center console

Remove the center console.

Some dude's video on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLqOYNA9p5I

-NOTE: The back and front section just pulls away though he doesn't show it.






Step two: running your harness from the seat.

Plug in your wiring harness to your seats. No pictures for you. You are a big boy and can figure it out. That's why you have on the muscle-tee.

Run the harness through the center console, it is easiest if you disconnect the relay section (the big gold box ya dummy). Tuck each side out of the way of everything under the carpet. Remember the wiring needs room for your seat to slide back and forth. Dont tape or zip anything down now. You can do all of that at the end.

You will pull it up and out at the end of the center console:
:::NOTE::::Run it UNDER that horizontal strip of carpet. Not the way you see it in that picture. I had to reroute that crap at the end. If I cared I would take a better picture for you that shows the right way. I don't care. I hate you.






Step three: Put your switches into the hole.

You have two options here. You can remove the whole damn front of your car dash to get to the square switches OR you can take a coat hanger and run it through the hole around to the center console and tape the plug (remove the switch dum-dum) and pull that baby through. Way easier.


(its that bad picture again.)






Now just re-attach the dials and push them in.




Step four: Flex for the ladies (or bois). They think your sooo hot installing seat heaters for your butt. Great job, Bro.




Step five: Remove your kick plate on the drivers side

a. Pull the dead pedal. It pulls straight out hard..... unscrew/Pull the little black pin with three square holes you uncovered.


b. Pull up the plastic floor trim along the bottom door jam. It pulls straight up, nothing to unscrew. It is just held by the red circled clips!




c. Pull the kick plate (the part that was held down by the black pin...) straight back toward the bed of the truck. Now you see wires!

 

Step six: Wiring! NOTE: You should have this checked by a pro or someone that actually knows electronics (I don't, though I know more after this install). This is what I did after a lot reading and it works correctly, but this is not a definitive guide or even a tutorial. I tried to be very conservative and overbuilt. Again, don't just copy this part, it is to give you a rough idea of what i did.



I learned how to use Tap-a fuses, a multimeter, appropriate amperage for wire, etc. before starting this. If you value your car and safety you will do this. DO NOT JUST COPY WHAT YOU SEE IN MY PICTURES WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU ARE DOING. YOUR CAR MAY BE DIFFERENT AND YOU CAN HURT YOURSELF OR CATCH YOUR CAR ON FIRE IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE. Here is some learning material to start with if you are planning on doing this part yourself!

Tap a fuse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8b9CvUMcNQo

Remember. They are directional and if you plug them in wrong you can have issues. I had to use a multimeter to find what direction was positive and make sure I plugged the tap a fuse in correct. Make sure you take the time to learn this part right or you will be risking a fire.



Using a multimeter:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+To+Use+A+Multimeter/25632,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUK6RPdIrA

Wire amperage chart:

 

Again........THIS PART IS NOT A TUTORIAL. THIS IS FOR REFERENCE ONLY. I am not an electrician and you should not trust me what I did is entirely correct UNLESS an electrican looks at it and says it is sound.



Part 1: Power from the battery.

-Some people are just tapping the inside fuse box for their main power. While I could not find stories of people burning their taco down doing this, it is a bad idea from what I gather. You could overload the wiring to your inside fuse box and make it go up in flames. Each seat will draw about 5 amps for a total of 10 amps. The professional way is to tap power from the battery directly. The kit I am using has a built in electronic relay so the main power can be constant. The relay (gold box) will keep it from being on when the car is off.



NOTE:. AN ELECTRICIAN LATER IN THE THREAD HAS RECCOMENDED RUNNING 2 SEPERATE POWER LINES ON FUSES FROM THE BATTER RATHER THAN THE SPLICE I HAVE DONE. I PLAN TO CHANGE THIS AND WILL UPDATE THE PHOTOS WHEN I DO.


A. Took battery terminal lugs (i forget the size, sorry) and hooked them up to a inline 20 amp fuse. I then connected this to (approx 10 feet..measure for yourself i am guessing) of 10 gauge stranded copper wire. I used the nice thick sealing heat shrink tubing. (like this:

$9 Install Bay Heat Shrink Tubing 3M 1/2" 8G - 4 Feet

https://smile.amazon.com/Install-Bay-Heat-Shrink-Tubing/dp/B0053PYD3W?sa-no-redirect=1)




B. I then ran the wire through the firewall via the hood release hole as there was lots of room. The main bundle was too tight. Very easy to just push through from the outside. Once you can seat it inside you can pull it through.




