What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

Logistics91 · Jan 30, 2018

Garrito-Burrito said: ↑

I installed a steel gas tank skid plate, looks like it’ll prevent a lot more than the plastic original.

After that I installed my AVS in channel vent visors and a Weather Tech low profile bug deflector.

Before:

After:

Lastly I installed my Genesis dual battery kit:

Click to expand...

I've been eyeballing that Genesis kit. Looks good. Not cheap though.

Garrito-Burrito · Jan 30, 2018

Logistics91 said: ↑

I've been eyeballing that Genesis kit. Looks good. Not cheap though.
Click to expand...

It’s pricey, especially with the batteries on top of it. I shouldn’t have to worry about ever needing a jump though

tcjacado · Jan 30, 2018

jomopdx said: ↑

What are you replacing them with? My Icon coil-over just went belly up after 7000 miles and a year and a half. Not much support from Icon yet but still working on it.
Click to expand...

You can ask and post in this thread to hopefully resolve your issue faster. Good luck
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/adrian-from-icon-vehicle-dynamics.528063/

pc3coyote · Jan 30, 2018

hatdonuts said: ↑

The light bar switches are always blue, even when the truck is off. the ditch light switch is never lit up, even when the lights are on. there is an extra red wire on all these switches that I'm sure is the reason for this. Where do I hook them up?

Click to expand...

harlequin_forest said: ↑

I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but apparently I'm as wiring illiterate as I had feared. I don't really have any experience with electrical wiring but I'm hoping to learn. It is what it is

---

I'm using the harness that was included with my Baja Designs Squadrons that are tied in to a rocker switch. Grounds are tied in at the top.

I cannot for the life of me get them to work with an OEM switch.

G - Power to lights
R - Power to switch
R - Power to ignition
B - Ground

Would I be able to have the switch light come on only with lights without a fuse tap? I'd like to be able to have these on independent of the ignition as they were with the rocker switch.

I've got the switch light to come on at the cost of a fuse wiring as below...

Power In - Red/Red
Power Out - Green
Ground (1/2) - Black
Click to expand...

See posts below for instructions

Green switch wire <--butt connector--> red harness wire

Red 1 switch wire (closer to green) <--butt connector--> white harness wire

Red 2 switch wire (closer to black) <--t-tap--> green cargo light wire

Black switch wire <--butt connector--> black harness wire

pwalnut said: ↑

Got my lightbar installed and I love it! Big thanks to @Woody79, @rysingsun, @moe2o4, and @CaliRaisedLed for their helpful guides. I put together my guide below to help out others as well, especially anyone who opts for the same hardware I used since not all the wiring is the same. I went cheap on my install. I know it’s not the quality of CaliRaised, Rigid, etc but for ~$125 for everything, I’m super happy with it. I actually paid a lot less since I bought the brackets used from another member and Amazon ended up giving me the light bar and harness for free surprisingly due to some issues with the delivery. Even at $125, I think it’s a steal and a great addition.

Materials

MICTUNING 32" 180W Combo Led Light Bar - 13200 Lumen, 6000-6200K Crystal White, Waterproof for Off-road Jeep ATV UTV SUV Truck Boat

MicTuning MIC-BC2180 180W Combo Spot Flood Beam LED Light Bar - $39.99

$10 MICTUNING MIC-B1002 LED Light Bar Wiring Harness, Fuse 40A Relay On-off Waterproof Switch

MicTuning MIC-B1002 40A Fuse Relay Wiring Harness - $10.95

MICTUNING M0810-T-LLBB LED Push Switch with Connector Wire Kit for Toyota - LED LIGHT BAR Symbol -Blue

MicTuning LED Light Bar Symbol Blue 1.54" x 0.83" Push Switch - $11.90

2x 14 AWG butt connectors and 3x 20 AWG butt connectors - $2.49

1x 20 AWG t-tap - $2.49

Electrical tape

Zip ties

Tools

Phillips screwdriver

Flat head screwdriver

10mm, 12mm, 14mm deep sockets

5mm allen key

Crimper, wire stripper

Dremel with cutting disk

Instructions

Step 0: Leave the main connections (battery positive and ground) connections for the end once you have all your wires routed as a precaution.

Step 1: Remove the grill. Use the phillips screwdriver to remove the two screws and the flat head screwdriver to remove the two plastic tab screws. Grab the upper supports and pull straight out. The plastic tabs will come out.

Step 2: Remove the wind deflectors on each side. Use the flat head screwdriver to remove the single plastic tab screw on each side.

Step 3: Remove the two transmission cooler bolts by using the 12mm deep socket. Push the transmission cooler back to make it easier to slide the LED light bar in.

