How To: Door Actuated Map Light Install

This will be the write up for installing a 3 Button door actuated maplight/mirror assembly.


Tools Needed:

Needlenose pliers, Wire Cutters, an angled trim removal tool, Philips Screwdriver, Flashlight, 10mm Socket and Ratchet, Your choice of wire strippers/crimpers, and a small flathead screwdriver.

First things first, get power off the dome circuit. You can do this via disconnecting the ground battery lead. Or if you have an aftermarket stereo like me and dont want to screw up the settings, you can go under the hood and pull the dome circuit fuse. Its the little bugger that my pliers are on.


Next, go ahead and pull the drivers A-Pillar. Pop the covers off the grab handle with the small flathead screwdriver, and undo the 2 10 mm bolts underneath. If you have a pre 01 truck, I hear these are JIS screws and a pain to remove.


Once the handle is off, grab the pillar trim and pull down, then back towards you. After thats done, take your old mirror off. If you have a 2 button mirror, its easy. Just undo the little trim piece in the middle with a flathead, then reach up behind it and pry the cover down with the angled trim removal tool. Then unscrew the 4 screws holding the mirror up.

The mirrors without maplights just have a plastic cover. Just pop it off and unscrew the mirror. You will have to cut the headliner, just line up your new mirror and trace out the holes. Then cut with a razor. The recess holes and screw holes are already in the metal under the headliner. This should be the finished product.


Next you need to run 1 or 2 pieces of wire from the a pillar to where the mirror will go. Just pull the headliner down a bit and feed it up under. If you have the mirror with lights already, you'll just need 1 wire.

Go ahead and splice in your new 2 wire connector for the new mirror. One wire should be red/green and the other is red/grey. The red/green wire will connect to the solid black wire in the a pillar, the red/silver will connect to the black/white wire in the a pillar.


If you want to install a lighted key ring, it will also connect with the black/white wire. Since I already did this mod, I spliced my maplight into that wire.



At this point, connect your mirror, screw it in place.


If the new mirror is loose like mine was, you can swap in you old mirror to the 3 button assembly. Heres what the attatchment looks like.


After the mirror is up, your wires are spliced, re connect the battery or re install the fuse and test. With the door switch on, the light should come on when the door is open, and go off maybe 20 seconds after the door shuts. Just like the dome light, or the key light.


So now put the cover on the mirror, reinstall the A-Pillar trim and grab handle. Button up the fuse box and shut the hood. Youre done.

 

how much more difficult is this to do if you do not have that type of headliner material?

 

Does your current mirror have the maplights or not?

 

yes, i have the maplights already
... was just curious about others with my type of headliner that would like this convenient feature
@Speedytech7 said the vinyl type of headliners are more challenging!

 

Well you wont have to cut it then. So this should be starightforward and easy.

 

Excellent write up! Thank you.

 

Interesting concept just why would one want to do this ?

Nothing like having all kinds of lights come on when you open the door then wait till your night vision recovers so you can walk from the garage to the house

 

Just another creature comfort that some people pay thousands more money for when they get their trucks. I saw it in the junkyard, and figured eh, why not?

 

Ha Ha ! I have a neighbor with Heavy Equipment that keeps dropping trees on the Electric lines so quite often I am in the Dark and to lazy to start the generator .

 

good write up

I, however, mostly keep the dome turned off anyway but this is neat

 

Very tempting.

 

today i decided to activate the door actuated map light in my truck to see if it still operates properly (i rarely use it so was not sure)
it works!
but it is not on a time delay or anything like that, it goes off immediately when i close the door.
is there supposed to be a time delay setting?

 

only if the door is open or the truck is not running, then it's like 2 minutes. otherwise it assumes you are driving therefor turns off when you close the door

 

i will need to try with the engine running tomorrow
not sure if i can hold out for the two minutes to see what happens!

 

on my 99 extracab SR5... i had only the dome light behind me come on when the door was opened. No light on the mirror. I did this mod a few weeks ago... and its like night and day <get it?> The map lights and on this style mirror are amazing. One thing to note is that if you have the dome light... you can just connect this new light module to the wires on the existing dome light as the wiring is the same. They will run in parallel.

 

can you have both the center dome light and the lights on the mirror both go on at the same time? ... not sure if i have ever tried doing that

 

Yep.. That's how mine work if both are set to "door"

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Toyota-Tac...ht-Cover-Lens-Map-Lights-Factory/161248669568

This appears to be a grey color closer to the 01-04. I still haven't found a 3 button unit but I'll buy the cover above if I find a tan one in a yard.

 

I find them in that color and tan in 2nd gen 4Runners. Ill keep my eyes open for you.

 

Hey man, if you find any in the grey color like that I'd be interested. I'd also need the fixture part, not just the cover. I was at the junkyard a few weeks back and saw one but it I didn't know there was a mod for this so I didn't get it.