Stu’s comments: I got this write-up from “Podunc” a couple of days ago. He has been a site reader for some time and wanted to share this dome light project that he did on his ’05 Rubicon. I just wanted to pass along my thanks and hope that others will benefit from this simple yet helpful mod to your dome light circuit. And so, without any further delay……
Wouldn’t it be nice to take the doors off of your Jeep without having the dome lights come on? Earlier in the summer I had the doors off, and was using dome light switch clips to keep the lights from coming on. While wheeling, the passenger side clip came off and the lights came on. It was mid-day, I didn’t notice they were on. Once I shut off the Jeep the lights sapped my battery dry. So to remedy this problem I built a dome light switch like that offered from off-road stores, but cheaper.
What you will need:
|
Item |
Part Number |
| Inline Mini Fuse Holder ($3.99) | 20-1020(O’Reilly Auto) |
| SPST Rocker Switch ($2.99) | 2750730(Radio Shack) |
| Mini Tapper Fuse Tap (4-pack) ($1.99) | 2701204(Radio Shack) |
| Wirthco Taps For Mini Fuseblocks ($6.50) | 30100(Local Hardware Store) |
| Heat Shrink Tubing or Wire Loom | |
| 2 Female Terminal Connectors | |
| 18 to 20 AWG Wire |
Note: Either the Wirthco Taps or Mini Tapper Fuse Taps are needed, but not both. Also, I had some extra wire, terminal connectors, and wire loom lying around, so I just used what I had.
Using the components mentioned earlier, I made the harness pictured above.
I then located the dome switch fuse (#4) behind my glove box and figured out that the right side was the power supply by using a voltmeter.
Using the red wire as my power wire, I installed the mini fuse tap on the right terminal. The black wire was placed in the left terminal. The 10amp fuse was put in the inline mini fuse holder.
Finished product all zip tied out of the way, hidden, and easily accessible from behind the glove box.
So how does it work? Great! At first, when I installed the mini fuse taps, I thought they were too loose. I was able to secure the harness in such a way that the taps don�t move. When I take the doors off, all I have to do is open the glove box and flip a switch. The dome lights will no longer kill my battery or stay on at night when driving with the doors off when a clip has inadvertently been lost.