MESO Total Tail Light Kit

Just bought a kit. Should I be buying spares? I'm new to the LED scene here. How long is the life on these bulbs?

 

Order placed

 

Placed order!

 

Got the alert, ordered today.

 

I have mine installed for a couple or so weeks now. They're fantastic; how they should come from the factory but on the other hand, I enjoy businesses like MESO Customs coming up with mods like this. Now, when I'm driving around and I see other Tacomas I wonder if they notice mine is different. However, I wonder how many Tacoma owners even know how their taillights even operate

 

Only the select few will know...

 

I been behind Two other Tacomas here on the coast with the the total tails. Can’t miss’m. It’s a Beautiful site!

 

I low look for them but haven't seen any here in middle Georgia, Macon & Warner Robins area.

 

Saw one a week after I installed mine 2 years ago, since then I've only seen them at large events (like the Appalachian Toyota Roundup)

 

Ha, as I'm sitting here reading and commenting on this thread, I get this text message . I'll give them some kudos as I've ordered from them before.

Toyota Tacoma Stock Tail Light Stage 1 Conversion Kit is back in stock at TACOMABEAST. Buy now: https://t.appikon.com/f6y5
Reply STOP to opt-out

 

I don’t think I’ve seen any it NE MD. But I also don’t drive as much as I used to..

 

I already sent a message to support via the website... not trying to "double dip" just wanted to throw this up and see if anyone has seen this before or has an ideas on a workaround.

I'm not opposed to a "bush fix" but I didn't want to try anything too drastic before hearing back from support. (I tried pushing the white part down on the bad connector with a pair of needle nose and it didn't want to budge... but again I wasn't trying too hard because I didn't want to screw anything up worse).

Was excited to receive my kit this week -- crazy fast shipping from Meso! Unfortunately I seem to have received a cable with a manufacturing defect in one of the connectors. I was having way more resistance in one of the connectors than I should have -- enough that I knew something was wrong and I shouldn't try to force it. I compared it to the identical connector on the other side and first noticed that the tab protrusion inside the good connector was missing from the bad connector, and there was a malformed hole in its place that looked like it was somehow ripped out in the manufacturing process. I used a digital depth gauge on both and the depth on the good connector is is ~13.7mm while the bad one is only ~9.7 (which obviously explains why I wasn't able to get the connector to seat at all).

 

It’s called a TPA and yeah it’s not seated properly. Pull it out and double check the plastic tabs holding the terminals in place. The TPA locks the plastic tabs. You can purchase these yourself but surely MESO will hook you up.

given your attention to detail, I’d wager $50 you can fix it yourself and get it going. Then I’m relatively certain MESO will send you a replacement harness.

 

Easy fix

 

Sorry about that. Looks like the inner retainer didn’t get snapped in all the way. If you don’t feel like tinkering with it, I’ll get a new harness out Monday first thing. Rest assured we’ll get your kit working like it was intended!

thanks Dave


Btw- Merry Christmas to everyone

 

Thank you both for the quick reply! I think I may have solved the mystery:

I popped it out as suggested... was having a helluva time getting it to go back in... Kept comparing it to the known good side and Couldn't get it to go under the little top tab on the gray end. Was trying sanding the edges of it thinking maybe it was just a little too tall or wide to fit but it never wanted to fit back in right... then I decided to compare it to the female side. It looks like I got the white part from the female portion of the connector on the male portion of my connector. I'm assuming they have different undersides because I can't get it to seat properly to save my life. This theory would also explain why it has a hole where it should have a tab.

@MESO assuming my theory is correct: If you want to just send me the proper white piece I should have no trouble getting it rocking and rolling.

In any case: thanks all for the helpful replies and merry Christmas!!

 

Oh yes, you are right, didn’t see that at first glance. You need the male TPA and that’s the female.

leave it out for now and hook it up. Then wait for your replacement. The TPA isn’t essential, it’s like a lock on a suitcase. The terminals should stay seated without the TPA under normal circumstances.

 

Eyyyy! On today's episode of "It Pays to be Pack Rat"... I just dug through the box of crap I had leftover from doing HID conversions on my Civic and my Subie... and look what I found! Perfect replacement and everything is good to go! It's not as brilliant white... but I don't think anyone is going to notice

Meso: No need to send anything my way I'm just happy I got it going

 

Ok, now I'm impressed

 

It took about ten years of packratting after projects for it to *really* start paying off... but the payoffs seem to grow exponentially as the years pass which just further reinforces the packratting... it's a vicious cycle.

But anywhoo: All is well that ends well. Super stoked with how it turned out and am really happy to have amber turns which I think are a helluva lot safer. Thanks again for the helpful replies y'all