Article by: RobRed

Applicable Models: 200 Series (2008+) with powered or unpowered hatch lift.

Project Vehicle: 2017 Land Cruiser USA Model (no powered hatch lift)

Parts Installed: Baja Designs Dome Light w/Switch, 1 each White (398051) & Red (398054)

Tools / Supplies Needed: Plastic Trim Tool, Zip Ties, nippers to trim zip ties, drill, 5/32 twist drill bit, Loctite red, 15+ feet bonded (red/black) 18ga wire, terminal quick disconnects, wire / terminal crimper, wire stripper, soldering Iron, solder, heat shrink tube, heat source, short wire fish with some 3m Super 33 electrical tape
Optional a 1″ cable tie mount for the back of the Lock Cover panel to secure lamp wiring

Time to Complete: 120 Minutes

Last updated: September 13, 2020 at 21:25 pm

I wrote a similar post in 2012 for the 100 series if you are interested in that setup. There have been a few posts like this on various forums and there is no right or wrong solution but I will share my implementation philosophy with you.

One of my goals was to be minimally invasive as possible mounting the lights to the Land Cruiser. I didn’t want to damage the interior trim if I could avoid it. I want the option to change or revert if I choose. Your mounting choice can of course be different depending on your light fixture choice.

In some markets there is small square panel on the inside of the hatch near the exterior unlocking button that hosts an interior hatch release button. There is no other way to open the hatch from inside. In the USA model this interior hatch release button is not implemented and is a blank panel. I’m going to use that removable Lock Cover panel as my location to mount my lights. This panel is easily removable to provide service access to the exterior latch and of course service access to my new hatch light wiring. If I choose to do something different this blank Lock Cover panel is easily replaceable from the Toyota Parts Counter ($13) 67848-60050-B0.

If you did implement the hatch release by acquiring parts from Toyota or other vendor you can still do this mod… you’ll just mount the lights outboard of the removable panel directly into the hatch trim. :-)

The Baja Designs Dome lights are a perfect fit to the Lock Cover panel as you can see from the lead photo above which is one of the reasons I choose this light. The second reason is the lights have a good dispersion pattern to cover the tailgate and cargo area. Number three is that each light has its own power button keeping the wiring one step less complicated.

Now that I have my lights and mounting location chosen I needed to figure out my wiring. In Lexus LX570 and later Land Cruiser models the hatch has power open function. Several write-ups have been done regarding the use of the hatch’s switch wiring to power the new hatch lights. This wiring is super tiny, like 22ga. It’s enough to power the LED lights and has the distinct advantage of powering off the lights when the hatch is closed. I dont have that option in my 2017 so I won’t address that here. I’ll be running fresh wires to the lights and will be terminating that run to a Blue Sea 5025 six circuit fuse box located in the wing area of my TrekBoxX Alpha drawer system. If you are not running power to the rear are like I am then you will need to determine and tap a suitable power source for your lights. Important: You need to determine the wire run length – I used 15 feet for my application but you may need more for your install.

Before you begin any modification to your vehicle you should fully understand what you are doing and make sure you have the skills to complete the job. TLCFAQ nor its authors, commenters or contributors accept any responsibility, or liability for any mishap or problems from any materials posted on the website. Any and all of this can cause serious damage to you or your vehicle. Always consult a qualified professional. I’m Serious. Do this at your own risk.

So here are the steps I took to mount and wire:

• With your plastic trim tool carefully remove the Lock Cover panel from the hatch of your Land Cruiser.
• Carefully measure the mounting hole positions of the lights and transfer them to the blank panel. Using the 5/32 drill bit I bored holes for the mounting. After checking the hardware and positional fit I then needed to prepare the lamp wiring.
• Baja has designed this lamp with a side exit for the wiring – as I didnt want that to show I needed to modify the lamp somewhat. I trimmed the lamp wires right to the edge of the side opening. Then I carefully scraped and removed the epoxy near the wire side exit of the lamp until I could pull the wire back and position it to the rear / center of the lamp. Take your time and be extremely careful not to damage the tiny wires of the lamp.
• I then drilled two additional holes in the blank panel to facilitate passing the wiring through. I positioned the holes to where the center of the lights would be, respectively.

