Dual switches

I have been looking for a way to add more switches. It seems every time I count up the number of switches I will need for all the things I want to add to the truck, I will be short. I looked into the SwitchPro. I just thought it always seemed to look out of place and the buttons seemed small to me.
I wanted something that matched the rest of the interior. I bought an 8 space lower switch panel from @mesojdm. But still thought I might want more spaces in the future. I also didn't want to start cutting random locations in my console or dash panel. Then I can across dual actuator switches. They are just that, 2 switches in the space of 1 cutout. There are customized etching options listed from a company in Australia. https://customswitches.com.au/product-category/custswitch/
Before I started looking into getting them shipped to the US, I purchased some inexpensive knockoffs from Aliexpress, to if this the way I wanted to move forward.
Of course they take 3+ weeks to arrive from China, if they actually get the address right when shipped. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dua...8.0&pvid=c9776832-7bd4-4e58-81b1-e3f8391df5ce
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Dua...yota-Landcruiser-Hilux-Prado/32891845277.html
There are only a few options for pre-printed covers. But, for now I was mostly interested to see if they would fit and work. What is says on the actuator is secondary to me at this point. They are also available on Amazon, but for about 2.5 times the cost.
https://www.amazon.com/Cocas-Switch-Button-Toyota-Landcruiser/dp/B07K5Z8HF9

Edit 07/13/19: It appears that at this time, Aliexpress and Amazon aren't carrying the small witches. But if you Google "Toyota dual switch" and go to Images, you can find some guys selling them on eBay.

 

So first off, the wiring. There is no accompanying wire diagram. Only the recommendation to use relays since the switch housing is only rated at 3 amps. So, I spent a little time with a power supply and multi meter and came up with the following information. Please pardon the crude sketch. I did this on my home computer with MS paint.

Edit: this is a rough representation for visual reference only.


The switch will work without the use of background lighting. If I decide to keep the switch(s), I will probably go this route because the "off" position has green background lighting, and blue for "on". I would prefer the color scheme was reversed.

 

I purchased 2 switches that were supposed to fit the lower panel and 2 that should fit the switch panels made for the drivers side cubby of a 3rd gen Tacoma.
I then set out to simulate wiring up a set of lights in the vehicle. I used my bread board to set up a "dashboard light" power circuit and 2 LED indicators to simulate some sort of electrical load on the vehicle.

The upper LED is controlled by the top switch and the lower LED by the lower switch. The little black pushbutton is to turn on and off the dash lights to show the comparison of the blue and green backlighting.

 

what follows here are a series of pictures showing different combinations of upper and lower switch activated, with and without backlighting.

 

I'll take small momentary detour from the electrical, to talk about fitment.
The switches that are supposed to fit the lower panel. Seem to be right on. I did not get a chance to try them on the OEM switch panel. But, they popped in to the @mesojdm lower panel and set very nicely. No play. They also popped back out very nicely.

Here are a few side views to give a sense of the travel of the actuators.

 

Now the "skinny" switches were another story. Pictures of fitment first then I'll end this post with the dimensional comparisons. I have 2 switch panels at my disposal so I tried both. First, the one in my truck that is sized to fit Carling switches.


Without out some sort of spacer to take up the slack, these switches will not stay put. They are way to small for the openings. The second face plate I have is for a different style switch.

They fit a bit too tight in this plate. But, it is aluminum and very close in size. A few passes with a file should open up the faceplate enough to get a proper fit.
When measuring the switch face plate in the truck, I couldn't get the calipers to get a good measurement with the readout presentable for pictures. So I measured the latches on the cover plate. This should give an acceptable sense of scale.

 

Back to the electrical. I wanted to see what could be done about potentially reversing the blue and green backlighting. So I started tearing into the switch housing. Remembering this is an $8.00 switch not a $40.00, (plus shipping from Australia), switch. So. Short story. To me, not worth the effort to try to reconfigure the circuit. See below.

Those two little white "dots" under the blue switch levers are the backlighting LED's.

 

Since I had the housing torn apart, I thought I'd see about changing up the actuators. So, if a person couldn't get the configuration they wanted from the available pre-etched choices. maybe a mix and match could be figured out. For instance, if a person wanted a switch for the roof bar and the bumper bar but that configuration wasn't available. But these two choices were available


The actuators can be flip/flopped.

and Voila: Upper and lower LED bar switch combination.

Of course this leaves you with a second switch that probably has a nonsensical lighting combination. It could be left alone, colored in with a black sharpie, and/or just don't hook up the back lights. But it may also get a close enough description to what you are trying to accomplish, that it justifies installing it in your truck.

You will ultimately know what the switches are for in your own rig. So, unless the printed icons and text are highly important to you, this style of switch could be an inexpensive option to get you that one more switch you need.

 

Nice writeup. Thanks for the work!

 

When you first posted about these I was very interested. More so now that I've seen all of this.

Thank you for biting that bullet and spending the money and time to do this for all of us!

 

No problem. I'm also pretty excited about using these. Now that I am more familiar with the set-up, I'm really hoping that I can get the custom engraved ones from the company in Australia.

 

Also, If I read the description correctly, they are set up to be blue backlit in the off position and green when on, which is my preferred setup.
EDIT: That is: For the larger switches that fit the lower panel. The tall/skinny switches are still green in the off position, blue when on.

 

if you wire these into the dimmer circuit of the dash lighting, do the backlights dim on these switches?

 

I do not know for sure. I would assume they would dim and brighten with the dash lights.
Truth be told, I have not installed the switches from Aliexpress. I decided to bite the bullet and order a custom switch from Lightforce.

 

I just received notification that it has made it to New York and is going through customs. As side note: the cost shipped was 58 Australian dollar, which is abut 39 US dollars.


This is the switch I ordered and my plan for wiring it in.
I will definitely update as soon as I get everything installed.

 

i plan on using the lightforce switches in my tundra. hopefully they dim! lol need to relocate the airbag kill switch with a custom one and then wire up the switches for lights..

 

When the switch shows up, I will try to do a quick check of the dimming.
I have a Carling style switch on the left side, that I can pop out pretty easily. Then I can put a couple alligator jumpers on the connectors for the backlight and ground wires from that switch, and hook them to the Lightforce switch and check dimming.

 

sounds good. i'll keep my eyes peeled for an update! lol

 

Yes the do!
The switch arrive from Australia today. I will post up some pictures and hopefully a little GIF later. It's a little hard to distinguish on the video because the smart phone tries to brighten it up when the lighting dims. But, it goes full bright to just barely legible.
The green "when active" does dim a bit, but not near as much. Which is good, since you want to be able to know when the switch is on. Also, I did not have any load attached to the switch, just the dashboard circuit. So, that dimming of the green when active light may be non existent when there is a full 12v source and load going through the actual switch.

 

I like what I’m hearing!