60centenergy's 2024 Lunar Rock SR5 TRD Sport

Footwell Lighting Upgrade

Parts:

• VLED Universal Footwell Lights
• VLED Universal Footwell PWM Dimmer Kit
• VLED Rear Footwell LED Kit Addon
• Male plug for connection to light circuit from OEM footwell light location (Thanks @Siblue!)
• Some additional wire and solder for tap into illumination wire and create a ground to body connection

Total cost was $115. I had a VLED kit in my Tacoma and they looked great. I didn't get a true plug and play "kit" from VLED for our Tundra because they don't have one yet but this will make up a full kit. My lights will come on at the "high" brightness when the doors are opened and function the same way as my OEM footwell lights did. The beauty of this kit is the dimmer allows you to connect a "low" brightness power source. I was crafty and connected this to the illumination circuit so that they come on at a dim setting when the headlights turn on at night.

Step 1: See my illumination wires source thread where I ran the +12V illumination wire.

Step 2: I created a ground to body spot since I haven't done this yet and I'll probably use this for other mods in the future. I chose This location circled below. There was conveniently a stud that was welded to a frame member here that I just created a eye connector to a black wire and used a nut I had to secure it. (the picture was taken looking into the driver side panel area)



Step 3: Then I made my first connection to a piece from the VLED kit. This one will be for the "low" or dim setting from the dimmer switch when the headlights are on. They have a pigtail wire that comes with a round eye ground connector on one end and the other wire has a compression connector. I ended up cutting those off because I like soldered connections. Just pay attention to polarity. It should be obvious in this one with the wires set up the way they were from VLED. (the picture just shows wire nuts and this is because I was still testing everything worked before soldering)



Step 4: Now I am making the "high" connection that will run off the OEM footwell light connector. This is where I used the male connector that I got from @Siblue and soldered it to a pigtail I created from another wire that I got in the kit. I believe this VLED wire was a 6" connector that I just cut and then made the solder connections. Again, pay attention to polarity. You can see below I have the footwell light connector on the "high" wire with the red tape going to the dimmer and the "low" one is from the previous connection I made which is the white tape on the wire to the dimmer.



Step 5: Then I just connected the first light to that stackup after the dimmer like below. I then tested all the functions to make sure it all worked the way I wanted, then it was time to route everything through the truck. Fun fun.



Step 6: I tucked everything up nice and neat under that panel at the bottom of the driver side, taking caution not to have any wires hang down around where the pedals are. Then I routed the wire I connected after the first LED around the area I drew from the picture below. I had taken out some trim pieces to do that like you see in the pic. I'll say, the best way I've found to route wire is to tape it to the end of a utility flag and then use that to wind it around things - it works great for me and I have a ton of those flags!

Oh, and you can see the difference in the VLED light vs the OEM one in this pic below too!



Step 7: Then it's just a matter of connecting the next LED and securing it under the dash with wires out of the way then snaking the next one to the back seats. I ended up taking the lower door panel trim out to route the wire through and it worked great. VLED kit comes with plenty of extra wire across the kits I ordered so no need to worry about that.

Here’s the fronts at night on the low setting when the doors are closed:


Here’s the rears also at night on the low setting with the doors closed:

 

Glovebox Lighting

This one was not intentional but I decided to knock it out while I was installing the footwell lighting.

Cost = $5.30 (for the harness I bought)

Parts:

• One male to female connector 90980-12937 from AliXpress
• One repurposed OEM passenger footwell light (free!)

Step 1: I used the short wire harness I had ordered and I extended it with some additional wire. I added about 18” or so to it.

Step 2: Remove the passenger OEM light and connect the male end of you made harness to where the light was at the footwell area. Route the rest of the harness around the glovebox and connect it to the light you just removed.

Step 3: Then plug it into the slot where the cutout is above the glovebox ceiling. You’ll feel it with your hand up top when you open the glovebox and see from the inside - that’s where the light will shine through. To route this, you’ll need to remove at lease the passenger side trim of the front dash and I also removed the top piece connected to the vent and started back the long piece that travels across the entire dash has “Tundra” letters recessed in the trim piece. You won’t want to take that entire piece out but just bring it back enough to get your hands in to place the light in the spot above the glovebox. Here’s a pic of the wire from the side trim piece that’s out. It’s a TIGHT fit without removing any more trim but it’s doable. You can see my white and green wires traveling along the red line I drew and I circled the light that’s already in place above the glovebox.



Now just button back up all the trim and enjoy some repurposed light in that darkness of a pit of a glovebox! Yay, now I can see all my boring papers and manual I never read!

 

Anytime Backup Camera Mod

Things needed:

• Anytime Backup Camera - Gen3 Harness (Use the code "60centenergy" at checkout for 10% off! Thanks Brian!)
• Quick disconnect spade connectors, solder connection, etc (really any connection for wires you want)
• Illumination wire tap location to light up switch (see my footwell light mod)
• Ground wire tap location
• Something to fish the wire (I used a landscape flag - they work great for short fish runs like this)
• Time (took me about 30 min to install but I already had some other taps done like illumination and ground)

This will probably be the most useful mod I do to my Tundra. I had this on my Tacoma and loved it - helps with parking and seeing trailer hookup while driving. I was trying to figure out something myself for this but wasn't getting very far and then I just hopped on Anytime Backup Camera's site again (after looking there for a while) and looks like Brian's got us hooked up with a harness that will work. I immediately bought it.

Install was very easy. Luckily you can do this without taking out the head unit. I've got my writeup below - let me know if you have any questions, thanks!

Step1:
Open up the top center dash piece where the cigarette lighter plug is - very easy to do - just use plastic pry from the front edge and lift up then unplug the charger port there.

Step 2:
Identify the plug location on the back of the head unit that you will plug the harness in from Anytime Backup Camera (ABC). I circled it below. Just unplug that and plug in the harness from ABC in line from the factory connector to the head unit.


Step 3:
The ABC harness comes with a pigtail extension of wire off the constant +12V and camera trigger wire:


Use the landscape flat and secure the end of the pigtail from the harness to the opposite flag end (I just use electrical tape for this) and fish it through the back of the dash toward the driver's side floorboard. There's a lot in the way, but it's possible - just have to feel around for the route that's free.




Step 4:
Take out the driver side dash trim piece and you should be able to reach the flag and pig tail from there (I've pointed the wire path looking at the inside of the dash from the driver side trim that's removed)


Step 5:
I tried to do the switch install without popping out the panel, but that seemed to be more difficult than I had hoped. So, I ended up just popping out the panel itself - just start at the top and work that out then the entire switch panel will come out. With my SR5, I had the bottom, right 3 as blanks so I chose the bottom, far right blank to install the switch. You have to work the blank out from the back of the panel. There are 2 plastic tabs, one on each side that will release it back into the cab.


Step 6:
Then just install the switch and make wire connections. I decided to use some spade quick disconnects to connect the long pigtail from the modified harness to the switch. Then I used my wire nuts to secure the illumination + wire and the ground (from my footwell light mod!)

The I like the image better on the switch that came with the ABC kit, however the illumination light is too intense and doesn't match the rest of the switches. I opted to use another switch I had gotten from AliXpress that did match the rest of the illuminated switches - however, the icon is kinda dumb. Brian said that there will be another round of switches made that will fix this and I plan to get one of those when that's released.

Using the camera switch that came with the ABC harness, here are my connections:

Yellow switch wire to red ABC pigtail (12v supply in)
Red switch wire to orange ABC pigtail (12v switched sending to harness to activate rear camera)
White switch wire to + illumination wire tap (see my footwell mod write up)
Green switch wire to ground OR - illumination wire tap (I used ground here)
Black switch wire to ground

Since I opted to use the other switch I had for now, there was a slightly different wiring configuration and I'm happy to share that with anyone who is interested.

Here is an example shot for when I was testing to see how the switch would work (I hadn't made the spade connection yet - just testing)


Step 7:
Make quick disconnect spade connections (or however you're going to connect everything) and tuck everything in the dash, connect the switch harness to the switch and install the switch in it's spot.

Step 8:
Re-connect all the trim you took loose and then power it up and try it!

Here is the way the switches look when I have everything powered up:


Here's what it looks like when I press the camera view button - a nice yellow light illuminates above the switch telling me it's on.


Then I see the image! No lines or annoying radar or anything - just a plain and nice image from the camera

 

Thats excellent! Going to put that on my list. Thanks for sharing

 

I like your VIEW switch instead of the Camera version. Looks factory like my LC

 

Thanks! I did this in my Tacoma and was by far the most useful mod I installed. Such a simple thing but great to have.

 

That DOES look the same! Only difference is the light indicator for if the switch is on or not.

