Swapping a 3rd gen interior into a second gen How-to (UNFINISHED)

Disclaimer**** before you read please note this write up is incomplete, however I’m posting what I currently have done and will update the post accordingly as I continue to finish this write up.



Update (October 27th):
It has been a while and to those waiting for answers I do apologize, life gets in the way and hobbies get pushed aside. I will be adding a few things today but hope to find time to add more in the coming days.


For those of you who do not know, I recently swapped an entire third Gen interior into my 2010 double cab. Before and after pictures are below.



Please read the full thing before messaging me with questions, I’m more than happy to help but I don’t wanna retype any of this lol…. I would also like to give a HUGE shoutout to two fellas, Marcos Botello, and Eric Flamer, they’re also doing the swap and having these fellas to bounce info off of was a massive help.


Disclaimer: if you’re looking to do this swap MAKE SURE, you read this in its entirety, there is specific 3rd Gen parts that you can order by accident that WILL NOT WORK with the 2nd Gen.



1- Carpet

2-Seats

2a- seat belt buckles

3-Door cards

3A- Window switches

3B- Window switch wiring.

4- Door sill plastics

5-Air Ducts

6-Mounting the dash

7-Instrument Cluster

8- Climate control

9-Radio

10- Hazards

11- Accessory switches

12- Shift assembly

13- Ebrake







1- Carpet



Good news to start, the carpet is a direct swap! Luckily the cabs and cab layout between generations are the same so swapping the carpet is real easy, seems like something small to add in the write up but I’ve received a lot of questions about it which I’m assuming is because the 2nd Gen grey carpet is trash…. Lol.



2- Seats



So the third Gen seats provide quite a few options. Also more good news, the third Gen seats are also a direct swap. They mount up the exact same.


If you’re pre 2008 2nd Gen, even more good news, you don’t have seat air bags so the seats are plug and play also.

For everyone else, you’ll either A- have to use an SRS bypass resistor. LINK: https://a.co/d/7MIZpEU

OR- you will have to take the SRS module out of the 2nd Gen seat and put it into the 3rd Gen seat, the 3rd Gen module WILL NOT work with the 2nd Gen restraint system and you will get an SRS code.

I feel like this goes without saying but please unhook your battery if you’re messing with ANY yellow wires… lol.

If you feel so inclined to get the 2020 leathers with the power seats that is 100% an option. You just have to route 12V +&- from under the dash to the seat to provide power. If you’re a hyper OEM guy like myself, the power seats run off of a 30amp fuse in the 3rd Gen.

I opted out of the power seat option but still wanted the leather so I bought two manual front seats and swapped third Gen leather skins onto the seat. I’ll include photos below (those wrinkles in the leather came out once I applied some heat, they looks brand new now)




2a- Seat belt buckles



I’ll keep this short and sweet 3rd Gen seat belt buckles ain’t gonna work.

In order to do so you have to swap the whole sweet belt from the third to the second Gen and once again, the SRS system in the third Gen is not compatible with the second Gen. after staring at diagrams for hours I believe it’s because the third Gen mainly uses a CANBUS signal and conjunction with the BCM to operate the SRS system. Regardless it will not work so it’s not worth the time looking into it.

The solution is you will have to keep your second Gen seat belt buckles attached in the back, and for the front you need to mount your second Gen seat belt buckle onto the third Gen seat.



Yes the colour looks off but this is one of the few unfortunate prices you’ll have to pay. I’m a perfectionist so this drives me nuts. The only other alternative would be to paint the plastic using Duplicolor’s vinyl and trim paint (great product).

The buckles mount directly onto the third Gen seats so it’s no problem.



3- Door Cards.



The door cards are another good news scenario, (unless you have the JBL system)

The door cards mount up perfectly, almost all the mounting holes are the exact same with the exception of two which you can take out as they’re not necessary in holding it on the door nor will it compromise the strength.

Now if you have the JBL system there’s some more work for you. Your tweeter speakers will need to be removed. The door cards will not go on. If you’re not sure what your truck has reference this photo


If you have the speaker circled then this is bad news.

After removing the tweeters You’ll have to reinstall them into the dash where the third gens have tweeters. Which means you will also have to tap into the wires for the tweeters and reroute them into the dash.

This is easiest if you access the wire harness right at the door flange. Depending on what year your truck was produced these wires should be white and red but please reference your corresponding diagrams.



NOTE: (as far as I know), no the 3rd Gen door cards WILL NOT work if you’re just looking to do the door cards, they rub up against the 2nd Gen dash. I’ve heard of people doing this but it didn’t work for me, I may work by modifying the plastic but I wouldn’t be interested in that anyways.




3a- Window switches



This is one of the things you’ll have to read everything and pay CLOSE attention or you’re gonna waste a lot of money lol. (I’ve wasted money so you don’t have you )

There is WAY too many variations of power window setups for the third Gen.

Fortunately the 2nd Gen only has one.

Unfortunately with that being said, there’s only one third Gen switch that will work with the second Gen and to add insult to injury, it’s the hardest to find.



Below you’ll see the different types of window switches




This is the most commonly sold switch and it WILL NOT WORK.

