Hello all,
Today we're going to talk about making your jeep hardtop ready with factory wiring, and how to narrow down what you need to make this work with your year of jeep. I am going to do this in two parts, dash, and rear tub.
It's no secret to us that Jeep didn't install factory hardtop wiring for all of our TJs. This only came installed if your jeep was ordered from the factory with a hardtop or dual tops. They did however sell add-on wiring harness kits for about $150 if you wanted to add the wiring down the road. These kits have sold out and are no longer available which leaves you stuck if you added a factory hardtop and want all of the features to work. These features would be a rear defroster and a rear wiper/washer.
This conversion is fairly simple. You will need two harnesses to make this work :
1). A factory rear tub harness with wiring for a hardtop (which we will cover in this thread)
2). A factory dash harness with wiring for the defrost and wiper switches (covered in the link below)
MY THREAD FOR THE DASH HARNESS SWAP HERE:
How to Factory Wire your TJ for a Hardtop Part 1 (Dash Harness)
I cover all of the details in the way of electrical and additional components you'll need in the above linked thread. This thread is just going to focus on swapping out a wiring harness.
We're going to focus on the rear tub harness, which is split into two parts. This swap is MUCH simpler and more straightforward than the dash swap.
Side 1:
Red and black 100-way connectors
Seat belt sensor
E-brake sensor
Sound bar connector
Washer pump connector
Washer line (reservoir side)
Side 2
Hardtop plug
Washer line (hardtop side)
Left tail light
Right tail light
Third brake light
*NOTE* Just because this harness has the hardtop plug, that does NOT mean your hardtop functions will work. You NEED the dash harness with the integrated switches to operate your hardtop features.
Now that we've determined what exactly goes on this harness, we need to determine which one you need based on your year. You will need to find these harnesses from salvage jeeps. I sourced this harness from *Deadjeep.com.* They were having a sale and I got this one for $35
Every rear tub harness for every TJ is almost identical except for one variation
97-02 - These models have a 10-position plug. 97-00 models have a dome light circuit with two extra wires
03-06 - These models have a 6-position plug.
My Jeep is a 2002 but the hardtop I bought was from an 03-06, so the plugs were different. I used Chris' thread on converting hardtop plugs to make my 79-02 harness work with my 03-06 hardtop.
His thread has an excellent diagram of the pin-outs for both style plugs, and made it very simple to do the conversion.
Chris' hardtop plug thread here:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/hardtop-wiring-converting-plugs-to-match-different-years.198/
You can also just grab an adapter here depending on your jeep and harness:
97-02 JEEP to 03-06 TOP
https://www.ebay.com/i/182748669433?chn=ps
03-06 JEEP to 97-02 TOP
https://www.ebay.com/i/201728930598?chn=ps
Alright well now that we've determined what components you'll need, let's begin the swap! Here I've traced the routing of the rear tub harness. This harness runs along the left side of the jeep, and is very easy to follow.
As you can see, this is very straightforward.
Go ahead and start by finding the 100-way connector under the dash next to where your left leg would be. Remove the bottom black and red plugs.
Follow the wires from the plugs to the wiring harness clip located directly behind the door strap post. There's no way to get this out without breaking it but don't worry, we'll have extra for the new harness.
With those disconnected, you'll notice the wiring harness runs towards the rear of the jeep behind some plastic trim underneath the driver's door. The wiring is attached to the trim via three wiring harness clips. The plastic trim is held on to the tub by three plastic crews and a pivot nut.
Go ahead and remove the three screws. The plastic is pliable enough that you don't need to remove the pivot nut. Remove the wiring harness by removing the clips from the plastic trim. Be careful not to pull too hard and damage the three wiring harness clips because you'll be needing these later. Remove the tape holding them onto the harness, and set all three aside.
With the harness now free of the plastic trim, lets move on to the mini loom going to the seat belt and e-brake sensors. You'll need to remove your driver seat and middle console to access these. Pull back the front driver section of the carpet enough to expose the wiring.
