Aux Reverse Light Question

I’ve been considering wiring up some LED aux reverse lights, and I’m looking for any suggestion that anyone may have for a good location of a power source to the aux light relay to turn them on with the OEM backup lights. I’m not looking to power them to a switch on the dash or anything fancy. I just want them to supplement the stock back up lights and turn on when I shift into reverse at the same time as the existing backup lights.
When I look at the options under the vehicle at the OEM wiring I can’t see anything convenient or easy to go from. Toyota seems to have the wiring harness on my 2018 ORP buttoned up pretty tight. If you have a location that worked for you, a photo would be great as well as the colour of wire that you tapped into. Thanks!

 

What your looking for is very easy to do, something I picked up on in a Ford forum. Give me alittle bit and I'll snap some pics.

 

Basically looking for the cleanest place to tap into the system for a wire that will trigger the relay when I go into reverse. Thanks, ForRun!

 

Watching this

 

So to keep it simple (in my option) is to tap the hitch plug. Ive done this on vehicles for the last 10 years and never had a problem. Some do not feel comfortable tapping the oem wires and they have purchased a hitch connector extension and tapped that. I used quick taps pictured below and sealed them up. best way to do this would be to solder the wire and use heat shrink after that.
Heres the stock runner 7pin connection. carefully cut the taped ends and roll back the weave over the wires


I tapped two wires - 12vt accessory power (black wire) that I can turn on lights at any time from a dash switch. The wire to trigger when shifting to reverse is the (Yellow wire)


For your needs to keep it simple use the yellow wire, then if you cant find a decent ground under the runner( im sure one is there but I picked up my ground inside the hatch) the (white wire is Ground). I sealed the wires with 3m liquid tape (silicone would work)


After I sealed the taps I wrapped everything in locktite insulating tape.


Next, replaced the weave material and taped it up


My 19 runner out of habit from my old truck I used an "L" bracket bolted to the frame. I couldn't find a decent place to mount it because the hitch wire connector was in the way so I relocated the connector to the new "L" bracket. When I did my 20, I found a much easier mount location...see further down. based on your lights the frame mount may be a better choice as its tucked away more and have more location options


On the 20 I went to install and for me found a mounting option that was staring me in the face the whole time! The lower bumper has two bolts. I replaced them with an Allen head bolt for a tiny bit of security(lol)


I used an "L" bracket and put a slight bend into it. Its very sturdy when mounted to the M6 100 bumper screw.




Rest these pics I'm posting for how the lights look and as others have wanted to know How I got the wires to the dash switch





Route I took to dash switches and relays whenever I get around to installing them. for now all the wire is run, I'm just being lazy. There is probably an easier way to do this but just they way I chose to run it, right or wrong






The switch I used in this pic was CH 4x4 - It kept sticking so I changed it out with Air on Board switch that worked flawless. Currently I have a rear switch to shut the aux lights off and another tailgater repellent switch to turn on any time I want... right now they are collecting dust in the garage



These are the lights I went with. I went with diffused lens, dunno why the box they came in shows driving lights

 

Wow, thanks ForRun! Great description and photos of a nice clean, simple installation. Those reverse lights are quite an improvement!! Good mounting location too and the low profile of the housing is perfect. When you tapped into the trailer harness, is the white wire a ground? Is there any difference or benefit from wiring to an OEM ground wire vs an external body or frame ground that you just bolt to? Many thanks again!

 

I've been meaning to do a write up for awhile now, with the stay at home order gave me time to put it together!
Yes the white wire is the ground. No difference from the white wire ground or body ground, its all the same. Because I ran into the runner for switches it was one less wire for me to run. I'm sure a decent body ground is down there somewhere, just use an ohm meter to verify its a good one. without a meter you can use the light itself by hooking up the 12 vt hot then touching the light ground wire to the location....if it lights, your good!

 

Oh, for anyone who's got more skill than me. the wires at the hitch go through the floor and inside the hatch. I just didn't feel comfortable cutting into the rear main wire harness

 

If you use Led pods with low amp draw, relay and extra wire shouldn't be needed.
On my tacoma, I just tapped reverse and ground in trailer harness at the bumper to power led pods.
If I remember correctly, that stock trailer harness had a 5A fuse and I put an inline 3A for the pods so it wouldn't pop main harness if lights did something odd.

 

Sounds about right for tapping the hitch. For me the in dash switches, I had to run the wire. I use Air on board but other brands all share the same rating. they are very low amp draw....less than my LED lights that put out 6200 lumen, so relays are required.

 

Ah, yeah. I meant if doing it with no switch. Just have the pods come on whenever you are in R.

 

So is it the same yellow wire that you’re tapping into? And white for ground? It might be a drier place to make a connection?

 

It appears like it could be???? what held me back is without opening and exposing the wires im not sure. Under the rig the wire runs branch off. I didn't want to chance cutting any of the other wires to find out.

 

For those that just want a little more light back there, these are phenomenal bulbs. Huge improvement over stock. And cheap, so some may want to try this before tapping into the wire harness.

But awesome write up above for adding some accessory lights!

 

Might be stupid question. I just ordered a Shrockworks Rear bumper and I'm thinking about having them add-on the Rigid lights to the bumper. Would I just be able to tap into the hitch's yellow wire and I'm all set?

I don't need the switch option and even if so I could just add it in the future...

 

Just a secondary question, ForRun, do you happen to know which wire is for trailer taillights/licence plate light? i.e. a wire you could use similarly to trigger whenever the lights are turned on. Thanks, really helpful!

 

Depending on the lights you choose, it might be best with a relay. ForRun has shown how to do it easily though, to get the relay to trigger.

 

Depends on amp draw from your lights. Mine are 4.6 amps and yellow wire handles it fine. I never looked but someone said it's fused at 5a?
Only reason I needed relays is the dash switches are less than 1 amp

 

This is a generic 7 pin diagram I used. I just used an ohm meter to verify the colors of black white and yellow. I'm sure someone may have a Toyota wire diagram to ID the wire for the tail...if not trace out the TM in this pic

 

Yes. Double check what the fuse is rated. Choose led that draw less than that and use inline fuse on led line.

Solder and heatshrink connections if you can.

4Runner may be different, but on my tacoma I used 3A inline fuse (trailer circuit had a 5A). Soldered a waterproof harness about 6 inches back from trailer plug to use for the leds. Lights come on anytime shift to reverse. The inline fuse to LED harness ensure it doesn't blow fuse to whole trailer if a light grounds out, gets smashed in a ditch, or whatever.

 

Here's a followup illustration that I found on the sister site Tacomaworld.com. I'm sure that this will apply to 4 Runners as well. Thinking about pjdabadman's question a little further, using this location might be the option where you could omit the relay, since the trailer light plug is specifically designed to handle standard trailer aux wiring loads. As long as you kept your accessory within the bounds of what trailer lights would normally draw, you might be ok just tapping into the wires.

 

Nice score! I searched before I started and could not find any (2) that matched!

 

nice mod thanks for such a detail write up & Pictures @ForRun I might have to try this I have tinted the windows and backing up is even harder now than before

 

Hey ForRun, I just wanted to thank you again for all the help you provided above. Great instructions! I basically followed everything you did, and it works perfectly. Here’s the result - the 3” leds in my Victory 4X4 rear bumper. I decided in the end that I didn’t need a relay as I was only pulling about 3 amps with those small lights and at the trailer plug, the average trailer draws at least that amount when it’s plugged in there. Anyway, it works fine, having that much light available backing up is unbelievable. The stock back up lights are pretty anemic, kind of akin to using a candle compared to the leds.

 

Good stuff here!
Much appreciated.

So tapping into 12V power would be constant power with truck on?
Tail lights would be power when lights are on?

 

Yes. When I tapped into the hitch connector, I disconnected it from the harness connectors, and made the connection on my work bench, where I could be comfortable and thorough. I didn’t cut anything but stripped the wires I needed and soldered them. Then I sealed everything up with loctite tape and reinstalled the mesh cover using high quality 3M tape. It’s good, to OEM standards, and if I ever want to return everything to original it will be easy because nothing has been cut.

 

Which switch did you buy to allow these options and do you have a wiring diagram?

Also which Rigid lights did you use - 905513 or 980023?

Thanks,

David

 

RIG905513 on the lights and the switch is air on board. I tried CH 4x4 switches and they kept sticking so threw them out. Wiring diagram was on the back of a piece of cardboard and long gone

 

Thank you.