Step 4: Remove the two nuts on each of the outer sides of each crash bar with the 14mm deep socket. Leave the inner bolts alone. Install only the driver side light bar bracket but only hand-tighten the nuts.

Step 5: Slide in the light bar from the passenger side to the driver side. Let it rest on the crash bars. Install the passenger side bracket and hand-tighten the nuts. Use the smaller bolts that came with the light bar to attach the light bar to the brackets with a 5mm allen key. I also added two hardened washers (one on each side) but they likely aren’t needed. You may need a second person to hold the light bar as you bolt the light bar to the bracket so that you can lean down to see through the grill to line up the bolts and holes. Ensure that the light bar is pulled all the way forward and rotated to face straight out.

Step 6: Mount the relay to the bracket by the battery by temporarily removing the bolt with a 10mm socket.

Step 7: Cut off the spade terminals from the white and black wires from the harness, cut it shorter to length, and use the 14 AWG butt connectors to connect it to the red and black light bar wires (white to red, black to black). Use electrical tape over the connectors. Use electrical tape over the second set of white and black wires from the harness or cut them off if you don't plan to use them (they are for a second light bar).

Step 8: Temporarily run the two red terminals to the positive battery terminal and the two black terminals to the ground to the right of the relay to test the light bar. Use the attached switch. If it works, disconnect the terminals. If it doesn’t, troubleshoot. The battery terminal requires a12mm socket and the ground requires a 10mm socket.

Step 9: Reinstall the transmission cooler. Cut off small corners of the wind deflectors with a dremel and then reinstall. This is so that it doesn’t hit the light bar.

Step 10: Zip tie the wire going from the light bar to the relay in various places to keep it out of the way. There are plenty of places to attach too.

Step 11: Follow @moe2o4’s guide to disassemble the dash panels. Remove the blank switch place-holder from the far right. It unclips from the back and pushes to the front.

Step 12: Cut off the switch from the harness. Cut off a straight piece of a metal hangar. Use the hanger wire to poke a hole in the rubber firewall. Use electrical tape to tape the red, white, and black wires coming from the relay to the hanger. Rub a dab of dish soap over the taped area of the hangar and then pull it through from the interior by pulling on the end of the hangar.

Step 13: Wire the Mictuning switch to the harness wires by using the 20 AWG butt connectors. Red harness wire goes to the green switch wire, white harness wire goes to the red 1 (first after green) switch wire, black harness wire goes to the black switch wire. After that, use the 20 AWG t-tap to connect the red 2 (second after green, first from black) switch wire to the green cargo wire (first wire on the first switch from the left). After you connect everything, wrap all the connects in electrical tape.

Step 14: Reconnect the two two red terminals to the positive battery terminal and the two black terminals to the ground to test the light bar. By default, nothing is lit up. The switch text LED should light up when the interior lights are on. The switch light bar LED should come on when pressed. Test the new switch to make sure it works, that the lighter comes on, and the switch light bar LED should also light up. If it works, proceed. If it doesn’t, troubleshoot.

Step 15: Ziptie the extra slack going from the relay to the firewall, from the firewall to the battery positive terminal, and from the firewall to the ground terminal. Reinstall the dash panels. Reinstall the grill.

Step 16: Enjoy!

Off:

Interior lights on:

Interior lights on, light bar on:

Light bar only:

Lows and fogs only:

Lows, fogs, and light bar:

Lows, highs, fogs, and light bar:

Click to expand...

pwalnut said: ↑

Hello, friends!

I decided to add some rock lights and rear lights to my truck. I had some interest in my build page in the details so I decided to write a walkthrough from memory of how I did it. Note: this is how I did it and I'm not the best electrically. It seemed like the most logical way but there could definitely be better approaches.

Rock Lights

Parts

4 Pods LED Rock Lights, Ampper Waterproof LED Neon Underglow Light for Car Truck ATV UTV SUV Offroad Boat Underbody Glow Trail Rig Lamp (White)

8 Ampper white rock lights (you could get nicer Rigid, Baja, KC, etc lights but these are simply for under the truck for offroading, camping, loading the truck, etc so these are fine with me. Super cheap and super bright!)

