What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

So huh, are front and back spot handles the same? If so, dibs on back drivers side ext. handle.

 

Yes don’t let me forget when i start selling

 

Are they the same? I guess I can go look huh

 

They are the same

 

Sweet


(I’ll be watching you and your post )

 

Nice! I feel funny I’ll make a soon to part out tread in the parts section now

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/01-prerunner-dlb-cab-part-out-closed.565698/ It’s up

 

Mine was making my cheap HIDs not work properly. And it bugged me

 

Pretty sure DRLs have been proven to increase safety.

Not too many detriments either besides going through a few more bulbs. I don't really understand disabling them.

 

Why does it seem like literally no other vehicle has them allll the time.

 

A lot of vehicle do, they just use a seperate bulb. Our Tacomas just use the low beam bulb at like 50% power.

 

Maybe I just need to make a raptor grille with raptor lights

 

I did much the same to my son's 97 XJ when he started driving two years ago. I wired them to run any time the ignition is on (there is a switch as well, but even when it's turned on, they're still only going to come on with ignition).

I am running $25 cheap Nitecore LEDs from Amazon, for his safety (the truck is *quite* noticeable on the street with them running, day or night), and as an experiment. It's been through many rainstorms, a couple deep puddles, and lots of driving since, without incident. I have since put them on my S10 and will soon be adding a pair to my wife's 94 ZJ and my recent acquisition, the 97 Tacoma. DRLs are a good thing to have (but no, I don't think running the low beams at half power is the greatest application of the idea).

 

Concur. This is where the aftermarket comes in.. IIRC, DEI 545T (the Nite-Lite system, about $30) takes care of this nicely.

Similiarly, I never understood why the lighting circuit isn't a switched-ignition load. When have you ever left the lights on a car that wasn't running, and had it be a good thing?

 

Concur. I became a big fan of being noticed on the road (not seen, noticed. HUGE difference) when I took MSF (Motorcycle Safety Foundation) classes. One of the things they keep hammering home is, be seen. Be aware that you may be lost in glare or just dulled senses from other drivers being overloaded by info after a long day. So do things like run DRLs, driving lights on the forks work great- or sway in your lane a bit when approaching intersections. I applied this to my son's XJ as an experiment and it's worked quite well.

 

On his truck, it's an independent circuit, seperate from the other lighting. When I get around to installing a 545T in his truck, I will likely run the "headlight" output from that system to the LEDs instead. They work FAR better than the craptastic factory headlights, and are more noticeable.

At the same time, I will install a relay so the factory lighting is disabled with key off. Obviously, flashers will be unaffected, as they should be available independent of the key.

 

Re-read what I said.

They aren't wired into the headlights, in any fashion.

When I put the 545T in, I will likely run the headlight output from that controller, to the LEDs. This way they are ignition-switched, and serve all the "light flash" functionality one has in a normal alarm installation- but being LED they are brighter and draw far less than the stock headlights.

Unrelated to that, I will rewire the factory light switch feed through a relay, such that the IGN must be on for the factory lights to work (except for the flashers, which I will leave alone and functioning as normal, independent of IGN).

 

No touche needed.

My apologies if I came across as cross. I am having a bout of insomnia and would REALLY rather be sleeping now, but after looking at the ceiling for 3 hours figured I'd do some research on this truck project. Like that's gonna help!

(neighbors are just REAL lucky I'm not the asshole I could be. I have plenty of LED worklights and dropcords. It's only because I'm considerate of them that there aren't sparks flying and grinders screaming right now. I REALLY ought to live out in the country, or at least have a workshop available!)

The 545T is a headlight controller. It also controls the parking lights, and is able to do so in response to a photocell (lights automated when you enter a tunnel, for example), in relation to the wipers (turn on the wipers, lights come on, which is required in many regions, like Charleston). It also interfaces with DEI alarm products (and anyone else's that puts out a Ground When Armed, or is installed by a competent Howler Monkey). It does many things, some of which I can't recall. It has a feature that you can select by cutting a wire loop (or wiring that into a switch) which will enable DRL use of the headlights. This is why I am going to wire the 545T into the LEDs, not the vehicle headlights. The LEDs are brighter, more noticeable, and in fact I have used them to drive without remembering to turn the vehicle stock lights on. That right there is a big part of putting the 545T into play.

It's old tech- I first installed one in my 89 CRX Si back in the day- but it works well. I am really surprised the manufacturers never caught on and used this sort of arrangement in the vehicles as built.

 

Some slider shit







Didn’t get finished because someone sent me a message about a boot! Yay grey boot

 

Yes they are great at getting you noticed. When driving on the road that's good, when hunting not so good. If my truck had them I would disable them. Or maybe wire in a switch so I could turn them off when I go in stealth mode.