Best roof wiring routing?

Hi all installed roof rack with light bar from baja design 7link XL and noticed it was hard to route wiring through the weather striping. I was curious what you guys have done to tuck or hide the wiring better.

Thanks

 

My positive and negative wires are both wrapped in a length of black shrink tubing, which fits into the gap beside the window. The wire does fly up a little - I should care more but it doesn't bother me. I used to use a KC HiLites Universal Wire Hider, but the two-sided tape didn't work that well.

 

Look at KC 6300 wiring. It sticks to your window next to the channel. That’s what I used and you don’t even notice it. Sits right next to the channel.

 

My recent experience with the KC Wire Hider is that the 3M Gray tape that they use does not adhere to the rubber of the wire hider. Cleaned both the rubber and windshield with alcohol before applying the 3M Gray Tape. Tried replacing with the supplied tape with 3M White VHB tape. Same issue, does not want to stick to the rubber of the hider. Then applied 3M 90 spray adhesive to the rubber of the hider and more 3M White VHB tape. Still won't stick to the wire hider. I've given up on the KC 6300 and am now trying a Amazon knock off:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CP2756YJ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1
2 Pcs Car Wire Hider Total 6.56 Ft Car Concealed Wire Cover for Roof Light Bar with Adhesive Backing for Hide Wires for Roof Rack Light Bar

It's been on the windshield now for about 4 days and it's seems to be holding. Keeping my finger crossed.

BTW, posted a 1 Star review on KC's website. Hasn't shown up yet and it's been a week. There's a help question to KC on the product page asking about the same issue. KC says to follow the instructions.

 

I know what you mean. That 3M tape didn’t work at all. I ended up using a marine silicone. Holds perfectly. I can hit that with a high pressure water and it doesn’t budge.

 

It isn’t crazy sticky at first but once it heats up in the sun it sticks like crazy. I put mine on a few months ago and I have been through several car washes with zero issues and it is a super powerful spray. So far it’s been great, but if I ever do have issues I will be going the suggested 3m route.

 

Are you referring to the kc wire holder?

 

Yes, we are referring to the KC Wire Hider, part # 6300:

https://www.kchilites.com/universal...ku1i9t6UF4-F_Yfk_tylA8e8nTUpDTogdcV1hdV1PdD8G

My 1 Star review is still not listed. Go figure.

 

Don’t know why you gave it one star. I’ve had mine for over a year and it’s hasn’t budged.

 

Here is my original comment:

My recent experience with the KC Wire Hider is that the 3M Gray tape that they use does not adhere to the rubber of the wire hider. Cleaned both the rubber and windshield with alcohol before applying the 3M Gray Tape. Tried replacing with the supplied tape with 3M White VHB tape. Same issue, does not want to stick to the rubber of the hider. Then applied 3M 90 spray adhesive to the rubber of the hider and more 3M White VHB tape. Still won't stick to the wire hider.

And the customer comment from KC's Q&A at the bottom of the product website:

Q: Is there something stronger than the 3M VHB tape? It adheres to my windshield no problem but won’t stick to the wire hider. I’ve tried twice now the wire hider departed my vehicle.
A: We are glad to assist you with your query about this product. It's important to follow the preparation instructions for optimum results. Please ensure that both the vehicle and the wire hider are clean before applying the tape. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding the product, please don't hesitate to contact us at 1-888-689-5955.

Now you know why I gave it a 1 Star review.

 

I can’t disagree with you on that. I used marine grade silicone and it’s held perfectly

 

I've had mine with off-the-shelf grey VHB for a while now without issue but the prep was ridiculous after mine failed twice. I ran a dowel through it to hold it straight, lightly scuffed and cleaned with alcohol, then laid it tape side down on my workbench for a weekend with some weight on it to really hold it in there. Same idea when I installed it to the truck except I added strips of 4" painter's tape along the length to hold it down to the windshield. It's been 8 months with no sign of letting go and that includes a Phoenix summer with 140 days over 100F.

