Just brought home 1969 Overlander

[ALANSD]

There is an access panel under the trailer for the exterior light connections, sometimes critters will get in there and chew them up.
I pulled mine, cleaned it all out and reconnected. Then sealed and reinstalled the cover. Been fine since. I have LED tail lights, they work great. 12v LED s are available in many styles. Lights on my 66
Early photo after I replaced the non working lights

[John Rousch]

where under the trailer is the panel?

[ALANSD]

On mine it is just behind the A frame entry into the body and underneath between the front and the entry door. Not sure if the other 60s models are exactly the same but it should be somewhere near there..Had like 4 phillips screws holding it on as I recall.

[John Rousch]

Thanks

[mrfixit51]

hi
just overhauled the lights to led on my 1971 canadian travelux. Here are a few pics. Bargman tailights , clearance and backup lights are also lead

[Redleger]

John,

About the lights. Get the trailer lighting wiring diagram. It doesn't match how current vehicles are pinned out at the bumper. It's really simple, if I recall only 3 changes. The lights will be fine then.

Regarding LED lighting, the first thing you have to do is to find a ground and add it to your connection. It's not difficult to do the interconnect it's just hard to find a good ground.

The entire harness is in the overhead forward bin above the bench seat. That whole box will come out, it's heavy, but with it out you can pull the ground where ever you want it.

Tony
69 Overlander
Sentimental Journey
16 Tundra
Rig-o-Tony

With Huck the mutt and Finn

[John Rousch]

Tony,

I have a problem with the lights. When I took it home, the plug to the truck started to heat up and melt. When I stopped a couple of miles down the road to check everything after I started towing for the first time with it, I smelled the burning. I pulled the plug and went on.

The plug on the truck side was fried. Today I finally got around to replacing the 7 pin plug on the truck side and re-wired it. The directional, brake, and the 4-way flasher worked.

When I went to pull the cable out of the truck and decided to pull it out of the AS I noticed the cable was warm, and the end plugs were hot!

Something is not right, any ideas?

[John Rousch]

Here are pictures of my plugs and socket, and socket location

[Redleger]

John,

It sounds like the pin that goes to recharge the AS battery is shorted to ground. Regardless there is a short in the circuit that needs to be found.

Check the AS inverter to see if it still functioning correctly. Did you ever find the AS wiring diagram for the lights, if not email me I'll look for a copy I have and send it to you.

Redleger@gmail.com

Tony Arrigo
69 Overlander - Sentimental Journey
Huck the mutt and Finn

[John Rousch]

I found a wiring diagram from other posts on the forum.
I rewired the tow cable just like it was before.

Question I have, the wiring that was on the cable didn't match the diagrams. Is the wiring on my 2013 suburban changed from the 1969 Overlander configuration?

Not sure about the converter wiring. Anyway to by pass the converter to get the lights working without trying to get back to the converter system.

Thanks in advance

[Redleger]

John,

I'm not sure I understand the question but I think the correct answer is that the suburban wiring is not what you want for the AS.

I'm not sure when the automotive industry changed, my guess in the 80s. So you have to fix the trailer cable.

Let's do a small example

The suburban has pin 1 ground, pin 2 break, pin 3 left, pin 4 right.

The AS has pin 1 ground, pin 2 break, pin 3 right, pin 4 left.

You can swap pins 3 and in the harness that connects the suburban to the AS to correct the problem.

PS you should be able to Google your suburban for its pinout.

[John Rousch]

Sounds like a plan. I also found the AS 'Converter" was an auto battery charger rigged up to the original wiring.

I'll need to replace that and put in a proper unit. I'll get the diagram for the suburban wiring and get it matched to the AS configuration.

Never a dull moment. :-)

Thanks,

John

[mimiandrews]

The umbilical cord circuits that feed the exterior lights, etc. can be thought of as the third electrical system in the trailer. (The other two being the AC and DC systems inside.) As has been said above, the automotive industry "improved" their trailer plug system in the years between your trailer's manufacture and your truck's. Color codes for the wires vary as well.

Power for the U-cord circuits comes from the tow vehicle, with one exception--the 12-volt line that is intended to charge the trailer battery(s) while towing is hot from the trailer's battery when disconnected from the TV.

By all means, get the wiring diagram if it's available. I don't trust wiring diagrams completely, but they're nice to have when they're right.

Using a volt-ohm meter and a battery charger you can identify every wire. Use the ohm meter to find the ground wire--and make sure there is one. Keep the trailer's battery disconnected or switched off until you find the ground, or you might blow the fuse inside the meter. Once the ground is identified, and if there's a good battery in the trailer, you can use the dc voltmeter, or a test light, to find the 12-volt charging line--battery re-connected, of course.

Once the ground wire is identified, either isolate it or use it for the negative clip from the battery charger. The trailer frame will work for the negative side, and may be easier than using battery charger clips close together. Use the positive clip from the battery charger to apply power to each of the wires not yet identified, and see what happens. You should find tail lights, left turn, right turn, backup lights (if installed) and the electric brakes. The brake light circuit in the TV simply uses both turn signal bulbs at the same time.

Once you have all 7 wires identified, get a set of diagrams for wiring the modern 7-pin connector (etrailer.com has some good ones) and start connecting. Be very careful, there's a lot of mirror-image thinking in this task. I find it helpful to have another person watch me with the diagram in their hand.

Sorry if this post is too long and too detailed. I was once a tech writer, and I enjoy trying to put electricity into English.

[John Rousch]

Thanks for the detail.

I found diagrams for the current suburban and the 69 trailer. The post is not too long and I appreciate the detail.

It will need a new converter and checking the wiring for the systems in the trailer.

Now I can match the wires between the VT and the AS.

Thanks,

John

[Redleger]

John,

The inverter can be found at most RV stores (Camper Land, etc ). I suggest you bite the bullet and purchase one there. If I recall it'll run a few hundred dollars.

Good luck

Tony

[John Rousch]

You are right Tony, getting a new inverter is the next step and getting the wiring back to the original configuration.

Probably a project for this weekend.. :-)

Thanks again,

John

[mimiandrews]

Originally Posted by John Rousch

You are right Tony, getting a new inverter is the next step and getting the wiring back to the original configuration.

You first said "converter" and then someone said "inverter" and you seem to have switched terms. They are different animals...

Converter--makes 12-volt DC power from a 120-volt AC input. Charges the trailer's battery(s) and powers the DC equipment while on shore power. Every Airstream should have one--the good modern, multi-stage charger kind.

Inverter--makes 120-volt AC from DC drawn from the battery. Lets you run smaller AC items from battery power while camping without AC shore power. You need this only if you really can't live without television (or other AC equipment) while camping.

[John Rousch]

Converter is what I need, :-)