2LM PnP - Plug and play 2WD low range for the 3rd gen. Tacoma

How do I order this 2WD LO kit with the PnP illumination harness from http://www.bbpondengineering.com/

Or does it have to be 2 separate purchases from 2 different people/business?

 

The illumination harnes is not available as of now. It is still being worked on.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/custom-switch-illumination-harness.619863/

 

Ahh I see. Thanks for the info. I will wait for the illumination harness to be available.

 

Noted, gentlemen

 

Got mine in tonight. Along with my front camera to the passenger kick panel. Nice way to make use of having the glove box off.

So, low gear is pretty low. I can see how it’s not all that smart for any sort of speed. It was dark so I didn’t do much with reverse but first runs out quick and so does second. Once you get to third, I’m guessing you might as well be in high. Also easier to grind when shifting fast.

It feels a bit like the small chainring on a bicycle except the shift is more complicated.

I took a bunch of pictures so I’ll do my own install write-up in case it helps others. I got confused with the airbag tabs as well as the rightmost trim piece. Harness to the right works great then relay in the kick and switch wire up and over along the bar. Might be nice if the relay had a tab to zip tie. Harness tape was perfect. Only used 3 or 4 wire ties I think.

I got the blank out and switch plugged in from the radio opening. It’s not that big of a reach and I wear large gloves. Only went that way because I used a giant cardboard box for the head unit to sit on while connecting the camera harness so I couldn’t get a hand in front of it. Someone should sell a little plastic hanger to suspend the head unit up and out of the way, there are so many plugs, not like the old days of 1 or 2 plus an antenna.

 

I always unplug the head unit. I think there’s only 5 that actually need disconnected. And they’ll only plug in one spot so you can’t mess up plugging them back in

 

2LM PNP 2WD Low Install notes for 2016 DCSB

Tools used:
10mm short and long sockets and wrench, optional long extension makes things easier
Phillips head screwdriver
small to medium flat head screwdriver
small wire cutters for zip ties
headlamp
3/8 torque wrench (completely unnecessary but since I had one I felt compelled to use it)

1. Disconnect battery (I did both pos and neg, only one should actually be needed though, short 10mm socket is best for this

2. Remove passenger door weatherstripping and right-of-glove-box trim panel pair. Small trim panel pivots open just like the door, larger panel pulls directly back, use hands, go easy. You don't want to pry the small panel off at the back edge because that's where it pivots, but you also don't want to jam a flat head screwdriver in the front to get it off as that will leave a mark. I think I did mine by prying the larger piece off at the very bottom which opened up space to get my fingers in and pivot the small panel off, then finish removing the large panel. No screws on either piece.

3. Remove door sill plate and passenger kick panel, one obvious thumb screw on the kick panel, the rest all pull off directly.

4. Remove airbag below glove box. I found this step challenging. First remove 3 10mm bolts (I noted torque as between 10-12nm before removing.) Next, wrestle with the plastic tabs. A medium width flat head screwdriver can help to coax them loose. My vehicle had 3 such tabs and I spent at least 15 minutes on this step wondering how to get it done. I'm guessing subsequent disassembly will be substantially easier than the initial one. The tabs can be squeezed from front or rear but rear is very difficult to access so front with some sort of flat blade screwdriver seems the best option. Everyone seems to leave the unbolted airbag connected and off to the side vs unplugging the connector though I'm not sure how unplugging it while the battery is disconnected would be detected by the ecu unless it has some sort of battery backup?. It's easy to balance one edge on the carpet and the other above the kick panel without putting any stress on the connector so I'd recommend leaving it connected out of caution.

5. Remove glove box. This should be pretty easy without the airbag in the way. I took 3 of the four screws out before I got my airbag out so I had some play, but you definitely have to get the airbag out first to get to the 4th screw. Note these 4 black phillips head screws are sheet metal screws and have a pointy tip.

6. Remove bumper bar above glove box. One Phillips head screw (note this is a plastic screw with a flat end rather than pointy) then pry straight back. Note that it tucks in slightly to the trim piece on the left side but should pop off clean without any special concern to that. Also note the far right glove box screw goes into the bumper bar mounting hole as well so you must replace this before reinstalling the glove box. This step may not be mandatory but since you have to remove the glove box it's one extra screw and some pulling to have significantly improved visibility.

7. Disconnect harness plugs to 4wd controller (black). The top, large connector came off reasonably easy, the bottom, small connector was tight for me and took some real effort and a good grip.

8. Install 2lm harness male plugs first, route female to the right side, connect factory male plugs to 2lm female plugs. Get as much of the harness to the right as possible. Use a zip tie or two to secure things, don't over-tighten.

9. Route relay and resistor down towards the kick panel area. I didn't zip tie this up tight as I thought it might be nice to be able to fiddle with it once the airbag is reinstalled just by opening the kick which is easy. We'll see if that's really necessary, just wanted to avoid a situation where the relay or resistor is hitting something metal and making noise over bumps.

10. Route switch wire up from the harness, over the top along the round metal bar next to a large factory harness, and to the head unit location.

11. Remove head unit bezel (pull straight back from top right side then gently pry the rest.

12. Remove the 4x10mm head unit bolts (extension is nice here, keeps the moving parts away from the screen)

13. Finish routing switch wire down to the switch bay, pop off blank, push in switch, connect switch wire. I had one or two 4" loops of extra length which I coiled and pushed into the left side of the head unit opening.

12. Replace head unit (I did my front camera at the same time in case anyone wonders about the pictures) and bezel

13. Replace bumper bar

14. Replace glove box

15. Replace air bag, torque bolts to 10nm (or just about what you expect they should be, tight but not forced)

16. Replace right side trim pieces, kick panel trim, door sill trim and door weatherstripping.

17. Reconnect battery, close hood, test drive.

 

Nice write up. I’m probably going to have to read it when I move my switch from below ac controls to overhead.

 

Nice! Thank you for the writeup. I'll link it in the first post.

 

So when the illumination harness becomes available for purchase, do we have to remove the glove compartment to install the illumination harness or just button?

 

If your 2Lo button is in the center below the HVAC controls, you will only need to remove the radio bezel and the HVAC controls or Radio. It should be a ~10 minute install.

Overhead console (if it works in my test-fit), and left of the steering wheel should be about the same.

 

Cool. I'm planning on going the center route.

 

OK, so I feel a bit dumb now, but I just (after the fact) read BigWhiteTRD's pdf of installation instructions which have really good photos and details on prying things the right way. I think I had skipped it in the past because of notes about splicing which can be skipped with the plug and play harness. I was working purely off Pyrotech's excellent instructions which are a little brief on some of the prying complications.

It might be best to build one clear set of installation instructions for the harness, perhaps by combining BigWhiteTRD's excellent photos with some of my notes and Pyrotech's excellent details?

Also, could you please confirm the current visor card is the pdf linked in post 17? I'm going to check on getting them printed up.

 

Nothing has changed as far as how the system works, so that PDF should be accurate.

 

feel free to copy my writeup as needed to flesh out with further details, its all about making it easier for the next person to follow in our footsteps

 

Love the guys and girls doing write-ups. Saved my bacon a number of times

 

I like bacon

 

This is actually my own picture from when I bought a 20lb box of bacon at the restaurant supply store.