Camera relocation harness question

Most Tacomas I've seen have a harness (circled in blue) that plugs into the OEM camera, which can easily be detached and plug/play into an aftermarket camera. My 2020 has the same setup, but circled in red is an additional dongle that I've not seen before. Does anyone know what this is? It appears to be tapped into the OEM camera harness.

 

looks awfully a lot like my tailgate lock that I added on. I just (about 2 min prior to seeing this) pulled the trigger on the tailgatecamera.com kit to move my camera to the swing out

 

billy - thanks for the input. I made the same order this morning! how do you plan to power the tailgate lock once your new camera is installed?

 

When I installed it, I tapped in the cab. So it’s been fine since I ripped off my bumper and harnesses. Still need to figure out how to get my license plate lights tied in. I’m just prioritizing getting my camera back in action.

 

Opposite side.
@daveeasa can assist you in a proper extension.

 

https://fbchs.square.site/product/tacoma-2016-2023-license-plate-light-harness/45

 

I would do that! @daveeasa Is it possible to have it made without the connection on the end? I have two lights on either side of the plate that I can just tie together and then to the open wires and bypass the connectors all together.

 

Well, you could cut the end off if you wanted to, that's one option. But others (and myself) might prefer a quick disconnect so you could remove the bumper if you wanted/needed to. Granted the intercept is already in place but typically you might tape it up and zip tie it along the frame rails/bed structure.

For my own steel bumper, I tie two plate stud bolt lights together and into a male pigtail interfacing with effectively this harness as listed.

The most important part is making sure it's spec'd long enough for your needs really.

 

So I have connected the two little lights, so what I’m thinking is to just use the harness and tie it together. If I need to disconnect, I can just do so at the grey connection.

 

Like I said, nothing stopping you from cutting it off if you truly despise the thought of a quick disconnect.

 

thanks dave. have you seen the dongle I circled in red before? it appears to be connected to the OEM tailgate cam dongle. when i disconnect it, everything back there still works - tailgate locks, license plate still lights up. so just curious to know what I'm losing if I do disconnect it. i haven't seen any other rear camera dongles that offshoot into another dongle (red) like this before.

 

This is the intercept of an OEM tailgate power lock harness.

 

thanks. i disconnected the dongle in blue (which looks to be connected to the dongle in red - the tailgate power lock harness as you mentioned), but the tailgate still locks just fine without any issues. could it be something else?

 

The black one is the power tailgate lock harness. Disconnect it and your tailgate will no longer lock or unlock.
The camera is the 4 way grey or white connector. Disconnect it and your camera will no longer function.
You'd need to disconnect both to remove the tailgate, hence the reason someone bundled them together for some reason. The instructions for the OEM tailgate lock harness say to zip tie but don't instruct taping together or stuffing one into the existing camera loom. They give a 2 loom plastic trim piece for the tailgate and the bed to replace the 1 loom that comes with the truck. You can read the instructions, they are posted dozens of times on TW.

 

@daveeasa i just wanted to confirm that the harness is compatible with 4 pin connections before I pull the trigger. Thanks man!

 

Look at the photo.

 

thanks dave. fair to assume then that the two harnesses are likely independent of each other, correct? because they are taped together, it led me to assume that they are wired together. but this doesn't sound like the case.

 

Yes, lock and unlock is independent from backup camera but what difference does it make anyway? Why are you hung up on this point? Each connector is a specific purpose the wires and loom travel the same basic path along the frame to tailgate.

 

Commenting for visibility. Looking at relocating rear cam with new camper I might be getting. Trying to get everything lined up before pulling the trigger

 

Posting for visibility. May need to do this if I pull the trigger on new canopy camper.