3rd Gen. easy DRL Mod so that they are always on.

I have a 2017 Tacoma Sport 4x4 that I bought last week. One of the little things that bothered me was that the DRLs would not come on automatically when I would start my truck.

I know that the Canadian models do have this feature.
I also know that if you leave the switch on the DRL setting they will turn off by themselves when you lock your truck and then turn back on when you start it up again.

The problem is that when I turn off the truck at night and I turn off my headlights, I have to consciously remember to leave the switch on the DRL setting for the morning.

I tried asking for help yesterday, but I guess no one had tried this before. I was thinking about it all night and I figured it out.

It's a pretty easy mod and it works perfectly.
Now every time I start my truck, no matter what setting my light switch is on my DRLs turn on and they automatically turn off once I turn off my engine.

I will add the photos I took to help out anyone interested in this mod.

 

First you need to remove your cover on the main fuse box on the right side of your engine compartment.



We are going to use the fuse that I circled for power.

 

Next you are going to remove the cover of the small fuse box right behind the large one, that says Relay on it.

 

They both look like this uncovered.

I didn't take a photo before I started of both of them, so this one is of the finished mod but you get the idea.

 

This is the relay for the DRLs that we will be working with.

 

You need to get some needle nose pliers and remove this relay.
Once you remove it you are going to bend these two legs all the way around.
I placed a toothpick between the leg and the relay so that I would have a small gap.

 

Next you need to remove this fuse that is marked as an injector fuse.
we are going to use a fuse tap in this slot.

 

Next you will unsnap the relay box from the large fuse box.
You just have to pull it up and it will come off.

Next you need to remove the electrical tape around the harness that goes into the relay box.
Then you can remove the lower cover on the relay box.

 

Now you need to get a two pieces of wire.
I used black and red.
I attached the red wire to my Fuse tap.
On the black wire I put a ring terminal.

This is how I ran my red wire.

 

On the Relay box there is an used slot where I ran my wires up from the bottom.
I had to stick a small flat screw driver in through the two holes and wiggle it around a little to make room for the cables to fit through.

After bringing them both up from the bottom I attached female ends on both of them and plugged them to my relay and installed the relay back on.

I then reattached the lower part of the relay box and retaped it again.

 

To keep a clean look to everything I ran the red wire up through a small gap in between the attachment point were the relay box attaches to the large fuse box.

 

I then ran the Black wire under the large fuse box and attached it to the ground wire on the fender next to the battery.

 

Next I added a 10 amp fuse to the lower slot of the Fuse Tap.
This is the one that will replace the original fuse that was in this slot.
Then I added a 5 amp fuse on the top slot which will be for the DRLs.

Then plug it back into the slot.

 

Once it's all done, it should look like this.

 

I then made a small cutout right where the red wire exits the large fuse box, so that the wire does not get pinched and the lid closes properly.

 

Close everything back up and you end up with a really clean looking Mod.

 

I'll just use the switch.

 

That's it.
Now my DRLs turn on every time I start the truck and shut off when I turn it off.
No more trying to remember to leave the switch in the proper location.

It took me about a little over two hours, but following these steps it should be less than an hour project.

 

my DRL mod is opposit of yours.
I unplugged them so they are always off.
I run my led fogs instead

 

That's my next project. I'd also like the Fogs to come on all the time like my DRLs now, without having to worry about where to leave the switch every time I turn off the headlights.