Go ahead and remove the three wiring harness clips from the tub. These are the christmas tree style and are very durable. Odds are they will already be on your new harness (like mine) but if not, reuse these and mount them to your new harness via electrical tape using your old harness for location reference.
The e-brake sensor is underneath the center console. Disconnect the plug and remove the wiring harness clip.
Just beyond the clip, the harness runs through a little plastic tube that is held down by two screws. I forgot the get photos of this, but you won't be able to remove the wiring from the tub without disconnecting it. You'll know what I'm talking about once you follow the wiring and see it.
Now that the mini loom has been freed up, move on to the plastic trim behind the roll bar frame coming down behind where the driver would sit. There are two trim fasteners holding it into place. Go ahead and remove the top fastener, but you can leave the bottom one into place.
You should be able to fold the trim down and expose the wiring.
Go ahead and disconnect the wiring harness clip. This is the second clip you will need to break in order to remove it from the hole.
At this point, go ahead and pull the wiring you've disconnected through the tub and the roll bar frame. You can start feeding the new wiring through the same spot once the old wiring is out of the way.
You'll should now have a nice little bundle of wiring on the floor from the old harness.
Unzip the vertical roll bar padding and expose the sound bar wiring. In my jeep, it was taped securely under the padding.
Undo the velcro around the roll bar that the sound bar attaches to. Reach up above the roll bar and remove the plug. This can be done without removing your current top. The release clip will be on the top side of the plug. Push down on the little clip and pull it out.
With your old harness removed from the front side, pull the wiring back into the trunk space and out of the way. We're going to button up the front side before finishing the rear. Keep the remainder of your new harness resting on your rear seat.
Above I had mentioned to feed the new wiring through the spot between the tub and the roll bar frame. Grab your new black and red 100-way connectors and plug them in. I had also mentioned earlier that you'll be needing to save three wiring harness clips from the old harness. Grab one and tape it (using electrical tape) to your new harness. The location is going to be where it attaches right behind the driver's door strap post. Use your old harness for exact location reference.
You'll notice there's an extra wiring loom coming off of the harness up front. This loom holds the rear washer pump wiring and the rear washer hose. We're going to work on feeding this loom through the firewall and to the washer reservoir. There's a small grommet on the firewall below the big grommet with all of the wiring going to the engine bay. Remove this grommet and dispose of it since your new harness will have a grommet attached.
Begin feeding the washer loom through the firewall.
Once all the way through, secure the new grommet into the firewall.
Depending on whoever pulled your new harness from it's original jeep, you may or may not have a special wiring harness clip attached to the washer loom under the dash. Whether you did or not, you'll notice a small empty hole. This is where said clip would go.
Go ahead and remove the old clip (if applicable) and tape (use electrical tape) the second wiring harness clip you saved to the washer loom in it's place. Secure the new clip to the empty hole.
Next, route the wiring in the engine bay towards your washer reservoir.
I only have one pump in my existing reservoir. I'm going to find a pump and grommet from a salvage jeep here in AZ and modify my reservoir to hold two. In the meantime, I disconnected my front washer plug and hose and hooked up the rear ones to test everything out later.
Now that we're done in the engine bay, and the under-dash side is secure, route your new harness through the plastic trim under the driver's door in the same manner the old one was attached, securing the already attached wiring harness clips to the trim. Screw the trim back into place, and rout your new seat belt and e-brake sensor loom in place of the old one, securing it with the wiring harness clips. Pull your front driver's carpet back into place. I have not attached any pictures of re-install because it is VERY straightforward. If confused, refer to the pictures above regarding removal. Install is the reverse of removal.
Move to the little plastic trim behind the roll bar frame and tape your last wiring harness clip to the harness (using electrical tape) and attach the clip to the hole in the tub (refer to above photos). Move the trim back into place, and reattach the top panel fastener to it's original location. Route the sound bar wiring up the roll bar frame and plug the new plug in to the sound bar (remember, the release clip goes UP). Use the existing tape on the roll bar frame to secure the new wiring into place. Zip up the roll bar padding, and reconnect the velcro on the sound bar going over the roll bar.
