DIY OEM Cruise Control Install

No... I was told I that the horn wire may need to be relocated to the CC plug, so I ordered a wire harness (with attached horn wire lead) from the dealer anticipating relocating the horn wire, but I did not need it - as the horn on my 2015 was wired to a different plug.

The CC kit I purchased included a wire harness (without the horn lead), which I ended up using.

 

Just ordered the CC STALK/Sitch Assy and the Cover plus the mounting screws for $67 on eBay.

 

Finished this the other day. Great mod. Cost me 8 bucks at the junkyard for the clutch sensor, 22 on Ebay for the stalk and 6 bucks at the dealership for the steering wheel cover. Works like a charm, Love it! Hardest part by far was installing the clutch sensor, I tie wrapped the clutch pedal back out of the way, still pain to get in there. I also had some minor trouble figuring out how to get the connector pin out of the black wire from the horn and install it in the new cruise wire harness. But I figured it out....just cut it out, I don't need to reuse it!!!DUH

 

2007 2.7 Base w/auto trans -

I read all of the above months ago and ordered the CC switch from somewhere. It sat around in a small box until last night when my Chrysler mechanic friend saw it. He was R&R'ing an engine but leaped onto my CC task as soon as I said what was in the little box. <g>

The Tacoma was sitting there running. He took out two torx screws, pulled back the airbag blob slightly, unplugged what looked like the only place to plug in the CC switch, and the green CRUISE light appeared on the speedo.

He works at 200 mph so a second later it was all back together and he handed me a short black wire:

"This is the old wire - a ground wire I guess."

I put the short black wire and it's little attached plug into the box. There were lots of coiled wires in the little box the CC switch had come in - apparently not needed I thought.

Then I helped a tiny bit with the engine R&R and took off after massive amounts of gas flooded the garage due to an overlooked injector return fuel line. <g>

On the way home the cruise control worked perfectly and all was well - until I thought to try the horn. The horn did not work. <g>

So I'm thinking: guess that was the horn wire - not the ground wire.

This morning I called to ask about the little box the CC came in: gone - out with the trash.

So my question is: can anyone tell me how to make my horn work? Was that little black wire supposed to be added to the CC plug somehow?

And if so; is there anyway to easily do that now? Maybe a piece of solid-core wire to act as a 'pin' down into the plug? And if so; is there more than one extra hole in the plug? If so; which one is the hole for the horn wire?

 

I did mine today, and so far it works perfectly! The only reason i wasn't done in 10 minutes is because I'm a meathead and I couldn't figure out how to release the horn wire terminal pin from the 4-pin connector. I tried prying up everything i could conceive of being a "rectangular retainer" with no success. after poking and yanking on it for a while, i finally broke something and still hadn't freed the pin, so i figured at this point i might as well destroy the old connector all the way if i wasn't going to need it anyhow, so i whittled the plastic away with an xacto knife until the pin popped loose and i placed it in the harness with the cruise control. In spite of my barbaric technique, everything worked out fine. but for future reference, does anyone know of pics or a video demonstrating how to remove the pins from that kind of connector?

 

Dudes. Help.

I just finished doing this. Ordered the switch and had it in the truck about 30 minutes after the UPS guy dropped it off, it really is as easy as everyone says it is. Connector was already behind the airbag, relocated the ground wire into the new connector, done. But, it don't work. At all. Cruise light doesn't light up on the dash when you push the button, no cruisey goodness. Can someone point me in the right direction? Specifically how to troubleshoot and/or how to make sure the wiring between the steering wheel and the ECU is in place?

 

IIRC, in this Toyota Nation thread http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/61-2nd-generation-2005-2015/171992-diy-oem-cruise-control.html
besides some issues with bad connections and faulty stalks, i think someone figured out that some of the trucks built in Mexico weren't wired for it so they had to wire the connector to the ecu themselves, you could check and see where yours is from in case that might be the issue.

Mongo1958's post from earlier in this thread mentions testing with a jumper wire, if that makes the light go on then you probably got a bad stalk, if it doesn't, you have other problems that I can't think of an easy way to troubleshoot besides having fun going fishing around in the wiring.

 

In case anyone comes looking for this, there is a little hole on the face of the connector above where the pin is inserted. You can insert something like a sewing needle or a push pin into that little hole to push the little barb down that holds the socket in place. Takes a little fiddling, but it works. Of course, I only discovered this after murdering a connector.

Thanks, man. I got up early this morning and pulled my glove box out to check, and sure enough, not pre-wired. I should've checked this first, but you know how it goes, you get excited when new parts come in and just wanna start bolting shit on.

Fortunately, the kit I bought came with the wiring for this. One disassembled dash, one wire to the ECU and one ground wire later, boom, cruise control. Can't believe the dealership wanted $600 for this. I've got a really long daily commute, all highway, so I'm pretty stoked.

 

Thanks for the information about releasing the pin! I appreciate it

 

I seen them on ebay for between $12-$112

 

Watching this for later. Nor a good idea to read this and drive at the same time.

