Tailgate Dome Light Activation Switch

Love what you did. I recently added a switch for the new alarm I installed, though I chose the other side to ensure the switch is triggered earlier in the degree of opening the tailgate.

What I want to add though... having switched back to a soft top and not having a dome light, I pilfered the velcro lined LED strip from my Smittybilt tent and attached it to my rollbar(wrapped the bar with velcro strips every 8" or so). It's like having daylight in the Jeep even if it's pitch black out. Might be something you want to look into adding in for better lighting.

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Great idea (y)

Now stop it all you guys.


As soon as I think I have all the little goodies installed on my TJ some Jackass 🤣 like you comes up with another idea that I can't live without.

JK
 
LOL.... FYI... that LED strip can be found on Amazon for $10. I just bought another one so I don't have to "permanently" steal from my RTT.

And I feel ya. I'm constantly adding new accessories. I just ordered a digital ...... Okay. I'll stop. ;)
 
4BY4ADV said:
LOL.... FYI... that LED strip can be found on Amazon for $10. I just bought another one so I don't have to "permanently" steal from my RTT.

And I feel ya. I'm constantly adding new accessories. I just ordered a digital ...... Okay. I'll stop. ;)
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It's like hi my name is —————— and I am jeepaholic
 
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I really like the idea of tying the dome light into the tailgate switch. Nice and clean and works the way it should have from the factory.

However, a few years ago since I have added a horizontal bar to my cage connecting the C pillars, I took the easy out and added a light like this. Batteries last forever and I can spin the light around the rollbar to face the front or rear depending on the task at hand.

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4BY4ADV said:
Love what you did. I recently added a switch for the new alarm I installed, though I chose the other side to ensure the switch is triggered earlier in the degree of opening the tailgate.

What I want to add though... having switched back to a soft top and not having a dome light, I pilfered the velcro lined LED strip from my Smittybilt tent and attached it to my rollbar(wrapped the bar with velcro strips every 8" or so). It's like having daylight in the Jeep even if it's pitch black out. Might be something you want to look into adding in for better lighting.

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Where did you tap into the power? This is exactly what I want for lighting up the trunk area!!!
 
2015 JK 2 Dr said:
Where did you tap into the power? This is exactly what I want for lighting up the trunk area!!!
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I've got a lot of accessories (Cradlepoint, CB, fridge, USB-C PD brick for powering my laptops, etc), so I went to a dual battery setup and have a fused power distribution block under my passenger seat. A bit overkill for the average person, but I wanted to be fully setup for when I camp or decide to work from the beach.

For how little power an LED strip takes, you could run an add-a-fuse to your radio fuse under the dash. That would be a lot easier.
 
4BY4ADV said:
I've got a lot of accessories (Cradlepoint, CB, fridge, USB-C PD brick for powering my laptops, etc), so I went to a dual battery setup and have a fused power distribution block under my passenger seat. A bit overkill for the average person, but I wanted to be fully setup for when I camp or decide to work from the beach.

For how little power an LED strip takes, you could run an add-a-fuse to your radio fuse under the dash. That would be a lot easier.
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Thanks for the reply... Sounds like you have quite the setup. I found a way to tap into the dome light and will install this weekend.
 
Hey all
I am getting ready to do this and have all the parts. Looking for clarification on a couple points. This is running a single wire back to the new plunger switch? Is the plunger switch just grounding to the tub when depressed? I am thinking the answer is yes to both question so just confirming. Thanks. Jack
 
Silverado said:
Hey all
I am getting ready to do this and have all the parts. Looking for clarification on a couple points. This is running a single wire back to the new plunger switch? Is the plunger switch just grounding to the tub when depressed? I am thinking the answer is yes to both question so just confirming. Thanks. Jack
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You are correct. One wire back. Ground to the tub. Lights turn on when grounded. When the door is shut it breaks the connection.
 
Arizona Jim said:
Shortly after I bought my 2005 TJ I installed a rocker switch to activate the dome lights from the tail gate area. I don't remember how I wired it up but it probably was fairly easy.