I bought three thinking that I was getting faulty switches because they were from flooded trucks, come to find out these operate in conjunction with the BCM while the 2nd Gen is a direct line.

You’ll notice this switch has two auto up/down switches for the drivers and passengers side, the 2nd Gen only has one for the drivers side regardless of the model.

Unfortunately some 2nd gens do not have the auto up/down feature which means the third Gen switch will not work. One of the guys I’ve been chatting with about the swap did a full power window swap into his single cab, I’ll ask him to chime into this thread with instructions on how to modify that to make it work.



THIS is the switch you will need if you’re a double cab owner. Notice the auto up down switch is only on the drivers side.

I’ll include a link to an Amazon seller below
https://a.co/d/aVxpf7n

If you have an access cab you’ll need this style switch.


I have not been able to find an aftermarket seller for the access cab switch so if you have an access cab you’ll have to source one used from EBAY.





3B- Window Switch Wiring



The 2nd and 3rd Gen switch plug is the exact same.

The plug needs to be repinned, you can either buy a repinning kit on Amazon or you can easily use a dental pick (that’s what I used)

There is another older thread on here that I stole this photo from, if you’re the one who made this photo please give yourself credit below.



This is the pin out for the 3rd Gen master switch plug. I’ve included it for reference.



2010:

1. White/Black (ground)
2. White/Blue (door lock)
3. Empty
4. Blue (driver window up)
5. Grey (door lock)
6. Empty
7. Red* sometimes pink (+12v)
8. Blue/yellow (passenger up)
9. Blue/black (drivers down)
10. Green/black (right rear up)
11. Empty
12. Green/white (left rear up)
13. Greed/red (left rear down)
14. Empty
15. Black (passenger down)
16. Green (right rear down)
17. Empty
18. Blue yellow (passenger up)

If you have an 08-2011 this is the pin out for the master switch, if you have a double cab it’s the same minus the back window pins.


Below I’m going to list how the pins must be rearranged

1. White/Black (ground)
2. White/blue (door lock)
3. Blue (drivers up)
4. Blue/black (drivers down)
5. Empty
6. Empty
7. Red* sometimes pink (+12v)
8. Grey (door unlock)
9. Empty
10. Blue/black (passenger up)
11. Empty
12. Green/white (right left up)
13. Green/red (rear left down)
14. Empty
15. Green/black (right rear up)
16. Green (right rear down)
17. Empty
18. Black (passenger down)

This pin out conversion is subject to change based on what year you have, (facelift, pre 2008, access cab) etc.

please reference the wiring diagram for your specific truck as they’re not all the same. However it’s pretty easy to figure out what wires have to go where.


4- Door Sill plastics.



So one of the downfalls is it’s a TON of work to try and make the door sill plastics from the third Gen work.


Underneath is wiring that is fixed and near impossible to move and make fit into 3rd Gen tracks. I’m assuming it could be done but this FAR surpasses my patience for tinkering. The super easy and better solution is to (properly) paint all of your plastics with an appropriate paint.




What i used is dupilcolors Vinyl & fabric paint (black) with the proper prep work this stuff is the best thing since sliced bread.



It’s best to use paint thinner to clean your parts as it’s a solvent and has a 2 fold purpose, it cleans dirt and grease and also lightly softens the plastic to make it more accepting of the paint which alone is a great product.


After painting my pieces I’ve tried to scrape off the paint and it won’t budge, only way to get it off is with a razor blade. The end result was fantastic.


SIDENOTE: this is also a great product for doing your headliner if you’re looking to go all out with the black interior. Once sprayed on it doesn’t get hard & stiff like you’d imagine, it stays soft life fabric should.


5- Air Ducts.


So this is the only truly “chopped” part of this swap and is probably the only part some of you may experience trouble. I suppose the lower your standards on quality the better. I like things to be as proper as possible so I’ll share how i did it but if you don’t like it, do it another way lol.


In the above picture you’ll see both inlets to the air exchanger, air box, heating element, I don’t know what you wanna call it, it is what it is, the thing that takes air from outside, makes it hot or cold, and puts it in the cab, that thing lol. The one on top is the 3rd Gen, and below is the 2nd Gen.


So basically you’ve gotta cut them both and make a mix breed mutt of some duct work. The way I tackled this was by cutting them both in the same section after taking some measurements. Then I hot stapled them together, put a 2 part epoxy on it and wrapped it in HVAC tape. Below is the end result

As you can see in these incredibly poor quality photos, the ducts connecting to the truck are the 2nd Gen ducts which are merged with the 3rd maintaining perfect functionality of the 3rd Gen vents.


While this may look daunting and a tad confusing, I can assure you if you’re even a tad bit creative you can make this work. I went overkill with the tape, staples and epoxy but I like having peace of mind.




6- Mounting the dash.



So I’m going to have to gather some pictures soon of the different mounting points for the 3rd Gen dash because I didn’t get any when I was installing it (oops)


However mounting the dash is believe it or not super straight forward, the firewall mounting tabs are in the same location as the 2nd gens, so once you have the wires fed through you can click the dash into the firewall. Toyota made the 2nd and 3rd Gen cabs almost indistinguishable.


