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LED Tailgate Bar

Discussion in '3rd Gen. Tacomas (2016-2023)' started by TrdTaco171991, Jul 29, 2018.

  1. Aug 16, 2018 at 12:04 PM
    #41
    kgilly

    kgilly Well-Known Member

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    Kurt
    Pennsylvania
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    Bed cover and Mud flaps, OEM Audio, Super Bump stops, Sumo Springs, Bed Stiffeners, Stryker hood shocks
    4 way flasher I think would be the 5th one..
     
  2. Aug 16, 2018 at 12:13 PM
    #42
    Sand Shark

    Sand Shark I dont pub crawl.when I do,I use pub crawl control

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    Erich
    Phoenix, AZ
    Vehicle:
    2017 Blazing Blue DCSB Off-Road (yes I get dirty)
    REI VIP Parking Pass,Pavement Avoidance System
    The trailer hitch cannon plug has pin setting is as below. The 4 pin harness has 4 wires---L Turn—R Turn--Brake—Ground. I found a wire diagram on line from the Pollak company and traced the pins. Then I had my 15 yr old son do the turn signals and brake as I verified the signal with my Multi-meter.

    I removed the factory conduit from the wire harness and stagger spliced in the wires as follows:

    Cannon Plug Factory Wire to LED harness Wire

    L Flasher Pin ----1 Purple Yellow

    R Flasher Pin ----4 Blue (small wire) Green

    Brake Pin -----6 Green Brown

    Ground Pin ----2 White/ Black Stripe White

    The truck sends power to both flasher wires fro te hazard lights

    The harness should be standard, check the wire diagram that came with the harness or power the lights with a 9V battery.

    Check my install steps on my mod page.
     
    RetiredRedneck likes this.
  3. Aug 16, 2018 at 12:15 PM
    #43
    necrodiety

    necrodiety Well-Known Member

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    OV Tune, Bakflip F1, Redline hood struts, faux pro headlights and tails, Meso: bucket, map and dome lights, fuse cover.
  4. Aug 16, 2018 at 12:15 PM
    #44
    TC_Mic

    TC_Mic Well-Known Member

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    State of confusion, aka Flori-duh
    Vehicle:
    2017 Silver Sky 2x4 Limited
    AMP Powerstep, UC Flex, bed lights, Opt7 Tailgate bar, black tailgate lettering Pending: re-configure tail light,s custom storage pocket bags, pinch weld painting, blackout badges, ......
    The 5 functions are: Running, right signal, left signal, brake, and REVERSE.
     
    TrdTaco171991[OP] likes this.
  5. Aug 18, 2018 at 5:48 PM
    #45
    necrodiety

    necrodiety Well-Known Member

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    OV Tune, Bakflip F1, Redline hood struts, faux pro headlights and tails, Meso: bucket, map and dome lights, fuse cover.
    Picked up some snap connectors from HD but they are too small for the harness. :/
     
  6. Aug 18, 2018 at 7:00 PM
    #46
    1wht taco

    1wht taco Well-Known Member

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    Victor
    Redondo Beach CA
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    Well I might as well share, here's one that has four functions, parking/Acc, brake, turn signal in Amber and reverse in bright white;

    EEB4BA3C-B6F0-4D56-9988-7B930592FE76.jpg

    A guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to but it for $40, after he showed me that all functions worked I got it. It came with clips so I can just unsnap it off if I have to get to my spare tire (the strip covers the access hole).
     
    TrdTaco171991[OP] likes this.
  7. Aug 18, 2018 at 7:33 PM
    #47
    robie_0n3

    robie_0n3 Well-Known Member

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    I have the 48" Opt7 FLX light bar. I was really just exploring the idea of having the light bar there. For $20, I'd say it wasn't a bad purchase, and I like it.
     
  8. Aug 20, 2018 at 8:27 AM
    #48
    Sand Shark

    Sand Shark I dont pub crawl.when I do,I use pub crawl control

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    Phoenix, AZ
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    2017 Blazing Blue DCSB Off-Road (yes I get dirty)
    REI VIP Parking Pass,Pavement Avoidance System
    This is what I installed...

    Rampage Products Led Tail-Light W Back Up Install


    Below is my write up for installing RAMPAGE PRODUCTS APC LED TAIL-LIGHT W BACK UP on my 2017 Off-Road.

    Just too wet you whistle…this is what it looks like in action. I guess you kind of can see it...

