How To: Upgrade your gauge cluster from SR to SR5+

Before:



After:

What you need:
1) Upgraded SR5+ gauge cluster (OEM #83800-04F00-RP)
2) Both left and right hand steering wheel pads with wiring (Left pad OEM #84247-04020-c1. Couldn't find the right pad part number I'd assume it's similar)
3) Panel tool
4) Stubby Phillips head #2 screwdriver (or drill with long extension)
5) Small flathead pocket screwdriver with magnet
6) T27 bit
7) 10mm wrench or socket with socket wrench
8) Diagonal cutters / wire snips
9) Electrical tape
10) In-line wire strippers
11) 1 inch of small (18-24 gauge) bare wire
12) Solder
13) Soldering iron









Gauge cluster remove/replace steps:
1) Using 10mm socket, disconnect negative battery terminal and wait at least 5 minutes before continuing



2) Using pry tool, remove radio bezel (start in the top right corner with pry tool and then work your way down and towards the drivers side. It's held in with plastic clips)



3) Using pry tool, remove gauge cluster bezel (start in top left then work your way down and towards the passenger side. Also held in with only plastic clips. Blue squares show clip locations)



4) Using #2 Phillips head screwdriver, remove the 4 exposed screws holding in the gauge cluster and disconnect the 2 connectors in the back (red squares in the picture above)
5) Plug in new cluster and reassemble dash

Steering wheel control pads remove/replace steps:
1) Using small flat head, remove 2 access covers on the rear side of steering wheel to expose airbag bolts
2) Using T27 bit remove two screws holding in airbag and pull the airbag out



3) Using small flat head, pry up (perpendicular to airbag) on the yellow retaining clips, then pry up on the connector in the same direction



4) Using small flat head, pry up on retaining clip of *special* horn female spade connector on airbag (forgot to get a picture of this but the spade connector comes from the steering pad control harness that plugs into the spiral cable and goes to the bottom of the airbag)



5) Using #2 Phillips head screwdriver, remove the 4 exposed screws holding in the left and right steering wheel pads (screws may fall into steering wheel so having a magnet handy is a good idea). Disconnect the connector from the spiral cable and remove both control pads by pulling straight out.



6) Problem solving step: PCB on left is the original SR left hand steering pad and right is the upgraded one. The original pad uses a common earth for the switches and LED's while the new one has a ground circuit specifically for the LED's, meaning you won't have a ground for the LED's and thus, no light. You need to splice the purple wire into the mint green wire in order to supply ground to the pad LED's. I did this near the right hand steering pad connector but you can do it on the PCB itself or before the spiral cable.



7) Using the in-line wire strippers, strip away some wire on the mint wire and purple wire and remove the connector from the PCB
8) Using a small piece of small gauge bare wire and soldering iron, connect and solder the mint and purple wires together.


9) Using electrical tape, tape up the soldered area and re-insert the connectors
10) Plug in the new steering wheel pads and reassemble the steering wheel
11) Reattach negative cable and test



Notes:
1) Toyota was nice and made the immobilizer circuit external from the gauge cluster so no need to reprogram keys
2) Any time you're messing with the SRS system make sure you disconnect the battery for at least 5 minutes and take all the proper SRS servicing precautions
3) The odometer reading is stored in the cluster and the ECM. If they don't match, this will tip off the dealer or repair shop so make sure to let them know otherwise you may get into some trouble. If you don't have the knowledge or ability to reprogram the cluster odometer reading yourself then you have 2 options.
a) Take your truck to the dealer and have them send the new cluster out for odometer reprogramming
b) Take your truck with the old and new clusters to the dealer or DMV. They should notate and create a sticker for your door jam with the date of swap and old and new odometer readings


Some of the pages and features of the new gauge cluster:



The only complaint I have is that there is no cruise control indicators. I think I may end up pulling the gauge cluster and swapping some pins to use the seatbelt LED or another unused indicator as the cruise control indicator.

If you aren't 100% comfortable working with electrical systems, especially on a new truck, take your parts to a friend or shop that is. If anybody has any questions I'll try to get to them as soon as I can.

At a grand total of $170, I hope this is a mod that a lot of you guys can benefit from definitely makes me feel like I'm in a higher end truck compared to that terrible SR cluster! Keep an eye out for some more fun mods/guides from me!

