Interior liftgate switch

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dmchan
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 6:56 am

Interior liftgate switch

Postby dmchan » Thu May 25, 2017 6:55 am

I car camp and couldn't live without being able to pop the liftgate from inside.
This is a really easy mod if you have a little know how and something with which to cut the thin steel.

I wanted to make sure the momentary switch would be recessed so cargo wouldn't bump it while going down the road. Lucky for us Nissan built in a recessed area large enough for a small switch on the liftgate panel. There is a small access panel on the lower passenger side perfect for this. The finished product looks nearly factory delivered aside from the angle being slightly askew.

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Ok, so the switch on the outside of the gate is not powered. All it does is complete the circuit to the powered latch motor. This makes wiring it a breeze.
Pull the panel off by removing the two 7mm bolts from the recessed area on driver side (with the snap straps). The underside lip of the panel has a hand hold on the passenger side. The 10mm bolt you're looking for hides in there.
Once these three are gone you can gingerly pull down the panel which is only held in place with standard body panel fasteners now.


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I never pulled it completely off, I just let it hang to access the interior. This is ample room to find the wiring needed. There are two blue wires coming from the switch on the outside. They are covered by a black sheath which I failed to replace before splicing. Oh well. The wires are almost dead center on the liftgate.
Give yourself enough length to screw it up once and strip more wire if needed. I cut them about 3/4 down closer to the terminal end. Using two butt splices and two lengths of 12awg I carefully rejoined the terminal to the switch but now each has a 12" lead ready to find home at the business end of a momentary push button switch. Tape it up nicely and move on to the next.

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The switch I purchased wasn't my ideal but it's what vato-zone had and I was on a schedule and a budget. As such, it was a little deeper than the steel liftgate would allow. Out came the die grinder and bastard rasp. You can likely use sheet metal shears too since this stuff is super thin.
I cut a small rectangle out where the switch body needs to sit, filed it smooth and moved on to the next step.

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I dropped a bit into the drill (the size you need is dependent on the switch you choose) and popped a hole in the panel where I want it to live. Because of the shape of this area it's not going to be square with the panel but the button I got looks great as is. Drop the switch in and secure with the provided fastener. Maneuver the panel into place to check fitment with the hole you just cut. If it's good, time for the next part.

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Grab yourself some Spade type terminals (female) and crimp them on the ends of the leads you spliced in earlier. Go ahead and touch the terminals together to make sure you hear the mechanism actuate. If you hear nothing then you did something wrong. Go grab a beer and stare at your shoddy work. One thumb in a belt loop required til you finish the beer and have an idea of where you screwed up. If it works, go ahead and plug the terminals on to the switch leads.

Now, reassemble the panel, 3 bolts back in and hit the button. Clickety click. You're done.

Materials:
1 momentary switch
2' quality wire
Electrical tape
2 butt splices
2 female Spade terminals
1 beer of choice

Tools:
Drill and bit to size of switch shaft.
Wire strippers/crimpers
Ratchet, 7mm socket, 10mm socket
Die grinder or steel snips
Metal Rasp (file) optional
Eyes, hands, functional nervous system and brain


User avatar
Touchdown
Posts: 358
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 2:45 pm
Location: Dallas Area

Postby Touchdown » Fri May 26, 2017 8:54 pm

That's a solid mod!
I like it and can appreciate the time you put in doing it!

Do you have a pic of it completed?

dmchan
Posts: 23
Joined: Fri May 19, 2017 6:56 am

Postby dmchan » Tue May 30, 2017 8:39 am

Touchdown wrote:That's a solid mod!
I like it and can appreciate the time you put in doing it!

Do you have a pic of it completed?
thanks!

The first two pics show the completed switch inside the recess next to the access panel. I can grab some of it while closed from the inside later.

triplesnake
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 12:15 pm
Location: TX

Postby triplesnake » Tue May 30, 2017 11:13 am

I like it! My only concern would be if a piece of cargo slid around and hit the switch just right, it could pop open the hatch while you are driving. I'd think a about a cover plate for it or something.


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