08 Tacoma, KC lights and the High beam circuit

Getting ready to hook up two sets of KC's, the long range (#121) and the driving (#124) slimlites. The instructions include a caveat, saying "If you want to activate your lights through your headlight system, please contact your dealer to ensure compatibility with your vehicle. Many vehicles after 1999 have circuits that are controlled by on-board computer systems and may not allow additional electrical accessories to be tied into factory wiring."

Does anyone know if the white wire of the driving lights be safely tapped into the high beam circuit? I've searched as well as my time will allow and I haven't found anyone writing up this install. What wire will I tap in to, what color is it and where can it be found?

Where have others passed the wires through the firewall?

The long range lights will be on their own switch, not tied to anything.

Why doesn't KC have vehicle-specific directions on their website? That would be nice.

 

The kit that comes with the KC lights is very complete, relays and all. What I'm specifically looking for (besides someone to magically appear and hook them up for me) is someone who has hooked lights up so they activate with the high beams when the KC switch is in the ON position. And pictures. Pictures of the vampire tap connector connected to the wire.

Thanks.

 

I have mine switched through a relay. The main power comes from a spare 30 amp source in the engine compartment fuse box. They are controlled from a switch on the dash using power from a switched power source in the interior fuse box. This way I can turn them on at anytime, but they automatically go out when I turn off the truck, so I don't run down the battery. There is already a large bundle of wires running through the firewall on the drivers side. I ran my wires through that spot using a coat hanger.

 

Phantom, thanks for the help. I found where I'm going through the firewall, you guys all mentioned it, drivers side next to the fender. Huge bundle of wires there, with a small rubber nipple about the size of a pencil poking out, just begging to be used. I should be able to get both the driving light and the long range light wires through it. I'll wrap the hell out of it with electrical tape to re-seal it, but it's going to be a tight fit anyway and I don't see that much will be able to pass through it. You never know though, when the zombies come and bring their chemical rain with them, I want to know my cab is sealed.

 

Got them wired up, I'll post one last item in case any one else is searching for something similiar.

To get the KC driving lights to activate when the brights are turned on, you need to use the included wire tap and tap into the high beam circuit. I'm as colorblind as they come so I'm not going to try and tell you what color wire it is. I will say that on my Taco, the driver side headlight had the high beam wire inboard (low beam was up). Look at the connector on the back of the headlight, the wire to the inside is the wire I tapped into.

I found this wire by looking up the spec's of the 9003 headlight bulb. It wasn't easy to find but I did eventually stumble across a page showing the position of the neutral, low, and high wires. Using that info I took a shot of courage and tapped into it. Worked perfectly.

I then just followed the directions KC includes with the lights. The kit is totally complete and the directions were excellent. I got the relay hooked up, ran the wires through the dash (see previous post) and hooked up the switch.

Use this information at your risk, look up the bulb on the internet to confirm. Measure twice, tap once. But damn they're bright. Tonight I hook up the long range lights.