Ok! Let's move on to the rear. There is a large, stiff, section that runs the length of the rear fender that is held into place by three clips. This holds all of the wiring going to the rear. Separate these clips and pull the harness out of place and move it to the trunk area.
Your new harness should be laying across the back seat or in that general area. Go ahead and attach the long piece from the new harness in place of the old one, securing it with the clips.
Your front end is shored up and should now look like this! Now would be a good time to put the front seat and middle console back into place. Don't forget to attach your seat belt and e-brake sensors. Otherwise your jeep will
You may notice you now have a hardtop plug in the rear left corner of the tub, that's pretty cool However, this needs to be the LAST thing you plug in.
Pull the front side of your old harness completely out of the jeep and let it hang out the back. You should be left with the tail light loom in the rear of your jeep from the new harness. The grommet and wiring for the tail lights from the old harness will still be in place
The tail light loom runs through a grommet in the very left rear corner of the tub. This goes under your jeep and attaches to the tail lights (obviously). To access this part of the harness, you will need to lower your gas tank just enough to get your hand underneath the tub where the gas tank would normally sit. No need to remove the fuel lines. Just the three bolts on the front and four bolts on the rear of the tank. Remove the four screws where the filler nozzle is to let the hoses move freely without taking them off of the tank. You may have to remove your bumper too, depending on what you have.
Ignore the hack job trailer lighting the PO put in. That was promptly removed and this is going in it's place:
https://www.quadratec.com/products/92015_8002_07.htm
Lucky for me, I live in AZ where rust is not a thing. The worst I had to deal with were dried clumps of dirt falling on my face
Once you have your tank lowered enough to get your hand where you can reach the wiring, fold back the rear portions of the rear fenderwells, each side is held on by one panel fastener.
Reach up inside and remove the tail light plugs from the tail lights on each side. I took my tail lights out but realized after the fact that I didn't need to. The rear brake light wires have a plug on each wire that just pull off of little studs. On my jeep, white was top and black was bottom. They were very easy to get off.
Here is a picture of the harness running underneath the tub running to the right tail light and rear brake light, top of the picture being the left side of the jeep and the bottom of the picture being the right side.. This harness is secured by four clips. There is no way to access this harness without lowering the tank.
These are a special kind of wiring harness clip that I did not have around. You'll have to break them to remove the harness which means you will need new clips. I had some extra stuff laying around that I used, but my recommendation is to find some clips like these.
The christmas tree style inserts were too small, so be sure to get the arrowhead style inserts.
Once you've gotten the old clips out of place, pull the old harness out of the hole in the left rear corner of the tub, and feed the new harness through. Go ahead and secure the new grommet into place.
Attach your new clips to the four holes the original clips came out of on the underside of the tub. Plug your left tail light back in, then attach your new harness to the new clips you installed via clamp or zip tie (like the clips pictured above). Reattach your right tail light and rear brake light, then go ahead and fold the rear portion of your rear fenderwells back into place.
I had mentioned above that the inserts would break. Take a trip to ACE hardware before starting this project and pick up any or all of the clips I've mentioned in this thread. ACE has a huge variety of panel fasteners and wiring harness clips.
At this point, your old harness should be COMPLETELY removed, and your new harness in it's place. Secure your gas tank (and bumper if applicable) back into place. You're ready to plug in your hardtop! Assuming you have the correct years matched, a new connector in place, or an adapter, plug that baby in. If you're missing the washer hose connector like I was, pick up some 1/4" drip system barbs while you're at ACE. They fit perfect.
Your finished product...
You're not done yet. Now you have to make sure everything works! Like I mentioned above I'm going to modify my existing reservoir to fit another wash pump. In the meantime, I disconnected my front washer components and connected the rear ones to do my test.
The result...
I also flipped on the rear defrost and tested the plugs connected to the glass with a volt meter and had power to both plugs.
This concludes Part 2 of my hardtop electrical conversion using factory harnesses from salvaged jeeps (if you haven't seen Part 1 look for the link at the top of this thread).
I hope this helps you if you ever want to do the conversion in the future!
