Cargo / bed light fix

[rmb2485]

Not sure if this has been posted yet; I searched and didn’t see anything.

 

My cargo light on the back of the cab never worked since I’ve had the truck. Finally got around to it today and found that it did have power at the connector and continuity through the light itself, so the issue was the ground. The light is grounded through the mounting bolts, but the connection from the bulbs to the bolts relies on metal molded to plastic in the light, which in my case was loose and rusted.

 

I cleaned up all the connections with fine grit sandpaper, grabbed some new bolts, and put it all back together. That got one bulb working but not the other.

 

From there I decided to just add a legitimate ground and be done with the issue. I added a jumper wire between the ground posts on each end of the light and added a pigtail wire with a ring terminal on the end to one post. Cut a bit of the rubber mounting gasket to clear the new ground wire and terminal, bolted the jumper to the cab and tucked the extra wire into the cab, and bolted the light back to the cab. With this setup the light now works perfectly.

 

 

 

 

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[eaglescout526]

Neat but a bit lengthy for a simple fix. I have restored three of these buggers and I have soaked them in a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water so no harm comes to the plastic and metal, just the rust and they have worked every time with no issues what so ever. Small wire brush for cleaning pipes also helps with the hole the screw goes through to mount to the body.

[rmb2485]

Neat but a bit lengthy for a simple fix. I have restored three of these buggers and I have soaked them in a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water so no harm comes to the plastic and metal, just the rust and they have worked every time with no issues what so ever. Small wire brush for cleaning pipes also helps with the hole the screw goes through to mount to the body.

This honestly only took fifteen minutes, and half of that was the first attempt of just cleaning it up. Always good to have different options.


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[eaglescout526]

Just now, rmb2485 said:

This honestly only took fifteen minutes

Makes sense, to me solder work seems to take longer but I am not well versed in it at all.

[erandel]

On 4/14/2020 at 4:50 AM, rmb2485 said:

Not sure if this has been posted yet; I searched and didn’t see anything.

 

My cargo light on the back of the cab never worked since I’ve had the truck. Finally got around to it today and found that it did have power at the connector and continuity through the light itself, so the issue was the ground. The light is grounded through the mounting bolts, but the connection from the bulbs to the bolts relies on metal molded to plastic in the light, which in my case was loose and rusted.

 

I cleaned up all the connections with fine grit sandpaper, grabbed some new bolts, and put it all back together. That got one bulb working but not the other.

 

From there I decided to just add a legitimate ground and be done with the issue. I added a jumper wire between the ground posts on each end of the light and added a pigtail wire with a ring terminal on the end to one post. Cut a bit of the rubber mounting gasket to clear the new ground wire and terminal, bolted the jumper to the cab and tucked the extra wire into the cab, and bolted the light back to the cab. With this setup the light now works perfectly.

 

 

 

 

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Reminds me to do the bed light checking. One has been intermittently working for a couple of months now until it stopped working last month. We'll just finish first the installation of the brake kit, lexani rims and head ache rack on brother's truck. I suspect it got bad connections through the bolts since it got wet a couple of times and probably rusted. I like the idea of putting a jumper on both ground terminals to ensure the connectivity in case one of the bolts is not having a good connection. As for cleaning the possible molds, I will try using the sand paper first. Been doing the sand paper cleaning most of the ports of connection as it cleans the surface thoroughly.

[schardein]

I've got a bed light and corresponding switch bezel & switch.  I scored it at the JY and was going to put it on my MJ.  But as I cleaned it up, I was honestly surprised and how... shall we say... "low tech" they are.'

 

I like the repair, you'll probably never have to mess with it again.  I hate drilling extra holes in the body, even if hidden by the light.  If I were doing this, I might run that ground wire down to the driver side rear speaker bracket and ground it at an existing screw.  

 

 

[WahooSteeler]

Erandel and/or Eaglescout, what size screws does this take? I took mine off today to replace the cracked housing with another and as expected, the screws were rusted and broke off.  Thanks for any help

[rmb2485]

Erandel and/or Eaglescout, what size screws does this take? I took mine off today to replace the cracked housing with another and as expected, the screws were rusted and broke off.  Thanks for any help

Not sure of the size. Mine were rusty as well and I had to drill the head off of one to get it all apart since the PO had stripped it at some point. They just thread to the sheet metal, so I just grabbed some screws from my collection of random hardware that were close in size to the originals and they worked fine.


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[fiatslug87]

Hey Wahoo, does yours have nutserts? I remember the parts diagram showing nutserts and I remember buying NOS screws & nutserts many years ago but am not sure where they are anymore.

[eaglescout526]

41 minutes ago, WahooSteeler said:

Erandel and/or Eaglescout, what size screws does this take? I took mine off today to replace the cracked housing with another and as expected, the screws were rusted and broke off.  Thanks for any help

Depends on which set up you have. If it was dealer installed, I imagine they just used ordinary domed screws to hold it in place and they are course threads. I am willing to bet that only the factory used the nutserts. When I installed mine I just drilled two holes and used the screws that came with it.

[Strokermjcomanche]

Hopefully this helps 

[fiatslug87]

Thanks Stroker! Yeah, that's them jacknuts, now I remember more clearly and know what to look for in my stash.

[WahooSteeler]

Eagle, no jacknuts on mine, not sure if it was/is supposed to since mine is factory (I have the original window sticker ). 

 

Stroker, thanks a lot, they are M4 x .7-35mm with the jacknuts according to your instructions. M4 x .7-? is a common size on our trucks for trim pieces. Fyi, that's the size of the screws that hold the door handle in place, 16mm long I believe. 

[eaglescout526]

I would just use ordinary screws that will fit inside the holes and make contact with the metal on the housing and you should be good. I wouldn't worry about sourcing the jacknuts and doing it that way. 

[WahooSteeler]

1 hour ago, eaglescout526 said:

I would just use ordinary screws that will fit inside the holes and make contact with the metal on the housing and you should be good. I wouldn't worry about sourcing the jacknuts and doing it that way. 

 

Nope, wasn't planning on messing with that. I have a list I copied from somewhere of screw and bolt sizes that I forgot I had, just remembered and checked it, sure enough it had cargo light screws listed as #6 sheet metal screws, 1.5" long. I had a pack of #8x1" I tried tonight and they were too large. I'll grab some #6's tomorrow and report back.