DIY: Baja Designs Squadron-R Sport, 14+ Mount Kit & Bezel

2014+ Baja Designs Squadron-R Sport DIY Install



*Disclaimer* I don’t work for Baja Designs or Tundras.com, this is just my documentation of how I installed my Squadron’s.

I’ll start by explaining why I went with this setup. At first I wanted to go with fog light replacements that I could use all the time without having to worry about blinding oncoming traffic. There were a few options I considered at first, however the Squadron-R Sport’s and the Baja Designs mounting kit with plug and play harness seemed to “shine” when making my comparisons so much that I decided it would be better to go with an off road light instead of going with something I was going to keep on while driving all the time. I went with the most street friendly beam pattern, the Wide Cornering lenses, but only plan to use them in fog or when there is no oncoming traffic.

The main features I like are that you can swap the lenses out to change color and beam pattern. The billet aluminum bezel with the mount kit, and the plug and play harness for our Tundras. When paying for top quality parts, I didn’t think I should have to splice my factory wiring or buy/make a homemade harness. I’m happy to have a quality Baja Designs harness that plugs right into my factory fog light harness.

Purchase list:

One pair of Baja Designs Squadron-R Sport LED Lights with the Amber, Wide Cornering Lenses

One spare pair of Clear, Wide Cornering Lenses

Mount kit with updated bezel for 2014+ Tundra fog light

Unboxing:




Tools needed:

Flathead screwdriver

10mm, 12mm socket

Allen keys


Install Steps:

Remove the OEM fog lights.

Once you remove the OEM fog lights it will give you a better vision of what the Squadron’s should look like with the Tundra mounting brackets and bezels installed. So the first thing I would do is remove them so you can take a close look at them. I would imagine you could remove the fog assembly front the front without unclipping the harness, but I reached in and unclipped the harness first.

EDIT: After posting this a few guys have mentioned that their OEM fog light housings are secured with blue clips which have to he removed from behind the bumper. My truck is a 2014, it seems these blue clips may be on 2016+, but I'm not sure, if anyone can confirm/deny this please pm me.

1. Remove the screws/bolts/push pin securing the lower wheel well liner. There are two 10mm screws and one plastic push pin in each wheel well. There are 10mm screws and one 12mm bolt holding the wheel well liner in under the front bumper. I did my driver’s side first and removed this liner however I broke one tab. I have a touch of OCD so I wasn’t too happy about that. Even after removing the liner and getting a better look I didn’t feel comfortable trying to remove the passenger side, so instead I just removed all the screws/bolts/push pins and bent it just enough out of the way so I could get my hand behind the bumper to unplug the fog light harness. This is the way I would recommend. Once you remove the fog light harness I would use this method to remove the fog light and housing from the bumper.


These are the two 10mm from the inside that I removed in yellow. The push pin I removed is in red.



This is what I removed from under the bumper. One was out of view, hence the arrow.





After removing those little guys I was able to bend the bottom part of the fender liner just enough so I was able to get my hand in there. Then I unclipped the wiring connector at the fog light. After that I used a flathead screwdriver and gently slid it between the bumper and the plastic surrounding the foglight, at the top, right in the center. I pushed the plastic housing down a little and pulled the housing out from the top. This is what the OEM fog light assembly looks like once removed.




And the bumper without the fog light.



2. Installing the brackets and bezel on the Squadron’s, installing into OEM housing.

First thing to do is use an allen key to remove the front bezel on the Squadron, replace it with the Tundra bezel to give the same angle the OEM light had, like this…




As per the Baja Designs instructions, when installing the mounting brackets, make sure to put the star washer between the light and the bracket. The Baja Designs instructions illustrate the way the brackets should be mounted, once you look at the OEM fogs and the Baja Designs brackets it is self explanatory.

Slide the two tabs in like the OEM light, then secure the other bracket with the OEM screw into the OEM housing just like the OEM light.






Then you will have this. Pretty.




3. Install your plug and play harness to the wiring. Two wires will come from your Squadron’s, one black, one white. If you look at the connector the black wire goes into slot “A”. The Tundra play and play harness needs the connector installed, that harness had two wires, one brown, one black. I ensured that the connector was installed so the black wire went into slot “A”.



4. Plug in the wires, push in the fog light housing, reinstall your wheel well screws/bolts/push pins.

These numbered steps are kind of BS, sorry. Anyway, now plug your harness into the Squadron light and then your OEM fog light wiring. Then push the fog housing back in, I put the bottom in first then canted it upward, pushing the top into place. Note the nice fitment.




5. Walk a few steps away from the front of the truck, avoiding any hazards, then look at the truck for a bit….




6. Wait until dark like a kid on Christmas Eve then turn them on!




It's only been two days but I have to say I am really impressed with the quality of these lights. They way surpassed my expectations.

Update: It's been a few weeks and I was finally able to get some night comparison shots. I love these things, see for your self. These are all with my HID retrofit low beams.




Update: It has now been over 2 years since install. I have had no issues at all with them, still love them. I am still rocking the amber lenses, but want to try the clear some day just to see how they look.

 

That looks super legit.

 

Nice set up on your truck

 

Thanks @Paulskie & @Les7311 !

 

Looks damn good! Do you have or could you get a picture looking out the windshield?

 

I will try to take one tonight.

