Spare Tire Delete with License Plate Relocation (and LED lighting!)
02-05-2012, 12:32 PM
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Spare Tire Delete with License Plate Relocation (and LED lighting!)
What are we doing?
Removing spare tire, relocating license plate to cover tail gate opening, legalizing it with license plate light and brake light, and 'cleaning up' the voids with painted plugs.
Why?
I wanted to clean up the look of my rear while dropping 130 lbs of weight. My goal was to make this completely reversible so the spare tire can be thrown back on at any time.
So where is your spare tire?
That's not what this thread is about.
What do I need to buy?
(about $100 worth of parts)
ORO LitePLATE - License Plate Light and Third Brake Light - $40
MOPAR License Plate Delete Plug - $16
Front License Plate Bracket (Napa) - Part Number 'BK 7302450' - $12
License Plate 'Snap-in' Fasteners with Screws - $8
MOPAR Touch Up Spray Paint - $11
Plastic/Nylon Hole Plugs (Napa) - $10
Rubber Weather Stripping (Home Depot) - $10
Spring Toggle Bolts w/ Washers (Home Depot) - $10
Flat Metal Bracket with Holes (Home Depot) - $5
How did you go about it?
I'm not going to go over every step, but I'll summarize with a few notes and pics...
Spray paint license plate plug and plastic hole plugs with body matching touch up paint (several coats, let dry between coats).
Remove spare tire, spare tire mount, third brake light (unplug connector, don't cut), air vent, and license plate w/ holder. You will need to remove both brake lights in order to access the license plate holder and ORO LitePLATE power connections.
Prepare license plate mount: Snap in plastic fasteners into plate mount, cut/bend pre-drilled metal bracket just long enough to fit vertically in tailgate opening, attach metal brackets to license plate mount with toggle bolts. Cut and attach weather stripping to top and sides of the license plate mount's back side. This will keep moisture out of the tailgate opening while letting the interior breathe through the bottom portion of the license plate mount.
Fish ORO LitePLATE wiring from tailgate opening through the hole that leads to the interior side of the tail gate. Route wiring behind plastic cover and through the cloth sheath near the tail gate hinge.
With the LitePLATE loosely hanging, start to install the license plate mount by inserting the metal brackets inside the tailgate opening. The bolts should be just loose enough to be able to fit the metal brackets without scratching/hitting the tailgate opening itself.
Once the two metal brackets are inside, start tightening the toggle bolts.
Once everything is lined up, finish tightening the plate mount. (In this pic, I've already installed the painted plastic plugs to fill the spare tire mount bolt holes.)
Now slide in your license plate and secure the plate with screws. This also secures the LitePLATE.
Now it's time to wire in the LitePLATE. Pull up the passenger side carpet right behind the tail light. Remove rubber wiring harness plug leading to the fender in order to gain better access to the wiring. Two of the LitePLATE connections (brake light power and ground) can be spliced in at the tail light wiring harness (harness pictures on the left).
LitePLATE black + tail light black
LitePLATE green + tail light white w/ purple stripe
The third connection (license plate light) is taken at the harness that routes through the tailgate (pictured on the right side).
LitePLATE red + tail light white w/ a gray stripe (other years may different, such as white w/ brown stripe, in some cases).
Tuck away wiring, reinstall carpet, reinstall the tail lights, install painted license plate delete plug along with all other painted plastic plugs, ensure license plate light and brake light work, ???, profit.
Removing spare tire, relocating license plate to cover tail gate opening, legalizing it with license plate light and brake light, and 'cleaning up' the voids with painted plugs.
Why?
I wanted to clean up the look of my rear while dropping 130 lbs of weight. My goal was to make this completely reversible so the spare tire can be thrown back on at any time.
So where is your spare tire?
That's not what this thread is about.
What do I need to buy?
(about $100 worth of parts)
ORO LitePLATE - License Plate Light and Third Brake Light - $40
MOPAR License Plate Delete Plug - $16
Front License Plate Bracket (Napa) - Part Number 'BK 7302450' - $12
License Plate 'Snap-in' Fasteners with Screws - $8
MOPAR Touch Up Spray Paint - $11
Plastic/Nylon Hole Plugs (Napa) - $10
Rubber Weather Stripping (Home Depot) - $10
Spring Toggle Bolts w/ Washers (Home Depot) - $10
Flat Metal Bracket with Holes (Home Depot) - $5
How did you go about it?