• Pass the wiring through your newly minted holes and mount the lights to the Lock Cover panel and assure fit and clearances of hardware in the Land Cruiser hatch panel. This step first to make sure mounting clearances and screw position etc don’t interfere with normal fit and operation of the hatch.
• Strip 3/8″ back on each of the lamp wires, 4 in this case.
• Tie the positive wire from lamps 1 and lamp 2.
• Tie the negative wire from lamps 1 and lamp 2.
  
• Prepare Shrink tube over your 18ga wire and strip the ends 3/8″.
• Solder your 18ga red wire to the positives of lamps 1 and lamp 2.
• Solder your 18ga black wire to the negatives of lamps 1 and lamp 2.
• Slide your shrink tube over the soldered joints and heat up to shrink.
• Cut your 18ga wire about 5″ away from the lamps to create our service loop and put the feet excess aside.
• Strip the ends of the 18ga wires and crimp terminal disconnects to the bare wire ends.
• Optionally added a 1″ cable tie mount and zip tied the wires to the back of the panel.

• With the remaining length of 18ga wire strip one end (red/black) and crimp matching terminal disconnects to it. This will be the end of the wire run that attaches to the lamps.
• With your plastic trim tool carefully remove the interior hatch trim. There are 4 pieces and they pull straight out. Consult the Toyota FSM or other sources if you are unsure about removing them. The bottom trim piece has speakers behind s be mindful as you position your pry tool. Once these trim panels are removed we can route the wiring.
• Connect your 18ga wire at the lamp end. Leave about 8″ excess at the lamps position so you have a service loop should you need to remove them. this is the end where you have already crimped disconnects to.

• If you are using the third brake light for a power source you’ll route your 18ga power wires to the top of the hatch and tap into the wiring at that juncture. For safety I recommend a proper (10A) inline fuse be used if you are tapping power here.
• If you are using an external fuse box like I am then continue the wire routing to the rubber boot. Use zip ties to attach your red / black 18ga along the existing wiring loom in the hatch moving toward the top of the hatch.
• Pass the wire through the rubber boot transition at the top of the hatch and pass your wire into the headliner. You can pop this boot off as shown. The white plastic is a squeeze socket and easily reinstalled… pull the white plastic sockets out of the body and then attach the rubber boot to them, then insert back into the body.

• After you have passed the 18ga wire through the rubber boot you will need to get it to the headliner. Using a short wire fish (my white zip tie in this example) tape the 18ga wire to the top of the fish and then pull the wire though to the headliner. Continue to pull all the excess wire through. Be gentle on the headliner as you dont want to deform it.
• Now that you have the 18ga wire in hand you can route as needed. Don’t forget to secure the rubber boot before moving on.
• I routed my 18ga power wires down the passenger side to the D pillar. I pulled back the side trim at the D pillar and continued to route and secure my 18ga power wires to the floor until I had them positioned where my fuse box would be. Then terminated the wires in the fuse box.
• Connect and Test: Connect your source power wires (observe polarity) to an available 12 volt power source. Temporarily connect your lamps at the other end of the wire run (observe polarity). Energize the power wires and test operation. If good move on to the next steps.
• Disconnect lamps and set aside.
• If you followed my lead, reposition and install the side trim at the D pillar.
• Reinstall hatch trim in reverse order of removal making sure you can access the service loop of your power wires at the lamp position.
• Before connecting the lamp panel and placing it in the hatch I dabbed some red loctite on the machine screws to make sure they dont back out. Your mileage may very.
• Place the lamp panel in the hatch trim, snapping into place.

• My configuration ran #6 wire from the auxiliary battery in the engine bay to the passenger D pillar via the channels in the interior rocker panels and terminated with a Blue Sea 5025 six circuit fuse box.

Here are the results of the lighting: