Fishing wire thru headliner

[fasteddie2015]

I'm looking at pulling a wire from the rear most overhead dome light to the liftgate and around the side of the liftgate to get 12v to a light on the liftgate inspection panel. 15 LC.

So far, I've been told to use a wire coat hanger, make a u and tape the end so as not to snag the headliner. Three clips on the back of the headliner. Need a fork shaped trim tool to unclip those.
Also told to be patient and go slow to
Want to make sure I dont crease the headliner or cause any other damage. Thanks @Brendan for the tips.

So, is there clearance between the headliner and the roof in the back area? Enuf clearance to run a thin couple of wires? Is the headliner glued down in the area between the rear dome light and the liftgate? How about the liftgate interior trim? Any tricks to getting it unclipped?

Then I need to get the wire around the glass to the inspection hatch. I know the interior trim is just clipped in but man those clips are solid.

Only need to draw .5 watt, so I'm figuring a 16 or 18 gauge 2 conductor wire is all I need room for.

Anybody have any other headliner info?

 

[Tonytbts]

In the Australian delivery Cruisers there is heaps of room in the headliner to run wires. I can’t imagine that U.S delivery are different in that regard, but note my rig does not have a sunroof. I ran my new reversing camera wire from the back all the way to the front using a long piece of semi flexible plastic that is known here as “yellow tongue” - it is used as a joining strip in particle board flooring. Again I assume you have similar. I used the yellow tongue to run a length of cord, and then used the cord to pull the wires. Just pull the rubber seal away from the hood lining at the top of the rear hatch and have at it. I had a bit of a drama getting the pull cord around a support rib that spans across the roof a little back from the cabin light in the centre of the roof, but not a deal-breaker. Good luck, Tony

 

[CharlieS]

If you happen to have any floating around, the individual copper wires that come out of romex electrical cable make great fish wires for car work. You can easily make them any length you like. Like you planned to do with your coat hanger just bend a loop in one end, put the wire you want to pull in the loop, wrap it with a couple of turns of electrical tape (to connect the wire you are tuning to the fish wire, and also to avoid snags), and pull the wire through.

I suspect when you look back afterwards, you will find that this job was really easy and you may have been overthinking it.

 

[619TOY]

I'm looking at pulling a wire from the rear most overhead dome light to the liftgate and around the side of the liftgate to get 12v to a light on the liftgate inspection panel. 15 LC.

So far, I've been told to use a wire coat hanger, make a u and tape the end so as not to snag the headliner. Three clips on the back of the headliner. Need a fork shaped trim tool to unclip those.
Also told to be patient and go slow to
Want to make sure I dont crease the headliner or cause any other damage. Thanks @Brendan for the tips.

So, is there clearance between the headliner and the roof in the back area? Enuf clearance to run a thin couple of wires? Is the headliner glued down in the area between the rear dome light and the liftgate? How about the liftgate interior trim? Any tricks to getting it unclipped?

Then I need to get the wire around the glass to the inspection hatch. I know the interior trim is just clipped in but man those clips are solid.

Only need to draw .5 watt, so I'm figuring a 16 or 18 gauge 2 conductor wire is all I need room for.

Anybody have any other headliner info?

There's plenty of room and it's an easy pull. I use a piece of "fish tape" that I spin some electrical tape onto the tip so as not to puncture anything or allow the fish to thread through any gaps or holes too small to allow the the wire to then be pulled through. 16-18 AWG will be fine.

I was actually doing the opposite, running a switched wire to a much brighter LED light that I replaced the factory dome with and is identical to the hatch light I added.

 

[KLF]

I did this exact thing this summer, fished a wire from that very dome light to the back, for adding lights on the lift gate. Getting the wire from the light to the back is easy, just be careful pulling the rubber welting off, gently push down on the headliner, it will flex enough. I used an electricians fish tape, but a coat hanger or a piece of #14 wire should work fine.

Getting tapped to that $*@&^ dome light was MUCH harder. You can't unclip it out of the roof, you have to solder your wires on with it dangling. It was a real pain.

And it was not fun getting the wires through the rubber conduit tube down into the liftgate either.

 

[OregonLC]

To avoid later rattles, I would recommend that you tape up your wiring with felt tape wherever they can chafe or resonate. You wouldn't think something as light as a wire could cause an annoying sound but it definitely can, especially with changes in temperature as things expand/contract.

 

[KLF]

To avoid later rattles, I would recommend that you tape up your wiring with felt tape wherever they can chafe or resonate. You wouldn't think something as light as a wire could cause an annoying sound but it definitely can, especially with changes in temperature as things expand/contract.

Good point. And DO NOT use duct tape. The adhesive will dry out and it will fall off. Gaffer's tape! Awesome stuff, I use it all the time.

 

[fasteddie2015]

Getting tapped to that $*@&^ dome light was MUCH harder. You can't unclip it out of the roof, you have to solder your wires on with it dangling. It was a real pain.

And it was not fun getting the wires through the rubber conduit tube down into the liftgate either.

1) Any reason you didnt use a scotchlock or T Tap crimp on splice connector?

2) Did you remove the liftgate interior trim? Still a PITA?

3) Were you happy with the result?