Bestop Supertop

What about putting one in your reciever/hitch?

 

I wish - but I don't have a tow package. Otherwise looks cool. I was hoping I could plug the wires in near the brake lights without splicing and cutting but I'm not seeing any way to do so. I was also hoping there was a pass for pickups on the 3rd brake light law but that doesn' t seem too likely either. I did a fog light install but this one seems a lot stranger.

 

I drilled a hole through the metal piece at the back/driver side of the bed and wired in a trailer connector through a grommet in the hole so that I can connect/disconnect the 3BL when I fold up the cover (2-wire connector will do, but I could only find 4). Alternative is pulling wire all the way through the structural pipes so the line just folds up with the frame, in which case I'd recommend rigging in a connector in the side pocket over the wheel well, which might also mean running more wire back to the tail-light assembly since the harness will be wrapped up and hard to access near there.

If you unbolt the nearby tail-light it's just a matter of putting a quick-splice onto the brake light wire for the hot lead and grounding the other (I may have just tapped the ground wire from the light unit as well, I can't remember since it was a couple years ago). I can't get any pics at the moment but will try to remember to snap one in the next few days. I think I found the wiring decoder on one of the boards here, but could maybe pull the light off this weekend and see where I'm tapped in to let you know which one to use (mine's a 2010 AC as well, so you should have the same colored wires).

 

That is definitely how I would like it done, too with the trailer connector for a quick disconnect. Never cut an original tailight wire for a splice though so it's getting a bit deep for me. I'll probably go for it but I don't want to mess it up at all. Pictures would be really helpful if you get the time. Thanks

 

there's no cutting to it, quick-taps have a piece that cut through the insulation on the existing wire and the wire you're splicing on, you just lay the tap around the two wires and clamp it down with pliers and you're done.

 

Thanks! I just figured that out, too. I actually used them when installing the pop and lock electric tailgate with those quick-taps yesterday. Pretty cool setup. I'm feeling better about doing the brake light now and will hopefully hit it next weekend. Just need to figure out what to buy for easy hookup and detach through the trailer connectors. You don't happen to have a pic or a link to what connectors I'm looking for by any chance? I get confused figuring out what I connect to what. I thought I saw somewhere a vid showing where you could just plug a 2 (or 3?) way trailer assembly directly into the brake lights and then that has a connector for another trailer light connector to come out of. Is that what you did? Just curious because if I could avoid even doing the quick-taps on my brake light for now that would be preferable. OK, thanks again.

 

I bought a hookup extender like this one:
http://www.pepboys.com/product/details/8768139/00826

two wires is all you really need for a single light, I ended up using a 4-wire version just because I couldn't find a 2-line in stock anywhere and didn't want to wait for shipping.

Just cut the wires in the middle and you'll have two connector pigtails to use for wiring into the system. One of them you splice onto the wires for the brake light (I can't remember if I needed to extend the stock wires on mine or not), and the other is tapped into the brake light wire on one end and grounded to the body on the other (or tapped into the ground line to the tail light module if there is one); you'll need to be careful with the polarity since you're dealing with a LED light and the connector isn't reversible. It would also be possible to wire the light into the trailer connector, but that'd invlolve a bit more fancy routing to keep the wires out of the way so they don't get rubbed or pulled loose when you're loading and unloading stuff in the bed.

Here's a thread which discusses the wiring into the driver's side tail light module.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...d-brake-light-on-a-bestop.44938/#post-7539865
Since the wiring for the 2007 and 2013 are the same, it should be safe to assume the 2010 is common

 

http://www.suspensionconnection.com/55513-toyota-tacoma-trailer-wiring-kit.htmlT

Thanks a lot - That seems simple enough.
So it basically gets cut in half and then one side tapped to the brake light on the truck (and grounded). The other to the 3rd brake light and it's ground and they disconnect when I need to uninstall or fold it up. Very cool. Been stalling but I will look into doing this soon, hopefully on Friday.

 

Yep, blue wire did the trick. 3rd light looks and works good now but the screws just fell out - velcro straps are doing a much better job of holding it in for now though. I'm just glad I'll be legal and able to detach this easily when I fold this thing back.

I ended up going with the 4 pin Hopkins extension connector at Autozone instead of the 2 pin, too because it had a 38" length so plenty of room to store it up in the storage box of the bed and it was easier to connect/disconnect. Thanks for the help, bmgreene

 

glad to help.

I had some problems with the screws on the 3rd light with the kit as well, I ended up just using zip-ties since the light is on an articulated mount there's no real problem with it getting in the way when the top folds down. I've been thinking about drilling out the pipes to put some through-bolts to mount the light but haven't bothered to do it yet since the zip ties are holding just fine.

 

I am having a hard time getting the side windows to slide on. Any tips? What type of lubrication would be safe to use with these?

 

I've never needed any kind of lube on mine, just need to make sure you're not trying to slide with the tracks angled against each other (also check the engagement at every segment on the upper set of j-tracks). Not sure what kind of plastic the tracks are made of, so there's no way to know if vaseline would be safe long-term, and WD-40 is probably too runny (and is made mainly to work with metal). Anything water-based should be safe but I wouldn't want to guess at how well that might or might not work.

 

Thanks, the last one went in without a hitch. The back window almost broke up our marriage for some reason.

 

The back window can be tricky to get back in unless you unhook one corner of the fabric from the back of the rail. Also, if at all possible, don't put yourself in a situation where you'll have to put one of the windows back on after dark; all that black-on-black-on dark gray makes everything pretty much invisible after sunset, and it takes 2 hands to do anything which leaves nothing to hold a flashlight.

 

Anyone have any tips for reducing the height of the center rail/bump?

Also any tips for making the rear window panel more "taught"

Lastly id appreciate pictures of your tailgate bar with the bulb seal installed and how it fits to the tabs on the bracket just to confirm I did it right

 

Can you get clear windows with these?

 

any 1st gens with drop in liners?