 

LC fog switch has an indicator not the view sw. The ABC link has a generic camera graphic on the switch.

 

When I hit the VIEW button on mine while driving, it shows the bed for a few seconds.

What advantage does this add?

 

I’ve got an SR5 trim with just a rear view camera and no other cameras. We didn’t have a way to see behind while driving but this mod fixes that.

 

Instantly purchased the ABC harness, worked insanely well in my Tacoma. Looking forward to the install soon, hopefully some day a front camera can be added but this is a great first step for us without the camera system!

 

Yes, it’s great! I use it every time I’m in the truck. I usually pull through parking spots and it helps me position without pulling too far and backing up. Only thing is we just have the open screen and no lines. I’ve gotten used to the lines as a point of reference so kinda hard to tell sometimes.

 

I agree that having an option for a front camera on this setup will be nice.

Brian with ABC told me that they are working on a front camera kit for our trucks. He hopes to have something by the summer. The digital camera system Toyota went with in our trucks is making it difficult for anyone to get something set up.

I’ve also found a connector with pigtail that I am going to monkey around with some cameras and see if I can get anywhere with it.

 

Added MTS Control Switch

Inspiration came from this thread. It was unclear from the posts up if this would work for an SR5. Nationwide discount + free shipping from Fred Anderson Toyota? Let’s buy it and try it!

Part number ordered is 84970-0C010 for the added MTS and DAC/CRAWL selector control switch. It’s the only purchase needed for this mod. Total out the door shipped was $172.77. My SR5 just came with the drive mode and tow haul modes.

You need to take off the side trim along both sides of the center shifter area. Also need to take the parking brake trim piece and combination switch piece out. Then it’ll be free to lift up the entire center shifter area trim. I decided to not take off the shift knob because I’ve heard it’s a PITA. You can work around not taking it off. First I took out the 4WD selector then gave myself room to push from that side plus the side lifted from shifter trim to get the multi selector drive mode switch out.

Here’s some side by sides:






Connector pins look the same which is good. I plugged it in then went for a drive without snapping it all back together (in case I needed to switch back to my old selector again).

Got it in 4HI and pressed the MTS. Bingo! It works!


Sure enough, I see all the sections in my menu for MTS! Here’s a pic of each one:

Deep snow:



Mud:



Sand:



Dirt:



I rode around a bit in the neighborhood in each mode. I could definitely feel a different response from the truck for each mode. Don’t really know how they all are supposed to perform but I’ll mess around with them in time as I get into those elements. I love the way the screen backdrop looks for each unique mode! Fun stuff.

I didn’t even try DAC/CRAWL as I know that won’t work for mine. If you have an SR5 and are on the fence, you should do it!

 

Center Console Light Addition

My center console didn’t come with a light. It’s dark in there at night. Even during the day sometimes! Gotta change that.

I knew I had the hole there for the light but never had a light come on so… I decided to investigate.

Popped open the center console rear facing cup holders:


Took a look in there and saw this guy, just hanging out:


Sure enough, it was the harness plugged into a BLANK SLOT. Come on Toyota… do all the work to get it there and don’t finish it with the light!

Luckily I still had one light left over from my footwell lighting upgrade project. So I used that.

Plugged it in to the harness then on the holder for the trim facing it towards the small hole that looks in the glovebox:


Now there’s light!

 

Just wanted to say I got this installed the other week and it works great! Although, I hated the color backlight of this switch so I just taped it off and threw it behind. Hard to find in the dark but for now I prefer it without the bright blue. Originally I intended to rearrange my existing buttons so I could put the camera on the top row, but I quickly found out the OEM switches are slotted and only fit in specific spots. I absolutely love this mod, thanks for posting with a helpful write up.

 

Do you know if it would work for Platinum?

Is it controlled by a switch or it is always ON?

 

Glad it worked! I use mine everyday to help with parking and just look
Behind while driving sometimes lol. I didn’t care for the blue the switch that came with it had either. Guy who makes those kits says he’d fix that in a future update.

Go for the AliExpress one if you want same shade of blue like mine. I get it if you don’t want to order directly from China but it’s the least expensive option I could find. I think the AoB switches are color match but they’re more expensive.

 

can’t confirm this myself, but I thought I remembered seeing some guys with Platinums on that thread order it.

it’s switched with the illumination circuit. Once I flip the steering light switch to dash lights on, past auto, it comes on. This would also come on automatically when it gets dark and the rest of the switches come on.

