I gathered a bunch of info from a bunch of people regarding this mod. So, all these other people deserve credit first!

Thanks to the following for being so helpful: rodneyc77, thait, Trew, Elegant TYPE S and dwb933

On to the DIY!

What does this mod do?
This mod will allow you to turn on your reverse lights at the flip of a switch AND retain the ability of the reverse lights to go on when you reverse. If you have a reverse camera you have a BONUS! It allows you to turn on the reverse camera whenever you want!

Why would you do this?
Because you can.. lol .. when combined with HIDs in your reverse lights (I can do a DIY on this if there is enough interest) it is a tailgater deterrant or a great way to see things when you are backing up or just want to see what is behind you!

Here are the parts you need:
- On/Off Switch
- I used 16 gauge wire. You probably need around 15 feet.
- Electrical Tape
- Zip Ties
- Optional - Diodes
- Optional - Timer
Total cost is around 20.00

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1. First remove all the necessary panels:
Remove the Rear seats:


Remove the Trunk Liner:


Remove the Trunk Lid liner (it is only necessary to remove only the passenger side trunk Hinge plastic) :


The next stuff you need to remove depends on where you will mount your switch. This is where you can get creative! Here are scans for all the front panels just in case you want to put your switch somewhere else then me.




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2. Now attach one side of your switch to the power wire of the 12v power plug from your glove box. It is the White wire with red stripe.

In this pic you can see my 2 red wires connected to it at the bottom right of the pic:


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3. Attach the other side of the switch to a wire and run it to the trunk lid however you want. I chose to run mine down beneath the arm rest.. under the carpet to the back seat and to the trunk lid via the passenger side. This was easiest for me because of where I mounted the switch.
Now that your wire is in the trunk lid, Splice into the green wire coming from the passenger side trunk light. You can splice into the wire by cutting it and soldering it or by using wire taps. I personally cut the wires and solder then wrap with electrical tape.

Kinda hard to tell in this pic since I have my HIDs wiring, reverse camera wiring, DOMs unit wiring and cathode light wiring all in there. The reverse light plug in the pic is not actually connected to the socket in this pic. It is the Brown plug.


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This is where my install ended for this mod!

The following are optional!
- Install a diode. A diode stops the flow of current from going the wrong way down a wire. If you wanted to install a diode you would install it on the driver side green wire. And you would need to make sure that you have the flow of the diode aiming the correct way. The correct way would be 12v -> Reverse light. Most of the people who have done this mod did not install a diode with no ill affects.
- Install a timer. I did not do this since my car is a manual. In automatic cars everytime you go through the gears, the HIDs will momentarily turn on. This could kill your HIDs. So installing a timer is the solution!

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- Now clean up all your wiring with zip ties and put back all your oem pieces!

Here are some pics of my setup and some videos of them in action from other members setups!

- Pics of my switch (it is the right switch. The other is for my DOMs unit)


- Pics of the reverse lights on (I installed HIDs in mine as well as other members other members who have performed this mod, I think the HIDs are also what take this mod to another level!):




Elegant Type S's videos (My inspiration to do this):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvjx4dxfOzU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK345...eature=related

Here is my video of my Reverse light switch. My reverse light switch portion start 4 minutes into the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_mTIIpVqjg


Enjoy and Good Luck!

 

Looks good

Need to organize those wires a little bit. haha

 

Nice. That video after Elegant's is me recording behind ABP_04TL. Since then i have also added this to my car and EVERYTIME i reverse, people always stare.

 

yah.. that was the before zip ties pic.. lol .. I couldnt find a pic of the wires coming from the reverse light socket.. lol

oh my bad.. i thought it was elegants car again.. my bad!! yah Ive only had it on in front of people 2 times.. the 2 times people saw it.. i got the look from people lol

Did you use a diode or a timer?

and btw I see u play modern warfare 2.. NICE.. ps3? or xbox?

 

Xbox FTMFW! i used neither.

 

Nice write-up!

 

I can picture the reactions from Tailgaters already.

OMG WTF IS THAT?! and smashes brakes lol!

 

Gotta give back to the community!

Yah got one guy off my back already!! lol

 

Hey nice write up, can you please post diy for reverse hids? Cauz its probably my next mod as soon as weather in ny gets warmer

 

Sure, wont happen til next week tho when I have time!

 

best mod i ever did on my ABP for the tailgaters

 

Thanx alot, wont be doing it for another few weeks anyway

 

new video from last week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsBsPh7hSAQ

 

Nice DIY and videos....i plan on doing this one day

 

HID DIY created! https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...6#post11802436

 

looks like u have a jet engine in the rear

i finally know what to do with that 1 hid ballast i have laying around

 

Dont forget to post a video!

