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Rear bumper wiring entry point, need advice

5K views 9 replies 4 participants last post by  Mccaf 
#1 ·
I have a Smittybilt 76896 XRC Atlas Rear Bumper And Tire Carrier on my 2011 JKU. I have a set of reverse lights, license plate relocated to the spare tire with a reverse camera, and a 3rd brake light. Right now I have the wiring going in between the rear corner of the body and the bumper, problem is the paint is rubbing off as the wiring moves. Has anyone drilled a hole below the taillight and ran the wire loom directly through the body with a rubber gromet? I figured I would ask before trying in case anyone ran into problems doing this. Thanks.

 
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#4 ·
I had that bumper(sold it) and had the same quandry. Never got as far as you did with the wiring.

Just me, but I'd rather have an extra hole in the bumper than the body :) A small hole drilled in the right spot won't hurt it at all. Just find a spot a bit away from the frame rail.

Maybe stick it in the tailgate on the right side there. You can route it up through the interior that way. Then stick a grommet like the one in the center. May not be as obvious as in the rear quarter.
 
#5 ·
I am having the same quandary but I'll get to that shortly. Just a question. I was searching for Wavian jerrycans and read a review on Amazon that it will not fit in the drivers side slot but will fit passenger. The reviewer said the slots I this rack were at fault. Comments?

BTW, if I knew bumper would be such a pita I would have went else where but I really liked it.
 
#6 ·
I installed a plate where the spare was removed and ran the wires out through it and ran a zip tie around one of the hinge covers then up the bar of the spare tire carrier on the bumper itself.

my wiring for the light for my plate relocation just goes out of the bottom of the fender, across the top of the frame behind the bumper and comes out near the cam.
 
#7 ·
Here is what I did. I could just leave it as is, but I think I will go a little more mod on it.

I did drill out the OEM plug to run my 18ga wire though it. I didnt want the splice on the outside of the gate.....

I was not sure what to expect when I drilled into <rubber>. There is a hard white plastic piece inside the black rubber that gave me fits. Once I figured that out I put on the largest drill bit I could to reem it out but ruined the integrity if the plug. After some electricians tape it fit back perfectly.

It's nothing great, but I avoided drilling holes in the bumper and tailgate. I did pull the hex-bolt on the gate cam adjustment and once out, the zip tie fit perfectly behind it allowing me to re tighten the bolt on the cam cover. there are alot of options to run the cable but this works for me and cost under $8 for parts at Home Depot, taking about 90 minutes.









 
#8 ·
Oh, there is the rectangular plug next to the breather panel in the second to last pic. I also considered drilling that plug out to run the wire through it into the gate. You would just have to fish out the wire- back to your harness to splice it in. didnt have any wire coat hangers though. :-}
 
#10 ·
So I figured out a way to clean this up. I pulled the plastic cover around the roll bar for access.

I was able to route the .18ga wire under the rubber weather molding and into the cab without pinching when the tailgate closes.

Cut two slits in the braided wire carrier and pulled the wires through with a coat hanger (white). Taped it up and routed the wire and zip tied to the factory wiring along the tail gate. This looks so much cleaner and factory.



 
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