 

Thanks. I'm assembling a list of useful mods for my platinum which is lost somewhere in a rail station yard with 2 weeks delivery delay. It was supposed to arrive to the dealer on 11th.

 

Oh no! Hopefully it's "found" soon. Strange they lost the status of it and the fact it's way late.

 

Under Hood Lighting

I finally got to do a mod upgrade during day time so I could see what I'm doing! lol This past weekend I added my Matt Gecko under hood lighting kit to my rig. I also got pretty far on the bed lights (also part of that kit). Total cost for parts was ~$170 (part of this cost is for the bed lights too). Here are the parts/tools I used:

• Matt Gecko Bed Light + Under Hood Light kit - $151.50 total shipped
  • I ordered this kit for my Tacoma and it was great quality and wanted to get it again.
  • As of this writing, they only have a kit for the 2nd gen Tundras. I emailed Matt and asked the question and it'll work just fine for our 3rd gens. I ordered the complete bed light and under hood light as one kit. You can order them separately if wanted one over the other.
• $10 RED WOLF Wire Harness Cloth Tape 1" x 50 FT Electric Wiring Loom Harness Flexibility High Abrasion Resistance Adhesive for Automobile Electrical Engine Noise Dampening Insulation 2 Rolls
  Wire Harness Cloth Tape - $9.99
  • I got this for this mod and future mods. I used to just trust wire with it's own insulation but was convinced to add this for extra protection where I run wires - just in case. Also with this being under the hood, there's extra head involved. Can honestly use any brand for this I'm sure - it's just the one I found on scAmazon.
• (optional)
  $7 DaierTek Door Pin Switch Car Hood Jamb Auto Alarm Security Adjustable Momentary ON Off 12VDC 20A for Automotive Trunk - 3Pcs
  Momentary Door Pin Switches - $6.99
  • I got fancy with this one - decided to add these switches to activate the lights when the hood opened then they would turn off when closed. Matt provides an on/off switch that you can wire to, but I like the "automation" in my life. It's a pack of 3 on this link because I plan on adding something like this to our other vehicles. Also could get anything similar to this - it's just the one I found on scAmazon.
• Add-a-circuit fuse tap - had an extra one around the shop from another project
  • Matt sends what you need to wire directly to the battery with inline 5A fuse but I decided to make this build a bit cleaner and add a fuse tap to one of my fuse boxes with a 5A fuse
• Zip ties - had extra around the shop
• A couple of flat washers - had some around the shop

• Tools:
  • A couple beers
  • Wire strippers
  • Solder/butt connectors/some means of connecting wire to each other
  • Multimeter
  • About 1hr of time

I identified where I wanted the momentary hood switch. This spot on the right side between the washer fluid and headlight mount looked like the best.



Since the hole is bigger than I'd like for using just the stackup of nuts that came with the momentary switch, I added flat washers so it made a good connection.

I know... My hands need lotion...



Did a dry fit here and it looked great.



Just need to make sure you set the height correctly. You don't want the black spring plunger piece to bottom out when the hood is closed. I just went off a reference point for the nearby bump stop as a reference. Just want to make sure you still have some travel once it's roughly set to the top of the bump stop.



I didn't take any pictures of the wiring I did but it's pretty simple. The momentary switch I got came with about a 6" wire length that had a flat connector that would go over the flat end of the switch and just need to crimp that down, then the other end had a round terminal connector. I ended up cutting the round terminal connector off and just wiring that directly to the black lead from the under hood lights. I didn't need any additional wire for extra length. Between the length given from the momentary switch kit and what is on the lead from the lights, you should be good to go. I did have to strip back some of the protective wire cover to give myself more positive and negative wire to work with.



Now, you can go ahead and get the positive end with an add-a-circuit fuse tap wired up. I decided to use an open fuse slot in the right side box, closest to my momentary switch location. I used my multimeter to check some open locations. I was interested in an always hot spot. There were many, but I went with the third one up from the bottom in the location I have circled below. That gave me enough room to physically install the add-a-circuit tap without it getting in the way of the fuse box when closed.

The best part about this fuse box is you can fish a wire up the bottom front facing end where a larger loom is. There's enough space, just have to be patient. I drew the path I fished the lead in the screenshot below. As you can see, I fished up the red lead from the lights first and had already wrapped in my harness cloth tape. Then when it got up a ways for me to work on it, I made the connection to my add-a-circuit lead. Then I cloth taped over that. Just make sure you find the proper direction to install the add-a-fuse. Should be able to see this with your multimeter.



