New Cargo Light Option

[ghetdjc320]

I’ll post up some more info in a bit. Just finished the install yesterday. Much better than the stock plastic unit. It’s an aluminum housing with a sealed led strip in it. 

[Pete M]

such a tease!   

[fiatslug87]

He's on island time 

[ghetdjc320]

This is open source as I don’t have the time right now to work on modifying the housings to fit our trucks but here goes:

 

the light you will need is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Lighting-Outdoor-Exterior-lumens-Black/dp/B07H93WGZ4/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=dream+lighting+awning&qid=1634026745&sr=8-2

 

Note that you will need to wire the white wire to ground and the black to power. If you are installing a cargo light for the first time than just run a 2 conductor wire to it for power and ground. If you’re swapping out an existing cargo light, you can just put a ring terminal on the ground wire and use a self-tapper to get ground right behind the light. These lights  are a bit wider than an oem light. They also provide significantly more lighting at just over 700 lumens. The housing is powder coated aluminum and comes in 3 colors. Although the powder coating is uv resistant I would still ceramic coat it or apply some extra uv protection of some sort. 
 

Now onto the fitment. The back of the housing will need to be sanded or filed smooth as some casting marks remain and this may prevent having a good seal if not smoothed out. I used some 80 grit on a sanding block for this. There are 2 screw holes that will need to be marked and drilled. There is no gasket that comes with it. Ideally someone could fab or print a nice little gasket for it (I’m thinking @Dzimm). That top of the cab has a slight curve to it that the oem cargo light gasket accounts for. Since this light is not as tall, it doesn’t require that curved gasket so a simple cork/rubber gasket would also work. 
At the moment I am using a thin bead of marine through-hull sealer (3m 5200 black) with no gasket and I have zero leaks (and we get tons of rain almost every day). You can also use Permatex Mega Black automotive sealant (found at almost any auto parts store but make sure it’s specifically the Mega Black). That stuff is actually oem Sea-Doo sealant for through hull fittings and works remarkably well. I would also recommend filling the screw holes in your new light with some mega black. The screw hole may collect just a bit of water since they are pretty level with the ground. 
One last thing i did was to notch a small “vent” hole on the bottom center of the housing. This can act as a drain for moisture or condensation on this area. It is very small but just ads a bit of longevity to the new setup. 
 

This light looks oem when installed right. And it provides far more light in a rugged and sealed housing. The light is rated for 50,000 hrs so no worries about having to replace a bulb anytime soon.
 

My plan was to modify the housings, fabricate the gasket and even a drill template and sell these as a kit along with a new oem switch setup and wiring for a complete oem install. I may do that down the road but I’m just too swamped to take that project on at the moment. 
 

If you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer them. 

 

[acfortier]

I want to add a cargo light to mine, might have to go this route. I'm just a stickler for stock-looking parts, and this kinda sticks out to me.

[ghetdjc320]

7 hours ago, acfortier said:

I want to add a cargo light to mine, might have to go this route. I'm just a stickler for stock-looking parts, and this kinda sticks out to me.

Yeah I got so sick of the stock cargo light with its wonky rivets stuck in brittle plastic. After the 10th time repairing it, I threw it out. This one actually is lower profile than the factory unit. I also like the factory look but I’d only install a NOS oem cargo light. Used ones are just in not good enough shape after years of sitting in the elements. 

[eaglescout526]

Just now, ghetdjc320 said:

Used ones are just in not good enough shape after years of sitting in the elements. 

Really? I’ve never had an issue with any of the ones I had in my hands. Ran them through a vinegar bath to help clean up the brass contacts and they all worked with no issue or loose pieces. Interesting that yours had issues. 

[ghetdjc320]

8 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Really? I’ve never had an issue with any of the ones I had in my hands. Ran them through a vinegar bath to help clean up the brass contacts and they all worked with no issue or loose pieces. Interesting that yours had issues. 

Could be the relentless battering of the elements here??? I’m sure you’ve seen how the factory constructed the cargo lights. It was one complete cast piece of transparent lens material similar to the tail lights. The black portion was just painted and the “lens” area was left natural. It may be the heat from the cargo lamp bulbs also that causes issues. Maybe some LED’s would help. The tabs were always coming loose in mine and eventually the entire hosing just kept cracking. The rivets wouldn’t hold anymore. I tried a lot of plastic work to salvage them but they used that brittle lens plastic on the whole unit vs actual trim quality plastic with a hard lens. If they had built it out of a more maleable plastic it probably would have helped. But no doubt it was cheaper this way. Riveting into that lens material was a bad idea imho.

[acfortier]

Think I'm going to purchase one and check it out in person. What type/thickness of rubber should I get with it to make a gasket?

[eaglescout526]

Dang. Sounds like yours went through hell and back about 5 times. I mean yeah the design isn’t the best compared to the others of the big three but at the time it was cost saving solution for AMC to have. I’m just surprised any of them last this long. 

