Snowy Colorado winters tend to lead to iced over mirrors on the Toyota FJ Cruiser. One of my early modification to our new FJ Cruiser was the installation of heated mirrors.The installation is an involved process and is not for the faint of heart.
To complete the installation the following step must be taken (There are detailed instruction available elsewhere on the Internet):
- The door trim panels must be removed.
- The mirror assembly is removed from the door
- The mirror holder is removed from the mirror assembly
- The mirror glass is removed from the holder (I used a heat gun to warm the glass which help the adhesive release)
- The heat grid is applied to the mirror.
- The wiring needs to be threaded through the mirror assembly.
- The glass is then reinstalled after the wiring is connected.
- The mirror assembly is reinstalled on the FJ.
- The controller and wiring are installed and connected to a power source.
- The wiring needs to be threaded through the wiring conduit into the doors and connected to the pigtail coming out of the mirrors.
As you can see this is a multi step installation. I broke one the the glass for one of the mirrors when removing it from the holder. After market glass is available.
Once installed I gave them a test and the mirrors now heat up. I am looking forward to a cold weather test.
Parts:
Control Module (http://www.muthco.com): $69.00
Small Burco Redi Heat Universal Heat Grid: $50.00
Time: 4.5 hours
Do you know if it’s possible to wire the switch into the rear defrost switch?
I don’t know. I have avoided tapping the factory wiring harness.