So for those of you amazed with the dash fitting perfect, amaze no more, it’s meant to fit….. there’s a few spots you have to alter to get a more solid install however it’s almost all a direct bolt in..


Photos to follow soon…..



7- instrument cluster.



So if you’re pre facelift ie: pre 2012 then this part is gonna be a wopwopwop. The 3rd Gen cluster WILL NOT WORK. I spent HOURS wiring before I realized that the 3rd Gen cluster uses a CANBUS signal for the tac and Speedo.


Luckily for all you 2012-15 guys out there, your truck does as well. Now I’m not gonna be the guy to figure it out for you, but theoretically. Since the 2nd (facelift) and 3rd Gens use the same means of communicating the tac and Speedo it should work. I’m hoping to see someone with the facelift model take this on because I’d love to see it done.


I digress…. IF YOU HAVE A PRE 2012 DO NOT BOTHER WITH THE CLUSTER IT AINT HAPPENING CAT.


This was a major bummer for me because the third Gen cluster has a certain sex appeal lol.


For all you oldies, all my 05-11 fellas, you’re going to have to use your factory cluster.


This was my solution, I re-soldered all the LEDS in my cluster with blue&white to match the theme of the 3rd Gen dash, fits nicely and while it doesn’t have a digital screen it will have to do.


I’ve also reached out to blackcatcustoms.com to see if they can make a custom gauge face with the third Gen text, and the answer the gave was… absolutely!



I’m vary happy with how it turned out and once I can modify the LED’s to my liking I will add some photos of the end result.

8- Climate Control


So this part is pretty easy given you have the right parts.


there is two models available for the third Gen Tacoma, most automatic trucks have the style shown above which WILL NOT WORK in ANY second Gen. it’s safe to say that any climate control with a digital screen or dual climate, will not work. As these communicate with the BCM for feedback.

The style you want is shown below which typically come out the the Manual trucks but sometimes automatic trucks. Basically what you’re looking for is the climate control with the Least amount of options IE no digital display, no push to start, no dual climate etc. for you 4x4 guys make sure the 4x4 switch is there aswell.


This one particularly came from a Manual 2wd truck but will work with the second Gen.

for wiring, below I have stolen written diagrams from a friend on Facebook but I’m sure he would be glad to share….



These are two different re pin photos but they both show how to do the same thing. Regardless i find them both easy to follow but the first I find much easier to understand. Thanks to Marcus Botello for that write out.

there is two plugs for the climate control and once you have the one shown above re wired, the other is just plug and play.

13- E-Brake

I know this is pre mature but I seen some chatter later on in the thread and figured I’d add this in ahead of time because it’s caused some confusion but it’s SUPER easy to do.

both the 3rd Gen and second Gen e brakes function the EXACT same and this actually took me hardly any time at all. The wire for the warning light on the cluster just needs to be re routed to the counter console.

when buying parts from the third Gen you need to buy the whole e brake assembly to go under the Center console, aswell as the brackets that hold the cables. It’s a straight swap you just need to drill new holes for the third Gen e brake and attach the cables to the assembly. Both the 2nd and 3rd utilize the exact same e brake cable so the connections to the assembly are plug and play. I will have photos soon but In the mean time I wanted to clear this up.






MORE COMING SOON

 

Wow man! Outstanding work. Thank you for sharing.

 

Yes, great writeup! Thanks for the hard work and detailed walk through.

 

Well done!

 

I'd say the thing I like least about the 2nd gen and the thing I like most about the 3rd gen is the interior. This is a cool swap. Subbed for how you did the dash.

 

Same connector as the one going to light stalk (2nd & 3rd Gen)

Numbering layout is as one looks INTO the terminal side, not the wire side.

 

I may be in the minority but I like the more simple gen2 interior over the gen3 interior. Same for exterior. That means I would never do a full out 2nd->3rd gen interior swap but it is still cool to see it being done.

I thought this was being done in Mexico already with the regular cabs anyways.

 

@Brandonstacoma this is amazing, and very detailed so far! I don't think I'd ever pony up and do this myself, but it's awesome to see it happen. Won't lie though, this very thought crossed my mind.

 

Did you actually move the e-brake or is the 3rd gen one not functional?

 

Great work! Reading and waiting for updates.

 

I thought this would be an issue initially, but after trying it the pins align in the proper slots, atleast they did for my 2010, I can’t speak to other years.

 

lots of guys in Mexico have done it, but try to find a guy in Mexico who speaks fluent English willing to give you a step by step on swapping the entire interior lol. I did have a few guys help me from Mexico but only with the help of google translate. This post more or less shows it CAN be done despite many discussions I’ve seen on this forum.

 

It’s really not as bad as you think in terms of difficulty! Acquiring the specific parts you need is the true challenging part.

 

Yes e brake was moved and fully functional. The light on the instrument cluster works accordingly also.

 

I have a 2005 Access cab and it uses the P18.

 

OP, any further post with parts required list?

 

That's awesome, I hate the foot brake on the second gens.

 

I’m gonna work on it a little more tonight.