Grey wire mod

[mytacoma]

I read an article about a wiring modification that would alow me to use my rear locker even when i'm not in 4L . Does anyone have experience with that mod? How would it effect my warranty? Yes, my truck is 4 years old but, I leased it for 3 years then bought it with only 34K miles on it so i bought an extended warranty. I may try it anyway but thought I'd see if anyone here has tried it.

[Matt]

I believe it can be reversed so shouldn't ruin your warranty....SD Taco should be chiming in on this one :-)

[SD YODA]

hey, yes there is a mod for it to lock out of 4WL in otherwords whenever you want. it involves a grey ground wire. gimmie till tomorra to get you the full info on that. ill get pictures and detailed info on it and such, but for now, its time for bed

[Matt]

Hey Doug, if you get-r-done see if you can write an article for us, take a lot of pics!

[SD YODA]

hey doug, dug up some info and heres the skinny on this. if you have a warranty on the truck, consider a good portion of it void if you do this. because by doing this modification it will void certain parts that are covered by toyota. and belive me, toyota will check this on just about any drivetrain warranty work.

first off youll need some wire cutters, about a 12 inch ground wire preferably around 12ga. thick. you are gonna need to put this wire into a good ground so keep it in mind. also, youll need a few screwdrivers both (+) and (-).

now, you are gonna need to remove the lower door seem pannel to access the front kicker pannel. once you access and remove the front driver kicker pannel, locate the 4WD computer (wich controls all the 4WD stuff) and disconnect the white plug that goes into it. once removed, locate the solid GREY wire. cut the wire about 3 inches away from the plug, giving you enough room to but in a spade connector on the end. this will allow you to connect the wire into factory specs in case you need a warranty check for whatever reason. once you have the spade connector crimped in, crimp an opposite end on the other side you cut (grey wire coming from the wiring harness) once its crimped, fold it away and leave it out of the way. REMEMBER that 12 inch wire i told you about? well, put the same connector spade that you installed on the stock wire on it as well. (so in other words, youll need 2 female spades, and 1 male spade.) once you connect the spade onto the 12 inch wire, connect that end to the wire coming from the white connector side. once that is together, tape it up nice and snug so it has no chance of working itself loose (not that it will) and then ground the wire to A GOOD GROUND. once all tthat is done, put everything back together and test it out. i have the following pictures i dug up that will show you these processes you will need to do and what the lights should do once you push the RR locker button.

 an easy way to check it is to jack the rear end up from the ground so both wheels spin freely. once that is done go ahead and check it. here are some pics of the processes.

[Gerald]

I did a variation of the grey wire mod. Instead of just running the wire to ground. I ran my up to the ect switch, so that is is normal all the time and then when I hit the rear locker and the ect switch it locks the rear locker. I can lock it in 2wheel drive, 4h or 4l. Makes it nice and neat and can be put back to normal if needed.

 

[SD YODA]

heres a few more pictures for you doug. if he does it this way, he'll slide under the warranty check and can still put it back to normal before inspection.

[mytacoma]

I'll have to think about this a minute and, check my warranty expiration. Hell once i do a suspension lift I will have voided most of it anyway. Wonder if the deckplate effects the warranty? This gray wire thing sounds like the thing to do especially up here in snow country.

[SD YODA]

yea, suspension lifts only affect warranty if the warrantied part in question is directly affected by what has been done to the truck or parts that are non-toyota oem that have caused the original part to fail.

[SD YODA]

i must also add that this mod makes the truck lots of fun in the rain! but given that if you run this on the street too long it takes a toll on your bearings and rear end parts so use it sparingly unless theres a give in traction conditions (such as rain, snow, dirt, etc...)