 

what kind of timer did you put in?

 

I didn't put a timer in since my car is a manual. Check my other DIY for timer questions.

 

Love this dude. Thanks for en-light-ening the rest of us!

 

np man!

 

I just did this mod on my 07 Type-S. After you remove most of the trunk lining and some of the interior up front it's pretty simple. I grabbed the 12+v power from the nav unit in the trunk. Is there anyway to add a switch for the reverse lights?

 

^JackSampson

reread thru the first post. he explains how to add a switch if you like(tailgaters switch)

 

i really don't understand how to do this switch. i want to do this in my 06' Tacoma but can't seem to get it to work without fuses blowing.

so do you take power from the CIG-OUTLET and put a switch in between that to the Positive of the HID Remote wire?

 

Sorry took awhile to answer.. i have been away from the forums for awhile..

Yes you connect the switch to the cig lighter.. then the other side to the actual reverse lights power wire. Not sure which one that is in the Tacoma. It should not blow any fuses.

 

So all you really need to do is connect a switch in line between a +12v ign power source and the GREEN wire on the passenger side reverse light oem harness? I ordered the HIDs and the relay kit and I have all the stuff to do this switch mod too. I just havent had time to tear it all apart yet to figure out how Im gonna wire it. Is it any different when you have the relay in there for the HID ballasts? I guess it wouldnt be... I might put a diode in there anyway just to be safe. Thanks for the writeup

 

^ Thats correct. If you have a 5AT, you will also need the timer relay. I used a momentary switch for mine, since the HIDs can melt the housing if left burning too long.

 

would this work?--- http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...94145000P#desc

How long do you think it would be safe to set it for? Like 15-20 seconds max???

 

Yes, that looks like the one---its the DE528. Set it for 1-2 seconds max. There is a pic in thread somewhere.

 

I was thinking about a timed relay that turns the lights off after a certain amount of time when you have it in reverse, just in case you accidentally forget and leave it in reverse too long.

Youre talking about a timer so when you shift from P to D they dont flash on and off again real quick right? Thats not the same kind of relay is it? Id need like some kind of delay mechanism, it shouldnt cost $15 like this relay you'd think???

 

Heres an on delay timer: http://www.ics-timers.com/khtimers1.html

I could wire that in to the relay's reverse light signal wire so when I shift through the gears it wont turn on the HID relay when I go through R on my way to D...

 

Sounds like you know more about it than me.
What I did was use a momentary switch (http://www.oznium.com/momentary-rocker) to prevent the lights staying on. I used the DE528T delay relay to power my HID relay harness, as described in this thread.

 

Alright, well Ill try it my way and see how it goes. Ive never worked with timed relays or ON delay circuits before so hopefully it works. If it does Ill post up how I did it.

Just to clarify, I wanst just talking about the tailgater switch- I was thinking about putting the timed relay on it so if I have it in reverse while backing up and I leave it in rev too long it will just turn the lights off automatically, so there is no chance I will ever melt the housings- whether with the switch or the gear selector. I probably should've asked this in the reverse HID thread, not the tailgater switch thread...

I wish I had thought of the momentary ON switch, thats probably a better idea than what I got- I just got a touch switch with an LED so I will know when its on.

 

turbocoop have you done the timed relay yet, im trying to see this before trying will go back to the hid thread so i can ask where to get the parts.

 

Look at my other thread regarding putting HIDs in the reverse lights.. that thread has alot of answers regarding the timer for people with AT cars..

 

bzyrice, thanks for the great write up. For those of us who already have a power line in the trunk I took it a step further and found a way to wire it up without having to run another line to the trunk. Here's the link:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12887998
Now that I've got the 55W HID kit in my reverse lights I have to be careful about showing off the back up camera while driving at night! Thanks again, I couldn't have done it without you.

 

Glad I could help!! I love it also!!

 

two question...

1.) when you connect the CONSTANT 12v CIG-OUTLET with the GREEN wire from the passenger trunk...The Switch is basically between these two correct?...sharing the same positive wire??

2.) The Switch doesnt need a ground?? just basically positive running through it?

 

This may have been mentioned previously, but is there a specfic HID kit i need? I have a 6000k H1 kit from my old prelude laying around. Could i get that to work? Also where should i get the timers for the automatic??

 

Google search "DE528T Timer Relay" and you should find it.
I'm not sure about the H1 bulbs----we used H3 for ours. The bulbs need to fit in the housing, so they can't be the standard length of say, the H11s. If it is a short bulb it should work. You definitely want the slim ballasts for this location, though.