 

Thank you! I've been looking at these and the rigid lights to replace my morimotos(?). Are the Bajas a snug fit like an OEM product? How much did you have to adjust them once the bracket was in place? Sorry for all the questions BTW.

 

Not a problem, that's the point of this forum!
I was on the fence between these and the Rigid's and this is why I chose BD.
- I read some negative reviews about the Rigid mounting brackets, one of them being rust. The BD uses the plastic OEM housing with a billet aluminum bezel and SS brackets which arent visible. The way they salt/rock the roads in PA I know I won't have any issues with this setup looking beat up after time goes on.
- Wiring. BD includes a vehicle specific wiring harness to plug into your OEM fog light connector. IMHO if there is a high quality vehicle specific kit available you shouldn't have to splice wires or buy/make a harness. BD kit comes ready to rock and I know the harness is top quality.
-Interchangable lenses. If I don't want amber anymore, I pay a couple bucks and can swap to clear, if I want combo instead of wide cornering, same thing. Moisture issue? New gasket. That system is awesome.

They are absolutely snug, like your Morimoto's, they bolt to the OEM housing.

I don't think there is a way to really aim them. They attach securely to the housing and the aim seems spot on to me. I would assume if you don't want them pointed normally you could try to shim or modify the OEM housing, but I don't see the need. They throw so much light, you will get light where you want it and more.
The overall fit & finish is great, it's a great design. The vehicle specific bezel is the front bezel of the light, with OEM housing, it can't get much cleaner than that!

 

Great write. I have these lights and will say they are awesome. Very nice kit from Baja designs

 

Awesome! I'm no longer on the fence! Thank you for the amazing input.

 

If you don't mind sharing, what was the final cost of everything seen here to install?

 

@scpete24
This is from Bailey @Baja Designs

Plug and Play, Fog Pocket Kit (447110) - $121.45
https://www.bajadesigns.com/product...-Current-Tundra-14-Current-Fog-Pocket-Kit.asp

Squadron-R Sport, Pair, Amber Wide Cornering (587815) - $215.95
https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/squadron-r-sport-pair-wide-cornering-amber.asp

For Forum Pricing:
As of 10/15/17: Use "BDForums" discount code. It's 10% off and $5 shipping to the Lower 48.

I also ordered a spare pair of clear lenses.

 

Not bad for a pretty sweet upgrade! thanks

 

Agreed!

 

Thanks for the write up, I just got done and it is as good as you say.

 

I made my own harness for the rigid Deutsche connector. The rigid bracket should not rust. I modified my bracket to fit the BD squadrons. The fog light is much more secure than the BD mount. Looks good though.

 

I bought and installed my pro's before they offered the bezel for them, I kinda want to buy them to close that small gap but I tilted the squadrons forward a tad bit because they were so bright so the bezel may not work for me, I use them as my fogs with the wide cornering lens and in 6 months of having them I only been flashed twice, top notch quality product.

 

Yo Ocho! Where are the night pics?

 

Sorry I have been slammed busy, I'm slacking! Hopefully soon!

 

Patiently waiting for night pics. Any chance I could convince you to do a comparison with the amber vs the clear? When you're not busy

 

Here is our shop 4Runner with the Baja Designs Squadron Sports in Amber (Driving/Combo pattern) on with the headlights

 

Sorry for the horrible cell phone quality. Front of the vehicle to the dirt is about 10-15 feet. Side to side spread is exceptional as well as the distance.

 

Now if I could get a similar pic with the wide cornering set I could determine which set to order. Thank you @sdhq_offroad

 

Wide cornering will just cut the distance down, side to side spread will be the same. The driving combo pattern is essentially a 2 spot optics on top with two wide cornering on the bottom.

 

Sorry I have been crazy busy lately, no time for anything. This weekend I plan to take the truck out at night so I will be able to get a night output picture for you guys. I didn't do the fog light anytime mod so all comparisons for me will be with my D2S HID's on.

As far as comparing the amber to clear, I wish I could for you! I would need to do the install process over again, as you can't swap the lenses without removing the light from the housing. I'm sorry brother but unfortunately right now I just don't have the time to do it.

If I decide to switch to clear lenses in the near future I will let you know and post up some pics.

Sorry I suck!!!!

 

@WarEagleSteve a while back we had talked about white vs. amber. Some articles I have read contradict each other, but I think this article sums it up well and seems to make a lot of sense.

@WatTundra this may help with your white/amber decision.

https://www.google.com/amp/dustrunnersauto.com/purpose-amber-light-bar-work/amp/

 

Great write up!

 

Thanks man! To be fair I haven't been using the BD lights with oncoming traffic.

Thank you! Hopefully it helps someone. Personally I like checking out a step by step DIY before doing something for the first time so I know what I'm getting into.

 

I forgot who but when I had a 2gen Tundy someone on here did a DIY on BD fogs but the lens was clear and they too were squadron pros ...but now u did for 3rd gen i wana do as well but i want clear driving fogs...once again great job n write up!!!

 

yeah great write up. this beats the hell out of spending $250 on prius fog lights lol. i just pulled the trigger on the white with driving/combo lens. might have been mentioned, but all the lens are interchangeable. so you can switch color (white vs amber) and pattern (driving vs wide). not a super easy swap, but the lens are cheap at least.