4 Lead LED Rock Lights Wiring Harness, Ampper LED Wiring Harness for LED Pods and Work Lights with Fuse 12V 40A Relay Waterproof On Off Rocker Switch

4-lead Ampper wiring harness

Custom 4x4 blue LED push switch

@forty2 3-switch black narrow switch plate (if this is your only light, you can skip this and use the blank location depending on your model of truck)

Consumable supplies

Good quality electrical tape

$10 TYUMEN 40FT 18 Gauge 2pin 2 Color Red Black Cable Hookup Electrical LED Strips Extension Wire 12V/24V DC Cable, 18AWG Flexible Wire Extension Cord for Ribbon Lamp Tape Lighting

18AWG 2-pin wire

Black spray paint (whichever)

Tools

10mm, 12mm socket

5mm allen key (I think)

Flat head and phillips screw drivers

Trim removal tool

Wire crimper

Wire stripper/cutter

Lighter

Drill with various size bits

Instructions

Engine bay wiring

Drill three holes into relay holder tabs to mount relays with zipties. If you buy relays from an auto parts store, they'll have a slot where the relay holder tabs will slide in. Since I used premade harnesses, they didn't have this

Spray paint over the new holes to avoid rust

Mount relay holder in engine bay

Install relay on relay holder with zipties through hole in the relay and new holes in the relay holder

Run two power wires and two ground wires (for relay and switch) to battery and ground in side of engine bay using 12mm and 10mm socket respectively. Trim to right lengths utilizing 18AWG wire and butt connectors (heat shrunk with lighter, wrapped in electrical tape) as needed. Use wire loom (electrical tape on ends) over wires

Cut off switch. Use a sharp object (coat hanger, shish kabob stick, etc) to poke a hole in the rubber boot, with the switch wire electrical taped to it, to run the switch wire into the cab. Use wire loom to cover wire

Switch placement and wiring

Use trim removal tool, 10mm socket, and phillips screwdriver to remove three trim pieces on driver side

Use phillips screwdriver to remove cubby and mount switch plate

Push in switches

Use butt connectors (and electrical tape) to connect switch wires to switch

Use quick splice connector (and electrical tape) to connect switch wire to another switch wire for illumination

Reassemble

Lights placement

Middle four lights were placed under each door, rear two lights were under the bumper, all were ziptied to the frame

Front two lights were under the front bumper. I made a paper template of the light by tracing it and used that to drill three holes (two mounting bolts and wire) into the flimsy plastic in the front of the truck under the bumper in front of the wheel well. I then mounted the lights using the two supplied bolts. I accessed the inside of the wheel well to secure the 10mm nut from the wheel well using the 10mm socket to hold the nut and the 5mm alley key to tighted the bolt. You access the wheel well by removing one 10mm bolt with the 10mm socket and one push screw with a flathead screwdriver from inside the wheel well and them pull the plastic aside.

Lights wiring

There are two wires from the relay for each side, each with two leads

Run one wire across back of engine bay facing cab ziptieing to existing harness as you go

Cut off wiring harness leads. Connect additional wire to one of the harness wire leads with butt connectors (and electrical tape, wrapped in wire loom) and run straight down to under truck

Run wire to first light (in wire loom) at the passenger front door ziptieing to existing harness as you go

Three way splice with two butt connectors (one for red positive wire and one for black negative wire). One side has the incoming wire. Other side has rock light wire twisted together with additional wire. I'd strip the wire for both the rock light and outgoing wire and then twist the strands together (do that for both red and black wires respectively). Wrap in electrical tape and then put in wire loom

Repeat above for passenger rear door, passenger rear bumper, driver rear bumper, driver rear door, driver front door (daisy chaining as you go with three way splice at each light, covering wire in wire loom as you go, ziptieing to existing harness as you go)

For the passenger front bumper, connect additional wire (with butt connectors) to the other lead from where you ran across the engine and where you ran the one lead down to under the truck, wrap in wire loom, and fish the wire down to the small opening in the bumper from behind the headlights. Connect the light to the wire and then push all of the extra wire back into the bumper

For the driver front bumper, you can now use the other primary wire coming from the relay. We'll only need the long lead so you can either cut off the extra one in the middle or just cover it electrical tape. Repeat process above for fishing the wire and connecting the light

You're done! I'd plan for half a day or at least that's how long it took me since I'm super slow and was figuring it out as I went. I was lazy and didn't solder anything but feel good about the heat shrink crimped connectors, electrical tape, and wire loom all secured with zipties. It seems pretty secure and protected from the elements.

This was all super shorthand and literally off the top of my head of what I did trying to remember so let me know if it doesn't make sense or if you have any questions.

Photos

Rear Lights

Parts

$149 RIGID INDUSTRIES Ignite Backup Kit Black Flood Flush Mount: Mounting Accessories For Offroad Use

2 Rigid Ignite flush mount diffused

$10 MICTUNING MIC-B1002 LED Light Bar Wiring Harness, Fuse 40A Relay On-off Waterproof Switch

Mictuning wiring harness

Custom 4x4 blue LED push switch

Same as above for other consumable supplies and tools

Instructions

Same as above with the exception of drilling into the plastic part of the rear bumper with a 1.75" hole saw for the main hole for the light and 3/16" drill bit for the mount screw holes

Photos

Switches

Photos

Question

Can you guys recommend how I can tap into the dome lights (or other) so that the rock lights come on when I unlock the doors along with how I can tap into the reverse lights so that the rear lights come on when I put the truck in reverse? This would be in addition to my switches in the cab. I wasn't sure where to tap into in my new wiring along with the factory harnessing (which I'm super paranoid about messing with so I may keep it as switch-only).
Click to expand...

mopar2 · Jan 30, 2018

pdenajim said: ↑

Loving the Pro wheels.
Seriously thinking of getting them myself.
Are those the 16" or the 17"?
Click to expand...

