Under Radio/HVAC Switch Options - OEM Look

Hi all,

I just wanted to share a little info on a switch I had seen members post here as an option for people who have filled up the switch blanks on the left hand side of the steering wheel.

I have a 2013 Off-Road, so all the left hand side switches in my truck are full, so I was looking for an option that fit under the radio/HVAC and looked OEM. I needed a pair of switches, one for the four roof lamps I'm mounting on my T-Force bed bar and one for future expansion for front driving lamps. I'm going to most likely fab up something that bolts onto the OEM bumper for now and replace it with the ARB down the road.

I had seen people discuss this switch at www.TundraPart.com as a possible solution. I had seem some back and forth about the switch, most notably about the price of the switch. Given the fact I wanted something that looked as OEM as possible, I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of them.

I test fit one of the switches in my blanks tonight. Please note, I have not powered up the light on the switch, so I cannot comment on illumination.


Pros:
- Fits in snug and secure.
- Correct size.
- Correct shape.
- Comes with an OEM style connector which can be spliced into the wiring harness of your auxiliary lights.

Cons:
- Glossy switch finish doesn't match matte finish of ATRAC switch.
- Feels slight cheap in action, the push panel wiggles slightly in its motion.
- Switch doesn't fit straight across. I may be able to tweak this, I haven't investigated any further, it was just my knee-jerk reaction once I put it in.

Also, please look at the following picture:



If you notice, the USB/AUX switch is keyed separate than the other switches in the pod. The blank on the left is also keyed different than the ATRAC switch. The blank on the right appears to be keyed the same as the ATRAC switch, although I do apologize that the angle of the picture doesn't show the left hand side of the furthers right switch. Reviewing pictures I have of the ATRAC switch show that it should be able to move into the furthest right location, but I did not try this when I was testing what fit where.

The reason I note this is my original intention was to shift the ATRAC to where the USB/AUX sat and then move the USB/AUX to the furthest right. As you can see, this is not possible.

As such, I will be running the aux lighting switches on either side of the ATRAC and USB/AUX switches. I could move the ATRAC to the furthers right (as they are keyed the same) but I don't know if the wiring harness is long enough to support this (I will investigate further at a later date).

But regardless, I wanted to give a quick out of the box review of the switches for members on here that want to add OEM looking switches to that location. I will have to hook up the switch soon so it illuminates to compare to the Tacoma OEM lighting, but I'm sure any discrepancies can be rectified by changing the bulbs.

I will also mention that on my old 93 Xtracab I did use the popular Carling/Daystar style switches in a Digikey panel.



To compare these two switches head to head is night and day. The Carling/Daystar style switch is a much more "solid" feeling switch with a much more positive action while switching on/off.

The reason I decided against this style switch on my new truck was simply that I wanted an OEM look and I found that the light on those switches (at least in blue) was far, far too bright, to the point of being distracting. On my old truck the steering wheel did a good job to obstruct the direct view of the blue LED into my line of vision, but the few times I caught it out of the corner of my eye, it was glaring. Had I purchased a similar switch for my Tacoma, I would have went with a red or green LED.

Please feel free to ask me any questions.

 

I purchased my 2013 TRD OR two weeks ago and I've had the same desire for light switches. My first question is: how did you gain access to the dummy switch openings? I didn't want to pry on the dummy and damage anything. I have not attempted to get my hand up behind the console to see how those things are held in there.

 

I pried one out very carefully with a thin blade screwdriver. I put a small imprint under the switch sadly (but it will not be visible when the switch is installed) and did mar the blank slightly (again, not an issue as I'm not using a blank) and popped the other three switches out from the back.

That being said, I have left the blanks out until I get the switches in how I want them. I anticipate disassembling the lower dash at some point as part of my remote face CB radio project.

 

Hey MikeyMcfly, did you happen to see any loose connectors behind that panel? The 2013 Canadian Sport Taco's now come with factory Heated Seats. I am just curious if they use a common wiring harness in all 2013's or just for the export models. Thanks.

 

That's good to know. I looked really hard at one of your pics and thought I saw a little dent, but that didn't seem like a big deal to me either. Did you try the Toyota dealer for a switch? I was thinking the fog-light switch might be a good alternative. No clue what they want to charge for that.

 

I wonder if the NPT-LS-15 is any better, looks a little different.

http://www.newpro-tech.com.au/Clights.htm

 

it may fit and roughly half the cost of the Tundra switches that are avail.

Would need messurements to know for sure though. Eyeballing it looks like it would work.

 

I saw nothing in terms of extra wires on that panel. I can poke around a little more to make sure nothing is taped up further that I can't easily reach through the switch.

I'm hoping it fades as time goes on. I wasn't impressed with myself, but there's nothing I can do now. I don't believe there are any USDM Toyota models with that switch.

Those look quite nice, and appears to be a better match than the one that I have. The problem is that website doesn't deliver outside of Australia.

See above.

 

If Newpro would ship internationally that would be the ticket! Those switches look good and 2 for $50.

 

Found these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/FOG-LIGHT-S...188&pid=100011&prg=1095&rk=2&sd=300827670036&.

$90 Toyota 84160-04010 Fog Light Switch, regular

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-2004-2011-Toyota-Tacoma-Switch/dp/B008YVOLH0

http://toyotatrdparts.com/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=-59 - I think this is only the FJ

 

None of those switches will fit under the HVAC. Those fit into the panel to the left of the steering wheel, where the Off-Road has all the switches filled.

 

Did you ever install the lights? I've decided that LED's are probably the way to go. Since my truck is new I've been looking at all my options. This product turns out to be pretty expensive (http://www.rigidindustries.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=40552&CartID=1), but it is way cool.

 

subd

 

Not yet, the Northeast is still under the grips of an annoyingly long winter. I've got all the pieces except the fuse panel holder in my hands to start working, but I need to wait for the last pieces to come in. For now I'm going to use one switch for my roof lights and another for my front lights. For the time being I think I'm going to have a buddy fab up a front light bar to hold a pair of Hella 500 or equivalent until I go ARB with real lights. I don't know what I'll ultimately run when all is said and done.

I went with a set of (4) KC Daylighter long range lights for my T-Force light bar. I'm excited to put those in.

Cool, I'll keep everyone updated with the progress. I'm sick of driving around with two open holes in my dash. In due time though.

 

I noticed the 2013 4runner interior dimming switch looks to be that size, I was thinking about test fitting it and it if works, would free up another blank on the left side for the larger switches.

 

Hmm.



I see what you're saying about the dimmer switch, the RSCA switch looks small as well. Might give people an alternate method to run larger fog lamp switches. I'd be curious to see whether the male plugs from the dash would work with those switches.

 

I've ordered a BAMF behind-the-grill light bar for mine. My intent is to go LED, but I'm still undecided about what kind. I just need to have some of the parts in my hands so I can see what type of remodel project I have behind the grill. My question to you is: with the switch that you ordered, is it plug/play or will you have to do some mods to integrate it into your lights? I too want the OEM look. However, I have seen an overhead console that a guy is selling here on TW that looks outstanding with something like 4 switches in it.

 

It's not 100% plug and play. The switch comes with some wiring, but not a full fog lamp harness. It comes with an OEM style male plug which plugs into the switch and then some wiring, but this has to be spliced into your wiring for whatever extra lights you're using, but realistically this will be the same for any switch you're running.

 

Final installed picture.



I am still SO peeved at myself I marred the console. I had a few hiccups in the install and got frustrated and pried them out and yeah...

 

nice, were those $80 each? guess that's the only option..