Morimoto XB (gen 2) LED Projector Headlights for 2014-2021: installation & how to re-pin terminals

UPDATE: I contacted Morimoto about having to re-pin, and the backwards leveling motor dial, and here was their response:
"Hey John, The turn signal adapter doesn't ever need to be repinned. You either use it, or you don't - depending on which headlights you originally had. For a 2018 Tundra Limited, you will want to leave the adapter off, but if your vehicle has already had the turn-signal recall performed by the dealership, you will need to undo that by repinning the FACTORY turn signal connector. The white wire with the black stripe, needs to be located in the center pin of the factory turn signal connector. Once you get that all setup, replace the HAZ fuse, and you'll be all set. The backwards headlight adjustment is unfortunately the normal operation for these headlights. - Travis at Morimoto."

SO, BEFORE YOU PROCEED, IF YOU HAVE HAD THE RECALL DONE, AND DON'T WANT TO RE-PIN THE OEM HARNESS AND OPT TO RE-PIN THE MORIMOTO TURN SIGNAL ADAPTER, FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS BELOW. OR, YOU COULD RE-PIN THE OEM HARNESS IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO THAT (I DON'T). I already had the factory recall done, and opted to re-pin the black harness on the turn signal adapter since Colton walked me through it.

IF YOU HAVE NOT HAD THE RECALL DONE, NOT ONLY WILL YOU NOT NEED TO RE-PIN, BUT ACCORDING TO MORIMOTO, YOU DON'T EVEN NEED THE TURN SIGNAL ADAPTER!!I responded to Morimoto and told them the least they could do is mention the factory recall in their instructions!




First and foremost, should out to Colton @memario1214 at Hotshot Offroad for spending some time on the phone with me to guide me through the installation process where the Morimoto instructions were lacking (i.e. how to re-pin terminals in the turn signal adapters). Not only the great service and communication, but his pricing is competitive, he ships VERY FAST if in stock, and he's just seems like a great dude! Will definitely go to him first for future upgrades!

I got behind a dump truck in traffic on the interstate, and heard what sounded like a shotgun blast. Either kicked up from the road, or from the bed of the dump truck, I pulled over and saw this:


Time for new headlights, and have had my eyes on the Morimotos for quite some time. So I bought these from Hotshot Offroad (you have to select the option and buy the LED adapter harness if you have OEM LED headlights: https://hotshotoffroad.com/collections/all-morimoto/products/toyota-tundra-14-21-xb-led-headlights).

Allow yourself a little more time to install these than you think, especially if you have fender flares, since you will need to remove them to get to the side bolt for the headlight assembly. Also you'll need a few minutes to re-pin the turn signal adapters if you run into what I did. PSA, here's a reminder on why you should lay down some PPF first before installing flares; lots of crap can get behind the flares.


So, I got everything installed, and plugged in the turn signal adapters the only way they could. When I fired it up and used my turn signals, they would blink once then stop working. As part of figuring out what's up, I removed the turn signal adapters and plugged the OEM harness directly into the Morimoto harness, and when I turned on the lights, the TAIL 10A fuse under the dash blew, and I had no front side marker lights or taillights.

Here is how the OEM harness looks on my truck, a Limited with OEM LED headlights (note the white wire in the pic with my nasty fingers is actually a white wire with a black stripe):




This is how the turn signal adapters come from Morimoto's factory:


You need to re-pin the terminals to make it work. Now people with OCD (and that usually includes me, but I was tired) would normally re-pin both the gray and the black harnesses on the adapter, but I only re-pinned the black harness since it's easier and I didn't want to take up any more of Colton's time. Morimoto's instructions, even though they mention possible re-pinning, don't explain how to re-pin, AND THE ORIENTATION OF THE TURN SIGNAL ADAPTER IN THEIR INSTRUCTIONS FOR AN OEM HARNESS LIKE MINE IS WRONG. I searched and searched, and there were no instructions on how to re-pin their adapters. At this point, I contacted Colton. He has seen this issue before, and had the fix, so hopefully people on the interweb, when searching how to re-pin the Moriomoto turn signal adapters, will see this post.


NOTE, if you want to keep the yellow and black wires matching the OEM harness and the Morimoto harness, you will need to re-pin both the black and gray harnesses in the turn signal adapters. Because I didn't want to re-pin the gray harness (a little more complicated, and again, I was beat!), I only re-pinned the black harness. Wire color is not all that important, as long as the electricity is routed from one end of the turn signal adapter to the other, between the OEM harness and the Moriomoto harness.



End result after re-pinning; REMINDER, I only re-pinned the black harness, so the black and yellow wires are reversed:


If your OCD is relentless, and you want colors to match, you would re-pin both the gray and black harnesses, and it will end up looking like this:


Success!

If anyone has a question about the whether the Morimotos come with leveling motors for vehicles that in-cab controls, they do, the only issue (minor IMO) is that 0 on the dial is now the highest level, and 5 is the lowest level.

 

Nice one, bud! Truck looks great.

 

This thread will definitely help others as it is a known issue for others and should definitely be marked as a sticky. I have mentioned PPF quite often when it comes to flares, and @Jim LE 1301 takes pleasure in giving me a hard time about it.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH Charles!

 

@memario1214 check out my original post in this thread, I UPDATEd it after an explanation from Morimoto. I never saw any mention of the factory recall as being the culprit behind so many people having wiring difficulties with the turn signal adapter. Good to know.

 

Your truck looks incredible. Great explanation, just a heads up, if you tow and you have no brake lights or turn signals working on the trailer install the OEM flasher relay. The Morimoto flasher relay somehow won't allow brake and turn signals to function. Mine is a 2016.

 

Thanks for the compliment Chuck, yours is not too shabby either!

Also, thank you for contributing to this thread for others to see if they need help in the future!!