DIY License Plate Light Disable-In-Reverse Harness (DIR)

Always red!

I will build this up tonight, minus the relay connector. If it proofs out, it’s mostly a matter of sourcing the 2nd Gen taillight connector (hard).

 

Here is what I have so far. The big problem is that the connectors are unobtanium and I only have the one pair. So I can’t even bench test this.

Once the relay connectors arrive I can do final assembly and send it to you for evaluation, @tkimbar2611 but I’ll need you to be willing to help troubleshoot.

 

Here's the photo of inside the connectors and which green wire is power. Let me know if I can do anything else, happy to test out the prototype once its ready. Red and brown wires from my last package are the tow harness.

 

@tkimbar2611
Oh, so is one green unrelated and the other green is the power to the fog lights? I was assuming one green was power for one side and the other green power for the other side so I built it to connect both and break both. I can adjust that rather easily though. We're very close, just need to receive the relay connectors and I can send out. When you get a chance you can DM me a shipping address.

 

Sorry, I'm not sure what the other green wire does...I only got power coming from the one green wire.

 

OK, cool, and it for sure feeds both lamps? I guess you can't know till we try this thing out. I'll redo this, makes it a little simpler, I believe it's an exact match to 3rd gen now.

 

as far as I can tell, it feeds both bulbs. That would be very convenient if it is a direct 3rd gen match!

 

Looks like it to me. Just different wire colors, though I think the 3rd gen goes blue to green at some point. White w blue wire here in case you want to confirm with your eyes what I see with mine.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...le-while-in-reverse-dir.707546/#post-25122024

 

Verify that both tag lamps are working...
It's how they are with the tow package, one green per side on same connector. But don't believe me, test it.

 

So, you'd advise mashing them together as I did?

 

Good call! The driver's side license plate bulb is out.

 

Affirmative

 

Homebrew DIR!

 

I think this is ready to ship out.

 

I’m fascinated by this concept, even though I’m not convinced I need one. (I have LED backup and license plate lights, and a set of Rigid Ignites flush-mounted in the bumper and controlled by a three-way switch (On-Off-Reverse) and the second switch on my MESO Customs Stealth Pro Shift Knob.) Why does the relay turn OFF the license plate lights when the backup lights are on? In my experience, relays turn on the 87 contact when power is applied to 86. Does your harness employ 87a instead of 87?

 

Yes.

The point is to eliminate camera glare as the plate lights are aimed at the plate and also (unfortunately) indirectly at the tailgate handle.

 

Page one has the info, you should read it...