Pictures of roof rack light wiring? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Pictures of roof rack light wiring?

I know there are countless ways to run light wires down from an aftermarket roof (safari) rack, but was wondering if anyone had some good pictures of how they did it. I have read some of the threads. I have a '98 Sport and haven't seen a good route yet. Drilling a hole in the roof is definitely out. Possibly down to the door and following the weather stripping. Then through the small access to the engine compartment near the upper door hinge. I used that access when wiring two lights on a Westin Safari bar. I would definitely appreciate any suggestions on the wiring. Pictures would be great, but any suggestions would be appreciated. Help me out and I will fire up the digital camera when I am done. I'll do that anyway. Thanks.
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Remote's

What about using the remote wiring for lights I believe that Piaa has some I believe they are use so you don't drill through the firewall. There should be some way to do it from the roof. I know a friend who has his GPS antenna kind of back to back on his side rear window. There must be something along those lines. I may be wrong but ask Matt "I can fit another PIAA !" Adams or just ask Vegas! Hope it helps.
 






I think I went unconventional with my light setup. Since my truck is a daily driver and I only need the roof rack on rare occasions when I get to go camping I made my wiring quick connect. Using industrial strength extension cords I ran them from the lights across the roof to the driver's side rear corner and then they drop down inside to the jack stow area. The weather stripping seals up tight against the cords when the rear hatch is closed. In the stow area the cords simply plug in to other plugs that run to the switches and battery. It's very clean because the wires are factory wrapped in rubber and I'm using the original ends.
When I'm not using the lights the cords get tucked into the stow area out of site and the rest of the wires go with the rack on the ceiling of the garage. Am I making any sense? I hope so.
 


















Here is mine, it goes through the rear weather seal and I use a trailer flat 3 way connector since I remove my roof rack sometimes. I have had no leaks through the weather seal and i like the way mine is hooked up.

Dead Link Removed
 






Thanks Brian. That's the kind of picture I was looking for. How did you route your wires through the hatch area and through the truck? I found small grommets down near the rear lights. I actually ended up running the power/ground wires off the rack and through the upper rear corner of the passenger door. I then followed the moulding (inner rain gutter?) down to the upper door hinge. The wires then go through the small access to the engine compartment. I used quite a bit of wire loom. The switch wires were routed similarily on the driver side into the interior. It seems everyone wires their lights differently. I'll see how mine works out. I can post pictures if anyone is interested. I planned on doing some kind of before/after anyway.
 






Ray, I ran it through the door down to the jack compartment through the plastic (I drilled a hole through the plastic but it looks like a really clean job). From there they go up to the plastic trim piece at the corner of the roof and all the way to under the dash through the firewall to my custom lighting junction box. (Do a search for this pic). IMO my wiring is a really clean looking install job. Someday I will put a page on my website of my wiring for all my lights.
 






Ray, I'd be interested in seeing how you wired your stuff when you get through with it. Post a pic if you can. I plan on eventually doing the same thing. Thanks.
 






if you're interested I can take pictures of my application. I ran wires right through the roof............ but if you decide to take the rack down you don't have to worry about wholes in the roof......go figure....

let me know!

Later,
 






could you please take some pics dre? that would kick butt if you could, cause i really don't want to install any lights on the brush guard, seeing as it's for hitting crap and going through brush. wouldn't want to mess up lights that are on it when i decide to wrestle a small tree :) thanks in advance.
 






later on today.... I'll have to dismantle the whole thing first to take pictures.

OK?
 






dismantle the whole thing? jeez, i don't want to give you any trouble or anything. hope i don't cause too much trouble like i usually do :) but just think... you'll be immortalized on the web with the picture of your roof rack setup. heh heh
 






Blue Steel, Here's a couple pictures. The second shows where the wires enter the door. I'll try to some better pictures if you like. I had to recharge the batteries in my camera. I can also show how I routed the wires.

Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
 






OK....well before the pictures let me give you a heads up on my way of working the wires inside the truck. As you know, safari rack is installed to the factory roof rack..... front cross member of that baby is attached to the roof for good when rear one slides freely front and back....... take the front, driver side mount off..... (unscrew two mounting bolts on the cross member mount and a few on the track itself). Lift the whole assembly........ you'll see a nut-type of fixture embeded in truck's roof. Drill either 3/8 or 1/2" hole right under the mount next to the "nut" but be carefull not to drill through the headliner....(better yet, remove mouldings around door jamb and put something between headliner and roof to protect it). Once you do it fish wires throught the hole and under the rack mount....... notch trim that goes between rack mount and roof for wires. You can also install rubber gromet in the hole to protect wires and seal the whole thing using silicone caulk. Voila!! you have fixed your problem. Later when you decide to take the whole set-up down just remove wires and plug the hole with some rubber or silicone and nobody will ever know that you have a hole there.

Hope it's understandable enough........ pictures coming later.
 






Ray, that's a pretty good idea to run it through the door and not drill. Could you take a couple more pictures of that, one with the door open, and one where you think would be good. Also, did you run the wires that are coming down through the door through the rubber seal and through the plastic moulding, or what? I can semi understand everything except where you exactly drilled Dre. I don't know if I have the guts to drill my baby though. It still and always will be a daily driver, (or at least until I get a student loan or something). Also what roof racks do you guys have on your truck. I have looked at the ones from Performance Products, and I'm a little scetchy on the design. I've looked at Garvin, and I like the 'flooring' option that they have, so I can stick smaller things on the roof without them slipping through the cracks. Thanks for all your help everyone.
 






Blue Steel, here's a couple more pictures. I couldn't get any up sooner, with the holiday, vacation and all. Hopefully the first is a better picture of where the wires enter the door. The second is the entry point with the door open. The wires follow that recess down to the end, then across just above the upper door hinge and into the engine compartment.

Dead Link Removed
Dead Link Removed
 






stop!!!! STOP RIGHT NOW!!!! Change it. With your wires set up like that you're bound to burn your car down!! If one of those wires gets cut from the door closing it will make contact with the metal and the line will be hot!! I've done it before with my QuickAir!! Relook at you're set-up. I sure hope you've got alot of fuses ran
 






Mine is set up exactly like Ray's.....but I don't have fuses to worry about....that is why I have a breaker box.... if something gets sliced, diced etc...the breaker automatically trips..... fuses take too long to burn out.....

Karol
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





Thanks Leebo for the concern. Even though the lights are switched, fused and relayed, I'll definitely keep an eye on them. I may eventually rethink the wiring. Unfortunately, there really is no perfect way to wire roof lights. Through the roof is definitely out. Even through the rear hatch (like Brian1) could allow for wires getting cut.

Karol, could you post pictures of your wiring and breaker setup?

I am certainly open to other wiring options. Any help and suggestions are definitely appreciated.
 






Back
Top