2006 Jeep Wrangler Tow Wiring

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gcharte

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We are getting ready to leave Dec 29 for our trip, we purchased a new jeep and I installed all the tow equipment except for the wiring for the jeep. I had my dealer install the wiring and they used the four wire method with the diodes, the signals rt & lft both work and the flashers work it appears that the only thing that does not work is the brake lights. The Fleetwood motorhome has a 7 wire blade system on the rear the dealer had a 7 blade mopar adapted down with a pollak 4 flat plug, I took the mopar adapter apart and it has a red wire instead of a yellow wire and by looking on line at a 7 blade plug the wiring appeared to be different to me. Could this be possible or is there a simple reason why the brake lights just don't work.

Thanks

Gary & Eileen
 
Gary,

It sounds like the dealer may not have used the converter to adapt separate sig/brake lights to combined lights. I'm faced with this now since my American Dream has separate lights and my new towed is combined. I'd take it back to the dealer and have them correct the problem.
 
Well, the color of the wire doesn't make the difference - it's where it goes.  ;)  Not all motorhomes (or cars either) have exactly the same color codes for stop & tail light wiring and it is not unusual for red to be substituted for yellow or the green and brown to be reversed.  Yellow is normally Left Turn and also provides the left side stop light on a 4 wire system. However, the motorhome brake light line (usually blue) may also be red.

The diodes, if properly installed, are the only "converter" needed to go from 6 wire to a 4 wire system.  Do you have a suplemental (toad) brake system? If so, the brake pedal may be activating the Jeeps own brake like circuit, cancelling out the voltage from the motorhome. Again, the right diode configuration can prevent this, but maybe the dealer didn't realize it was needed.

It's very difficult to suggest what may be wrong without seeing a diagram of the wires you have installed now. AS Jim says, it would be best to take it back to whoever did the wiring, since it clearly isn't quite right. 
 
I know the dealer did use the diodes for the wiring but they may have left something out. I am using a brake buddy but have not used it yet I only hooked the wiring in and tested the lights all worked except for the brake lights. Could it be possible that the brake buddy will do the job and put the brake lights on instead of the wiring itself. I also feel that the mopar adapter may not be wired correctly for the fleetwood motorhome.


Again Thanks,

Gary & Eileen
 
Since the 'brake buddy' will be applying the brakes in the Jeep for you, logic says that applying the brakes will light the stop lights just as if you were stepping on the brake yourself ... just my guess based on my limited knowledge of auxilliary brake systems for toads.

Larry
 
I'd say the dealer has not got the wiring incorrect and he should correct it.  I installed the same system on our motorhome, with the diode block and everything worked OK. We have a BrakeBuddy, and yes it does turn on the brake lights WHEN YOU ARE SLOWING DOWN enough to make the BB function. But about half the time you do not apply the brakes hard enough to make the BB apply the toad brakes, so don't count on it for brake lights.

Chet18013
 
You will need a four to two conversion for the MH if it has separate Turn-signal and Brake lites.  The best solution is to change from a 4-wire to a 6-wire connecting system, more work but the best in the long run.  If you do decide to do that, you will need two additional diodes to provide isolation unless the Dealer wired your Toad for the turn-signal and brake lites to both come on when activated from the MH.

If your Brake-Buddy is like mine, the brakes brakes are applied via an inertal sensor in the unit so if you are braking gradually the Toad's brakes will never be applied.  Plus the Brake lites will then only come on if the ignition is activated.  

The quick fix is to put a Diode between the the brake wire and turn-signal wire in your MH connector.  
 
My recommendation is to take it back to the place you paid to have it wired and get them to do it right.  Any business with integrity won't have a problem with correcting their own mistakes.
 
Weewun said:
You will need a four to two conversion for the MH if it has separate Turn-signal and Brake lites.  The best solution is to change from a 4-wire to a 6-wire connecting system, more work but the best in the long run.  If you do decide to do that, you will need two additional diodes to provide isolation unless the Dealer wired your Toad for the turn-signal and brake lites to both come on when activated from the MH.

If your Brake-Buddy is like mine, the brakes brakes are applied via an inertal sensor in the unit so if you are braking gradually the Toad's brakes will never be applied.  Plus the Brake lites will then only come on if the ignition is activated.  

The quick fix is to put a Diode between the the brake wire and turn-signal wire in your MH connector.  
Click to expand...

Need to elaboate on 'quick-fix' stated above.  Will need two diodes, one for the 'brake wire' at the connector on the MH and one for the 'turn-signal wire' at the connector of the MH.  The minus side of the diodes goes to the connector and the plus side to the wire from the MH to the MH-connector.  Then jumper the minus side of the two diodes together and this will apply the brake-lite power and the turn-lite power to the same point as far as the Toad is concerned without affecting anything in the MH. 
 
