Noob intro, sliding rear window retrofit?

[Trac Marks]

Recently a young lady plowed into the back of my "other" truck, forcing me into the market for a suitable replacement. I've always liked the ST, especially the second gen. Last time I was in the market, they were still new and at a price point I couldn't afford as a daily driver. I'm very picky and indecisive, I've got uncontrolled OCD and when I get something particular in my head, its hard to compromise. So when I found the (nearly) exact used truck I wanted, we hopped in the car and drove 650 miles to look at it. I bought it on the spot.

Here she is, assuming ST's are female:

One thing we both liked (and wanted) was the power rear window. I've searched here first, without much luck or a definitive answer: Can a power sliding rear window be added without much dramatic effort? How the funk did I find one without it, LOL? Any difference between Gen 1 & Gen 2?

Nearby salvage has the "2008 complete unit $250" removed for me. There is a mobile glass guy in my neighborhood who I'd have no problem paying to remove my fixed window and glue in the sliding unit. My question to you, the experts, is: does any of the needed wiring/relays exist between the switch location and the rear of the cab? Is it as easy peasy as plug & play? I understand (I think anyway) I'll lose the heated rear window functionality, no? Defogger is a non-issue, really. Understand I'll need the donor switch up front. Thought I'd ask here before I start tearing out interior panels to find out.

Thanks for reading.

 

[swshawaii]

If not equipped, sounds like wiring would be the biggest issue. Could only find this, but it dead ended. Nice ST, BTW.

http://www.mysporttrac.com/shared/msgboard9e.asp?BOARDNAME=MSG&VIEW=1278008

 

[Trac Marks]

Thank you swshawaii. The crash test rating reasoning in the link you provided makes sense. Not to be defeated, I'll start pulling some panels tonight and see if I can locate an empty harness. I did read how the power adjustable pedals are plug & play, I found its empty harness under the dash looking for my keypad code, so that gives me hope.

 

[BannonJr]

To give you any false hope, I once had a 93 grand Cherokee, bought the leather interior for a 95..under the carpet...harness...harnesses everywhere! heated also!

 

[Trac Marks]

Answering my own thread incase somebody stumbles upon it someday.

Pulled out the rear wall plastics, Cpillar trim, subwoofer, etc & couldn't find an obvious loose harness that might control the sliding rear window. Figured it must be in the headliner or elsewhere. Pulled down the front dome lamp assembly where the switch would be. No loose harness up their either.

Checked the easiest place last (of course)... Under hood fuse box (position F10) does not have wiring provisioned into it for the sliding rear window.

So... is adding a sliding rear window possible? Of course. Is it as easy as plug & play? Maybe. Am I this lucky? Never.

 

[Trac Marks]

Oh, in my first post I mentioned something about losing the functionality of the rear window defogger. Well, that was ASSuming I had a rear window defroster, which I don't. I made an assumption the heated windshield somehow replaced the windshield defroster and figured the icon on the control panel was infact for the rear. Look at me, new to all this...

 

[CobraXP]

I have an '07 and am doing this same project in mine. Unfortunately, the early '07's do not have the factory wiring, so plug-n-play is out the window. In looking at the wiring though, it is a simple setup and will not be hard to manually add. I have already bought another overhead piece for both sunroof and rear window, and also bought the wiring plug for the switch. From there, it will be just a ground, a power, and two wires to the back for up and down. Then a ground in the back with power there for the motor (I think - forgot now). I will be doing mine in the spring once it warms back up again...