Trailer Tailgate Lights...

jgold16 · Post by **jgold16** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:03 pm

So we were planning on getting a trailer to hitch to a jeep. Problem is jeep hitch does not have the wiring to connect to the trailer. Unfortunately then the trailer lights will not light when we stop or signal and it is illegal to drive like that. We looked into getting the necessary wires for the jeep but it was $200 :shock: Any suggestions? Thanks

oleg8888 · Post by **oleg8888** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:09 pm

You can wire directly to jeep's break lights, just the matter of finding the correct wire.

jgold16 · Post by **jgold16** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:13 pm

That might work, but none of us is a skilled electrician or a whole bunch of time left to prepare...

oleg8888 · Post by **oleg8888** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:20 pm

take rear lights a part
find the light which goes off while someone steps on breaks
One of the wires to this light is yours, another is ground

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:22 pm

here's an almost legal approach that got us home one year. We checked the turn and brake lights on the trailer and they were dim but seemed serviceable. However we didn't test the running lights and they were were inop. So unless I rode the brake, we were invisible.

I hacked a solution from stuff at Walmart - I bought hockey puck lights - you know, they come 3 to a set and they have velcro on teh backs to stick them up where ever you need a bit more light. Then I bought trailer lights and took the red lenses off. Duct taped the lenses onto the lights and attached the whole mess to the back of the trailer.

Now you wouldn't have turn or brake lights, but I think ours were pretty dim anyway.

Not optimal, and probably not legal if you get stopped. Depends to some extent on how big your trailer is - if your jeep lights are at all visible (seems unlikely) it might be safe enough.

On second thought -- if you get stopped, how much more or less than $200 will the ticket be? Maybe $200 isn't so expensive after all?

jgold16 · Post by **jgold16** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:26 pm

Our trailer is 6ftx10ft, so yea it is pretty big and will block the Jeep's lights.

LostinReno · Post by **LostinReno** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:35 pm

Do you have anyone following you?

Just sayin'!

I'm not too sure how far your driving, but, I had to drive about 25 miles pulling a trailer where the power recepticle was completely different than the one on my truck. I just had a friend follow me into town as a cop buffer.

justfred · Post by **justfred** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:36 pm

Find a local u-haul dealer. They should be able to wire it up for you, they're experts at trailer wiring. Might cost $100, but better than one or more tickets, no? Take the trailer with you.

Jiva · Post by **Jiva** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 12:40 pm

Where are you located?

I just had to get my van's hitch wiring re-done (the previous owner apparently thought things like pinout standards were for sissies), and even though it took 1.5 hours, it still only cost $125. To put a 4-wire plug (mine's a 7-wire) in a Jeep (which is fairly open and easy to run wires around) shouldn't cost $200.

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:14 pm

jgold16 wrote:>SNIP<
Unfortunately then the trailer lights will not light when we stop or signal and it is illegal to drive like that. We looked into getting the necessary wires for the jeep but it was $200 :shock: Any suggestions? Thanks

It's worse than illegal. Please don't get someone killed because you didn't have lights and brake lights.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 1:36 pm

Walmart sells the wiring, Uhaul are experts.

Put it together and make it work. Otherwise, try RV and Trailer sales lots with service, they also can make it look really easy.

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:11 pm

You can buy magnetic battery-operated lights in red and amber at many truckstops. We have a few, very handy.

wedeliver · Post by **wedeliver** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 3:45 pm

AntiM wrote:You can buy magnetic battery-operated lights in red and amber at many truckstops. We have a few, very handy.

They need brake and turnsignals to work on the trailer, so a hookup to the lead vehicle is necessary.

I would give them instructions on how to wire it themselves but I can tell that if they tried it their headlights probably would stop working... so I thought to tell them to visit one of those business's that do it for a living and make it look easy.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:49 pm

I haven't looked in a while, but they used to sell "piggyback bulbs", bulbs to replace the ones in your tail lights that had wires coming out of them... you just screwed the tail light lens back on with the wires hanging out, and there you go - stop/turn and running light power wires for each side.
You can easily look it up, but off the top of my head I believe standard 4-pin small trailer wires are Yellow=left turn, Green=right turn, brown=running lights, white=ground.

Most late model vehicles have a factory connector plug in their wiring harness near the rear that goes to the tail lights, and auto parts stores sell adapter plugs that go in between the male and female halves of that plug and provide trailer light wires.

Or just do it yourself... it's really fucking easy. Your taillights each have three wires, ground, positive for stop/turn, and positive for running light.
All you need to do is connect a stop/turn from each side to your trailer plug, and one running light wire, sourced from either side, doesn't matter they're both the same. Ground can come from almost any bolt or screw that goes into a metal part of your Jeep.

phil · Post by **phil** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 9:37 pm

Have this guy sit on the back to signal turns and to have traffic stop:

[youtube][/youtube]

My spidey sense is tingling.

Trailer Tailgate Lights...

Trailer Tailgate Lights...

Re: Trailer Tailgate Lights...