Thought I would share with BF something I did last weekend. I wanted to be able to protect my rear hatch for my alarm. It was either use a mercury switch or install a jamb switch. Well I'm still waiting on the tilt switch to arrive and may add it later. I started with a switch that I got from here off ebay. I drilled a hole big enough for the backside of the switch to go through. I cut the plastic end off the switch till I got it to fit how I wanted it to. So that it would still close without any problems yet turn on when I needed it to. I have it setup so that when the hatch pops the light is off. Just as you go to open it that's when it turns on the lights. I also removed the rear tailgate interior cover and the drivers side lower panel from the back hatch area. I filed down a spot on the side of the switch and soldered on a wire with an open ring terminal on the end. That goes to ground and would normally ground if it was mounted to metal. Since its being mounted to plastic it needs to be grounded well. If you don't file or grind a spot before you solder, you won't be able to solder it properly. Then I ran a wire through the tailgate into the cabin through the stock loom. One end connects to the terminal on the switch, and the other inside the truck. Underneath the panel inside the truck you will see a group of 3 wires black/white/orange. Those wires run up to the roof and to the rocker switch for the back light. The wire from the switch that is run into the truck connects to the white wire in that group. You could use a t-tap or scotchlock or whatever. I prefer to only ever cut the wire and solder them then heat shrink. Put it all back together and that's it. It's easy to do just take a little time. This now basically turns on all your interior lights when the rear hatch is opened. The rocker switch still functions the same, but you won't ever need to use it. So now you won't forget to turn it off after using the rocker switch. I wish I had more pics but it was snowing out when I was doing this. Hope this makes some sense.

 

Nice work!!