Latest wiring advice from the pro's

[JimmyG]

I read all of the old trailer wiring threads and thought I would ask if there is a best practice now, some 4 years later since many trailers now sport LED's for their lights now.   I am preparing to wire my 99 I/S for the trailers 4 wire plug.   So, what is the best bet for this, Hopkins 46365 converter or ???  Caution, I am electronics handicapped when it comes to wiring, be kind, be 1st grade teachers,LOL, and thanks for the information up front.

[N8171S]

I use the same converter on my Valk that is on my toyota truck and car.  It uses a flat 4 wire plug whiite is ground and the other 3 do the  brakess, stop & tail.  This way all three traileers can be towed with either vehicle.

[Chrisj CMA]

my trailer has all LEDs too.  Since they draw like nothing as far as amps, I just tied into the male female connectors under the seat (main wiring harness)

What I did was unplug a connector then push the new pigtail wire up the back side of the male connector, through the hole at the end, then bent the wires back over the male connector.  Then simply plug it back in.  has been working for years and years never a problem.  Than way there are no cut wires, no splices and nothing to go bad over time.

To get the pig tail wires to the battery area I made a small hole in the bottom of the battery box and  passed the wires up

[Troystg]

I just bought the generic 5 wire to 4 wire converter from Autozone for $14.95..  It was a Hopkins model but couldn't tell you the number since it is at home and I'm at work.  Anyway I will be installing it this Saturday.  I plan to make "Y" cables and simply add it into the connection between the bike harness and the leads running to the rear lights.  No cutting and no splicing.


I can photograph and report back on Monday.

[icandoitfaster]

I'm going to attempt to wire my Interstate for a trailer this Friday. Any chance you could post photos and a write up before then? Thanks
paul

[Troystg]

My Apologies..  I ended up rewiring the trailer first to make sure I didn't have any shorts or issues with the trailer wiring before I hooked it up to the bike and blew the 5 to 4 adapter I bought.

I will see if I can get some pictures of the bike wiring spot and what I did with the "brake-run-turn" adapter.   The trailer adapter will install the exact same way.


One thing to note....  With a 4 wire trailer harness there is no dedicated "third brake light" wire....

When I was wiring the trailer I had an extra LED red brake light so I figured I'd put it on as a third brake light...  Well there is no dedicated brake wire (Duh, I didn't think that one through) so now I am making a double relay module to add wiring for the a dedicated brake light...  Since I already drilled and tapped the frame and all.

[Troystg]

I took a few pictures of the actual connections under the right side cover.  In the "clear" rubber cover is the signal wires for the running, brake and turn signals.  Since you have an interstate the running and brake lights are not int "bullet" connectors but rather in a "molex type" three conductor plug.

I skinned the positive wires for that connector and soldered / taped new leads with bullet plugs to add lights without cutting the molex connector so I could put my trunk back one if needed.

Here is a picture of the bike side of the connections..  The other side goes through a harness to the rear.  The back side is replaceable but the bike side would be extremely expensive and difficult to replace if damaged.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t2h1tBOpSK8/VUvyRYa99TI/AAAAAAAAZFM/n_AverMKvIo/w439-h585-no/IMG_20150507_172140.jpg

Folder:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102799278299264325476/albums/6009206794784943073


So I disconnected the bullet plugs, added some jumpers to extend the wires to the battery tray, put my brake-run-turn module behind the battery and then jumpers back down to the connection point under the side cover.  Click in the folder and there are a few other pictures of the B-R-T module and how it was "added" in-line.