Headlights (HELP WITH WIRING) 2015 Inferno TRD Pro

Hello beautiful people of the TacomaWorld!

I just recently installed these AlphaRex Nova Series headlights and they are great! Super bright at night time and the amber DRL bar looks really cool too.

The question I have:
Why does the factory Tacoma headlight stalk switch no longer turn off the DRL bars? I can turn on and off the headlight part normally with the factory switch, but ALL THE WAY off is not an option for the DRL part. It seems others are running into the same issue, so it must be by design of the AlphaRex system?

I know there are some really smart people on here with wiring knowledge that can chime in on how to modify the wiring to make this work. All the wiring on the back of the headlights are plug and play like 5 different plugs, but I was thinking there has to be a way to change it even if soldering is needed I can do that. My diagram below doesn't show all the headlight plugs, just the AlphaRex harness itself. I can draw those in if needed they should be the same on all 2nd gen Tacoma headlights with DRL.

Thanks in advance for your help!

P.S.
Here is a link for the installation guide from AlphaRex website if that would be helpful: https://www.alpharexusa.com/installation-guide-for-12-15-toyota-tacoma-headlights/

 

Just asking here. So when you plug the fuse adapter in to the fuse box, there are 2 places to put a fuse in that adapter???
On mine I got from Tacoma beast the plug you plug in to the fuse box then, the fuse in that spot goes in to the fuse plug adapter? Then there is a second place
For a fuse in that same fuse line that did not have a fuse in it???

I ask b/c I did that and my DRLs stayed on all the time until I pulled that second fuse out
Hope that makes sense to you

 

This is what the AlphaRex fuse wiring looks like. I plugged it into the IGN spot on the Tacoma fuse box under dash as instructed. The factory IGN fuse is 15amp and the headlights came with this wiring with a 5amp fuse already installed in the spot. So your saying I can remove the 5amp fuse and it should fix the issue? Thanks

 

@verby and @JGoliath and @caribe makaira did you guys end up figuring out a wiring work around for your Morimoto headlights? Hoping there is a way to mod the wiring on my AlphaRex lights as well since I just want to be able to turn off the DRL with factory headlight switch

 

It stays on because the alpharex taps off an ign +12v source for its DRL.

 

If I switch the fuse tap to a "key switched" source instead (one where its only hot with the key on), that should fix it? What about the red positive wire direct to battery, does that pull power from there full time as well? Thanks

 

Not really. If you want to be able to turn off the DRL using the stalk, you will want to connect to the DRL wire. It's been a long time since I messed with the DRL stuff, but you may want to check if it's a -12v or +12v on the OEM DRL harness. If it's +12v, then you can tap off that and you should be good. You will want to replace the current fuse tap with an inline fuse.

 

You need to
Remove one ☝️ f those fuses in that connector
The orange one

 

That worked!!! I cant believe how easy that was and now I can now turn off the DRL bars with the factory headlight off switch, thanks so much for that tip!

The other issue I'm having is when I walk away and lock the truck the DRL bars kick BACK ON and stay on for 30 seconds, any ideas how to change this to just flash when locking the truck instead of staying on? Thanks again!

 

So I have to confess that I only tried this with the truck turned off yesterday and it worked great, but I drove the truck today and it doesn't seem to work with the truck turned on. Super bummed about this! I wonder if I need to swap the wire from IGN fuse tap to the DRL wire as @Revelations said. Does anyone have a wiring harness diagram to know which wire is connected to the factory DRL stalk? Thanks

 

It shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Just grab a multimeter, turn the truck on and test the harness that plugs into the bulb.

 

Thanks buddy! These diagrams you make are awesome, I dont know how you do it! I really appreciate the response and time you took out of your day to post this.

The more that I look into this, it seems the only way for me to have full control of these lights is to either have someone completely re-design the wiring harness for the headlights (Morimotos are the same way), or I was thinking about wiring in a hidden kill switch under the dash to enable full stealth mode. The issue @BigRed2513 ran into with wiring into the DRL wire is that when full headlights on the right blinker hyperflashes unless you turn on the left blinker first. Super strange, but I guess im out of ideas. If someone decides to make aftermarket wiring harnesses for the Alpharex and Morimoto headlights let me know and ill buy one! Im sure a lot of people would also buy them due to the same issues. Thanks again for your help

 

I think my left hyper blink issue when I have full headlights on, comes from this yellow wire. I'm guessing it sends another signal for turn signal, but since its only connected to right side my left side doesn't receive proper signal unless right side is initiated first. I attempted to make a wiring harness that split that connector coming from the AlphaRex DRL wiring box, so that both headlights connected into yellow wire, but that didn't seem to work.

 

Yes I was thinking the same thing about the yellow wire, since mine is also only connected to one headlight. Good idea on trying to split the wires though, but bummer it didnt work out! Im thinking the only fix for this is a completely new custom built wiring harness (which I do not have the knowledge how to do) or just to wire in a kill switch. Anybody else have thoughts about this? Thanks again for everyone's help!

 

I got the itch to take a look at my wires at lunch today. I unplugged the yellow wire from the harness and it does absolutely nothing. lol. My lights didn't seem to have any problems with it unplugged. I tested the blinker functions for both lights and they both worked with the yellow wire disconnected. Hazards also work. The box that it all plugs into is likely the switchback control that turns off the white LEDs during blinker function. The black and yellow harness intercepts the blinker signal from the truck and goes to the switchback controller.

The gray +12v ign wire that connects to the switchback controller, provides power to the DRL and does not affect the turn signals. So connecting that to the +12v of the DRL should allow you to turn it off with the stalk. Interestingly, with the fuse unplugged and the blinker turned on, it provides enough energy for the opposite side to power the DRL for a short period of time.

I don't think the hyperflash issue has anything to do with the wiring. You might check to see if you have a burned out tail light blinker.

 

The lime green with red stripe is a negative. As in it provides a ground to actuate the DRL feature of the DRL/TURN/Hazards relay.

 

That's what I was afraid of. It's not a big deal though. A SPDT relay can be used to convert the negative to positive, so it's not a hard fix.
https://www.the12volt.com/relays/converting-polarity.asp

I could make the harness just to see if it would work.

 

Interesting about the yellow wire, its strange for sure!

I have switched the internal wiring on my Nova series (as per Alpharex website instructions) to run the amber DRL's full time, but when I first unlock the truck they do still turn white for a split second then back to amber solid.

I just installed brand new Alpharex tail lights, so they are in good working order. In regards to the hyperflash, it only does this with the top fuse unplugged (grey wire to IGN). When I plug the fuse back in, and all the wiring is connected it all works properly. I just cant turn off the DRL bars with factory headlight stalk.

 

My mind is blown! I didnt know there was such a thing as converting positives to negatives in the wiring world, I realize im way over my head with this stuff. Glad you guys are here to help sort this out!

If you end up making a wiring harness that works with the factory stalk, I would be willing to purchase one from you! Im sure several others would purchase as well because it seems to be the main complaint with these Alpharex headlights as well as Morimoto headlights.