Switch wiring with 5-terminal switches

Well, this is my first post as a new TW member. Been trolling the forums for a while, as I've been preparing for my first Tacoma. Just bought my 2018 TRD Sport 4x4 Double Cab and I'm working on my mods.

My first install was the Raised Cali ditch lights. And this is where my first issue came up.... Installation of the lights and the engine bay wiring (with included harness), and feeding the wires through the firewall was a breeze. I also bought the Raised Cali 3-switch panel for the cubby hole replacement....also a breeze to install.

But then.....there are these little things called switches and relays....and this is where I hit my wall, as I am electrically-challenged. The little round switch that Raised Cali includes, I'm going to replace with an OTrattW switch (Contura XIV). I'm wanting all the switches (including future installs) to be lower-independent. Meaning,... I want the text at the bottom to be lit whenever the lights are turned on, and the top to be lit only when I actually turn the switch on. These switches are 5-terminal switches and the harness that Raised Cali includes with the ditch lights has 3 wires. Blue, White, and Black. I've downloaded the diagram from the OTrattW site, but it's all jibber-jabber to me because I have no electrical background. When I called OTrattW to ask them about it, their response was.....go to Tacoma World forum and the guys there will have your answers. (Which seemed a bit deflective)

So, to the point......how the heck do I wire these things? How do I connect 3 wires on a 5-terminal port....correctly? Which wire goes where? What needs to be grounded and what does it ground to? Do I need additional relays other than the one on the harness? If so, how do I do that? I'm just completely lost and I don't wanna blow anything or destroy my lights. I'm going to follow this install probably with a hood scoop light bar and engine-glow LED's. (and down the road, 4 Vision X cannon floods.) So I'm sure I will need to know this stuff for those as well.

Can anyone help me out?

 

Hmmmm. 72 views and not a single reply. Guess I came to the wrong forum.

 

Maybe a pic of the switch, front and back as well as a pic or link to this diagram you have.
Basically the ground is needed for the backlight to function. The other two wires will be power in and power out(to the relay).
To accomplish what you want to do, the diagram of the switch pinout will be helpful.

 

@ daddy_o - Thanks for your response. Below is the diagram they have on OTrattW.com for the switch. The thing that says Pin-Tab Outs gives me the impression I'll be splicing wires? Negative going to (7 & 8)two ports? Then there's the harness that Cali Raised included.....there's a relay that I've secured in the engine bay that seems like all the wires go through before reaching the battery, and there's what I'm guessing is a fuse that is on one of the wires (can't remember which wire without pulling my switch panel back out.) I wouldn't know where to find the dash light circuit for position 6. Which wires are POS+ and which are Neg- ? And it seems like I have 3 wires to run to 5 port locations....doesn't make sense unless I'm splicing or something.

I know I'll feel stupid after an explanation because I am fairly intelligent, but I'm really needing switch-wiring for Dummies right now....just so I don't screw something up.

 

O.k. So what are you wanting to be lit up and when. I see upper and lower lights.
Lets start with the simple stuff. On your harness from Cali raised, You should have a cable from the battery pos to the relay, fused. From the bridge of the relay that will go to the ditch lights. To activate the relay you need the relay trigger grounded which is probably accomplished in the harness. With that you need a wire from the switch to the relay trigger.
So your switch will need the wire connected to the relay on pin 3.
To switch power to pin 3 you need your source wire (12 v fused) connected to pin 2.
Assuming the relay trigger is grounded through the harness, This will activate your relay and turn on your ditch lights without your switch backlight working.
To get the switch lights working this is where you need grounds to the switch.
Before getting in to this too much and both of us getting confused, can you post a pic of the three wires you have that need to go to the switch, and do you know if the relay trigger is grounded?

 

So I popped the hood and took some pics. I have no idea if the relay trigger is grounded, I assumed the black wire is a ground as it usually is. I would assume CR would supply a grounded harness, right? The red POS+ to the battery is fused as you said. The current switch I have on it is the little round one Cali Raised included...blue, white, and black.

What I want is this.... lower independent. (Wrong text and image, but this is the switch) Text lit up while dash lights/headlights are on , then image at top lit up when switch is actually flipped on and ditch lights are working.

 

O.k. So with this, the black will go on pin 8.
You need to determine which is constant hot and which goes to the relay. You can do this with a voltmeter. Constant hot will go on pin2 and the other on pin3. If you dont have a voltmeter handy, connect the black to 8, connect the wires to 2 and 3. If the switch is lit up in the off position you have the wires on 2and 3 backwards. Once those are connected properly you should be able to operate the ditch lights with the upper image lit when ditch lights are on and nothing lit when switch is off.
You can jump from pin 8 to 7 and share a ground, then you will need to splice into the dash light circuit for pin 6. I cant help with that one, sorry. I hope someone who has done that can chime in. It seems like there was a thread about this, if I come across it I will link it.

 

These guys may be able to help you with power to pin 6.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/switch-lighting-queston.554263/#post-18062372

Or this one
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/tapping-the-dash-lights-circuit.413945/

 

When you say jump from pin 8 to 7 and share a ground.....what does that mean exactly? Is this where I would be splicing?

I'll try to search for a thread about the dash light circuit on pin 6, unless someone else sees this post and can explain. Thanks for the links!

 

You can make a jumper wire with a single spade connector to pin 7 and a piggyback connector to pin 8. And you are welcome on the links, I hope you can get some help on that part of it.