Wiring License plate lights on tailgate.

[gericurl]

I have dug around for a bit now and can't seem to find any pics of the wiring from the inside.

My barn doors were welded together hastily by the previous owner that must've been near-sighed, and hungover, and didn't care about details. Then he/she plugged the hinge mounting holes on one side so they could use it as a single-sided hinge swing out. It's a bit janky.

Unless I can source some good barn doors or a tailgate for a reasonable price in the next few weeks, the plan is to redo the tailgate conversion work on the doors and bring the hinges down to the sill. Similar to a low-tech version of this:
Poor Boy FJ40 tailgate


My question is: I don't want exposed wire on the tailgate. I wonder if anybody has any experience/ideas on a better way to route the wire so every time I slide my cooler in and out, it doesn't take my wiring with it. I also don't love the idea of dangling wires on the outside (within reason).

I would love to route the wire towards the sill to minimize the exposure when the gate is down, but I'm hoping to get some tips from smarter people than me.

 

[gericurl]

This thread was close but the pics are MIA
Original Tailgate Wire Routing Question

 

[spotcruiser]

I built a tailgate from two old rusted barn doors and made hinges for the bottom. I mounted the license plate holder on the right side and ran the wiring similar to the ambulance doors, but I built a cover for the wiring so that I could use the tailgate and not damage the wiring.

 

[Living in the Past]

Factory the wiring came from the bottom on the early 74 and earlier FST. There was a hole sill with a grommet for the wire. Early single lamp license plate brackets mounted on the bottom with two screws. Between those two is a channel in the bracket to hide and secure the wire. Not around my 73 FST otherwise would snap a picture.

 

[oregon fj]

Like so...

 

[middlecalf]

...and made hinges for the bottom.

So how’s the hinge making business going? Any more available soon? Just checking...

 

[brian]

I replicated the oe way.

 

[spotcruiser]

I haven't made any additional hinges, but they're not difficult. It's just 1-1/2" or 2" flat bar and 3/4 x 3/8 tube.

So how’s the hinge making business going? Any more available soon? Just checking...

 

[spotcruiser]

I run the ambulance doors about 1/2 the year, so it made sense for me to make the wiring work for both situations. I have two license plate mounts and made separate pigtails for the tailgate and for the right ambulance door, so I can just unplug whichever door/tailgate is there and swap them out.

I replicated the oe way.

View attachment 1757332

 

[Living in the Past]

I replicated the oe way.

View attachment 1757332

Have a number of late model license plate brackets. At least one has the fold over tab that would secure wiring coming from the bottom.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

I Re-Wired this truck for a Client a while back & Chickened out on drilling a hole in there sill because i was unsure on the proper

location , grommet etc

the tail gate also overlapped the body so as i had to use shims on the hinge bottoms

 

[ToyotaMatt]