 

Nice write-up. I'd use a soldering splice for step 8 and 9. Would clean it up and protect the bare wire.

 

I didn't take a picture but the two wires were wrapped with electrical tape and then the entire bundle was wrapped as well. I'm unfamiliar with a "soldering splice". What do you mean by that?

 

Electrical tape is ok. Moisture can still get to the wiring and after a while, the adhesive can break down allowing tape to unravel. In the aviation industry, we use soldering splices or crimp splices to join two wires together. Your creation is bridging 2 different sets of wires together. For this situation, I would cut both sets, cut back some insulation on both sets, twist and stick both ends into a solder splice. Use a heat gun to melt the solder then work it around the splice to melt the plastic material. This will keep it environmentally sound as well by not allowing moisture to get within the bare wires.

Lastly, this might not sound like a big deal but watch cutting or nicking strands of the wire, it's just good practice. Cutting strands of a wire can mess with impedance.

 

Unless something changed from 2017 to 2018, mine has the indicators in the upgraded cluster for cruise. When you turn the cruise on, it appears up near the outside temperature display, with a green speedo with arrow pointing at it, and then when you set the cruise, you also get the word "SET" in green right beside it. Maybe something is different because of the TSS-P/adaptive cruise, but i would have expected the on and set displays to be the same.

 

What functionality is gained by switching the keypads,or what would not work if only the gauge cluster was changed? What is the cost for the parts?

Thanks for the write up.

 

Nice! The upgraded cluster is one of the best 'options' in an SR5 vs SR.

 

Nicely done! Since you had the cluster out, how hard would it be to change the backlight color on the dials?

 

Gotcha, it's just a butt connector with solder and shrink wrap in it that you heat up with a torch. I like to manually solder anywhere I can. Rather than trust a butt connector. I would typically cut both ends, join together and solder/shrink wrap but there is very little space and wire to work with and butt connectors would take up too much room. And there are pigtails that go into the harnesses so I wanted to leave as much stock as I could. Also if moisture is a problem inside the cab, inside my steering wheel then I probably have bigger things to worry about. Thanks for your input and it's definitely good info for exterior connections as well as connections with more room to play with.

 

This cluster is from a 16 TRD OR I believe. But there is no cruise or set indicators of any kind even in the gauge face overlay. I may have to look further into the circuits and see if the wiring for cruise is the same between the SR and SR5+ models.

 

Without the right steering wheel pad, you have no way to control the gauge cluster info pages. So you'd be stuck on the speedometer page. Honestly not worth the swap unless you get the pads with it. I spent right around $170 shipped for everything.

 

For sure. You spend so much time looking at them that it gives you the most bang for your buck. I went from feeling like I was driving a 2000's base model truck to a nice new luxury truck just by swapping clusters.

Not very. I've swapped hundreds and hundreds of gauge cluster, HVAC controls and switches so it's pretty easy for me. I'll make a write up for it soon. Just need to find time to open up the cluster

 

I like this, especially for only $200.

 

Nice write up dude.

 

The holy grail!!! Please where did you buy the parts?????? I’m looking on eBay and nothing... new is too expensive...


I am definitely doing this even if I get divorced.... thanks for the write up!!!

Please be aware that I am going to bother you a LOt until I do this...

Thanks thanks thanks!!

I’m going to tell my wife to return all the Christmas gifts... I want this now! (Joke)

 

Awesome write up, thanks dude.

Does the individual TPMS display work plug and play with this swap? That would be a pretty nice upgrade for not that many bucks.

 

It's nice to see a significant technical venture/write up in the 3rd Gen forum!

The dozens of daily threads on wheels, tires, suspension, grills, plastidip, bed decals, window tint, type of oil and LED lights does make one wonder where the creativity is after a while.

Good job! Having something that looks OE that isn't OE, or how OE should have built it, is one of my favorite types of mod.

Subtle.

 

Awesome upgrade!

 

I got my parts on eBay. Grand total was $170 with shipping for the cluster and both steering wheel pads. I've seen a bunch of the clusters for sale but not too many of the steering wheel pads. I am by no means swimming in cash, but this seemed like a no-brainer for $170

 

I've only owned my Tacoma for 2 weeks and I haven't had time to go through the forums much so I'm not aware of the mod you're talking about. I will say that I didn't see an info page for TPMS in the upgraded cluster. Not sure if that means anything or not