Weewun said:
  this will apply the brake-lite power and the turn-lite power to the same point as far as the Toad is concerned without affecting anything in the MH. 
Click to expand...

That statement is true but it seems to me that when the brakes of the coach are applied and the turn signal is on there won't be any indication for the turn signal as the brake light feed is constant and will overide the turn signal feed.. That is why a converter to 4 wires is used.
 
We received a call back from Roadmaster and they said we needed a brake light converter for the system to work properly so that's what we will install. It does not appear to be that difficult so we'll give it a try.

Thanks all,

Gary M Charters
 
Does anyone have the wiring diagram for a roadmaster 732 brite lite converter. We'd sure like to see it.

Thanks,

Gary & Eileen
 
Do you mean the wiring inside the Brite Lites box itself or how to wire a tow using Brite Lites. The tow wiring is on the Roadmaster website, along with complete install instructions.  I doubt if they will disclose what's inside the box - they charge a lot of money for a very simple device.  ::)

You can by a 6-to-4 or 7-to-4 adapter at most auto parts stores for $10-$15. The Brite Lites kit also contains some diodes to be installed at the toad's lights themselves, so that accounts for another $5-$10 (retail, not parts costs).

I use separate lights on my toad when towing, so don't have to deal with interference from the toads own lights/power system. Only need a 6-to-4 adapter for that scenario - cost me $10.97 at Advance Auto.
 
The brite lite wiring is vague to say the least, I see how it's wired but is it wired into the motorhome just before the plug and the red wire only shows one connection I pretty much understand it but not sure where to put it. Should I assume just on the other side of the motorhame plug.



Thanks,

G&E
 
Assuming your motorhome has separate stop and turn signals (yes?), you should be looking at this Roadmaster 4-to-2 diagram.  The placement of the Britelite box depends on the type of connectors you will using.  The BriteLites has to get the separate light wires from the motorhome side, whether it is placed before or after your 7 pin plug. The output of the Britelites is only two wires and those two wires will feed the combined stop/tail lights on the Wrangler via the 4 wire flat plug. Typically it is placed after the motorhome plug and made part of an umbilical cord that has a motorhome compatible plug on one end and a toad-compatible 4 wire plug on the other.  Then the whole thing can be removed when not towing.  The alternative is to get rid of the 4 wire flat plug on the Jeep and use a full 7 pin plug compatible with the motorhome. In that case the Britelights is wired between that plug and the rest of the Jeep wiring and stays on the Jeep all the time.

But I don't see what the Brite Lites is going to do for you that the Mopar 7:4 adapter isn't already doing. It should be serving the same function as Brite Lites is intended to do, i.e. combining the separate stop/Tail lights into a single wire.
 
Right now I have no stop lights at all, In speaking with roadmaster tech support they say I have to have that brite lite converter to make the stop lights operational. We'll see if it makes a difference. On the roadmaster web site it does say if you have seperate motorhome brake and signal and combined brake and signal on the towed vehicle you need the brite lite converter.



Thanks,

G&E
 
Chet18013 said:
I'd say the dealer has not got the wiring incorrect and he should correct it.  I installed the same system on our motorhome, with the diode block and everything worked OK. We have a BrakeBuddy, and yes it does turn on the brake lights WHEN YOU ARE SLOWING DOWN enough to make the BB function. But about half the time you do not apply the brakes hard enough to make the BB apply the toad brakes, so don't count on it for brake lights.

Chet18013
Click to expand...

Thanx Chet .... I wuz going by gut instinct here since I've never pulled a toad (well, I have, but that was pre-aux brake days - and you had to use a hydraulic line). Since I have my fiver set to actually start applying the trailer brakes at about the same time as my truck brakes, I would have thought that a toad would be setup pretty much the same.

Live and Learn (now, to remember).

Larry
 
This is actually crazy, when I test the connections from the mptphome the all light except for the tail light connection, when I plug in the adapter three out of four work including the tail lights and the ground does not work on the adapter. I'll think I'll start by getting a new connection for the motorhome and also using a new adapter.


G&E
 
On the roadmaster web site it does say if you have seperate motorhome brake and signal and combined brake and signal on the towed vehicle you need the brite lite converter.
Click to expand...

My point is that you already have such a converter, the Mopar you mentioned previously. Roadmaster is merely telling you their name for the adapter product, i.e. what would be used if you had all Roadmaster parts.
 
It gets better and I will have a conversation with Fleetwood. We did used the converter 3 to 2 which solved the problem of the brake lights. The last problem was the connector was wired different than all others they had the brake in the middle, finally it's solved and we will be on our way hopefull 12/29/06, headed for the sunshine state.

Thanks to all,

G&E
 
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