ND4's Fog Light Anytime Mod... NO splicing, No Bending, 100% reversible

TACOVRD · Oct 1, 2017

subd

Hoover · Oct 8, 2017

This is great OP. Took 5min to complete. I tapped into the 10amp EFI fuse. Works like a charm.

Chewyspark · Oct 9, 2017

Hey just curious if anyone knows if this would work on a 2007 SE 4Runner?

Thanks in advance

nd4spdbh · Oct 9, 2017

Chewyspark said: ↑

Hey just curious if anyone knows if this would work on a 2007 SE 4Runner?

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

same concept should. relays are likely in a different spot. Take a pic of the relay / fuse panel. as well as the underside of the covers and post em here.

Chewyspark · Oct 9, 2017

nd4spdbh[OP] said: ↑

same concept should. relays are likely in a different spot. Take a pic of the relay / fuse panel. as well as the underside of the covers and post em here.
Click to expand...

Wow quick response! I will do so when I get home. I also have the repair manual with wiring diagrams. Would that be of any help?

RyanL · Oct 9, 2017

Chewyspark said: ↑

Wow quick response! I will do so when I get home. I also have the repair manual with wiring diagrams. Would that be of any help?
Click to expand...

Here's a writeup for a 2007 T4R: http://www.top4runners.com/ja/2007/fogmod.html

My brother did it on his and it worked great.

nd4spdbh · Oct 9, 2017

RyanL said: ↑

Here's a writeup for a 2007 T4R: http://www.top4runners.com/ja/2007/fogmod.html

My brother did it on his and it worked great.
Click to expand...

similar but you would have to bend the leg of the relay.

Chewyspark · Oct 9, 2017

RyanL said: ↑

Here's a writeup for a 2007 T4R: http://www.top4runners.com/ja/2007/fogmod.html

My brother did it on his and it worked great.
Click to expand...

nd4spdbh[OP] said: ↑

similar but you would have to bend the leg of the relay.
Click to expand...

Exactly why I'm interested in this one lol

itsraymondang · Oct 19, 2017

Does this work on 3rd gens too?

nd4spdbh · Oct 20, 2017

itsraymondang said: ↑

Does this work on 3rd gens too?
Click to expand...

Dont see why not. Relays are likely in a different spot but are pretty much guaranteed to function the same.

Kicker73 · Oct 20, 2017

nd4spdbh[OP] initial post: ↑

Back story:

Well as we all know, there are various ways to do the fog light any time mod, from splicing to some wire in the main harness and having to bend one of the legs of the fog light relay etc etc.

I didnt like any of that for the very reason i could not go back to 100% stock. I didnt want to bend the leg on the relay and i didnt want to splice into the harness... why? Truck is brand new and if i wanted to take her into the dealer i wanted to be able to put it 100% back to stock without having to buy a second non bent factory relay. So i got to thinking and took some ideas from some other variants on the fog light anytime mod and came up with this described below... truth be told im surprised no one has done this before.

ACTUAL MOD:

Essentially i created 4 extensions with some male and female blade crimp connectors.

3 of these extensions go back into the original socket where the fog light relay went, colors are of the wires i used to extend the harness:

(GREEN) the switched ground thats activated by the switch in the dash

(WHITE) constant 12v from battery

(YELLOW) Switched 12v to the fog lights

The last extension (BROWN) goes to a switched on ignition 12v hot, this can be pulled from many places, But its exceptionally easy to grab it from the big AC relay for the dc-ac inverter... its EVEN EASIER on the tacomas (mine is a 13 DCSB TRD OR) which have the external small relay box which just so happens to have the Fog light relay and AC inverter relay.
(See here for which hole the bent pin goes into -> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...g-100-reversible.309407/page-27#post-10852290)

Simply make the extension with a thin blade connector and bend it so the barrel part of the crimp connector clears the relay. And walla... done, fog lights that you can turn on any time the key is in the on position regardless of what light mode you are in, fog lights that turn off with the key, AND fog lights that dont randomly turn on for a minute every 4 hours for some test procedure.

Modifications / Variations on the original Mod

If you do not have a dc-ac converter relay, check post 15 for an alternate source for a switched 12v

If you want the fogs to turn on / off when switched to headlights regardless of high or low beam, check post 39 for the variation

Check here for the super stealth way to do this mod!!!

Notes:

A standard width blade connector will not fit into the stock ground socket (green wire to relay box), simply take a pair of snips and chop off some width of the connector. The main power (white) and (yellow) are full width and you will have no issues.

The AC-DC inverter relay works in an interesting way, You can use my pictures below to see which leg you need to pull off of for a truck with the external relay box, but if you are doing this mod on a truck where the fog light / ac-dc inverter relay is in the main fuse box double check which one is actually the switched 12v on ignition for the dc-ac relay. Reason i say this is, with the key off both of the legs of the relay that operate the switch of the relay will read 0 volts, put the key in and turn it on both of the legs will read 12v (wtf?!?! you might say), Press the ac-dc inverter switch on the dash and one of those legs drops to 0 volts and switches the relay on... YOU DO NOT want the leg that drops to 0 when the dash button is pressed... you want the leg that goes to 12v when the key is on and stays at 12v when the ac-dc inverter is pressed.