I'm not going to go over every step, but I'll summarize with a few notes and pics...
Spray paint license plate plug and plastic hole plugs with body matching touch up paint (several coats, let dry between coats).
Remove spare tire, spare tire mount, third brake light (unplug connector, don't cut), air vent, and license plate w/ holder. You will need to remove both brake lights in order to access the license plate holder and ORO LitePLATE power connections.
Prepare license plate mount: Snap in plastic fasteners into plate mount, cut/bend pre-drilled metal bracket just long enough to fit vertically in tailgate opening, attach metal brackets to license plate mount with toggle bolts. Cut and attach weather stripping to top and sides of the license plate mount's back side. This will keep moisture out of the tailgate opening while letting the interior breathe through the bottom portion of the license plate mount.
Fish ORO LitePLATE wiring from tailgate opening through the hole that leads to the interior side of the tail gate. Route wiring behind plastic cover and through the cloth sheath near the tail gate hinge.
With the LitePLATE loosely hanging, start to install the license plate mount by inserting the metal brackets inside the tailgate opening. The bolts should be just loose enough to be able to fit the metal brackets without scratching/hitting the tailgate opening itself.
Once the two metal brackets are inside, start tightening the toggle bolts.
Once everything is lined up, finish tightening the plate mount. (In this pic, I've already installed the painted plastic plugs to fill the spare tire mount bolt holes.)
Now slide in your license plate and secure the plate with screws. This also secures the LitePLATE.
Now it's time to wire in the LitePLATE. Pull up the passenger side carpet right behind the tail light. Remove rubber wiring harness plug leading to the fender in order to gain better access to the wiring. Two of the LitePLATE connections (brake light power and ground) can be spliced in at the tail light wiring harness (harness pictures on the left).
LitePLATE black + tail light black
LitePLATE green + tail light white w/ purple stripe
The third connection (license plate light) is taken at the harness that routes through the tailgate (pictured on the right side).
LitePLATE red + tail light white w/ a gray stripe (other years may different, such as white w/ brown stripe, in some cases).
Tuck away wiring, reinstall carpet, reinstall the tail lights, install painted license plate delete plug along with all other painted plastic plugs, ensure license plate light and brake light work, ???, profit.
02-05-2012, 03:56 PM
#3
JK Enthusiast
very nice looking. do those three red leds act as the third brake light or are they just running?
and i know its not what this thread is about but.... do you not carry your spare anymore?
and i know its not what this thread is about but.... do you not carry your spare anymore?
02-05-2012, 04:02 PM
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The red LEDs act the same as the 3rd brake light and only illuminate when the brake is pressed. Underneath are the white LEDs that turn on with the parking lights to illuminate the license plate.
My spare is in the garage. The Jeep is the only vehicle of my last five that even had a spare, zero tire problems to date. When I travel out of town, the spare gets reinstalled. The Jeep drives a lot better around town without the extra weight back there. Cornering has improved greatly and acceleration feels like I gained 10 HP. 325x12.5 is heavy!
My spare is in the garage. The Jeep is the only vehicle of my last five that even had a spare, zero tire problems to date. When I travel out of town, the spare gets reinstalled. The Jeep drives a lot better around town without the extra weight back there. Cornering has improved greatly and acceleration feels like I gained 10 HP. 325x12.5 is heavy!
Last edited by Ryan L; 02-05-2012 at 04:05 PM.
02-07-2012, 03:23 PM
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Awesome, I have been looking for something like this. Do you know the size/quantity of the plastic nylon hole plugs? I want to get all the parts together before i pull the carrier off again.
02-07-2012, 03:39 PM
#7
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I don't recall the exact sizes since I used whatever I had laying around. Test fit the plugs before painting, obviously. Some of the plug 'posts' weren't wide enough so I had to wrap a couple of layers of electrical tape around them.
