Anyone do a Rostra heated seat install?

I've read through pretty much all of the previous heated seat install threads, but I'm having some issues with my installation.

Using the Rostra Toyota specific heated seat package:

http://www.rostra.com/toyota-seat-heater-with-custom-control-switch.php

I had an upholstery shop do the seat install, which seemed worth the money. I then installed the switches in the replacement center dash panel, which I thought was going to be the hard part (and it certainly was a pain).



The issue that I'm having is that after running the wiring, I don't have enough slack to get the seat wiring over to the connector near the switch if I route the wire through the door sill area.




Options seem to be either splicing in an extra length of wire, attempting to run the wiring through the center console, or trying to get a longer wiring harness from Rostra. I've contacted Rostra so we'll see how that works out, but neither of the other two options are that appealing. Anyone see something obvious that I'm missing or have experience doing this?

 

I haven’t done it on the 3rd gens, but have done similar wiring on other trucks. Why is routing through the center stack something you’re against? Again, haven’t torn open a third gen so I’m legitimately asking.

If you wanted to extend the harnesses though, that would be extremelh easy and would only take a few minutes with a quality soldering iron.

 

Not completely opposed to running through the center stack, just seems like a more challenging way of fishing the wiring when there's already the seat harness going along the sills. It didn't seem like there was an obvious way of doing it when I had everything open but I hadn't really planned on routing that way so I didn't look too carefully. I'd also then be making multiple connections inside the console which is a lot less accessible for troubleshooting in case something goes wrong. Not the end of the world, just seems odd that the wiring seems to be too short to run along this sills which is what it seems like most people have done.

And not necessarily an issue with extending the harness either, just more potential connections to fail and doesn't seem like it should be necessary.

 

I gotcha man. Do the instructions tell you where they intended you to run? I only skimmed the link you attached, as I’m on my phone. As an engineer it’s frustrating trying to follow someone else’s thought path, trust me I can sympathize.

If the consoles disassemble anything like my 2nd gen, which from your pics it looks like it, I wouldn’t think it’d be super hard to get the wiring through there. Up through the little trim skirt panels (forget the actual name) then grab it through the hole under the shifter bezel and zip tie to either the existing harnesses (if so equipped) or get some of those zip tie square bases if you’re worried about it.

As for extending the harnesses, yeah it’s a pain, but if you do a halfway decent solder joint, I wouldn’t think twice about reliability. I learned my lesson after doing a ton of wiring jobs on all my trucks and my friends vehicles. Crimping should only ever be a last resort, as those joints will almost always fail. Decent solder/shrink tube will last as long as the actual wire does.

 

Don’t think it was the same brand, but I just did the same thing on my gf’s 4Runner. Just run the wires through the center console and you should have plenty of wire length to complete the job.

 

Thanks for the replies. Instructions don't indicate how to run the wiring, I imagine because it's a "Toyota" kit and not necessarily Tacoma specific. I'll have another look at running through the center console. I just hope it doesn't require me to remove that switch panel again! Wasn't expecting to have to remove half the interior to access that.

 

I saw that this was going to be the case when i installed mine. I ran mine down through the center console, and then the wire to the seat slips underneath the carpet right down under the seat and to the connector. I have the control modules sitting underneath the Qi charger in the center console. Works perfectly. Did it and never looked back. They have been working great ever since the install. I would suggest to just run them through the center console. You'll be happy with it I'm sure.

 

Thanks, I'll give it a go.