    [​IMG]

    Parts List

    RAMPAGE PRODUCTS APC LED TAIL-LIGHT W BACK UP from Amazon $41.11

    Splices

    Wire tubing

    Electrical tape

    Masking tape

    Isopropyl Alcohol

    1 Voodoo Ranger IPA and 2 Big Wave Lagers (yup…more alcohol)


    1. Measure out the bar on the brace between the tailgate and the bumper to align the LED bar. I used some masking tape to temp fit the bar for fit between the space to make sure it was visible. After getting the look I wanted, I marked the ends with masking tape. I made sure the wire harness was on the driver side. If not the L and R will be swapped.


    2. I cleaned the attachment area with alcohol and pulled the strip off the 3M tape on the bar and lightly placed it on the brace. Once I had the right spot I pressed it on tight.
    [​IMG]


    3 .The next step was to remove the drivers tail light by removing the second bolt from the
    top and the bottom bolt. Oliver is my puppers helper.

    [​IMG]

    4. After removing the housing, I found the reverse light and traced the wires into a wire tube conduit. I rang out the power line with my multi-meter. Then took a swig of my frosty beverage. My first cut in the factory wires. (Shit). I cut the wire and spliced the white wire from the LED bar and covered the splice with electrical tape then re-wrapped the wires with the factory wire tubing. I ran a separate wire tube to the Led bar for the single backup wire. I taped the whole thing up with electrical tape. The pict shows the white reverse wire and the wire tube before I wrapped them.
    [​IMG]

    5. The next step was to attach the LED Bars 4 pin wire harness to my 4 pin plug on by the hitch. I wanted to see how I liked it before I cut more wires. I drove around like this for a week.


    I love it…time to finish the install.

    1. I got on my creeper and looked at the wires that go to my 4 pin & pin plug. The bumper outlet is made by Pollakand connects with a cannon plug. I took a screwdriver to release the plug from the bumper and removed the cannon plug from the outlet.
    [​IMG]

    2. The cannon plug pin setting is as below. The 4 pin harness has 4 wires---L Turn—R Turn--Brake—Ground. I found a wire diagram on line from the Pollak company and traced the pins. Then I had my 15 yr old son do the turn signals and brake as I verified the signal with my Multi-meter.

    3. I removed the factory conduit from the wire harness and stagger spliced in the wires as follows:

    Funct Cannon Plug Factory Wire LED harness Wire

    L Flasher Pin 1 Purple Yellow

    R Flasher Pin 4 Blue (small wire) Green

    Brake Pin 6 Green Brown

    Ground Pin 2 White/ Black Stripe White

    (my marker board on my beer fridge. Cannon plug Diagram and wire map plus some bottle openers)
    [​IMG]

    (Stagger splicing is where you put splices one right after another so you don’t have a ball of splices…sorry no pict…see the diagram)

    [​IMG]

    4. The factory conduit would not fit around my wires so I installed larger wire tubing and wrapped the conduit with electrical tape.

    2. Finished the one beer that I started.

    3. Took my Tacoma Widow (as my wife calls herself) out for dinner to pay for burning up a Sunday afternoon.

    [​IMG]

    LED Light Addendum
    Springysprat asked how to get the spare tire off. The access hole is covered by the light bar. I built this and keep it with my spare. It goes in the spare tire lowering "crane" and the ratchet goes in front of the bumper.

    [​IMG]
     
    JoeTaco99, polskipolak13 and AZ_SIMBA like this.
  9. Aug 20, 2018 at 8:48 AM
    #49
    TRDBruiser

    TRDBruiser Well-Known Member

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    Looks great!
     
  10. Sep 5, 2018 at 8:49 PM
    #50
    TrdTaco171991

    TrdTaco171991 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    Upstate NY
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    17' TRD Sport MT BRDCSB
    I finally got around to installing my OPT-7 tonight! Didn't get around to taking any pics, but if I remember tomorrow ill upload a couple. I think I also purchased the wrong size bullet connectors since it doesn't stay in the slot well. I just used electrical tape to keep it from falling out. I may stop and pick up larger size bullets tomorroe to see if they fit.
    Overall it was an easy install and I love the functionality and brightness.
     
  11. Sep 6, 2018 at 5:01 AM
    #51
    necrodiety

    necrodiety Well-Known Member

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    OV Tune, Bakflip F1, Redline hood struts, faux pro headlights and tails, Meso: bucket, map and dome lights, fuse cover.
    I had the same thing with the bullet connectors I bought. I ended up leaving the reverse off and just plugging right into the existing socket. I'm planning on going back and adding a better quick connector for reverse later.
     