Today we're going to talk about making your jeep hardtop ready with factory wiring, and how to narrow down what you need to make this work with your year of jeep. I am going to do this in two parts, dash, and rear tub.
It's no secret to us that Jeep didn't install factory hardtop wiring for all of our TJs. This only came installed if your jeep was ordered from the factory with a hardtop or dual tops. They did however sell add-on wiring harness kits for about $150 if you wanted to add the wiring down the road. These kits have sold out and are no longer available which leaves you stuck if you added a factory hardtop and want all of the features to work. These features would be a rear defroster and a rear wiper/washer.
This conversion is fairly simple. You will need two harnesses to make this work :
1). A factory rear tub harness with wiring for a hardtop (which we will cover in this thread)
2). A factory dash harness with wiring for the defrost and wiper switches (covered in the link below)
MY THREAD FOR THE DASH HARNESS SWAP HERE:
How to Factory Wire your TJ for a Hardtop Part 1 (Dash Harness)
I cover all of the details in the way of electrical and additional components you'll need in the above linked thread. This thread is just going to focus on swapping out a wiring harness.
We're going to focus on the rear tub harness, which is split into two parts. This swap is MUCH simpler and more straightforward than the dash swap.
Side 1:
Red and black 100-way connectors
Seat belt sensor
E-brake sensor
Sound bar connector
Washer pump connector
Washer line (reservoir side)
Side 2
Hardtop plug
Washer line (hardtop side)
Left tail light
Right tail light
Third brake light
*NOTE* Just because this harness has the hardtop plug, that does NOT mean your hardtop functions will work. You NEED the dash harness with the integrated switches to operate your hardtop features.
Now that we've determined what exactly goes on this harness, we need to determine which one you need based on your year. You will need to find these harnesses from salvage jeeps. I sourced this harness from *Deadjeep.com.* They were having a sale and I got this one for $35
Every rear tub harness for every TJ is almost identical except for one variation
97-02 - These models have a 10-position plug. 97-00 models have a dome light circuit with two extra wires
03-06 - These models have a 6-position plug.
My Jeep is a 2002 but the hardtop I bought was from an 03-06, so the plugs were different. I used Chris' thread on converting hardtop plugs to make my 79-02 harness work with my 03-06 hardtop.
His thread has an excellent diagram of the pin-outs for both style plugs, and made it very simple to do the conversion.
Chris' hardtop plug thread here:
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/hardtop-wiring-converting-plugs-to-match-different-years.198/
You can also just grab an adapter here depending on your jeep and harness:
97-02 JEEP to 03-06 TOP
https://www.ebay.com/i/182748669433?chn=ps
03-06 JEEP to 97-02 TOP
https://www.ebay.com/i/201728930598?chn=ps
Alright well now that we've determined what components you'll need, let's begin the swap! Here I've traced the routing of the rear tub harness. This harness runs along the left side of the jeep, and is very easy to follow.
As you can see, this is very straightforward.
Go ahead and start by finding the 100-way connector under the dash next to where your left leg would be. Remove the bottom black and red plugs.
Follow the wires from the plugs to the wiring harness clip located directly behind the door strap post. There's no way to get this out without breaking it but don't worry, we'll have extra for the new harness.
With those disconnected, you'll notice the wiring harness runs towards the rear of the jeep behind some plastic trim underneath the driver's door. The wiring is attached to the trim via three wiring harness clips. The plastic trim is held on to the tub by three plastic crews and a pivot nut.
Go ahead and remove the three screws. The plastic is pliable enough that you don't need to remove the pivot nut. Remove the wiring harness by removing the clips from the plastic trim. Be careful not to pull too hard and damage the three wiring harness clips because you'll be needing these later. Remove the tape holding them onto the harness, and set all three aside.
With the harness now free of the plastic trim, lets move on to the mini loom going to the seat belt and e-brake sensors. You'll need to remove your driver seat and middle console to access these. Pull back the front driver section of the carpet enough to expose the wiring.
Go ahead and remove the three wiring harness clips from the tub. These are the christmas tree style and are very durable. Odds are they will already be on your new harness (like mine) but if not, reuse these and mount them to your new harness via electrical tape using your old harness for location reference.