No extra inline fuses are necessary... they would be pointless as everything is already fused to begin with. This will not blow any fuses as the extra draw from the hot from the ac-dc relay is probably less than a TENTH of an amp.

For a picture of how the bent male blade connector is placed in the relay socket see the first attached picture in post 15

All in all it took about 4x as long to write up this thread compared to actually doing the mod.

1st pic is showing where the wires are going

2nd pic shows how the male blade connector is bent so it will fit in the proper socket along with the AC-DC relay

3 pic shows the relay tucked away in its new home.

Click to expand...

@Frivolous4x4 lETS DO THAT!

nd4spdbh · Oct 20, 2017

After a bit of digging this WILL NOT work on a 3rd gen.... The 3rd gens fog lights are controlled by the god damn body computer.... Another reason I'm glad to have a 2nd gen!

Frivolous4x4 · Oct 21, 2017

Kicker73 said: ↑

@Frivolous4x4 lETS DO THAT!
Click to expand...

All about it!

StOrMyThEtAcO · Oct 21, 2017

nd4spdbh[OP] said: ↑

After a bit of digging this WILL NOT work on a 3rd gen.... The 3rd gens fog lights are controlled by the god damn body computer.... Another reason I'm glad to have a 2nd gen!
Click to expand...

Do you know if this is the same for the 5th gen 4Runner?

nd4spdbh · Oct 21, 2017

StOrMyThEtAcO said: ↑

Do you know if this is the same for the 5th gen 4Runner?
Click to expand...

possibly. Find me a wiring diagram of the fog light circuit for the 5th gen 4 runner.

bigfoote13 · Oct 22, 2017

FABRICK8 said: ↑

Thanks for the great write up ND4! And thanks for the single jumper from underneath idea Shuwtist! This mod worked great. 2014 DCLB Sport (I have the AC DC relay just like OP's truck) I liked this way because you can't tell that the mod has been done even with the fuse box lids off, and its still 100% reversible! Here are some details of what I did for those that want to do the single jumper.

Removed both the fog light relay, and the ac-dc relay, then removed this box from the main fuse box (it just lifts straight up and off) and turned the fuse box over.
Removed the red wire, and connector from the back of the box. There is a plastic tab that locks the connectors in. I used a very small flat head screwdriver to release the tab. Make sure you are inserting the screwdriver on the correct side of the connector.
(If you examine one of the unused slots you will see what side the plastic tab is on and how it works)

Inserted the red wire and connector into the unused slot right next to where it was. This is just a good place to store it. (The wire is unused now)

Removed the green wire and connector from the box the same way I removed the red one.

I opened up the connector a bit more with a screw driver to make room for both the male connector and the ac dc relay tab to fit.

Test fitting to make sure the tab from the relay and the male connector fit, but are tight enough for good contact.

Or should I say "she-male connector"? This is what it looked like before I bent it straight. I believe you can get these at any auto parts store. (bottom one in the picture's)

I smashed the shit out of the female part of the connector with some pliers so she's nice and thin.

I also cut the insolation off with a pair of dikes so it's not as bulky.

Crimped and shrink wrapped both connectors on the wire. (I used 16 Gage wire. Or did I use 14 gage? Hmm not sure, but 14 or 16 will be fine) I'm not sure what size the female is (fog light end of the jumper) But it's smaller than the ac-dc tab and connector. (witch is a standard size I believe)

The female end of the jumper inserts into the slot where the red wire used to be, and the male/she-male end inserts into the green connector and then both into the slot.

This was the hardest part! Getting the ac dc relay tab, and the jumper into the connector. This has also been a common problem with others doing it the original 4 jumper way from the top.
Looking from the top, you can see that the plastic slot only allows for the thickness of the relay tab.
Even though I had already test fit this connection while outside of the slot, when everything is in the slot the plastic guides the relay tab so straight that it would "head but" the jumper connector and push it out the back every time I tried to insert the relay. This is why others were having the problem of the tab on the relay pushing up into the relay instead of inserting into the connector. (Two tabs won't fit very well) Others have trimmed their connectors or made them thinner somehow, but I didn't see that as a good option for me especially coming from the back side.

I THINK EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS, weather you are doing the single jumper or the 4 jumper procedure.
Take an exacto knife and trim the plastic slot just a tiny bit. Its easy to do, and if you take your time and do it nice, no one will ever know you did it. Even looking right at it with the relay out and everything, unless they get their calipers out and measure the slot, they won't know. This will do less damage to the plastic slot than trying to shove both tabs in anyways. We are talking about trimming the thickness of a male connector tab! This will highly decrease the chances of the relay tab from pushing up into the relay and ruining it. (It's happened to many that have done this mod)

Once I did this trim, the relay tab and the jumper tab were able to bypass each other inside of the connector.

Then I inserted the fog light relay. (Make sure the relay tab doesn't push the new connecter and wire out of the slot when you insert the relay)

Then I tested the fog lights to make sure the mod did what it was intended to do, tested the ac-dc inverter button to make sure it still worked, and put everything back together!

