I have removed the tire rack in the back of my H2 (2007) and found out that I have no license plate lights? Has anyone ran into this? I'm wondering if I can get away with this with the law?

 

Not the right area for questions first of all. This is the new member introduction section.

As far as your question. No it is not legal to not have a license plate light. There are two different rear hatch panels available and they are very expensive. The models that came with the spare mounted inside have a rear panel with a license plate light. I think others have come up with an alternative to replacing the entire panel on the hatch by adding a light to theirs that does not have one. You would need to do some research on that as far as what they did and wiring it.

 

You can buy the small screws and retainers at any auto parts store. I used those and drilled the holes where the holes are in the metal behind the pocket. I then fed 2 small LEDs mounted above the license plate from the center running light on top of the hatch. That way when the running lights are on so are the LED license plate lights. There is a pic or two in my build thread towards the end.

You can of course buy the actual license plate pocket but I personally couldn't justify spending the money for as expensive as they are when it costs me less than $5 and some wiring.