The e-brake sensor is underneath the center console. Disconnect the plug and remove the wiring harness clip.
Just beyond the clip, the harness runs through a little plastic tube that is held down by two screws. I forgot the get photos of this, but you won't be able to remove the wiring from the tub without disconnecting it. You'll know what I'm talking about once you follow the wiring and see it.
Now that the mini loom has been freed up, move on to the plastic trim behind the roll bar frame coming down behind where the driver would sit. There are two trim fasteners holding it into place. Go ahead and remove the top fastener, but you can leave the bottom one into place.
You should be able to fold the trim down and expose the wiring.
Go ahead and disconnect the wiring harness clip. This is the second clip you will need to break in order to remove it from the hole.
At this point, go ahead and pull the wiring you've disconnected through the tub and the roll bar frame. You can start feeding the new wiring through the same spot once the old wiring is out of the way.
You'll should now have a nice little bundle of wiring on the floor from the old harness.
Unzip the vertical roll bar padding and expose the sound bar wiring. In my jeep, it was taped securely under the padding.
Undo the velcro around the roll bar that the sound bar attaches to. Reach up above the roll bar and remove the plug. This can be done without removing your current top. The release clip will be on the top side of the plug. Push down on the little clip and pull it out.
With your old harness removed from the front side, pull the wiring back into the trunk space and out of the way. We're going to button up the front side before finishing the rear. Keep the remainder of your new harness resting on your rear seat.
Above I had mentioned to feed the new wiring through the spot between the tub and the roll bar frame. Grab your new black and red 100-way connectors and plug them in. I had also mentioned earlier that you'll be needing to save three wiring harness clips from the old harness. Grab one and tape it (using electrical tape) to your new harness. The location is going to be where it attaches right behind the driver's door strap post. Use your old harness for exact location reference.
You'll notice there's an extra wiring loom coming off of the harness up front. This loom holds the rear washer pump wiring and the rear washer hose. We're going to work on feeding this loom through the firewall and to the washer reservoir. There's a small grommet on the firewall below the big grommet with all of the wiring going to the engine bay. Remove this grommet and dispose of it since your new harness will have a grommet attached.
Begin feeding the washer loom through the firewall.
Once all the way through, secure the new grommet into the firewall.
Depending on whoever pulled your new harness from it's original jeep, you may or may not have a special wiring harness clip attached to the washer loom under the dash. Whether you did or not, you'll notice a small empty hole. This is where said clip would go.
Go ahead and remove the old clip (if applicable) and tape (use electrical tape) the second wiring harness clip you saved to the washer loom in it's place. Secure the new clip to the empty hole.
Next, route the wiring in the engine bay towards your washer reservoir.
I only have one pump in my existing reservoir. I'm going to find a pump and grommet from a salvage jeep here in AZ and modify my reservoir to hold two. In the meantime, I disconnected my front washer plug and hose and hooked up the rear ones to test everything out later.
Now that we're done in the engine bay, and the under-dash side is secure, route your new harness through the plastic trim under the driver's door in the same manner the old one was attached, securing the already attached wiring harness clips to the trim. Screw the trim back into place, and rout your new seat belt and e-brake sensor loom in place of the old one, securing it with the wiring harness clips. Pull your front driver's carpet back into place. I have not attached any pictures of re-install because it is VERY straightforward. If confused, refer to the pictures above regarding removal. Install is the reverse of removal.
Move to the little plastic trim behind the roll bar frame and tape your last wiring harness clip to the harness (using electrical tape) and attach the clip to the hole in the tub (refer to above photos). Move the trim back into place, and reattach the top panel fastener to it's original location. Route the sound bar wiring up the roll bar frame and plug the new plug in to the sound bar (remember, the release clip goes UP). Use the existing tape on the roll bar frame to secure the new wiring into place. Zip up the roll bar padding, and reconnect the velcro on the sound bar going over the roll bar.