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I'm doing a variation of this....I'm using an On-Off-On switch. That way, the dome light can be set to come on when the doors are opened, by itself using the switch, or turned off altogether. My TJ is an '06 and my hardtop is from an '00. I added two female terminal pins with about 12 in of wire to my HT wiring plug adaptor so that they would connect to the dome light pins in the hardtop plug. To wire the switch, the yellow ground wire from the dome light goes to the middle terminal on the switch (off). Tap into the black ground wire from the HT body harness and run that to one of the outside switch terminals. Then tap the ground wire from the courtesy light and run that to the other outside switch terminal. Lastly, tap the courtesy light power wire and run it back to connect to the pink/white power wire from the dome light. I am mounting the switch in the same location that Arizona Jim shows in his photo above. I owe credit to @Rubi4MyMrs for his guidance on the wiring.
 
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If I wanted to install a rocker switch like @Arizona Jim did, couldn't I follow the exact steps OP created? Just use a rocker switch instead of a pin switch? I'd need to find a different way to ground of course.
 
Gilly11277 said:
If I wanted to install a rocker switch like @Arizona Jim did, couldn't I follow the exact steps OP created? Just use a rocker switch instead of a pin switch? I'd need to find a different way to ground of course.
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How do you want to activate the dome light? On/off from the rocker switch? On/off when you open the doors? Both? See post above (#34) for how I did mine.
 
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Rcroane said:
How do you want to activate the dome light? On/off from the rocker switch? On/off when you open the doors? Both? See post above (#34) for how I did mine.
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I don't want the lights to automatically turn on when I open the tailgate. I want both front doors to work like normal but with the tailgate, I want to manually turn on dome lights with rocker switch and install it on the plastic seatbelt trim.

I'm not opposed to doing it the way OP outlined but I don't want to drill into the body. Would rather preserve factory fit and not worry about leaks with the seals.
 
Gilly11277 said:
I don't want the lights to automatically turn on when I open the tailgate. I want both front doors to work like normal but with the tailgate, I want to manually turn on dome lights with rocker switch and install it on the plastic seatbelt trim.

I'm not opposed to doing it the way OP outlined but I don't want to drill into the body. Would rather preserve factory fit and not worry about leaks with the seals.
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Sounds like you want to do exactly what I did. Read my wiring instructions and let me know if you have any questions.
 
Rcroane said:
I'm doing a variation of this....I'm using an On-Off-On switch. That way, the dome light can be set to come on when the doors are opened, by itself using the switch, or turned off altogether. My TJ is an '06 and my hardtop is from an '00. I added two female terminal pins with about 12 in of wire to my HT wiring plug adaptor so that they would connect to the dome light pins in the hardtop plug. To wire the switch, the yellow ground wire from the dome light goes to the middle terminal on the switch (off). Tap into the black ground wire from the HT body harness and run that to one of the outside switch terminals. Then tap the ground wire from the courtesy light and run that to the other outside switch terminal. Lastly, tap the courtesy light power wire and run it back to connect to the pink/white power wire from the dome light. I am mounting the switch in the same location that Arizona Jim shows in his photo above. I owe credit to @Rubi4MyMrs for his guidance on the wiring.
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I wanted to clarify what I did....I have an older style HT on my '06 TJ so the HT has a separate dome light above the tailgate window. The wiring I describe above is to activate that dome light, not the dome lights on the sound bar. Here are a couple of photos of the end result. I'm going to get a clear lens for the light because the original opaque light diffuses the light too much, even with an LED bulb.

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Rcroane said:
I wanted to clarify what I did....I have an older style HT on my '06 TJ so the HT has a separate dome light above the tailgate window. The wiring I describe above is to activate that dome light, not the dome lights on the sound bar. Here are a couple of photos of the end result. I'm going to get a clear lens for the light because the original opaque light diffuses the light too much, even with an LED bulb.

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The only downside to the rocker switch approach is that it is entirely possible to leave the switch on when the tailgate is closed, which could result in a dead battery.
 
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