 

I literally used the 3M that comes with KC Wire Hiders…worked great, it hasn’t peeled off at all in many months. I opted to buy 4 lengths to conceal all the way to my 3/4-length cargo basket. 6300’s have 4.5-4.9 star rating, they’re the best, I wouldn’t recommend knock offs at all. If the 3M and stuff din stick for ya’ll, perhaps it’s your weather stripping surface that seems to differ from those who have no adhesion issues

 

Yes, the strip it comes with doesn’t stick really well to the rubber. But once it heats up it seems to hold just fine.

 

Temp may be the issue with me. I'm here in Idaho and the daytime temps are in the 40-60 degree range. Scuffing the rubber maybe a solution also. If I try to install it again on the other side of the windshield I only have 2 pieces of the gray VHB tape left. Not enough to cover the length that I need. But, IMHO, you shouldn't have to go through what you did to get the wire hider to stick. I'm not a fan of a company who can't assist when their customers are having issues with their product other than "Follow the Directions".

 

Bought 12’ pvc ‘cord cover’ off Amazon and 15’ 3M super strength molding tape. Ran it from front to back in rain gutter for chase lites, 3yrs no issues. $20 for 4x the length…

 

It seems like a lot of small online businesses are using “AI business solutions” to deal with customer questions. This is what it looks like to a customer. It’s especially frustrating when you engage in a few email exchanges before you figure out that “Cindy” is a chatbot. It would be less frustrating (and deceptive) if businesses would simply state when email responses are AI generated.

Usually you can tell it’s AI when it’s a well written responses that contains no meaningful information. Well, besides proving the phone number to call. Nowadays, it might be easier to call a phone number.

 

Even that will be AI most of the time. Just another tool businesses use to lay off people. Eventually either AI will be actually useful or they will have to hire people to field these calls.

 

If it makes any difference, I used the 5952 VHB and I know VHB likes warmer application temps... I think it's somewhere around 50F so if you're seeing those temps and are applying in the garage or shade, it's likely the surface temps could be low. Once it's on, it seems extreme heat is worse than extreme cold, you just need to make the initial bond.

 

this^

 

^ also Cindy

 

Blaze Off-road also has a wiring harness which may help with what you want to do.

https://blazeoffroad.com/collection...ducts/roof-rack-light-array-one-piece-harness

 

“Well written response with no meaningful information” is the perfect description of chatbots

 

Very familiar with Blaze Off Road. I have their Garmin Power Switch mounting set up. What I needed the KC Wire Hider for was an antenna lead from my We Boost into the engine compartment. Not running any overhead lighting other than camp lights on the handles of the Prinsu Rack on drivers side.

Thank you for the suggestion though.

 

Let me tell ya…
Nothing makes you feel like a sucker more than taking the time to write a thoughtful email responding to “Cindy’s” first non-helpful email. It was only after Cindy responded again that I figured out the deception. Lies Cindy!!!!! All lies!!!

 

Microsoft is building an AI data processing center at a nearby town to power this garbage. This processing center is over a square mile in size, maybe two square miles if I recall. It’s cooled by a water pipeline loop that dumps waste heat straight into Lake Michigan. When it’s finished I think it’s projected to employ a maybe a couple dozen people, tops! Mostly security people. What once was farmland and homes looks like a heat-spewing supermax prison, and it will probably require the our region’s powerplant to increase capacity just to run it.

But that’s chatbot-type AI for you! It’s an obscenely parasitic business model top to bottom, run by charlatans that sucker everybody with the promise of a brighter future!

Oh, and back to the topic at hand lol. I’ve had trouble with getting 3m trim tape to stick to some rubbery plastics. No amount of scuffing and cleaning gets it to bond well. KC is probably using a material that isn’t very compatible with the tape they send.

 

KC Wire Holder, been good last 2 years. But based on the other comments, heat must help to keep it on. I'm in Texas so...

 

In Canada weather and KC’s seem to be as advertised, luckily

 

Alien tape

 

If you look at some marine supply joints, they'll probably have a waterproof wire gland or something like that. It does require drilling into the roof, so being a newer rig, you may not want to do that. I had one on my Tacoma and it was watertight for as long as I had it. Just throwing it out into the dog pile.

Something like this: Seaview Cable Gland Waterproof Wire Pass-Through by Agile Offroad - Agile Offroad

There are various form factors. I had one that looked like this in black aluminum.