Topper Brake Light Tap with Meso Total Tail Stage 1

Hi all. This may be a long shot but I will ask anyway. I am considering changing from a hard tonneau cover to an ARE cap, and I have the total tail stage 1 mod installed. I'm assuming that when they install the cap they will tap the brake portion of the tail lights for the 3rd brake light on the cap. Am I going to have to revert my tail lights back to stock before it's installed or can I keep the total tail stage 1 kit without messing anything up? Thanks!

 

I did that when I fabricobbled a brake light for my Softopper. Tapped the truck side harness on the left side for the light. I have sorta TotalTail Stage 2s. Zero issues.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...be-content-dammit.636594/page-4#post-23908102​

That said, I believe @daveeasa has a PnP harness that you can get?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...be-content-dammit.636594/page-4#post-23908102​

 

Thanks Tony. I kinda figured this would be a rough one to get answers on.

 

You're welcome.

 

I have the total tails stage 1 and I second getting the P&P harness from @daveeasa. It will plug in inline with the total tails and you installer or you can attach the topper brake light to the pigtails from the harness. I built my own harness before these were being made and it works great.

https://fbchs.square.site/product/t...true&sa=false&sbp=false&q=false&category_id=6

 

You suck the brake signal off the truck's side of the harness, freeing you up to re-route to the full C brake or do red turns like @Puppypunter or switchback like most of us via MESO or vled tail kit or tailgate strip or ....

So, yeah, no shirt, no shoes, no problem on this one.

 

I went to talk to my local ARE dealer to price out the cap and asked about how they wire the 3rd brake light. I'm throwing the caveat out there right now that I am mechanically impaired so if you talk truck tech to me you might as well be speaking Greek, and I was talking to the sales guy to get a price and not the installer. He said they NEVER splice because CANBUS systems don't like it and throw codes you can never get rid of without replacing wiring harnesses. For the dome and interior LED light strips they would run a wiring harness directly from the battery. The thing that confused me is he said for the brake light they would use a plug in the engine compartment? I didn't know such a thing was possible or existed. Maybe he didn't really know what he was talking about or he didn't know the Tacoma in particular. In any case if/when I order the cap I will have a talk with the installer and see if I need to provide them with the plug and play harness.

Incidentally, they did say that production time was currently running 6 weeks. Last October they were running 3-4 months. Not as bad as I thought it would be.

 

They might try to grab at the relay for the stop circuit? @caribe makaira do you happen to know where that sucker is located? Might be in the engine bay relay box. I'd be fairly impressed if that's how this dealer rolls.

 

That sounds psychoic. I do not believe that our tail lights are on the CANBUS network. Second, what is their quote for that? It has to be insane.

For a low draw brake light, tapping the circuit has been done over and over again. I don't recall an issue posted here.

For bed lighting, yes. Tapping off of the battery is the usual way. But, for them to do it, your going to be in it for more money than it is worth. I've been running a fridge and my mood lighting off of a simple Dometic harness. It was easy to install.

$50 Dometic HWK-DC Hardwiring Kit

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WSXYCR6​

Just my opinion.

For fun:

1 - Dometic panel
2 - Brake light harness with disconnect
3 - Mood lighting pigtail

 

EB1 has the brake light, but I don't know why you'd go to there to grab it. It is the same wire as in the back of the truck. The brake lights are not canbus on these trucks. The main concern is just drawing too many amps, but assuming you are just talking about a regular brake light, you'll be fine.

 

Tony's big knob and mood lighting, good combo.

 

The tailgate is always open.

 

Hopefully @caribe makaira can explain it like I'm a 4 year old

 

For the ARE Classic with a tilt-down front slider window, standard 1/2 sliders on the sides single T-handle door, headliner, 12v dome light with dual rope LED lights and a prop switch, removing Bakflip G2 and relocating the bed rails back to stock location, all wiring and installation, is $3390 out the door including tax. I'll talk to the installer when I order it and make sure how they are doing all the wiring.

 

Depending on engine typeL=:

 

That is a decent price, if they do the wiring.

Good luck!

 

Thanks I think I'm going to pull the trigger tomorrow as long as I get the right answers when I talk to the installer

 

Placed the order this morning and the sales guy spoke to the service manager. The power for the lights (dome and LED strips) will come direct from the battery so they have a constant 12 volts and can be switched in the cap. The 3rd brake light connection does in fact come from the tail light. They have a way to tap that ARE requires to keep their warranty in place and doesn't cause any issues. There comes a point where you have to trust that they know what they are doing, and the service manager has been doing this stuff for 20 years. So now the 6 week wait.

 

^^ $50 says that’s a T splice. And a bunch of BS using lawyers to justify.

I’d self install.

Caribe had a cool idea, a short jumper at the in cab brake controller from constant fused power to brake controller output. Then steal the brake controller for fused power at the hitch. No need to run extra wire to the battery. Just need a gooseneck T and cut it up.

Warranty on what? A $20 third brake light? Ridiculous.

 

For you, absolutely. For me, I'd end up with $1k of electrical harness replacements at the dealer to undo the mess I'd make. You do NOT want me near your truck (or anyone's truck for that matter) with tools lol Tuning I can do, but that's about it