Connect cargo light switch to rock lights

Hey guys, I'm looking for some advice and possibly some part numbers

I have a 2023 tacoma access cab, no cargo light but I have the toyota OEM bed lights I want my bed lights and Rock lights to come on at the same time with the off/door/on switch.
Can I just put a splitter connector right before the 5 wire bed light switch or if I need to connect it before the relay some how.

 

@Corey C You can tap the cargo switch to do what you want. I believe it is the blue wire (if not blue, it’s purple, I never remember…). That wire is a ground wire, so you’ll want to run a relay with it. Take it to pin 85 on the relay, 86 and 30 to battery, and 87 to the rock lights positive wire. If your relay doesn’t have a flyback diode built in, I’d install one between the battery and 86.
Another option would be to tap the bed lights themselves. Those are positive switched, so you’d want the pink wire. If the rock lights are pretty low amperage, you could probably get away without a relay. I always recommend using relays though. But that might be a little more straight forward.
If you want to avoid splicing, I can make tees for both. Just let me know. Also feel free to hit me up with any other questions.

 

@kmorgan3 has exactly what you need; plug and play.

 

Does this mean 3 position switch?that’s what I’m interested in. The ole on/auto/off.

 

The user I listed above makes all kinds of electrical/lighting/switching goodies. I ordered exactly what OP is wanting from him a while back for a more than fair price. He has a business that creates products for some larger companies around here, but also handmakes some stuff for fun to sell on here from what I understand. The product I got from him is a plug and play connector that sandwiches between the cargo lamp 3-way switch (off/door/on) and the OE harness and utilizes a relay to trigger power from battery to the lights so no additional strain is put on the cargo lamp circuit.

This allows your rock lights (or scene lighting on roof racks) to trigger on/off with the cargo lamp, and allows them to trigger on/off in the "door" function as well (when doors open/close; unlock/lock with fob).

 

Yeah. I’m familiar with Kyle. I’ve purchased from him as well as Vleds and puppy, and Dave. Thanks.

 

Does a 2023 AC actually have a cargo light option? I was under the impression no 3rd-gen AC had a cargo light (was a DC-only option).

Guess I need to do some research... Would a 2018 by some chance also have the wiring in place to add one by simply changing the 3rd brake lamp housing and plugging in a switch (fuse and/or relay too, if needed)?

 

Did you pop that cap in the bed and look for the wiring for those bed lights? These ones, don’t come from the factory with them but like a $30 add on, but ‘18 + they are prewired. It would be easier to find them than the 3rd brake light wiring.

 

Sorry I was being such a dick earlier. But I have bed lights from Vleds and footwell lights, puddles from meso, just want the rock lights to function the same way but separate switch. My bed lights carry a couple extra 6”led, and I’m thinking to add some underneath to that system. While my footwell lights have 4 in the rear and one aimed at my cup holder from the center console. To say the least. I have a “problem” with Vleds. They are everywhere.

 

I don't have a cap (or any wiring) there on mine.
It's the lamp on the back of the cab above the window I was referring to (which is what I always assumed to be the "Cargo Lamp" (if mine had it) and had the Off/Door/On switch). Maybe I misunderstood the first two posts, or what OP is doing...

 

Hey guys thanks for the help.
I have kinda changed what I am looking to do now. I would like to use the diode dynamics stage series rock lights with a OEM style 3 way switch and connect it to my dome lights so it works actively with my dome lights.
So the question is what T splitter do I need?
What relay do I need?
And what switch would you recommend so I can use the high and low stage of the rock lights off of one switch.

 

this was just in another thread…

There was just another thread about this. puppy def knows the answer. The Vleds footwell lights kit uses the dome light to activate, and it has a high/low setting, ( with an included dimmer) based upon whether or not the door is open. When this rock light thing gets sorted out… I want in. I’m just waiting for someone to make a plug and play, ahem. Kyle, Vleds. Señor.

 

Running them off the dome light is the tricky part there. The VLED footwell lights do this by utilizing the PWM (pulse width modulation, or switching the circuit on and off so fast that your eye perceives it a dim, not flashing) of the dome lights themselves. This in itself is easy enough, but you really need to be aware of amperage limitations. The foot well light kits draw 0.5A if you do the rear lights as well, so pretty minimal. The Diode Dynamics could be as high as 3.2A if you are using four. It's ultimately your truck, but that is way more amperage than I would be comfortable running off the stock PWM circuit. If you want them to mirror the dome light, that is really the only option though, unless you want to learn about Mofset transistors and stuff, which is over my head. My footwell lights are hooked up to the stock PWM... pretty much... I wired mine direct from the map light so if I turn on the map lights manually, the footwell lights come on as well, and mine only do full brightness, nothing with the parking lights. @kmorgan3 has a foot fetish he doesn't like to talk about, he likes looking at his feet all the time. That's the really weird thing, it's just for his own feet. But I digress... But in addition to the footwell lights, I also have puddle lights that follow the dome. Just to clear up my terms: mirroring refers to dimming at the same time/rate as the dome lights, following means the dome lights dim, then the puddle lights dim. I can adjust how long after the dome that they start to dim as well. I actually like it more that way. Is how I did that was using a DSIM Dome Rock V4, but that won't help you as DSIM isn't around anymore. Is what his device did was take the PWM ground and convert it to a solid positive output. He had it fused at 3A, but the diodes were only 1A, so you'd definitely want a relay as well. This was done using a few diodes, a capacitor, and a normally open (NO) relay. So it's still possible to build one yourself. His were just all tidy and on a PCB board inside a 3D printed enclosure. Anyway, I used the Dome Rock to trigger this: Universal Dome Light Dimmer Circuit | Timers.shop That device has a positive side PWM, so I can use chassis ground on all my puddle lights (and I have quite a few ). That little dome timer will handle 10A, and replaces the relay, so the Dome Rock can trigger the Dome Light Dimmer. Sorry, I know this gets tedious and over complicated... I was thinking about this last night though, and the timers.shop multifunction timer might be able to replace the Dome Rock in this configuration. Just speculating out loud here. I will write him and ask.

I guess it really comes down to this: using the dome itself leads to some extra complications. They can be overcome, but it isn't nearly as easy as just mirroring the cargo light for sure.

Once you've determined how you want to mirror/follow the dome or cargo light, then using a 3 way (ON-OFF-ON) switch is the easy part.

It looks like you have a 2018? The bed lights didn't become a built in option until 2020. For us pre-2020 guys, they made a kit that mirrored the cargo lamp. I think that even if your truck didn't have a cargo light up with the 3rd brake light, it was still wired with the switch for it? Double check me there, I could be (probably am) mistaken.

 

3rd GEN Added Lamps to Cargo SW

 

Yea from what I've found already, only the DC trucks have a cargo lamp actually installed. Looks like I got some more research to do then. Thanks.