Easiest Place To Tap Dome Light Wire (2nd Gen w/ link to 3rd Gen)

UPDATE: This thread is for the 2nd gen Tacoma. This is how I did it on my 3rd gen.

Adding footwell LED's and I want them to turn on with the dome light. I suppose the wire color would help, too. It's a 2014 if it matters.

Thanks.

 

on my 2010 i tapped at the dome light itself. however there are wires down in the driver side footwell that you can also use:

 

Thanks for the tip. I found the black connector they source from but the friggin KARR hack-job tap splices are obfuscating the easy access. I almost wish when I declined that crappy system they'd actually remove it completely. If I'd have made 10 or so splices at the fuse box Toyota would blame me if there were electrical issues. Shame they get to leave that in there.

I'll make some progress soon I hope. Thanks again.

 

I'm looking into a mod like yours, always down for extra light in the footwells. Keep us posted with the work! pics always welcome.

 

Finally got into the fuse cluster a bit further. Ended up tapping the pink (dome light "door" ground) and blue (+12Vdc) wires at the black connector. I ran the positive through a secondary 1A fuse expecting it to blow before the primary fuse, just to be safe. The LED's are from AutoZone. $20 for two 12" strips in white. These have the 3M adhesive tape and can be cut to length at several intervals. For me, I cut them at two sections, 6 LED's per side IIRC. There are solder pads to extend the circuit without having to run another home run power lead.

So far I've only done the front. I may add some for the rear cab as well but the discreet mounting options aren't as apparent back there.

 

Wow that looks great! did you use one of those fuse tap kits? Is it possible for you to PM a short wiring diagram? I don't wanna mess this up on a new truck.

 

Hey, glad you like it. I was afraid it would come out looking like something my d-bag neighbor kid would do, but it looks clean. My wife even commented "Oh wow I didn't notice the lights before". I just smiled and said "I know, right!?"

Anyway, here's how I did it. There are others that did it differently. The way I did it they even fade on and off like the dome. Slick. They do not illuminate when I set the dome to "On", only when set to "Door". In hindsight, I kind of wish I'd have put in a second circuit on a switch to toggle them on/off without popping a door... perhaps when the motivation resurfaces.

All the magic happened at the fuse panel to the lower-left of the steering wheel. I used the old-school inline-type fuse instead of the newer add-a-fuse.

Did I mention yet, that you are solely responsible for the work you do? This worked for me but I make zero guarantee it will for you. I highly recommend you use a multi-meter and double-check your work. Best of luck.

 

That looks great, I might copy this for my bed lights...

 

Put a SPDT switch in then you can set it to "door mode", off, or on.

 

Would it be the same wires for a 2011 TRD Sport 4dr?


Thanks.

Bob

 

Subscribed.

.jake,
I'm a little confused; In your post with the fuse panel photo, you show a picture of the wires in the connector, listed as the 12 volt & door operated ground. Then you stated that you used a fuse tap. This is where you lost me as I assumed you were tapping into the wires themselves. Can you point out the fuse location or was it easily traceable?

 

Should be.

 

subd'

 

Looks great man! I did this to my truck a while ago. Kind of wishing I went with a color more like yours. I tapped into the dome light itself. It was easier than I thought. If anyone else is concerned about hacking up wires, I'd recommend tapping into the dome light. The footwell lights fade on and off with the dome light and turn with the dome light when I move the switch to the on position. No SPDT switches or extra fuses. I did replace the dome light with LEDs though.

Anyway, if you add some lights to the back, there's a bar on the underside of the front passenger seat that is begging for some lights to be attached to it. I used a few zip ties to secure the light in place. On the driver side there isn't a bar so you have to be a little creative. The fabric that wraps to the bottom of the seat (similar to the carpet) has a plastic backing. I used a knife and cut two slits in that fabric/carpet. Since it has the plastic backing I don't have to worry about the slits tearing over time. I ran zip ties through those slits and attached lights there. I hope that makes sense. I can snap a few pictures of the lights mounted if you want. Anyway, this is how it turned out:



And here's the front:

 

Riverdog,
Do you have any tips or procedure for routing from the dome light?

 

Its pretty simple. Once you pop out the dome light you have access to the space between the headliner and the roof. Loosen the plastic panels between the front and rear doors (the B-pillar) and just push some wire from the dome light opening in the headliner over to the the B-pillar. Then run the wire down the B-pillar and then under the seats or wherever you want your lights.

Once you pull out the dome light you can let it hang down by the wires. Its probably easiest it use some wire taps and just connect to those wires. Use a multimeter to figure out which wires to connect to. I soldered my new wire to where the wires connect to the dome light. If you solder, make sure you grow at least one other set of hands or get someone to help you. By yourself, its pretty difficult soldering wires to something that's dangling in the air. Not impossible, but difficult. I probably over did it, but I sealed my solder points with hot glue to prevent the bare wires from touching anything.

By adding more lights, you're adding a larger electrical draw. So you'll need to replace the fuse for your dome light with one that's appropriate for the dome light plus the lights you're adding. OR, you can replace the dome light with LEDs and use LEDs in the footwells and under the seats. Since LEDs draw less power than traditional bulbs, the current fuse on your dome light will be sufficient.

 

The truck is switching the ground on the blue wire, that is the one you tap the ground side of your LEDs into.

You then need to send fused 12vdc to the positive side of the LEDs.
An add-a-circuit can handle that.

 

Tap into blue wire in a-pillar for your ground, wire hot lead right to battery. Will come on with dome light and dim as the dome light dose as it goes out. Put Toyota projector beams in bottom of door panel as courtesy lights.

 

subed for later, right now my footwell LEDs are just wired to come on when ever the ignition is in the on position, but I plan on adding more leds . Id like them to come on with the dome light

 

Here's another method to connect to pins 2 (or 7)+, and pin 9 - for connecting floor courtesy lights. I used a piece of solid, 18AWG wire, stripped 1/2" and bent it 180 to make it 1/4". Inserted this bent end into the connector beside the wire. Sits in there very firm. The other end of this short piece of 18AWG i've soldered and heatshrunk the 22AWG stranded wires running to the LED strips. The LEDs draw very little current, so i'm okay with this connection type. Works well.

Details : This is on a 2005. Pin 9 is blue wire, pin 2 on the bottom in the pic is not connected yet, and is white, as compared to pink for later years in the example above. (there is no wire in pin 1)