My 03 tail light on a 01 model

[Idrivetoys]

Alright so it finally came in today, looks good, there is a crack that i knew of but that is fine, ill fix it later.

It seemed pretty simple but the locking mechanism of course doesn't fit right thanks to a cable that is too short but as seen below i simply relocated it.


Over all it was super easy to wire in the tail lights and do the install, just needed some creativity for the lock. Hope you guys enjoy it, i havent decided if i will paint it right away or add some blue design or decal to the black.



lock here


under tail











Fife

[squiggy]

Clever. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Did you leave the original lock in place, this way someone tries to jimmy it instead of the real lock?

[yngveny]

Good job, but I would worry about that lock getting clogged up.
I know how dirty my undertail gets...

[Kevins_Black_Kat]

I like it. Nice work

[GSXF 600 Guy]

I put a 03 tail on my 01 & had no issues puttin the lock back in ill have to take pics & send them to you.

[muddyman184]

I like it!! The black tail kind of flows with the blue its not an eye sore with an off color id say leave it black till you know for sure what color

[Idrivetoys]

That is the origional lock, the new tail section did not come with a lock, and my cable definitely would not reach the lock hole.

as for getting the lock getting dirty ill admit i dont ride as much as i should, if i wake up and its wet out ill just hop in the Tacoma and get to work dry. As a matter of fact i can remember the last time i rode in the rain, on top of that i wash my bike pretty often.

I may just stencil something blue on the black now as the bike is to be painted sometime relatively soon, but to tie it together a little. i found out when i went down in dec that Bahama blue at advance auto is a near perfect match.


Thanks for the compliments, i love the new tail

Ryan

[jester3789]

looks great man

[cmurdah]

im curious how much that ran you? i like that much better than my 01 tail

[GSXF 600 Guy]

That is the origional lock, the new tail section did not come with a lock, and my cable definitely would not reach the lock hole.

as for getting the lock getting dirty ill admit i dont ride as much as i should, if i wake up and its wet out ill just hop in the Tacoma and get to work dry. As a matter of fact i can remember the last time i rode in the rain, on top of that i wash my bike pretty often.

I may just stencil something blue on the black now as the bike is to be painted sometime relatively soon, but to tie it together a little. i found out when i went down in dec that Bahama blue at advance auto is a near perfect match.


Thanks for the compliments, i love the new tail

Ryan

I love the tail, Dont get me wrong! And the Idea of putting it in a area where people cant see it is a AWESOME idea. Diverts theives away
I used the original lock from mine as well from the 01. Im not sure if you are worried about getting it dirty or not, but if you want to move it, ill take a pick of how I ran mine so it'll stay clean & free of road grime from clogging it up.

[Idrivetoys]

yeah lets have a look im interested to see what you came up with.


as for the cost i found a guy selling one on ebay, had a 3" crack and came with the light. I asked him how much to end the auction early and he said $50 for the tail section and $20 to ship as it needed a big box. The bulbs that it came with were good even so it took me no supplies really, 3 butt connectors that i had and some E tape.

I love it more and more everytime i look at it, and the light it so much brighter it seems and visible over the 01 tail.

[his-royal-freshness]

man that looks pretty good, im thinking bout doin this conversion on my 02 kat, wut all is involved? and would i b better off buying an 03+ lock aswell?

[Cheriff]

When I did my swap, the tail I bought included the new lock and cable. I used my old lock on the new tail and the new cable on the old lock.... At least I am pretty sure that was the combination. To the OP, I think it looks pretty good in black.

[PepeBouchard]

You're killing me! I have an '02 and would love the '03 tail. Of course, I want a step by step on the swap, and it would be nice if you came to New Mexico and showed me how...

[Idrivetoys]

There is nothing to it really, with the exception of wiring in the tail light, and moving the lock


as stated above if your donor tail section has a cable your better off. but if needed i could try and come up with a step by step.

Ryan