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Think I found the solution to the dim front turn signals on 18+

Discussion in '2.5 Gen Tundras (2014-2021)' started by thomasbus337, May 16, 2020.

  1. Jun 10, 2020 at 5:25 PM
    #91
    Fish2eat88

    Fish2eat88 New Member

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    Just did mine. 18 double cab sr5 6 seater. Super easy n damn world of difference.
     
  2. Jun 10, 2020 at 7:08 PM
    #92
    Heloravy

    Heloravy 2018 TRD Sport

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    I just did this on my 2018! What a difference! Thank you @thomasbus337
     
  3. Jun 10, 2020 at 7:36 PM
    #93
    Turtle

    Turtle New Member

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    Impressive!
     
  4. Jun 15, 2020 at 10:02 AM
    #94
    FLG8R71

    FLG8R71 New Member

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    I've been looking into swapping my turn signal bulbs over to LED's before coming across this thread; I just finished doing this on my 2019 and man what a difference! Thank you @thomasbus337
     
    Fish2eat88 and EDDO like this.
  5. Jun 16, 2020 at 5:18 AM
    #95
    mkeegan27

    mkeegan27 New Member

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    The problem is with the trucks equipped with LED headlights. When the headlights are on, oncoming cars can't see the turn signal because the headlights overtake the dim amber turn. I replaced mine with an led and it seems to be bright enough now. I may the the wire switch when feeling motivated one of these days!
     
  6. Jun 16, 2020 at 5:19 AM
    #96
    mkeegan27

    mkeegan27 New Member

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    I also swapped in some led bulbs but am wondering how much brighter they will be if we switch the wires? Thought I saw someone say it was minimal but i'm not sure.
     
  7. Jun 16, 2020 at 7:04 AM
    #97
    Cpl_Punishment

    Cpl_Punishment Young men never die.

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    I guess mine look good because I have the standard headlights (sorry, name escapes me right now) and I have no plans to swap them to LEDs.
     
    mkeegan27[QUOTED] likes this.
  8. Jun 16, 2020 at 1:29 PM
    #98
    SLA10

    SLA10 New Member

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    Won't make a difference, same voltage, it's the filaments in the bulbs that are 8w or 28w, led is getting same 12v power regardless.
     
    Fish2eat88 and mkeegan27[QUOTED] like this.
  9. Jun 17, 2020 at 8:20 AM
    #99
    phabej

    phabej New Member

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    NO LONGER HAVE A TUNDRA... Waiting
    I replaced mine with LEDs a while back before this mod "hack correction" came out. I like my LED it matches my LED head lamps and LED fogs, all LED. :D

    I wouldn't change it, I can see the blinker reflecting off street signs across 4 lane traffic.

     
  10. Jun 17, 2020 at 8:24 AM
    #100
    thomasbus337

    thomasbus337 [OP] New Member

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    Yeah, if you’ve already upgraded to LED then this wiring change won’t be needed
     
    Flyinryank likes this.
  11. Jun 19, 2020 at 12:44 AM
    #101
    Fish2eat88

    Fish2eat88 New Member

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  12. Jun 19, 2020 at 3:36 AM
    #102
    FlyingWolfe

    FlyingWolfe Wolfie

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    I find that sticking my arm out the window of my two year old truck and pointing towards the direction in which I intend to turn helps as well.. :rofl:
    But seriously.. will do this mod as well. Thanks for the info!
     
    GODZILLA likes this.
  13. Jun 19, 2020 at 4:30 AM
    #103
    thomasbus337

    thomasbus337 [OP] New Member

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    Damn, that’s a better comparison vid than mine, that would be the one I’d show to Toyota! Thanks for sharing
     
  14. Jun 19, 2020 at 7:48 AM
    #104
    7dgoat

    7dgoat Member

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    Great fix!!!!!! This is why I visit the forums!!!!
     
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  15. Jun 21, 2020 at 4:35 PM
    #105
    Fish2eat88

    Fish2eat88 New Member

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    You can use it whenever man Thanks for your knowledge
     
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  16. Jun 23, 2020 at 1:08 PM
    #106
    SLA10

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    Just a note for anyone repinning their turn signal. If you get an NSV lightbar, your going to have to return your factory turn light plug wiring back to original, then rewire the NSV plug that T's into your factory headlight plug, removing the blue wire and shifting the center wire to the outside hole again to use the 28w filament. This is for 2014-2019 with DRL & LED. I was blowing 10A tail light fuse, no DRL, no motor, no side lights till I figured it out.

    20200623_115454.jpg
     
    silverhack likes this.
  17. Jun 23, 2020 at 1:18 PM
    #107
    SLA10

    SLA10 New Member

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    I'll add to that, that their instructions call out 2014-19 DRL LED you have to cut the blue wire at the turn signal plug, anyone that has shifted pins because of weak turn signals will need to do this, can't speak to every model tundra. Other than the blue wire gets cut or unpinned.

    20200622_230350.jpg
     
    silverhack likes this.
  18. Jun 27, 2020 at 1:59 PM
    #108
    GREENwithENVY

    GREENwithENVY New Member

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    Working on it!
    Yep, did mine a minute ago - took about an hour. I don't have the smallest hands, so had to make some room. On the pax side, I removed the three bolts holding the windshield washer reservoir and slid it back a bit. On the driver's side, I loosened the battery hold down and slid it to the left. The reason it took me an hour was I'd reinstalled the pax side and looked on top of my tool box and saw the white plastic lock, so after some choice words, I had backtrack a bit. Worth the time and the few cuss words...Thanks to the OP.

    [An removal-install note for the rubber butt plug on the connector - I found it super simple to use the smallest jeweler's screwdriver, enter the EMPTY socket hole from the connector face and push the rubber plug out (better than trying to flip it out from the back and throwing it across the engine) and on the reinstall, BEFORE you move the pin to the outboard end of the plug, put the rubber plug back into the connector, then reinstall the pin. I found it to give me a bit more room...and didn't drop the damn thing.]
     
    EDDO likes this.
  19. Jun 27, 2020 at 2:14 PM
    #109
    Rockgate

    Rockgate New Member

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    Did mine the other day just like you GREEN. unmount the washer fluid and slid the battery over. Now they're bright like my '14 was.
     
    EDDO likes this.
  20. Jun 29, 2020 at 1:55 PM
    #110
    Krispy247

    Krispy247 New Member

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    Great info. Thanks. This was probably one of my most unhappy tundra moments. knowing I'm using my directional & no one knew I was trying to turn. 1st problem that had to be fixed. (I'm not goin to get into the " premium sound system "") LoL... Thank you! even tho I had previously installed the LED's. Great post....
     
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  21. Jun 29, 2020 at 3:02 PM
    #111
    NoCoToyo

    NoCoToyo New Member

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    Although cool to fiddle around with, swapping the wire on a '19 SR makes them dimmer...
     
  22. Jun 29, 2020 at 3:06 PM
    #112
    thomasbus337

    thomasbus337 [OP] New Member

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    Yeah, this modification isn't needed on the models with just the LED DRL's
     
  23. Jun 29, 2020 at 3:09 PM
    #113
    NoCoToyo

    NoCoToyo New Member

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    [Off topic] Just installed OEM fog lights, and aside from the fog harnesses pre-wired, I saw two other harnesses/plugs hanging loose behind bumper. Any ideas? Parking sensor?
     
  24. Jun 29, 2020 at 3:24 PM
    #114
    TTund16

    TTund16 New Member

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    Someone needs to figure out how the dim turn signals on certain models passed NHTSA tests and/or requirements!

    don't lights need to pass some visibility and brightness tests?
    How did Toyota get away with that if the lights are too dim?
     
  25. Jun 29, 2020 at 4:07 PM
    #115
    thomasbus337

    thomasbus337 [OP] New Member

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    I guess we would also have to know who does the certification for the lights, is it the headlight manufacturer or Toyota? If the headlamp maker tests them off the truck using their own wiring setup then they will work properly. The problem is when they are mounted on the truck that has been using the same 3 pin plug and wiring configuration since 2014
     
    rebmo likes this.
  26. Jun 29, 2020 at 8:29 PM
    #116
    Tundra805

    Tundra805 Quality. Durability. Reliability.

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    @thomasbus337

    Dude. You are the man! Thank you so much for all this information, research and videos. I was reading it all and thought "oh wow, this is gonna be gnarly!" – I just finished doing the wire swap (15 minutes) and bam! I have bright front amber turn signals that people can actually see!

    I did mess up and leave the white clips out but took three minutes to go back in and re-install them.

    Thank you again. I am so grateful for this forum and people like you that help us all.
     
    TTund16 likes this.
  27. Jun 29, 2020 at 9:28 PM
    #117
    TRDFerguson

    TRDFerguson SSEM #99/RGBA #8-ish?/It’s a funny name.

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    I think I'm going to give this a try - I already have JDM Astar LEDs swapped in, but it looks like they're 2 stage bulbs, so I might be able to get a little more juice out of them with this mod. I'll give it a try tomorrow and report back.

    I think LEDs themselves appear brighter without the mod because they're getting installed in a reflective housing meant for halogens.. right?
     
  28. Jun 30, 2020 at 9:30 AM
    #118
    TRDFerguson

    TRDFerguson SSEM #99/RGBA #8-ish?/It’s a funny name.

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    Just did the pin swap and it definitely appears to have helped with the Astar's, but it's hard to tell how much in the day time. Can't wait to blind some people at night now.
     
  29. Jun 30, 2020 at 5:00 PM
    #119
    TRDFerguson

    TRDFerguson SSEM #99/RGBA #8-ish?/It’s a funny name.

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    Damnit... started getting hyperflash on the passenger side after driving around a bit. Not sure why it's only happening on one side... now I'm torn between swapping the pins back or putting the old halogen bulbs back. I might get resistors eventually.
     
  30. Jul 6, 2020 at 1:05 PM
    #120
    Danman34

    Danman34 New Member

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    Well, one of my coworkers was confirmed with Covid last week. So we’re back to working from home until we can all go get tested. So I figured ide knock this out this morning. I have vled leds in the turn signals. I may notice an ever so slight increase in brightness when I compared one to the untouched other. But then again it’s hard to determine intensity in the daylight. Guess I’ll have to see how it looks at night.
     

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