License plate light Disable while In Reverse (DIR)

DIR installed to factory harness and VLED kit installed downstream?

I run the VLED kit myself with no problems, though I don’t have a DIR connected right now since I don’t have plate lights.

I would have assumed someone else would have encountered this if it were an obvious problem. All the DIR uses reverse for is to drive the relay coil. That small extra load shouldn’t affect anything provided it’s purely on the reverse circuit.

 

Yes, the only modification to the wiring is the T harness for the DIR mod. The harness I've got seems to be an "older" style (I purchased this kit in 2022) where the VLED wiring plugs into the light socket, instead of plugging directly into the wiring harness. I've got no idea whether that has any bearing on the issue.

I'm calling VLED today to see if they'll sell me one of the newer harnesses; mainly because it's a cleaner finished product, and I've had issues with bulbs falling out of the Toyota sockets in the past, but also in the hopes it resolves this blinker/reverse light situation.

Is your harness the newer style?

 

Wait, sorry, how does the bulb switch color if only connected to the reverse connector bulb adapter?

you’re saying there is harness with a 2 prong 921 input? Ewww

unplugging the relay, harness connected, still trouble?

definitely curious but I think this one is just you so far, unless someone else experiences the same (if so, please reply. )

 

And yeah, I have VLED tail stage 2 w the triton bulbs but an older switchback originally made for MESO total tails and I think I might swap the reds to non Triton.

 

Without the T harness connected, all the lights function as expected with the reverse light switching between amber/white. I'd wager this is a rare case of these two mods coexisting since the VLED kit is ~$425.

Either way I called them today and was able to order the newer harness(es) that plug directly into the Toyota loom without any bulb-plug shenanigans. I'll give it a test early next week to see if that clears things up.

Here's a pic of the wiring diagram, they don't seem to list it on their site:

 

My suggestion was to disconnect the relay from the relay connector and test. That tells you if the problem is only present with the relay coil involved or inherent in the harness itself. If it’s the harness itself, perhaps a loose connection is to blame which is easy to fix.

 

To bring this full circle...

Last night I connected the lights using the new VLED harness that plugs directly into the taillight harness to replace the old style VLED harness that plugged into the light sockets.

Here is an example of the old style harness:

Here is an example of the new style harness:



For whatever reason, using the new style VLED harness solved the issue and now DIR works as expected and plays nice with the reverse/turn white/amber combo light.

This will probably never be an issue for anyone else due to how rare I assume this Triton VTails setup is, and the fact that the problem is apparently caused by a harness no longer in use.

 

My friend said, “Backing up in the dark has never been so easy!” the first night he drove after I installed the harness.

 

Dave, I seem to remember hearing about a version of this harness that also allowed for a hitchpod connection built in. Is that still a thing? I have an original DIR, but I would like to add a hitchpod for additional backup lighting the easiest way possible.

 

I call it DIR w aux output. Uses milspec and redirects plate light to a weatherpack connector which will mate with a bd s1 or can be split to a pair of s2’s.
I could do Deutsch instead for dd but those have 7 pin T options I believe.