'26 / 4th Gen Under Mirror Puddle Lights - Routing through door boot?

[bobetaco]

I'm trying to install and am having a helluva time figuring out if I'll be able to route the new wires through the door accordion/boot. On the door side, it seems easy enough to get a fish/tape fed into the boot, but on the vehicle/exit side, there is a big block and I'm not able to see where it would come through inside the vehicle. I have removed the sill and kick panel and there are a bunch of connectors on a bracket where I believe the wires should come through. Has anyone had success routing additional wires through the door boot on a 4th gen.2026 Tacoma Sport? It has the tech package, so maybe there are more harnesses and connectors blocking my path. idk.

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[ProLeather6]

Wow, I didn’t even realize these were available. I’m a big fan of puddle lights!

I had a 2020 RAV4 Limited and a 2023 RAV4 XSE, and both had the tiny factory LED puddle lights in the mirrors. The problem was that they were extremely dim and would shut off after maybe 15–20 seconds, even if the door was still open or the interior lights were on. That always drove me crazy.

I initially wanted to add a brighter light to the OEM mirror puddle lights. But since I hated how quickly the factory lights shut off, I started thinking about tapping into the dome-light circuit instead so they would stay on and fade in and out with the interior lights.

The problem was that the RAV4 had a pretty large connector block where the wiring passed between the body and the door, and I couldn’t see an easy or clean way to route additional wiring through it. Rather than fight with that whole setup, I abandoned the mirror-light idea completely and went a different route. It sounds like, based on your experience, the Tacoma has the exact same problem.

I found a pair of 64-inch truck-bed LED strips on Amazon for $40 and mounted them underneath the vehicle, basically running the length of the doors. I tapped them into the interior dome-light circuit, ran that through an on/off switch, and then split it to the left and right light strips.

It worked really well because the entire area underneath the front and rear doors was evenly illuminated instead of having one concentrated light coming from the mirror. They also faded in and out with the factory interior lights, which made the setup feel surprisingly OEM.

I ran them through rain, snow, road grime, summer heat, and winter with zero issues.

I already bought another set for my Tacoma Pro, but I haven’t installed them yet. On the RAV4, there was a small opening with a rubber grommet on both the driver’s and passenger’s sides that made it easy to route the wiring into the cabin. I’m hoping there’s something similar on the Tacoma.

Personally, I preferred the look and coverage of the long strips over a single mirror-mounted puddle light since the light was spread evenly across the entire side of the vehicle.

 

[daytonaviolet]

I have these on my 5th runner. Let me order and find out

 

[Ruckus]

I have experience running wire from the mirrors through the door boot after installing my 360 cameras on my SR5.

IT SUCKS!

It is such a pain in the ass to get the wire through that boot. You have such a small area to work with - I seriously contemplated removing the doors, though I thought better of it in the end.

In my experience, you will need to find the blank spot of that white plastic plug that contains all of the wires and drill a small hole through it. Let me reiterate - IT SUCKS!

Good luck.

 

[The Dude]

Like @Ruckus said "It sucks!" The molex plug is there to make door removal easier for the body shop or whomever if it's necessary. But to get any wires through on your own, ugh. I haven't closely examined the plug on these trucks, but its the usual clip-lock on the door side, and there's a retainer clip on the body side, although it is a PITA!

 

[bobetaco]

I think I'll be ok popping out of the boot and routing the wires down under the frame. I'm tying them into the bed lights so I don't actually need to go into the cab, I was just following along where the other wires were going. There is a lil opening under the door, behind the front wheel where I can route to under the truck without crossing any weather seals. I'll just be sure to silicon seal up the hole I pop in the top of the boot on the door side (where the pull tab to remove it is) and then be on my way.

 

[Toy-truck]

I think I'll be ok popping out of the boot and routing the wires down under the frame. I'm tying them into the bed lights so I don't actually need to go into the cab, I was just following along where the other wires were going. There is a lil opening under the door, behind the front wheel where I can route to under the truck without crossing any weather seals. I'll just be sure to silicon seal up the hole I pop in the top of the boot on the door side (where the pull tab to remove it is) and then be on my way.

Take some pictures throughout the process and share with us. Let us know how if turns out on the final product. I might consider doing this mod.

 

[bobetaco]

Well, it didn't go as planned. I got the door panel pulled of and determined that I was unable to get the "under mirror puddle light" wiring to the door boot, which is what would allow me to go behind the the weather stripping. Seeing no other option other than crossing the weather stripping I cut bait and put it all back together. I'm going to write the manufacturer and see if they have suggestions, but it seems likely that I'll go the route of @ProLeather6 and use LED strips under the cab. One thing I did prove out is that the cargo lights in the bed side are easy to tap into and route down to the frame. I got a couple of t-harnesses rigged up so I don't have to actually cut/splice the factory wires.

 

[Ruckus]

Well, it didn't go as planned. I got the door panel pulled of and determined that I was unable to get the "under mirror puddle light" wiring to the door boot, which is what would allow me to go behind the the weather stripping. Seeing no other option other than crossing the weather stripping I cut bait and put it all back together. I'm going to write the manufacturer and see if they have suggestions, but it seems likely that I'll go the route of @ProLeather6 and use LED strips under the cab. One thing I did prove out is that the cargo lights in the bed side are easy to tap into and route down to the frame. I got a couple of t-harnesses rigged up so I don't have to actually cut/splice the factory wires.

Are you saying you didn't see a way to route the wires from the mirror down the door panel to the door boot?

 

[bobetaco]

Correct. I could get the wires behind the door panel, but not to the door boot. They would need to go inside the sheet metal of the door and I wasn't keen on the idea of pulling off a lot more parts to figure out how the factory harness is fished through.

 

[Ruckus]

Correct. I could get the wires behind the door panel, but not to the door boot. They would need to go inside the sheet metal of the door and I wasn't keen on the idea of pulling off a lot more parts to figure out how the factory harness is fished through.

It's really simple to route the wires through the door shell and come out through one of the openings at the bottom near the speaker - it's not invasive or anything. Just letting you know in case that's all that is holding you back. I still feel that once you get to the boot, you may have some issues.

 

[bobetaco]

Perhaps, but I was already in over my head and not looking to take the speaker out and worry about anything fussing with the operation of the window. The under body LEDs offer the same approach lighting that I'm looking for without much headache. Also the puddle pods that I purchased were 3d printed and didn't have perfect alignment. It is a nice idea, with less than great execution.

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