3rd brake light removal.

Ordered a smoked brake light I don't see any screws like the older Tacomas how does it come out?

 

I believe you have to go through the headliner.

 

Wow. Ok thanks. Mike Sweers is an idiot. Who does retarded shit like that? He's the idiot that thinks less RPM equates to better gas mileage lol. He should be fired for how he has the transmission programmed on the 3rd gen. If he wasn't going to do it right it he should have just stuck with the 5-speed nothing was wrong with it. I don't understand all these manufactures going with 90 speed transmissions it's retarded. Does not save any more fuel in fact around town you burn more fuel. A good four or five speed is all you need. To be so smart engineers can be the dumbest people in the world.

 

Break that seal at your own risk!! Tons of posts here about leaks.

Just sayin'

G.

 

I probably won't do it but I pulled the headliner down just enough to access the back and could not find any bolts whatsoever. The only thing I saw was the wiring harness that runs up into the physical body. It goes through a hole so there's no way you can even get your fingers in there to unplug it. Not sure how that sucker comes out. Apparently on the 2018 s there different.

 

There is someone around here that posted up the service manual. Its a big file but probably has the procedure in it. I'm on my phone right now so it's hard to search, but if you search for service manual and download it on your computer it may help.

 

Thanks.

 

2 10mm bolts tucked wayyy back in there. Pics of your tinted brake light? It’s going to cut down on the bed light dramatically

 

Thanks. Yeah I just talked to one of the Toyota parts guys and he was saying from his fish that the LED versions or internal and a pain in the butt to get to you really have to pull the entire headliner to access it from the fish. The non-led versions or the normal screws externally. He had mentioned that there is a company that makes sticker covers that will give you the same effect as a smoke light without all the work. You can even customize it to your liking.

 

Check these guys out. I havent ordered from them yet but from e-mail communications with them the customer service seems pretty good. I had a special requests for some graphics and he replied in less than 24 hours with the info I needed.
https://importequipment.com/collect...toyota-tacoma-3rd-brake-light-decal-fits-2016

 

I want to see what light you bought. Link? Pics?

 

Wow need to vent ? having a bad day ?
Ive pulled mine out, just needed to pull half of it down and reach up in there, its not terrible to do, and i like that it is smooth on the outside, easer to clean and its not like it should ever need a bulb change. ( i hope).
The more you Mod the more you will find things you don't like

 

If time wasn’t an issue, I could come up with an idea of cutting a square section of the headliner and create an access panel fitting...Perhaps out of carbon fiber to allow access to the third brake light. I hate that people will need to pull the entire headliner to access a simple brake light.

 

Yea it would not be bad if they had a cover like the skid plate door for the oil filter access.

 

That was the one I came across yesterday I like that idea a lot. I could get the same effect being I'm already LED and not have to fool with everything else.

 

It's not the end of the world I know. Still love the truck more than I ever have any Jeep I've owned just would have thought something as simple as a brake light would be a little easier to get to. With the transmission I just use ECT around town and it's fine. The truck will probably outlive me but when you spend that kind of money on something you just expect it to perform flawless. As well as the general maintenance to be fairly easy.

 

I don't think it would be hard to designed a good method to alleviate this problem, all is time consumption and blueprinting a solution.

 

Just wrap/ tint the light and save yourself the trouble of breaking the seal

 

I will. Going with import decals.