Help: Failed inspection — need Raptor LED covers

Hey all. I just bought my first Tundra, a super white ‘15 Crewmax SR5 TRD...

Update: found a fix with the second largest grommet in this set:

170 PCS Rubber Grommet Firewall Hole Plug Set of 7 Different Sizes，with See-Through Divided Organizer Case for Car Machine Pump Water Pipe

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07ZPNLHKX?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

The previous owner (cleanly) installed three LED lights above the grill that illuminate when the lows are on. State law only allows for four lights to be on at any one time, hence the failed inspection. Shop says I need to properly cover or remove them. Obviously, I’d prefer to keep them.

The LEDs and their shrouds are circular and are roughly 7/8 of an inch. I tried rubber furniture caps from Home Depot but they weren’t inconspicuous/secure enough.

I have a TRD Pro grill so if covering the lights themselves isn’t feasible, I was thinking of covering the small rectangular housing entirely with something.

Any suggestions? Thanks!

ETA: found a fix with the second largest grommet in this set:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07ZPNLHKX?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

So strange. I wouldn't have thought that marker lights counted toward the 4 lights bit. Do they make Raptor owners remove/cover them? It sounds like BS to me, but who knows with how much authority they are flexing these days.

Pictures would help a ton.

Edit: Wait, are these marker lights?

 

What state are you in?

I would just wire them to a switch. Leave it off for inspection, then on full time after.

 

Pull the fuse for the inspection.

 

Pic added. I’m in VA.

If lights are mounted, they must work so pulling fuse for inspection won’t work.

I wouldn’t mind having it wired it to a switch but I’m not entirely sure how to do so. From what I’ve read, I’d have to run the wiring from the fuse through the firewall, back to the switch, and then back to the lights.

 

Go to a dif shop that does inspections. Exactly they don’t pass any Ford raptors?

 

Low cost solution: cover them with electrical tape.

 

I asked about LED blackout stickers and tape but the shop said no...

I’m thinking I’ll try my luck at another inspection location.

 

I live in VA too and they can be a real PITA regarding lights. Besides failing inspection, county and state police will ticket you if you have more than 4 lights running on the front of the vehicle- so if you have headlights and fogs- you are already at max. Any other lights such as off road lights, ditch lights, light bars must be covered and not used on the roads.

 

Yep, it’s brutal. I do have a pair of Rigids in there as well.

And I have to cover the light bar for the inspection, too, but it’s done easily with a factory cover. The problem is they don’t make “factory” covers for the Raptor LEDs...

 

Maybe a small one piece plexiglass panel to cover middle. Worst case, I'd find someone giving away a center insert for cheap, throw it on for inspections and swap back afterwards

 

I'd raise hell and point to factory trucks that have running lights on the roof and Raptors that have lights in the grille. The shop is just being a pain in the ass. Go up the chain and tell them you don't like being harassed.

 

Look up the law that regulates it and see what it says. Also, read the legal definitions they use in the law. I highly doubt they are failing Raptors for this BS.

 

Here's a thread about it on Tacoma World:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/raptor-fog-lights-in-virginia.605923/

 

https://law.lis.virginia.gov/admincode/title19/agency30/chapter70/section570/

95% of the trucks around here wouldn't pass inspection.

https://youtu.be/mbH60wCO-Yw

 

Lol. What’s an inspection?

 

Ahhhhh. There it is. OEM is allowed. On that, Sorry OP. You are boned.

 

Appreciate all the responses.

I’m going to go hunting for some black rubber screw caps to see if they work. If not, I’ll have to try my luck at another shop.

 

VA is a pain, I have a light bar in my front winch bumper, I ended up just cutting a piece of sheet metal and screwed it on the bumper, pulled it off as soon as leaving inspection place. So inspection, smog, then registering here, you have to have it titled in this state. Then there’s the property tax on the vehicle at the end of the year. Dealing with the dmv here is a whole messed up experience in itself. I thought CA dmv sucked.

 

When I lived in va the inspection spot let me cover my light bar with tape and passed me. But I was pulled over not long after that for speeding and the trooper told me I had to get actual covers for the lights. He didn’t ticket me though. Could try a different inspection place, but I think they enter the failure in the computer so all the stations can see it. Or just ask at a different one about them.

 

I can't comment because it would get me in trouble with the mods. Let's just say I'm glad I live in the South.

 

I would differently fail. The only thing they check in Jersey is emissions. My Camry just passed with tint all around bald tires, abs light and air bag light on no problem.

 

man are they not fun in your state..and I'm in CA

 

Op is free to do as he wishes with his truck. If it were me I’d just take the lights off and leave them off. I’ve never understood the appeal.

 

Probably the easiest thing to do is remove them and reinstall once you get inspected. If they have plugs you can pull the sockets and unplug them or remove them all together imo they should be left on the Raptor.

 

Nope... you would fail in the exact same fashion as OP.

 

Got my inspection sticker a couple days ago, guy literally said " well, your truck looks new enough to me, here's your sticker"

On my 95 he just wanted to make sure my blinkers worked.

 

Are they amber or white? I can see them having an issue with white on the grounds that they are illuminating lights and not marker lights (the Raptor lights are amber, which is universally accepted as a marker light). That is pretty shaky ground, but if there’s one thing I understand well, it’s that all too many laws are based on shaky ground. Most states have the “4 forward lights” law, but things like the white DRLs and such don’t usually count because they are below a certain lumens or visible only to a certain distance.

Probably the best option is to wire them to a separate switch in the cab (which they probably should have been to start with), though that will take some work to do. Another option would be to make some sort of little metal cover with some sheet metal from Home Depot that can clip over the mounting brackets they are attached to.

I’m glad they did away with inspections here in WA years ago (my first car when I moved here in ‘98 I had to get inspected, but nothing since). I also live out of town just far enough I’m outside the emissions requirement zone (although we only have one car that is old enough to fall into the state requirement for that as well).

 

Yeah VA sucks. Don't get me started on the over 80 = reckless regardless if its 15 over or not, or over 90 = misdemeanor and jail time.

VA is probably one of the worst states to drive in.

Pro Tip: Highway 81 around Christiansburg is nothing but a huge revenue generating speed trap. They are everywhere and its not even remotely a secrete what they are doing. I've read its one if the most notorious speed trap areas in the nation.

 

So in VA how do any vehicles pass that have fog lights ? With the headlights on and fogs you would also have the parking lights on which would be 6 lights . If the Tundras have “flash to pass “ that would be 8 front lights on at the same time . I think that inspector doesn’t understand what he’s doing and blowing smoke up your a@@ .