C. I then connected BOTH main 12 gauge power lines to the 10 gauge power line from the battery via wing nut connector, cut off the wings, then shrink tubed the whole thing... "obviously" I did not attach to the battery until finished wiring...







Part 2: Relay and lighting wiring

-These parts use very little power to my understanding, so I felt comfortable tapping out of the interior fuse box, unlike the main heater power.



A. I now used butt connectors to wire up each relay (the red/yellow striped wire with in line 5 amp fuses) to its own Tap a Fuse. Used heat shrink tubing to make it look professional. I used a lighter to shrink it because I am a cheap ass that didn't wanna pay 40$ for a heat gun. It worked well.


B. I wired both illumination wires (yellow) to one tap a fuse.



C. I removed the coin tray which shows the fuse diagram.



D. I installed the RELAY/ON (red/yellow striped) tap a fuses (using 5 amp fuses on top, appropriate fuse on bottom) into IGN and WSH. Both of these are ONLY on when the car is on. This keeps the heaters from staying on when you turn your car off. I checked all this with a multimeter.



E. I installed the illumination/night light tap a fuse (5 amp on top) into the TAIL. This makes them turn on with your dash lighting. I could have wired them into a green illum wire but this was easier and cleaner.

Here is what it looked like:



F. DO NOT ATTACH YOUR GROUND HERE YA DUMMY! IT CAN HEAT UP AND COME LOOSE. FIND AN ALL METAL SPOT. WILL CHANGE THIS ASAP IN WRITEUP. Circled in red for all of you color blind people who can't see black.



G. I then labeled all my wiring, used zip ties and tape to make everything relatively clean.





I put the relays up behind the dash/center console (right side of above picture where you see the white plugs) . It keeps them in place and hides them well.
Closer view of where i put relays:




I then put the carpet back down and got the wiring back to the seats situated so that the seats could move around without tugging or catching...










It works! My corn hole is super warm now.




I then replaced the center console and finished cable management under the chair.



Good luck, I hope this helped!

 

Nice write-up!!! And a good price for the heaters!

This was the cherry on top.

 

Very nice. Thanks for the writeup. I'm about to put the 12-15 lower dash panel in my 06 and seat heaters is on the priority list for 2 of switch holes. Are the roller wheels infinitely adjustable, or do they have switch positions like the blower switch?

 

This set has 5 distinct stops i think. It does **not** roll indefintely

 

OK, I can visualize the 5 steps. Like the blower switch. What do you mean, "It does roll indefintely"?

 

Oops. It does *not* roll indefinitely . It goes to stop 5 and stops there.

 

OK, thanks.

 

How are you going to go about this? I also have a '06 and want the 12-15 lower dash with the extra buttons and whatnot.

 

The 12-15 lower panel fits right into all the 05-11 Tacos. They come in grey or beige. You also need to get a power port and power port cover, since the 12-15 panel doesn't have a big enough hole for a cigg lighter. Or you can probably dremel out 1 of the holes for a cigg socket. The bare panel is about $118 at Camelback. Order enough goodies to get over $150 for free shipping.

 

uh wow....didnt know of this website! Thank you! Can i trouble you for a link for the Lower Dash Panel....they dont seem to offer any parts for the interiors (that I can find)

 

It takes a while to get the hang of navigating their website. Here's the link to the dash pieces. You want item#24 in Grey or beige to match your truck.

https://parts.camelbacktoyota.com/p...iteid=214329&vehicleid=379004&diagram=8512465

The power socket is 8553006010
The socket cover is 855350C010B2 for grey

In case you need a blower motor resistor and pigtail, those numbers are 8713804052 and 8214104M40

All those items will get you up to about $188.

I checked with my local dealer and they wanted $270 for just the lower panel, blower resistor, and resistor pigtail.

 

You sir are a gentleman and a scholar, thank you

 

You have a supercharger

 

Yes. Installed it December last year. Love it very much. Ive had my truck since '06, and since the installation its a total different truck to drive now.

 

Welp... Adding this to the list of shit to do...

 

last time I sat in a heated seat I thought I soiled myself

 

The good news is that if you do soil yourself, it will stay nice and warm for you. No one likes sitting in cold poop. That said, I suggest plastic seat covers if this is a reoccurring issue.