tail light convertors

[radioman]

Long story short - I just hooked up my 16 ft landscape trailer to my kia sedona couple days ago to pick up a cub cadet tractor to fix for a freind. I checked the tail lights to make sure its all working before heading down the road and no lights. what?! Was working beginning of the summer. So I say to myself, okay - lets make some simple checks. took my trusty light tester and found no power coming out of rv plug on vehicle side. Thought it was fuse, nothing. cut wire?nope. bad ground? cleaned the ground and recrimped new connectors on it just to be sure. nope. traced the wire back to the taillight and found there is power/signals going into the taillight converter , but nothing coming out.
Sigh! 50 bucks down the drain.

My question is , should I buy the cheapest converter and splice in the oem y connectors from my old one or go ahead and buy the "correct one" for my vehicle? Why would it fail? its a plastic sealed box with wires coming out and I dont know if it repairable. Once I order a replacement, I might cut one apart and post here what I find unless someone has done this already and if it worth the effort to mess with it?

 

[aczlan]

How many wires go into it? Should be either 5 or 6. If 5, you need this: Curt Circuit Protected Converter w/ SMT Curt Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring,Wiring C56175 if 6, you need: Curt Circuit Protected Powered Converter w/ SMT Curt Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring,Wiring 56146
Under $25 (not counting shipping) for either.

Aaron Z

 

[flyerdan]

Most of those are just diode bridge arrays and are quite limited in the amperage they can carry. I found some 5 to 4 converters on a boating site and bought 5 of them, they were like $3 ea. Google search and get a couple of the less expensive ones, usually buying more than one won't cost more to ship and you'll have a spare or for another rig. Also, you might consider switching the trailer lights to led ones to get less current drain and not overtax the converter box.

 

[radioman]

thanks guys .. I already switched tail lights to leds last fall, but the sidemarkers are still bulbs.

On a side note, I forgot to add to a long story, but my friend I was going to get his tractor for tried hooking up his suv to my trailer and found that he has running lights constantly even if vehicle running lights was off. He also cannot get any left/right turn signal. Traced his wiring and it went to his tail light converter too. The odd thing I saw was the brake output was connected to vehicle ground. It was installed by uhaul recently and they apparently didnt do it right. he was pissed saying they were supposed to be professionals and they did the job cheaper then I quoted for .

As for 3 bucks each, I did a google search but only found 7 bucks each.

 

[3930dave]

I'm not really a fan of converters.

On my utility trailer, I installed a second set of signal lights, with their own 2'nd plug. If you can dedicate this trailer to your vehicle (as opposed to legally loaning to just anybody), then having a non-standard (as in needing 2 connectors on the vehicle) hookup is no big deal.

Rgds, D.

 

[flyerdan]

As for 3 bucks each, I did a google search but only found 7 bucks each.

I should have clarified that it was several years ago when I bought them. Just pulled my file for 2008 and it was $16.11 for 4 of them, so I was wrong on the quantity as well. Guess I can quit looking for the missing one now.
I'd still opt for the less expensive ones and having a spare; as you've discovered, paying top dollar doesn't always mean better.

 

[CliffordK]

thanks guys .. I already switched tail lights to leds last fall, but the sidemarkers are still bulbs.

One note of caution, I put amber oval LED marker lights on the front side of the fenders of my trailer. They were far too bright, and extremely annoying to see in the rear view mirrors. Otherwise, LED lights are nice.

On my utility trailer, I installed a second set of signal lights, with their own 2'nd plug. If you can dedicate this trailer to your vehicle (as opposed to legally loaning to just anybody), then having a non-standard (as in needing 2 connectors on the vehicle) hookup is no big deal.

Depending on how you use your vehicle, I'd keep everything "standard" so you can yank any trailer without rigging special lights.

The Converters seem to be a simple way to go.

Is it a simple set of diodes?

Ground --> Ground
Taillights --> Taillights
Right Signal --> Right Signal
Left Signal --> Left Signal
Brake --> Diode --> Right Signal
Brake --> Diode --> Left Signal.

Is there risk of other feedback? Anyway, you might be able to make your own converter box using decent components.

 

[bcp]

About 20 years ago I bought some diodes for a few dollars from Radio Shack and made my own converter. It was still working when I sold the truck.

I don't remember the wiring diagram but it was simple to figure out. Probably find it online now.

Bruce

 

[Furu]

Do not want to derail the thread but
Do LED trailer lights not work on vehicle hookups just like normal trailer lights?
Can you not plug into a trailer that has LED lights without a special mod?

 

[flyerdan]

The reason I brought up the LED issue is that the converters that I got said in the instructions not to overload the unit by having more than one vehicle and one trailer light per circuit, not counting marker lights which don't go through the box.
LED lights work just the same as, and are interchangeable with sealed beam lights, they just draw far less current, are longer lived due to resistance to vibration and heat burnout.
The whole purpose of the converter box is to take the signals from the combo lights used on primarily import vehicles and split them into the standard trailer configuration where turn signal and stop share the same filament.
So a trailer that had LED's in a standard 4 config would work equally well on an old Chevy that has no need for a converter to the trailer plug as on my Toyota that has the 5 to 4 box wired in. Hope that makes sense.