17 FX PRO

Rob Daman · Jan 30, 2018

He's the LED king

THATCH11B said: ↑

Thanks. Mesojdm makes numerous LED upgrades for our trucks. Sells them out of the 3rd gen marketplace. This is red map lights and red ultimate dome light. He makes a lot of top quality plug and play lighting options. Be warned his stuff is like crack.
Click to expand...

fredgoodsell · Jan 30, 2018

SOULMAN69 said: ↑

Made a ski rack for the inside of my capped 2016 AC. 3/4 Plywood, tee nuts from Amazon (cargo track), nuts/bolts, paint, 3/4 closed cell foam weather stripping. Planning an epic 6 week ski trip out west and needed some organization.
Click to expand...

This is awesome! Makes me wish (again) that I had a longbed. My skis only fit inside at a diagonal...

Parker315 · Jan 31, 2018

Parker315 said: ↑

UPDATE

Installed @mesojdm custom map lights

Installed @rrentrop Color-Mayched Side Marker Decals

Installed TRD Pro Grille

Waiting on new custom bed-side decals from JupiterOnEarth

Click to expand...

3rd update

lol I can't stop buying stuff for this truck lol

Installed mesojdm Ultimate Interior Combo

Instaled mesojdm Ultimate turn signals

Installed Custom decals mentioned in the previous post.

I changed low beams and switched out the Fog lights. Using the new Hikari LED bulbs in the low beams and put the AuxBeam f-16's in the fog lights.

Lighting details HERE

ccallen · Jan 30, 2018

Leathermatt said: ↑

Where can one find that headlight side reflector decal? That is badass.
Click to expand...

Thanks man!
rrentrop Made them for me very happy with them.

Taco Tuesday 18 · Jan 30, 2018

New Dual Exhuast

Parker315 · Jan 30, 2018

Taco Tuesday 18 said: ↑

New Dual Exhuast

Click to expand...

Dude!! That sounds really good. What do you have on there??

ccallen · Jan 30, 2018

Canyonero said: ↑

Hopefully these pics help you

Click to expand...

This looks awesome any chance you would know if this would work with a topper?

Taco Tuesday 18 · Jan 30, 2018

Parker315 said: ↑

Dude!! That sounds really good. What do you have on there??

Click to expand...

Thanks man!! It's a Wicked Flow

2016trdtacoma · Jan 30, 2018

Well not done anything, but an update... My 6112 for the 3rd gens are on backorder through headstrong. Hopefully they get in b4 the end of march as I have a trip planned in Moab.

Parker315 · Jan 30, 2018

Taco Tuesday 18 said: ↑

Thanks man!! It's a Wicked Flow
Click to expand...

Looking it up now!! I have TRD on my truck now and it sounds good, but its a single out. I think yours sounds better.

What model did you go with??

Taco Tuesday 18 · Jan 30, 2018

Parker315 said: ↑

Looking it up now!! I have TRD on my truck now and it sounds good, but its a single out. I think yours sounds better.

What model did you go with??
Click to expand...

13SC250. They guy that installed it bought them a while back in bulk and he said they're hard to find. I'll keep and eye out and let you know if I can find one!

KTJO 4x4 · Jan 30, 2018

Taco Tuesday 18 said: ↑

New Dual Exhuast

Click to expand...

All detail please!

Parker315 · Jan 30, 2018

KTJO 4x4 said: ↑

All detail please!
Click to expand...

See above ^^^

Connie Mack · Jan 30, 2018

SOULMAN69 said: ↑

Made a ski rack for the inside of my capped 2016 AC. 3/4 Plywood, tee nuts from Amazon (cargo track), nuts/bolts, paint, 3/4 closed cell foam weather stripping. Planning an epic 6 week ski trip out west and needed some organization.
Click to expand...

That’s a great idea! Thanks for the pics. How did you mount the boards near the ceiling of the roof? Or did you ONLY need to use the bolts attached to the bed rail system?

Rob Daman · Jan 30, 2018

Saved this for Taco Tuesday...

Picked up a Snugtop Sport Hi-liner Friday night. I honestly wasn't into these shells but after trying to stuff my tonneau I decided to go big. It sure changes the look and now I have name it "Hard Shell Taco."

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