Wiring to roof rack solution?

Yoothgeye

New Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Location
Roanoke Rapids, NC
I'm about to put a roof basket on my '93 ZJ. I am putting 2 lights on front (1 switch) and 1-2 lights facing rear (another switch). Also will run a CB antenna wire at the same time.

How have some of you successfully run wires to the roof? A hole and a rubber grommet seems like a plan, but with more than 1 wire there would be a void and potential leak. I guess silicon fits the bill there, but it seems to amatuer.

Best options?

TIA.
 
You can get multi conductor wire from a trailer shop. Also ck mcmaster for weathertite grommets for the wire, and silicone it all up when you are done.
 
The guy I bought my suburban from ran the wires through a pvc elbow, ran the wires (and thankfully and extra or two) and then siliconed the pvc shut. It is a little ghetto but it has not leaked in the year I have had the truck out side. You can only see the pvc if you are looking hard but my burban sits high enough my short but can't see it if I try. I could try to get some pics if your interested.
 
I did my '98 ZJ by using the hole and grommet plan. To cut down on future issues I used heavy gauge wire to the roof for the lights. I also ran my CB antenna line up there also so I had three wires going through the grommet. I put silicone around the outside of the grommet before I pushed it into the roof. I then loaded the grommet from the bottom with silicone. After that dried I finished the job by loading up the top of the grommet with silicone. Hasn't leaked yet. I'd take a picture for ya but it's raining right now.LOL
 
Thanks for the ideas guys, pretty much what I expected, just wasn't sure of other options.

A threaded PVC fitting filled with silicon crossed my mind, but I think I'll stick with a black rubber grommet, I got a bunch of them in different sizes. Running an extra wire or two is a good idea though.
 
On my 4runner I ran the wires to the rear drivers side door pulled the weather stripping down and notched the top of the door frame (where the weather stripping attaches to) No grommet just wrapped the positive and negative wires in tape to protect from being cut and cramed the wires and the weather stripping back on. I ran it threw wire lume and has never leaked. I guess it looks like it comes from the door but is not noticable. This is just for my lights (6) on a light bar, so only 2 wires my cb antenna is on my rear bumper.
 
Yoothgeye said:
I guess silicon fits the bill there, but it seems to amatuer. TIA.
Click to expand...

It works wonders even with boobies...
I use 3m 5200 polyurathane(sp?) caulk to seal everything My rear cargo window has been held in with it alone for 4 years now now w/ no leak. Unfortunently it only comes in white i think but I have used silicone (black) over it before on something that I want to look black.

It is used to hold screws in under water for boats on tranducers, spedo pick ups outdrives, etc, etc. Beware it will not come off of skin fo a long time...
 
On the wifey's WJ, I ran the wires behind the weatherstripping for the rear hatch. Then it comes out thru the crack at the top and to the factory roof rails. You only see a couple inches of wire, and actually you don't notice it unless you are right at the back passenger side looking at the roof.
 
A connector with the metal tab might work best that way if you want to remove the rack you can without cutting wires. I have one (factory) at the cargo door of my 97 Burban. Also had one on my 99 Chavey venture minvan at the sliding doors. Not sure how the weather would affect it though. A simple 4 plug trailer plug would be water tight to allow you to disco it.
 
I personally took the cowards way out and ran my wires through the side pannels. I did this to the back of my XJ then through the seal between the roof and the rear hatch. From there ran it along the inward side of the rack so the wires are hid. Takes a good amount of wire but I didn't want to go punching holes in the roof of my jeep and worring about leaks.
 
On my friends xj we ran the wires over top of the headliner and out through the rear hatch near the hinge. They pulled the end cap of the stock roof rails and ran the wires through it. Just notched the bottom edge of the end cap and put it back on. Looks nice and clean and you only see a couple inches of wire.
 
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