Do's and Do Nots..Tips on wiring trailer

[draboo]

I realize that there are more than a few threads concerning the revamping of the Spyder front trailer harness to adapt to a different trailer,however..

Has anyone recently did this, and did you run into anything that made you go "HMMM..." for more than a few minutes before the answer came?

Sunday I m taking both Spyder and trailer to a friend's and we are gonna install the harness on the Spyder and hopefully also wire the front harness I bought to the camper trailer. I m getting there at 9 am so we can have all day to do this.

It doesn't seem like TOO intricate of a job. We are also gonna wire an extra pigtail to accept the wiring harness from our Jeep.

ANYHOO..Any and all suggestions would be massively appreciated!

Tanks,eh?

Brad

 

[Dragonrider]

Keep us posted on how it goes - I'll wager a number of us are looking at trailers that either don't cost $4K, or offer more (tent trailers)….

 

[fastfraser]

opcorn:opcorn:Looking to hook up a 5 pin round from my Fibro Concept Trailer to the RTS .

 

[NancysToy]

Brad, give me a call when you are ready, and I'll talk you through it. Making the adapter is not hard. Wiring the tongue harness in permanently would be even easier. If your Jeep has separate turn signals, it is easy to add a plug for that, too. If the Jeep has combined turn/brake lights, it is not so easy. There may be a way, but it would require additional wiring, and changing the amber lens for red, with a two pole socket. An alternative would be to add an extra set of lights for use with the Jeep, and the wiring for those. As another alternative, you can use the ambers for brake/turn with the Jeep. It is legal in some states (like Michigan), but I don't think it is safe. People are used to red brake lights.

 

[draboo]

Brad, give me a call when you are ready, and I'll talk you through it. Making the adapter is not hard. Wiring the tongue harness in permanently would be even easier. If your Jeep has separate turn signals, it is easy to add a plug for that, too. If the Jeep has combined turn/brake lights, it is not so easy. There may be a way, but it would require additional wiring, and changing the amber lens for red, with a two pole socket. An alternative would be to add an extra set of lights for use with the Jeep, and the wiring for those. As another alternative, you can use the ambers for brake/turn with the Jeep. It is legal in some states (like Michigan), but I don't think it is safe. People are used to red brake lights.

Oddly, when we purchased an adapter to go from the Aspen's socket to the Jeeps flat 4 connector, everything worked but tail lights. I m not sure what was up with that.

Here is what the connector on the Jeep looks like:

I see a ground,leftsig, rightsig, and brake light. Where does the tail/running light come from? We rented a Uhaul last summer and the adapter worked just fine on it.

 

[NancysToy]

Oddly, when we purchased an adapter to go from the Aspen's socket to the Jeeps flat 4 connector, everything worked but tail lights. I m not sure what was up with that.

Here is what the connector on the Jeep looks like:

I see a ground,leftsig, rightsig, and brake light. Where does the tail/running light come from? We rented a Uhaul last summer and the adapter worked just fine on it.

Brake light is not separate on 4-wire systems. The wires are:
Green = Rt. Turn/Rt. Brake
Yellow = Lf. Turn/Lf. Brake
Brown = Taillights
White = Ground

Part of the problem with the Aspen Sentry is that the brakes are wired together, unlike 4-wire systems where they are separated. That leads to some strange stuff when you attach it to a 4-wire vehicle. It would be possible to wire the brake lights separately, then install a switch to flip from 4-wire to 5-wire, but it was a lot of trouble and effort, and I am unlikely to haul with a 4-wire system, so I didn't chase that idea any further. We can figure it out, though, if it would help you rig the two connector system you need. Let me work on it and I'll email you something.

 

[draboo]

Brake light is not separate on 4-wire systems. The wires are:
Green = Rt. Turn/Rt. Brake
Yellow = Lf. Turn/Lf. Brake
Brown = Taillights
White = Ground

Part of the problem with the Aspen Sentry is that the brakes are wired together, unlike 4-wire systems where they are separated. That leads to some strange stuff when you attach it to a 4-wire vehicle. It would be possible to wire the brake lights separately, then install a switch to flip from 4-wire to 5-wire, but it was a lot of trouble and effort, and I am unlikely to haul with a 4-wire system, so I didn't chase that idea any further. We can figure it out, though, if it would help you rig the two connector system you need. Let me work on it and I'll email you something.

Thanks for the offer,Scotty. We won't be messing with the wiring on the trailer tomorrow, anyway. We decided to just install the harness on the Spyder and get to the trailer after Pat and I get back from our "house-hunting" trip to Prescott,AZ on Feb 13th.

 

[draboo]

Success! T'was a rather interesting project. We had the whole left side, rear fender off/plus some of the right bag. The worst part of the whole thing was getting those blasted *busTARD* clips back on the seat hold up shock absorber wichamacallit thing.

One thing to remember..oops, actually two things of significance:

1. Before reassembly of the left saddlebag area, make sure that the new wiring harness you just plugged in runs over the TOP of the bag, in the same area as the brakelight wiring. We had left it inside between the bag and the wheel, and didn't notice till it was "too late".

2. Joe mentioned that after taking off the left mirror, make sure to tape,tie, or otherwise secure the socket that comes out of the body. If it slips back inside, some extra time must be allowed for further disassembly/reassembly/cursing to fish it back out!

I am now officially not afraid to tear into the bodywork, so now I m guessing I ll start on some lighting of some sort. Have the front fender LED strips and am thinking of Mad Matts rear brake,running,blinker strip.

 

[NancysToy]

Success! T'was a rather interesting project. We had the whole left side, rear fender off/plus some of the right bag. The worst part of the whole thing was getting those blasted *busTARD* clips back on the seat hold up shock absorber wichamacallit thing.

One thing to remember..oops, actually two things of significance:

1. Before reassembly of the left saddlebag area, make sure that the new wiring harness you just plugged in runs over the TOP of the bag, in the same area as the brakelight wiring. We had left it inside between the bag and the wheel, and didn't notice till it was "too late".

2. Joe mentioned that after taking off the left mirror, make sure to tape,tie, or otherwise secure the socket that comes out of the body. If it slips back inside, some extra time must be allowed for further disassembly/reassembly/cursing to fish it back out!

I am now officially not afraid to tear into the bodywork, so now I m guessing I ll start on some lighting of some sort. Have the front fender LED strips and am thinking of Mad Matts rear brake,running,blinker strip.

On my 2010 RTS there were already small, untrimmed tie-wraps on the signal wires in the mirrors. These are normally tucked into the hole in the console, but by pulling on the wires slightly, the tie-wrap comes outside...and the long "tail" keeps the wires from slipping back in. I'm not sure if all RTs have these, but they are easy to add if they don't...and a permanent solution. Just tuck the tail back through the hole after you connect the wires, and before you put the mirror in place.