Add Factory Cruise Control to your 1st Gen Tacoma

I've actually have seen a different modulator on the 1st gen tacomas, the rectangle harness in the engine bay is thicker. i think thats what you're referring to?

 

The connectors on these two are the same. The harness from one actuator plugs right in to the other.

 

I misread, sorry.

88001-0W030 seems to only be for the 98-01 4runners. Might be for the ones that had the drive by wire system

 

OK Im confused. I have an 02 rollover pre runner 3.4 parts truck and my 2004 5 speed 3.4 4x4
Both have cruise The 2002 prerunner has the control stub on the steering wheel.(which looks factory) and under the hood engine has NO sign of cruise control. No box or extra cable to pull throttle blade. BUT, my 2004 has control stub on left side of steering column. (Looks added not factory)
and under the hood a cruise control box and a cable to throttle body? My 04 every time i turn on cruise. ABS light instantly comes on and wont work.
Id rather have the 02 setup. throttle bodies look the same? why wouldnt the Cruise assembly not be???

 

2002 2004
2002
2004

 

That’s odd I have an 03 and I have the same cruise control on the left side. When I turn it on there’s not light on the dash is just a green light on the cruise control switch. So it must be factory and probably a little change for the 03’s and 04’s.

 

Because your 04 has that awful Rostra aftermarket cruise control kit installed, the one Gulf States Toyota crammed into every Tacoma they could, even when - as is the case with an AT 3.4L 04 - the only extra part needed for factory cruise is the stub switch. The electronic throttle body does the work of the separate actuator, and all the programming of the separate control module (behind the passenger kick plate) was put into the main ECU.*

No surprise it's not working. Excise that thing from your truck. Follow the wires from the stalk switch; the harness runs under the dash and at some point taps into the factory harness via Rostra's plug taps. Same with the other harness from the Rostra actuator/control unit that runs through the firewall. You probably even have the plastic plug on your 02 to cover the firewall port.

The throttle bodies might very well be the same. IIRC, Toyota switched to the electronic throttle bodies during the 02 production year, so those made after 9/02 have the same ones as the 03-04s. Can't say for sure without the VIN, but I bet all you gotta do after the Rostra surgery is install the cruise control switch (and the steering wheel backing, or cut the hole yourself) from your 02 to get factory cruise working.

*95% sure about not needing the control module. VIN will tell you for sure, and if you do need one you might already have the right one in your 02.

 

Garwood Thank you,
I wasn't to clear after re reading my post. But, I want to remove the steering wheel stub. from parts truck and remove all that other stuff(which quit working) from my driver. and install it. Think its just looks cleaner.
SO both systems are not Rostra?

 

No, your 2002 has factory cruise. Your 2004 has the Rostra aftermarket cruise. And yes, after removing that aftermarket actuator and cable to your throttle body, and all the wiring from it to the stalk switch, all you should need to enable the factory cruise is to install that cruise switch from your 2002. Your 2004 engine bay will look like your 2002 does now.

 

Why would a toyota dealership add this pile of wires and control box under hood of a new vehicle ? When all they needed was just this!!

 

So it worked? Didn't need the control module?

 

Yes it did. I had to replace both switches clutch/brake. And add the bulb to cruise light. N it worked.

 

I’m tagging on to this thread for anyone else that has been researching this. My truck, 2003 Auto 4wd 4 door, had the notorious Rostra controls Cruise control. It was a point of contention 19 years ago when I bought the truck, and that’s when I found out that GST, Gulf States Toyota, considers it to be factory! It worked fine up until it did not and that’s when I found out about the plug-n-play option of just adding the CC stalk. I thank Faye Hadley for one of her YouTube’s about adding it to a 2nd gen that got me to research it here.
The hardest part was pulling the correct switch from the salvage yard (it will have 3 wires, including a ground) and then pulling all of the Rostra parts off.
Notes:
On some of the scotch locks from Rostra, it was easier to cut the wire, roll it up and tape it off than to try and unlock it and then leave a potentially exposed wire.
My truck had the cruise light bulb, no need to take apart the cluster
The brake light switch: If you are taking out a Rostra control CC, it has a wire harness that goes from the brake light switch to to the plug that would normally attach to the brake light switch. Once you remove that, you will connect the factory harness to your new brake light switch (the one with 4 prongs) and then adjust it for sensitivity (I used a mirror).