The single jumper way might be slightly more complicated, but I just wanted a cleaner look.

Thanks ND4 for this awesome easy to do mod!
P.S. Your original mod and write up is perfect! I just hoped you wouldn't mind me sharing how I did it.
Click to expand...

Anyway to get the pics back?

TRDProBuddy · Oct 31, 2017

Well I finally got around to do the mod. Works great with no issues. Thank OP for a quick and easy solution

.

dblj70 · Oct 31, 2017

nd4spdbh[OP] initial post: ↑

Back story:

Well as we all know, there are various ways to do the fog light any time mod, from splicing to some wire in the main harness and having to bend one of the legs of the fog light relay etc etc.

I didnt like any of that for the very reason i could not go back to 100% stock. I didnt want to bend the leg on the relay and i didnt want to splice into the harness... why? Truck is brand new and if i wanted to take her into the dealer i wanted to be able to put it 100% back to stock without having to buy a second non bent factory relay. So i got to thinking and took some ideas from some other variants on the fog light anytime mod and came up with this described below... truth be told im surprised no one has done this before.

ACTUAL MOD:

Essentially i created 4 extensions with some male and female blade crimp connectors.

3 of these extensions go back into the original socket where the fog light relay went, colors are of the wires i used to extend the harness:

(GREEN) the switched ground thats activated by the switch in the dash

(WHITE) constant 12v from battery

(YELLOW) Switched 12v to the fog lights

The last extension (BROWN) goes to a switched on ignition 12v hot, this can be pulled from many places, But its exceptionally easy to grab it from the big AC relay for the dc-ac inverter... its EVEN EASIER on the tacomas (mine is a 13 DCSB TRD OR) which have the external small relay box which just so happens to have the Fog light relay and AC inverter relay.
(See here for which hole the bent pin goes into -> https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...g-100-reversible.309407/page-27#post-10852290)

Simply make the extension with a thin blade connector and bend it so the barrel part of the crimp connector clears the relay. And walla... done, fog lights that you can turn on any time the key is in the on position regardless of what light mode you are in, fog lights that turn off with the key, AND fog lights that dont randomly turn on for a minute every 4 hours for some test procedure.

Modifications / Variations on the original Mod

If you do not have a dc-ac converter relay, check post 15 for an alternate source for a switched 12v

If you want the fogs to turn on / off when switched to headlights regardless of high or low beam, check post 39 for the variation

Check here for the super stealth way to do this mod!!!

Notes:

A standard width blade connector will not fit into the stock ground socket (green wire to relay box), simply take a pair of snips and chop off some width of the connector. The main power (white) and (yellow) are full width and you will have no issues.

The AC-DC inverter relay works in an interesting way, You can use my pictures below to see which leg you need to pull off of for a truck with the external relay box, but if you are doing this mod on a truck where the fog light / ac-dc inverter relay is in the main fuse box double check which one is actually the switched 12v on ignition for the dc-ac relay. Reason i say this is, with the key off both of the legs of the relay that operate the switch of the relay will read 0 volts, put the key in and turn it on both of the legs will read 12v (wtf?!?! you might say), Press the ac-dc inverter switch on the dash and one of those legs drops to 0 volts and switches the relay on... YOU DO NOT want the leg that drops to 0 when the dash button is pressed... you want the leg that goes to 12v when the key is on and stays at 12v when the ac-dc inverter is pressed.

No extra inline fuses are necessary... they would be pointless as everything is already fused to begin with. This will not blow any fuses as the extra draw from the hot from the ac-dc relay is probably less than a TENTH of an amp.

For a picture of how the bent male blade connector is placed in the relay socket see the first attached picture in post 15

All in all it took about 4x as long to write up this thread compared to actually doing the mod.

1st pic is showing where the wires are going

2nd pic shows how the male blade connector is bent so it will fit in the proper socket along with the AC-DC relay

3 pic shows the relay tucked away in its new home.

Click to expand...

I'm a tad disappointed. I went and got everything to do this mod and then when I go to do it I can't get the ac/dc relay out. I tried with my fingers with no luck so then tried with a pair of chanel locks and started to destroy the damn thing so I quit.

nd4spdbh · Nov 1, 2017

dblj70 said: ↑

I'm a tad disappointed. I went and got everything to do this mod and then when I go to do it I can't get the ac/dc relay out. I tried with my fingers with no luck so then tried with a pair of chanel locks and started to destroy the damn thing so I quit.
Click to expand...

Pull the positive off the battery and then gently pry with a plastic spudger (or a smaller flathead screwdriver) between the relay box and bottom of the ac/dc relay, do a little bit at a time rotating around each corner and she should come out. Just gotta break things loose first which is the hard part.

dblj70 · Nov 1, 2017

Update:
After taking a break, and getting some sleep, I went back at it this morning. It took about ten minutes of wiggling to coax the relay out but then it was smooth sailing after that. I got everything buttoned back up and checked. It works as expected. Thanks to ND4 for the write up.

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