Instrument panel light control on 2021

I just got my new 2021 TRD OR last week and was driving for the first time at night. Searching for the instrument panel light control dimmer knob.... I had to pull over to look at the manual. Page 99 clearly indicates the location of that knob, but that knob (or any control knob) for controlling the instrument panel brightness on my truck is not present? How is the instrument panel brightness controlled?

 

Wrong side. Look on the left side under the tach. The same knob that sets the odometer trips. Twist that and it will brighten or dim.

 

Your OD reset knobs turns left to right


Also controls door panel lights, window buttons etc

 

Oh yeah! That is it. Thanks for the help!

And I guess a closer reading of that page might indicate that is exactly what the manual says! It has only been 50 or so years since I learned to read, so ....

 

The problem I have found with this is that the illumination of the tach & speedo does not come on unless the headlights are on. In my case, running with the light stalk set to Auto will illuminate the DRLs BUT will not illuminate the tach & speedo unless the headlights come on.

 

Same concerns

I can see this when the headlights are off, to alert the driver that the lights are not on (when it’s dark enough to notice) however in Auto the extra lighting on the gauges would be nice. At least you can read it, my previous car did the same thing but the gauges were so dark you couldn’t read them in daylight.

 

That's exactly the problem I have. Under normal conditions it's okay, but on an overcast, cloudy day OR in shady conditions the gauges are difficult to see.

 

I also noticed that while driving in the rain, but too much light to activate the headlights in auto mode... the gauges are hard to read. I have had in the past years, a Ford C-Max, Ford Fusion, and a Chevy Impala (corporate lease vehicles), and none of them totally turned off the instrument panel lights whether the headlights were on or off when the car was running. Seems like something that could be easily changed on the programming in the new Tacomas unless I missed something?

I always liked my old 1997 Tacoma where the display dimming would allow you to totally turn off instrumentation lighting. Kind of fun when driving in the dark! None of the mentioned vehicles above allowed you to turn off the lighting totally -- it must be some sort of safety requirement.