It really is straight forward once you read through all of the posts and why GST would do this to our trucks is ridiculous, but now, after 19 years I finally have the factory cruise I always wanted. LOL.

 

Ok, I know this thread is old, but I can tell of my experience in trying to do this. I had a 1996 Tacoma Xtra cab that I bought brand new and had it for over 23 years until I sold it in early 2019. I also wanted cruise, and did a LOT of research into what was involved in doing it. And as the poster said, a LOT of the later vehicles out there, actually DO come with everything you need to install cruise, except for the Switch on the steering wheel column. That can easily be found online on Ebay or Amazon, although Ebay is cheaper. It is easy to plug in and once doing so, if the "Cruise" light then illuminates when you push the button, then you know you have it preinstalled. NOW, I was so confident about what I had read HERE in TW about this, that I got the switch, and was going to install it into my steering column to see if it worked, but I discovered that I had to cut a hole in the side of the column in order to have the switch protrude through. I did it with complete confidence. Once installed, there was NO CRUISE! I learned a lesson then that I should have looked for the Cruise Control computer FIRST, which was located in the right side kick panel of the passenger compartment. It is easy to take off the panel and the computer should be there. If it isn't, you don't have cruise. BUT, at that time, I really wanted cruise, so I went about locating ALL of the parts needed, which are a LOT. I obtained an actuator, throttle control cable, and a multitude of other parts, all of which, were needed. The hardest part was finding a complete cable that would run from and plug into, the computer on the right side kick panel, and then plug into the back of the doo-hickey [Hey I forgot what thing is called inside of the steering wheel that the switch plugs into!] inside the steering wheel. Anyway, I found out that in mount to plug in the actuator in the engine compartment, I would have to move the water bottle for the washer system. It turns out that those that came with cruise, the bottle is located way down inside of the front bumper and of course, those are almost impossible to find. So that was a wallblock. Then, I wanted the switch to mount as stock, but I had trouble finding something to plug into the back of the doohickey inside of the steering wheel column. I finally decided that the Rostra Universal kit was a MUCH easier way to go, but still, I wanted THAT to plug into the stock Tacoma switch so it would look stock, and also, because the Rostra unit is meant to plug NOT in the stock location, but in a place where it is NOT easily available when you are driving as it should be. So I was trying to work a system so the Rostra unit would plug into the doohickey, but I could not find a way to do it. It was about this time that I decided to sell the truck and buy my new one, which I did. But, I did document all of my troubles with two videos which are online. These should be of some help. The links are below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLAQsbtcAYE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIgqjAK5jXQ

 

Hey, that's awesome!! Thanks so much for the shout out and I'm so glad my video was inspiring, that means so much to me!!

 

Is ther a plug and play kit for a 97 reg cab taco 4x4 auto ?

 

Not a "kit" per se, but if you watch the video, you'll see how easy it is. Especially with an auto truck. Youll follow the same steps as I did.

 

Yotagang, I don’t think so, but I might be wrong. Faye, I believe, is referring to her 2nd gen truck that she did a video on. It pops up on YouTube with a search for “tacoma cruise control” or something like that. Unfortunately, that only works on the 1st gen trucks that use the ECU to control the throttle which I don’t think will be the case with your truck. Read the thread above Faye’s post and that will be the path for you to follow. Good luck

 

Been watching this ^^^^ with the TopGun Anthem playing on loop for a while now. Trippy 0.o