    TrdTaco171991[OP] likes this.
  12. Sep 6, 2018 at 10:07 AM
    #52
    TrdTaco171991

    TrdTaco171991 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    How did you keep the bullet connector in the socket? The head size on the bullet connects I purchased is too small. Doesn't stay in the 5th port. : l
     
  13. Sep 6, 2018 at 11:35 AM
    #53
    ToyoVL

    ToyoVL Well-Known Member

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    You make the bullet bigger by using a small precision screwdriver and insert to the inside of the bullet head and dilate it.
     
    TrdTaco171991[OP] likes this.
  14. Mar 27, 2019 at 7:58 AM
    #54
    WulfmanX

    WulfmanX Well-Known Member

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    Nashville, TN
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    SpartanXCustoms Hood Scoop Spotlight, MESO's "The Gasshole" Fuel Cap Holder, Ultimate Map and Dome lights (red), Total Tail (Stage 2), Ultimate 3rd Brake Light (BD-4), Ultimate Turn Signals. OPT7 Interior lighting kit, OEM Predator Tube Steps, Custom Shift Knob by me, Custom "Start-Up" and "Screen Off" images by a friend.
    So this is going to be one of those stupid questions, but I'm gonna ask it anyway since this seems like a good place to do so.

    Just working on getting this all planned out in my head. But when you install the tailgate light bar, does that kill the function to your 3rd brake light? I wanted both to light up if I hit the brakes. And it seems like it would. But every picture I can find it's either:

    A) A promo shot of the light bar and the 3rd brake light is just photoshopped dark to show off the light bar.
    B) It's just not even pictured.
    C) The person taking the picture is the owner and they are standing behind their truck taking the picture and not in the cab with their foot on the brake.
     
  15. Mar 27, 2019 at 8:02 AM
    #55
    necrodiety

    necrodiety Well-Known Member

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    OV Tune, Bakflip F1, Redline hood struts, faux pro headlights and tails, Meso: bucket, map and dome lights, fuse cover.
    The 3rd brake light still works.
     
  16. Mar 27, 2019 at 8:04 AM
    #56
    TrdTaco171991

    TrdTaco171991 [OP] Well-Known Member

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    I'm proud to say mine is still working great after 6 months or so! Love the light bar!
     
    Rett72 likes this.
  17. Feb 10, 2020 at 3:49 PM
    #57
    CanesFan95

    CanesFan95 Well-Known Member

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    Bumping an old thread here to ask a few questions. I'm not quite following how you hook up these LED bars to the tail lights. So I guess it's not just plug-and-play and you have to splice open some wires?

    Exactly where do the wires go? Do you hook the strip up to the driver's side or passenger's tail light? And how come you need this CURT harness thing?

    This all seems risky since these electrical systems are so sensitive and easy to get hosed up.
     
  18. Feb 10, 2020 at 5:24 PM
    #58
    AZ_Tumbleweed

    AZ_Tumbleweed Well-Known Member

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    Wilmington, NC
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    The $20 OPT7 48" i got from Amazon just plugs directly into my trailer outlet with no splicing unless you want reverse lights too. You dont need to purchase the CURT harness unless you want to free up that trailer outlet and/or hide the cabling for a cleaner look
     
  19. Feb 11, 2020 at 2:26 PM
    #59
    CanesFan95

    CanesFan95 Well-Known Member

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    Oh, okay, I see. So the point is to be able to hide the wires instead of having a cable dangling out into the trailer light hookup. And to get the reverse light. So am I right, the way it works is you plug the LED bar cable into the "CURT" thing? But then where do you connect the other end of the CURT device? Into one of the rear tail lights somehow? I'm still not quite understanding where the wires go. And the photo above, I'm not sure where inside the truck that is.
     
  20. Feb 11, 2020 at 4:51 PM
    #60
    TC_Mic

    TC_Mic Well-Known Member

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    AMP Powerstep, UC Flex, bed lights, Opt7 Tailgate bar, black tailgate lettering Pending: re-configure tail light,s custom storage pocket bags, pinch weld painting, blackout badges, ......
    The Curt device I have is a T-harness. From under/behind the bumper. You unplug the trailer harness from the bumper, plug the T-harness in to it and the truck harness.into the T-harness.

    You can then plug the tailgate bar into the tail.of the T-harness. Then zip.tie the excess the frame.
     
    Rett72 and TrdTaco171991[OP] like this.
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