Updated 2021 3rd Gen Tacoma Anytime 400W Inverter MOD

Hello everyone. I have enjoyed a lot of content from this forum in the past and thought it high time that I give back a little bit. I was on here reading the post from djembefola regarding the anytime 400w inverter mod located here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-ac-outlet-in-cab-and-400w-anytime.505598/ . I suggest everyone read this before continuing with this post. He has a lot of great information and it made this project of mine very easy. The unfortunate part about this mod for me was having to cut wires in the vehicles wiring harness. I always hate doing that and as I read the directions for this mod I got to thinking..... The wires being cut just go to a connector, the connector plugs in to the inverter and the connector on the inverter just has pins in behind it that are soldered on to the inverter's PCB board. If one were to disassemble the inverter they would have access to these pins and those pins could just be cut in effect doing the same thing as cutting the harness wires without actually having to be in a situation where the vehicle's electrical warranty is void. The inverter itself can be replaced and nobody would be the wiser if it really came down to it. I am not going to include all the steps that djembefola has provided as far as teardown of the middle console goes to get to the inverter and I do suggest everyone reads his post as it was invaluable for me during this project. Now that all that has been said lets get down to it shall we?

After you have pulled the inverter's PCB board out of it's case you will be looking at a connector like this.



Step 1 - When looking at the connector from the back as the above picture is showing cut the second to last pin on the left top row as shown in the picture below, bend it back a little bit so it is out of the way and not in contact with any other part on the PCB board. This is the speed sense wire pin.



Step 2 - Cut the first pin on the bottom left row of the connector and bend it away from any other parts on the PCB board. This is the pin that we need to ground out to the chassis of the truck.



Step 3 - Solder a small chunk of wire on to the pin you just cut in step 3 and attach a loop connector to the other side as shown in the picture below.



Step 5 - Place the PCB board back in to the inverter case and attach the wire we just soldered in step 4 to the screw hole on the left close to the connector we have been playing with as shown in the picture below.



Now it is time to reassemble the inverter and install it back in to the truck. If anyone has any questions or comments please do ask. I know others will have ideas on how to make this process a little better as well and I welcome the feedback. Have a great day and happy moding guys and gals. I hope this helps a few people out there.

Mat

 

Added connectors, easy return to OEM.

 

Brilliant!

 

Sweet!

 

Alternate option if you want to spend some $$$, plug and play harnesses, no cutting into factory anything
https://caliraisedled.com/products/400w-anytime-wiring-harness
$45

But this does look like the most minimalist + hidden approach to this!

 

Why did Toyota do this? Why would they limit the power output while driving? The alternator can output more power with the engine reved up, so i don't think it's a performance reason.

 

In another related thread this was conclusively answered; at least for me. Turns out the alternator does not put out enough power during night time stop and go traffic.