First Edition Hatch Lights From Hell

[Colonel Mustard]

Has anyone come up with a solution for the twin bright led hatch lights that cannot be shut off on First Edition models? My LC fills up with moths, mayflies, mosquitos etc. very quickly at night when I am unloading from the hatch in the summer. I would like to be able to shut them off or at least dim them down when the hatch is open at night. Anyone else have this problem and hopefully a slick solution to go along with it?

 

[Alpha Puppy]

@EOD Guy installed a switch for them. Look at his build page for details. The quick hack is to insert a carabiner in the latch.

 

[EOD Guy]

Yepper

 

[Noctilucent]

Has anyone come up with a solution for the twin bright led hatch lights that cannot be shut off on First Edition models? My LC fills up with moths, mayflies, mosquitos etc. very quickly at night when I am unloading from the hatch in the summer. I would like to be able to shut them off or at least dim them down when the hatch is open at night. Anyone else have this problem and hopefully a slick solution to go along with it? View attachment 40820

I just used Gorilla tape to black out the lights for now. If I need a bit of light, I just peel the tape back slightly to let some shine through. And if I have the tailgate open for a while, I’ll use the carabiner trick to shut them off. Maybe I’ll get around to doing the proper mod one day.

 

[AlexGates]

I am still baffled Toyota never gave us a way to turn them off, nor do they time out. Same with the sill lights (if you have them.)

Major kudos to EOD for thinking up his mod.

 

[sooperslow]

I would have sworn that my rear hatch lights automatically shut off after a bit, then came back on as I approached the vehicle. I even mentioned it to my camping partner last trip. Now I have to check this out again.

 

[alkioth]

Carabiner with a lanyard made me so excited I just didn’t feel like rewiring the doggone thing — but I do love @EOD Guy’s mod.