Then I tucked up the black negative wire along the hood latch wire path and then behind the black covers there.



Finally, it was time to snake the lights around a path to get them up to the bottom end of the hood. I decided to follow the path of the wiper fluid line. I unwound the spool of lights and then started snaking it. Here is where I went behind the black cover then met up with the wiper fluid line.



Then I followed the fluid line very closely around the hood hinge point. This is where you want to be careful that you're out of the way from pinch points. Zip ties to the fluid line are your friend here. You also want to be careful with the wiper fluid line. I wrapped some of that cloth tape I had around the fluid line where I was planning to zip tie to it. Just for added protection to not wear that rubber line over time with vibration - also want you zip ties snug but not too tight for kinking the line. You can see the wiper fluid line tucks back in there pretty far then follows up the hinge - I tried to do the same thing with my wire for the lights.



I really wanted to drop a section of that black heat shield down but couldn't figure out how to pop out the black buttons that held it in place. I didn't want to break them. So, I just wrapped this section of the wire with more of the cloth tape and zip tied to one end of where the wiper fluid line went in and then tucked up the wire as best I could in the gap of the heat shield.



I took my time and placed the lights up around where I thought they would be to get the spacing correct. I may have been off a bit with more strand leading towards the left than the right but it's pretty centered up. I also wanted to make sure it was in a good spot so that when closed, it wasn't going to make contact with anything. Seemed like the curved portion just under the weather strip was best so I went with that. Here's the final placement:



You'll have extra line back in the engine bay, so I just zip tied it together and stuck it up under the black plastic covers here.



Then you're done!

I tested it a couple times and it works great. Here’s the final product at dark, without headlights on to get the full effect:

 

Today morning i received a text from the sales manager. He says that at the city where the rail station is located, there was a big hail and some cars were damaged. He does not know if mine was among the damaged ones. Toyota reps are inspecting them one by one and it would take a while.
It is my third Platinum in 15 month with no luck and i have to get a truck by early may. I think God does not want me to have a tundra

 

So sorry to hear that. I remember some of your posts on that first tundra you had. Forgot you had another one before this one coming.

 

The first one was a lemon and it took me 9.5 month to fight toyota. After i swore not to have another toyota, for two month i was checking all 1/2 ton trucks and understood that no one comes even close to 3rd gen tundra. So, i ordered another one. We closed everything with the dealer, the price, options and what not(i'm a cash buyer). After two month waiting time i came to pick up my truck, the sales manager changed the conditions. I just got up and left.
Then at the beginning of January, i ordered this one from another dealership. The rest you know

 

Dang, well hopefully third times the charm for you. Sorry to hear all that. I had a great experience getting my ‘24. Came from a 2nd gen Tacoma. I almost went the route of 2.5 gen Tundra with the v8. Ended up going with 3rd gen for the slightly better mpg , perks of being first owner, better drivability (transmission is so smooth with 3rd gen) and better towing capacity (one day I plan on towing my parent’s camper for family trips).

 

I was worried about the newer engine at first, but honestly my experience with Toyota is they’re known for taking care of customers for the most part - At least my experience from my Tacoma days.

I’ve seen and read the horror stories and I feel for those. They’re definitely not perfect but you’re right about comparing them to the other big 1/2 ton players out there in this day - Toyota is still superior.

They use this engine in the new Sequoia and one of the Lexus models too. They’re obviously committed with this engine across multiple builds. I see that as a good thing - especially with their luxury Lexus brand.

 

And now I need this for my truck It's lit up like a shop under there! This looks amazing, you did great!

Great write up on the installation. Looks pretty straightforward, as you said. I truly can't get over how well lit the whole area is!

 

Thanks! It really was a "well worth it" mod. It'll save me lots of frustration not being able to see anything when doing maintenance under there in years to come. I'm sure any LED light strand with wiring will work, but order from Matt Gecko, he's got great kits and I like ordering from those in the community for support.

I'm about to finish up the bed lights (from that same kit I got from him) and will post my write up for it to. I'm coming off the hot lead for the outside center stop light assembly that comes on when doors and tailgate is opened.

 

Having those light up with the tailgate is smart. Definitely looking forward to seeing the bed lights installed!