Tailgate open reminder light switch

[Gypsy me]

Hi



On a 2004 Ranger tailgate...



What is the best way to wire in a "door ajar" switch for the tailgate so that it works with the door open reminder light in the dash?



It's for an elderly gentleman who forgets to close his tailgate at times.



I've already search the project area for this and nothing there for door ajar switches and connections or mentioned in lock actuator connections.

 

[Todd Z]

I would use the system that they use for hood pins on alarms..... Run the + to the light and let the switch do the -.... Can use a LED so you don't have any relays or large wires needed..



Todd Z

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Put in a tailgate mounted backup camera and get TWO, count them TWO functions for the price of one!



(when you see the ground in the backup camera the tailgate is down).



TJR

 

[Bill V]

Install a "Honk if my tailgate's open" bumper sticker...

 

[Mark K 2]

I was thinking of installing a switch on mine and wiring it into the "door ajar" light. I have the wiring book for the ST and it's quite possible to tap into the OEM warning light circuit.



I thought of this after I set a twenty pound box of mixed screws and nails on my tailgate and forgot about it... until it crashed all over the highway in the middle of town. You wouldn't believe the number of idiots who saw all those screws and nails on the road and drove right over them. I could see half mile down the road and there were at least a half a dozen cars pulled over on the shoulder. :huh:



I never got around to installing that switch. I just make sure I don't EVER leave the tailgate open again. So far, so good.

 

[Gary DiPietroSr]

I was going to do a project also but never got to it. I was going to put a mercury type switch inside the tailgate and series it with one of the doors.