Ok! Let's move on to the rear. There is a large, stiff, section that runs the length of the rear fender that is held into place by three clips. This holds all of the wiring going to the rear. Separate these clips and pull the harness out of place and move it to the trunk area.
Your new harness should be laying across the back seat or in that general area. Go ahead and attach the long piece from the new harness in place of the old one, securing it with the clips.
Your front end is shored up and should now look like this! Now would be a good time to put the front seat and middle console back into place. Don't forget to attach your seat belt and e-brake sensors. Otherwise your jeep will
You may notice you now have a hardtop plug in the rear left corner of the tub, that's pretty cool
However, this needs to be the LAST thing you plug in.Pull the front side of your old harness completely out of the jeep and let it hang out the back. You should be left with the tail light loom in the rear of your jeep from the new harness. The grommet and wiring for the tail lights from the old harness will still be in place
The tail light loom runs through a grommet in the very left rear corner of the tub. This goes under your jeep and attaches to the tail lights (obviously). To access this part of the harness, you will need to lower your gas tank just enough to get your hand underneath the tub where the gas tank would normally sit. No need to remove the fuel lines. Just the three bolts on the front and four bolts on the rear of the tank. Remove the four screws where the filler nozzle is to let the hoses move freely without taking them off of the tank. You may have to remove your bumper too, depending on what you have.
Ignore the hack job trailer lighting the PO put in. That was promptly removed and this is going in it's place:
https://www.quadratec.com/products/92015_8002_07.htm
Lucky for me, I live in AZ where rust is not a thing. The worst I had to deal with were dried clumps of dirt falling on my face
Once you have your tank lowered enough to get your hand where you can reach the wiring, fold back the rear portions of the rear fenderwells, each side is held on by one panel fastener.
Reach up inside and remove the tail light plugs from the tail lights on each side. I took my tail lights out but realized after the fact that I didn't need to. The rear brake light wires have a plug on each wire that just pull off of little studs. On my jeep, white was top and black was bottom. They were very easy to get off.
Here is a picture of the harness running underneath the tub running to the right tail light and rear brake light, top of the picture being the left side of the jeep and the bottom of the picture being the right side.. This harness is secured by four clips. There is no way to access this harness without lowering the tank.
These are a special kind of wiring harness clip that I did not have around. You'll have to break them to remove the harness which means you will need new clips. I had some extra stuff laying around that I used, but my recommendation is to find some clips like these.
The christmas tree style inserts were too small, so be sure to get the arrowhead style inserts.
Once you've gotten the old clips out of place, pull the old harness out of the hole in the left rear corner of the tub, and feed the new harness through. Go ahead and secure the new grommet into place.
Attach your new clips to the four holes the original clips came out of on the underside of the tub. Plug your left tail light back in, then attach your new harness to the new clips you installed via clamp or zip tie (like the clips pictured above). Reattach your right tail light and rear brake light, then go ahead and fold the rear portion of your rear fenderwells back into place.
I had mentioned above that the inserts would break. Take a trip to ACE hardware before starting this project and pick up any or all of the clips I've mentioned in this thread. ACE has a huge variety of panel fasteners and wiring harness clips.
At this point, your old harness should be COMPLETELY removed, and your new harness in it's place. Secure your gas tank (and bumper if applicable) back into place. You're ready to plug in your hardtop! Assuming you have the correct years matched, a new connector in place, or an adapter, plug that baby in. If you're missing the washer hose connector like I was, pick up some 1/4" drip system barbs while you're at ACE. They fit perfect.
Your finished product...
You're not done yet. Now you have to make sure everything works! Like I mentioned above I'm going to modify my existing reservoir to fit another wash pump. In the meantime, I disconnected my front washer components and connected the rear ones to do my test.
The result...
I also flipped on the rear defrost and tested the plugs connected to the glass with a volt meter and had power to both plugs.
This concludes Part 2 of my hardtop electrical conversion using factory harnesses from salvaged jeeps (if you haven't seen Part 1 look for the link at the top of this thread).
I hope this helps you if you ever want to do the conversion in the future!
Last edited:
This site contains affiliate links for which Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum may be compensated.