[howeitsdone]

FWIW, you can get some Fel-Pro gasket material and cut out the shape you need to make it simpler. I don't have a factory light to verify it'll work though. Just a thought.

[ghetdjc320]

Yep as @PocketsEmptied mentioned, just grab some gasket material about 1/16-1/8” thick and trim it out to size. The oem gasket will not work with these since the oem gasket is actually a rounded wedge. The top edge is thick and the bottom is thin. They did this because the cargo light they used had a flat back but was too tall to sit squarely on the rounded edge of that part of the cab without leaving a gap. I still kept the oem gasket to make a mold of it someday but scrapped that idea when I found this light. It is simply far better than what the factory made. I know I’m not the purest restorer here but trust me, it looks very clean on the truck.

[ghetdjc320]

Some additional pics for reference. 

[AZJeff]

My MJ uses a high mounted stop light/cargo light assembly from a late model (1999 or thereabouts) Ford Ranger.  You can buy Taiwanese copies that are decent from Amazon, and they include a closed-cell foam gasket.

 

you will need to open up the hole in the cab to install these.  I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel.  I then used Tinnerman-type “J-nuts” on the edge of the opening to allow the mounting screws to have a solid engagement, rather than just screwing into the cab sheet metal directly. The 

[WahooSteeler]

47 minutes ago, AZJeff said:

My MJ uses a high mounted stop light/cargo light assembly from a late model (1999 or thereabouts) Ford Ranger.  You can buy Taiwanese copies that are decent from Amazon, and they include a closed-cell foam gasket.

 

you will need to open up the hole in the cab to install these.  I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel.  I then used Tinnerman-type “J-nuts” on the edge of the opening to allow the mounting screws to have a solid engagement, rather than just screwing into the cab sheet metal directly. The 

Pics?

[ghetdjc320]

2 hours ago, AZJeff said:

My MJ uses a high mounted stop light/cargo light assembly from a late model (1999 or thereabouts) Ford Ranger.  You can buy Taiwanese copies that are decent from Amazon, and they include a closed-cell foam gasket.

 

you will need to open up the hole in the cab to install these.  I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off wheel.  I then used Tinnerman-type “J-nuts” on the edge of the opening to allow the mounting screws to have a solid engagement, rather than just screwing into the cab sheet metal directly. The 

I’ve seen several of those brake/cargo light setups. They seem to be standard issue on most truck these days. Baja designs makes a nice looking unit that is a combo light like that also. 

[AZJeff]

15 hours ago, WahooSteeler said:

Pics?

Here is what it looks like, installed.

[acfortier]

I tried looking for something like that for my MJ, do you have a link to where that can be purchased?

[AZJeff]

4 hours ago, acfortier said:

I tried looking for something like that for my MJ, do you have a link to where that can be purchased?

Are you talking about the one I posted the photo of on my MJ?   That's the high mounted stop lamp/bed light for a 1998 Ford Ranger.  You should be able to find those on Ebay or some other auto parts retailers on line.

[fiatslug87]

Don't you have to cut a pretty substantial hole for that Ranger light?

[Ωhm]

You must have run a wire from the Brake Light Swtich for the CHMSL bulb.

[AZJeff]

17 hours ago, fiatslug87 said:

Don't you have to cut a pretty substantial hole for that Ranger light?

Yes.  The hole I cut is about 2 inches high, and about 9 inches across.  However, with some masking tape and a sharpie pen to outline the cutout, it's easy to use a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to make the actual cut.

 

[AZJeff]

1 hour ago, Ωhm said:

You must have run a wire from the Brake Light Swtich for the CHMSL bulb.

That is correct.  I intercepted the line heading to the rear end of the vehicle, and made a splice there in the cab.  Then I fished the line up inside the trim on the "B" pillar, and across through the headliner.  I used insulated spade connectors to actually joing the light wiring to the new connection.

 

The Ford light came with a wiring harness with three bulbs and a custom connector that attached to the normal Ranger wiring harness.  I cut off that connector, and attached spade connectors.  For a ground, I added a ring-tongue lug to the Ford ground wire, and attached that with a sheet metal screw inside the boxed in section at the top of the cab at the back.

 

One last thing I did was to switch to LED lights in the sockets.  I did that to lessen the chances I will ever have to take the light assembly back out.

[acfortier]

The Ford part # seems to be CC3Z-13A613-B. Debating whether I want to use this one which has a brake light and looks stock, but requires a bigger hole vs. the other one.

[Dzimm]

On 10/12/2021 at 3:42 AM, ghetdjc320 said:

(I’m thinking @Dzimm).

Sorry I didn't see this until now, I'm not getting notifications for some reason.

 

Anyhow if you are serious about making this a kit I can easily make you gaskets to bundle with it.  I have a polyurethane material that I can print with that is ideal for gaskets.  

 

I'll shoot you a PM to work out details.