A.R.E. Z series cap wiring

I am not sure how to wire this used cap I bought. There is a 5 wire male connector that needs to be spliced in. I believe that 3 of the wires are for the lights ( brake, running, and ground) and 2 are for the optional palm latch that is controlled off your factory key fob. I cannot find a way to contact ARE without going thru the nearest deal. Anyone on here do their own wiring?

 

I hope to revive this thread. I bought a used truck with the ARE z series cap already on. 04 Tundra Double Cab SR5. On my cap there are only 2 wires hanging from the 3rd brake light (red and black). The only info I can find is to tie into the brake light itself, but no details about which wire to use inside the brake light. I’m just looking for a point in the right direction before screwing anything up. Any luck on your end?

 

A.R.E. doesn't post how to videos on their site or YouTube. Their website tells you to contact your local dealer.

 

That’s kind of what I’m encountering. There is 1 on YouTube that I can find, not the best in terms of making sure to tie into the proper wires. There were already wires run, but the light doesn’t work, and before I go tearing into things to determine 1) if the 3rd light is just bad or 2) the tie into the brake light is faulty/corroded; I guess I’ll poke around with a multimeter to be sure I’m even getting power upon braking to the wire and go from there. Thanks for the reply though.

 

I have the Z series but purchased new at a dealer. The blue wire goes between the 3rd brake light and tapped into the red wire from the back of the driver taillight. The black wire I believe is just the ground.

The red wire is a positive always live wire that comes from a tap somewhere in the passenger footwell area.

Green and brown are for the palm latch.

You should have gotten a long wire harnesses with those 4 wires (not the blue one) to go from the passenger footwell to the cap.

Let me know if that gets you somewhere. I can probably find out what wires to tap into in the passenger area. If all you want is the 3rd brake light you can probably get that done pretty easily since it's just powered by the driver side break light bulb.

Also I don't think you need the red wire. I think that is just included in the standard harness in case you order it with interior lights.

 

If it's only 2 wires then all you need to do is splice the RED to your brake wire and BLACK to chassis ground.

 

Red is + to the brake light, black is ground. The upper socket behind the taillight has three wires, green, green with a yellow tracer and a white with black tracer. If I remember correctly green is the brakelight and the white/black is ground. Being in MI, I would solder the connections, scotch locks a t-taps will quickly corrode and fail.

 

That is completely different from mine. I just got through some installs where I was looking at the wiring for my cap so what I posted is not by memory. The only thing I don't know is whathat wire to tap into for the palm lock. If anyone needs that I can just remove the plastic cover and look.

This thread is going to turn confusing though because some are replying about an older model cap for an older model truck. The OP was about the Z series in a 3rd gen.

 

Thanks for the help guys. I don’t have a harness, just the 2 wires coming from the 3rd brake light and the 2 that are coming into the bed from the hole in the bed wall. I bought the truck used, and the wires were cut like somebody snagged them while yanking something out of the bed. So I’ve confirmed I have power to the red coming through the bed...which means the brake light either had a wire pull lose during the event that severed the wires, or it’s all burned out. ARE likes to make sure you can’t DIY, huh? Now it’s pretty tough to track down a replacement light or cross reference a part number, or find out how the heck to remove the light in the first place without going to a dealer. Thanks again.

 

You can use a lith/ion battery or even a regular 9v to test the brake light. Just strip a 1/4" of insulation off of the wires, touch them to the + and - on the battery and see if it lights up. If its shot, AT-LED-36 R or W is the part number you want. 36R is red, 36W is clear but the l.e.d.'s are red. Any cap dealer should be able to get it for you, it's a standard 10" recessed light used by several cap manufacturers. For removal of the old one, if there are 2 plastic plugs or two screws visible from the outside remove the screws or the plugs and then screws and the brake light will come right off. If there are no screws then it's taped on the underside of the light. A little heat will soften the tape and you'll just need to pry from the back side to remove it.

 

Still need help ? Sold and installed toppers for long time.

 

I should be good now with the new info. I’ll post some pics once it’s all resolved.

 

Are you pretty familiar with ARE toppers and their wiring harnesses? Just bought a used one and need to figure out how to not only wire up the harness, but program the latch to my key fob

 

I know on my A.R.E. Cap, the wiring for stop, running and led lighting is tied into the drivers side taillight. As for the electronic lock for the cap, you have to run up to the door wiring to tie into the lock and unlock. Mine was factory wired cap and that’s what I had to do per the directions.

 

Good to know. I may pass on wring my electronic lock for now and just do the other lighting. Thanks

 

Can anyone show me a picture of your ARE palm handle wiring? Like the wires/ connector on the back side. I order an electronic lock handle but it didn't come with a harness.