 

Hey where did you find out where to put the wire in the ECU, for the life of me I can not find any info on where to put the wire for the ECU.

 

Hey fatmonk8 I've had a cc stalk for a couple years and am also unsure about wiring. Also Im in northeast phila. Let me know if you find out anything. Tia

 

First off, I didn't buy 'my' Tacoma or it would have come with cruise control - and a longer bed!

Also, I am mechanically inclined but by no means more than a Shade Tree Mechanic - if that.

This is my first post here after searching for cruise conrols options for a 2007 Reg Cabin Tacoma 4cyl - something I had no idea was possible before happening upon a post about how easily a Ford Van could be upgraded by basically adding CC buttons on the steering wheel!

I found Tacoma Dealers offering the switch for around $160 and a vendor on eBay offering the switches for $72 and $90 and another for $37 and another for $15 and as many options and prices on Amazon - as well as decent reviews.

However, I am cautious. Hence I signed up here thinking I might get some objective advice when I found this generic reference to "(some?) regular cab Tacoma" models and thought to attempt to seek clarification before layingout even fifteen dollars and the effort necessary to determine if it would light my cruise up.

Ostensibly, there is a way to determine if the necessary wiring is installed by shorting two connections on the connector the CC switch connector replaces - given the 12 volt high amperage available and the delicate nature fo digitaal circuitry, an approach best avoided by the inexperienced.

However, it seems a bit odd to have one wiring harness for a regular cab base model and another for all other base cab designs while using the same instrument cluster (with a greeen cruise display). Am I correct in thinking "AC" and "DC" are intended as abreviations for two different cab designs/layouts?

I wonder if there is any documentation of this assertion or collaboration available. Are detailed wiring diagrams available that are labeld RC/AC/DC or instaance? Or a generic diagram that might have an asterik * adjacent that conductor which advises "*Not present in RC Clockspring" or words to that effect.

Where might I find such a wiring diagram?

Or, is it stated on page 999 of the Electrical Systems Repair Manual which I might find on Toyota dot Com perhaps?

Anyone have access to the relevant source material?

 

Thank you for telling your experience I am about to do this like next week, now that I know it's a thing and you probably answered questions I was going to have. So I wanted to offer some advice. Haha I always hated them and thought they were dumb and would rather just have a shop light or flash light or something but recently I've started using headband lights, head lamps, whatever. And I gotta say they are handy. Especially in situations like that. They are not handy when bugs are really bad and it's really dark out though lol

 

I'm not the poster you reference, but AC usually refers to "Access Cab," and DC usually refers to "Double Cab" - both as opposed to"Regular Cab". Rostra has a lot of resources on their website.

 

OK, I completed the upgrade to CC on a 2007 BASE Tacoma using parts bought on Amazon and reusing the ground wire by cutting it out of the nylon connector and placing in the empty space on the connector supplied with the 'stalk' from Amazon. I think it took about 30 minutes (not counting the time spent looking for the magic pin hole to release the connector from the factory plug that I finally cut out wit a razor blade) and it has been working fine for a most basic CC. Not very comfortable on hilly terrain as the transmission drops into low gear to maintain the speed regardless the RPM!
I can't believe I didn't learn about this 'till 2022! DUH

Also replaced my rear bumper and bought a set of "RED OLED TUBE LED License Plate Light Rear Bumper Lamp For Toyota Tacoma" from Amazon and they really light it up. Adding a GARMIN Backup Camera and thought to brighten up the backside - new BU Lights next.

 

Do you have a kit for 2014 regular cab 4x4 auto?

 

Hey how did you wire it for the regular cab??

 

"Hey how did you wire it for the regular cab??"

Look here at my Instructable: https://www.instructables.com/Adding-Cruise-Control-to-a-2007-Tacoma/

And here's a video: 2007-2013 Toyota Tundra Cruise Control Switch Replacement - YouTube

Hope this helps. If you can't return the parts, check to see if your ride is Pre-wired (remove cover move air-bag, short the contacts - If CRUISE lights on your spedo - you got it Toyota - video should explain it)

Something like the following:
Testing for prewired condition of vehicle -


1.Place a small towel on the steering wheel just below the airbag.
2.Locate access holes on either side of the lower steering wheel cover. Take a Torx T-30 and unscrew the airbag.
(On some of the 2013-14, it is a spring clip at 3 points instead of two Torx bolts.) Lean the air bag forward gently
onto the towel but DO NOT UNPLUG IT.
3.So if you look at the fifth picture on the eBay listing, referring to the white 4 pin plug at top center and behind the black cable, the bottom 2 pins are empty. Take a piece of wire, or maybe an unbent paperclip, and with the key turned to the 'run' position, momentarily short the two pins to each other. There are three pins, and if you stay on this connector, you can't damage anything. If this makes the dash indicator light up, you know you're in a prewired vehicle.

So to recap. Expose the white 4 pin connector. Turn the key on to the run position. Put a wire jumper on the two bottom pins, but just for a moment. This should turn the indicator lamp on. Shorting it again momentarily turns the indicator back off