D/C wiring for towing

[drgene]

2013 Sprinter appears to have separate brake light/turn light wiring. Amber for turning and red for braking. Does not appear to be combined.
Does Sprinter have a 3 to 2 converter built in to system? My toad has a separate system. Any electrical experts out there who know what I am talking about?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by drgene

2013 Sprinter appears to have separate brake light/turn light wiring. Amber for turning and red for braking. Does not appear to be combined.
Does Sprinter have a 3 to 2 converter built in to system? My toad has a separate system. Any electrical experts out there who know what I am talking about?

How the van's taillights are set up is unimportant. What's important is the way the van's seven-pin connector is set up. The seven-pin connector is standardized, with turn/brake/taillights all going to a pair of two-filament bulbs, one on each side of the toad or trailer.

On my Honda Fit toad, when I'm driving it the turn signals are amber. When I'm towing it and the signal comes from the van, the turn signals are on the red lenses along with the taillights and brake lights. Trailers aren't required to have a center brake light— and when towed, your toad is legally a trailer and so doesn't need a center brake light, either.

Standard practice these days, if the toad's taillight housings are big enough, is to wire separate bulbs into the red lenses, thereby avoiding the need to tap into the toad's wiring harness and install relays for the toad's OEM lights. It's a much cleaner install, with less potential for problems.

[drgene]

Protagonist, my KIA has amber turning and red braking and running lights. Are U saying that one two-filament bulb added to each red lens right and left will be all that I need thus converting my KIA to a "trailer" like my boat trailer?

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by drgene

Protagonist, my KIA has amber turning and red braking and running lights. Are U saying that one two-filament bulb added to each red lens right and left will be all that I need thus converting my KIA to a "trailer" like my boat trailer?

Yes, assuming you run the wires from the umbilical cable to the lights correctly.

[drgene]

Thanks so much for the info!

[jerhofer]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Standard practice these days, if the toad's taillight housings are big enough, is to wire separate bulbs into the red lenses, thereby avoiding the need to tap into the toad's wiring harness and install relays for the toad's OEM lights. It's a much cleaner install, with less potential for problems.

I installed the bulbs in the tail light lens on my Fiat Abarth. You can see how in this thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f240...re-133686.html

[LucasS]

I'm so blown away y'all can do this sort of work yourselves! So impressive. I rely on the lovely folks at Toscano RV to do all my work. I know on my H2 toad they added two new bulbs into the housing for towing. Do you think they added some to my reverse lamps? Those also work when hooked up.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by LucasS

I'm so blown away y'all can do this sort of work yourselves! So impressive. I rely on the lovely folks at Toscano RV to do all my work. I know on my H2 toad they added two new bulbs into the housing for towing. Do you think they added some to my reverse lamps? Those also work when hooked up.

They might have. But since you can't back most toads while they're hitched up, it's generally a non-issue for the rest of us.

[LucasS]

What do you mean y'all can't back up your toads??? I can. I have. Am I not supposed to???

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by LucasS

What do you mean y'all can't back up your toads??? I can. I have. Am I not supposed to???

Most toads won't back very far while they're being towed because the steering "trips" to one side and stays there. Backing most toads is a great way to ruin front tires.

If your toad has an automatic transmission like mine, then backing the toad also causes the transmission fluid to pump itself out through the dipstick tube because the transmission's internal workings are being cranked backwards.

Also, self-adjusting towbars aren't really designed to push, only to pull.

If you can back up your motorhome more than a couple of feet with the toad attached, and not risk any damage to the toad or the towbar, you're very lucky.

[LucasS]

Wow I'm glad I responded to this post. I've never had to reverse more than a few feet to correct a turn or maneuver through super tight RV parks. But now I know not to push it.