School me on Tow Hitch Wiring Connectors

[JLH911]

I don't know Squat! about trailer wiring. I'm sure I could figure out how to wire a connection to my rigs wiring, but it seems that there are a bunch of different connectors that hook up to whatever your towing.

Is there a standard and if so, which one is it?


Thanks

 

[sirenmoses]

it depends...

on what you're towing, mostly. One of my 60's was wired by an avionics guy: he used flat 4 pin. My 2nd 60 came to me wired w/a round 7 pin. Naturally, my utility trailer has the flat 4 pin, so I just bought an adapter for the rig.

As far as I can tell, it depends on whether you want turn signals, side markers and backup lights on your trailer.

maybe this link will help? 3 Wire System Trailer hitch bike rack and trailer hitches - etrailer.com

more detail here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_to_central/automotive/1272556.html?page=2

 

[Degnol]

And whatever style you choose, be sure to include a ground wire solidly attached to the frame. You'd think it would ground through the ball, and it will, but very unreliably. 90% of all trailer wiring problems can be traced back to the ground.
GL

 

[D'Animal]

What style of plug you wire to your rig should match the trailer you will be pulling.


I have the 7 Spade Connector on on all of my vehicles and trailers. So does everybody else I know.

 

[JLH911]

Okay sounds good guys. I was thinking of renting a motorcycle trailer that u-haul rents so I guess I have to find out what they have as connectors.

Thanks again and I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[D'Animal]

Once you wire your rig with a 7 Spade Connector, you can get an adaptor to use the 4 pin flat connector.

 

[JLH911]

Thanks D'animal. I think that's what I'll end up doing. Do you think a 2" Ball would be sufficient for most things a 60 with a 2F would be capable of towing?

I have a Draw-Tite hitch. Wonder what the rating is.

 

[Degnol]

Class 1

Trailer Hitch with capacity of up to 2000# gross trailer weight and 200# tongue weight.
Class 2

Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 3500# gross weight and 350# tongue weight.
Class 3

Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 5000# gross and 500# tongue weight. Also sometimes refers to a hitch with a 2" receiver regardless of rating.
Class 4

Trailer hitch with capacity of up to 10000# gross trailer weight and 1000-1400# tongue weight. Although many times any hitch with a capacity greater than 5000# gross weight is referred to as a Class 4.
Class 5

Any Trailer hitch with capacity greater than 10000# gross trailer weight and 1000-1200# tongue weight. Usually a 2.5" receiver or in some special cases a 2" receiver.

1-7/8" ball with 3/4" or 1" shank: 2000# Capacity
50mm ball with 19mm shank: (European applications only)
2" ball with 3/4" shank: 3500 or 5000# capacity
2" ball with 1" shank: 5000 or 6000# capacity
2" ball with 1-1/4" shank: 6000, 7500 or 8000# capacity
2-5/16" ball with 1" shank: 6000# capacity
2-5/16" ball with 1-1/4" shank: 10,000# capacity
2-5/16" ball with 1-1/4" shank(heat treated): 14,000, 24,000, or 30,000# capacity
3" ball with 2" shank (gooseneck only): 30,000# capacity


There I go a cuttin' and a pastin'

 

[D'Animal]

That will be fine.

Thanks D'animal. I think that's what I'll end up doing. Do you think a 2" Ball would be sufficient for most things a 60 with a 2F would be capable of towing?

I have a Draw-Tite hitch. Wonder what the rating is.

If you already have a trailer, get a reciever with the correct ball drop. You will want your trailer sitting level when it is connected.

Most all of my recievers are the standard ones. I have one Solid reciever that U use when towing crazy heavy loads with my tow rig.


Dan

 

[JLH911]

Cool Cool...lots of info...now I'm off to wire this four pin connector to the 60. Wish me luck.

 

[JLH911]

Update:

Got it wired up in the morning...got it right the first time! But.....(And I had given this some thought and wondered how the brake lights were going to work) when the guys at the Uhaul tested out the lights, they said the brake lights didn't work. That's because there was no wiring in the flat four terminal connector for it!

I even told me wife on the way there...I wonder if the trailer has some sort of converter to make their brake lights work...of course not!

So I was not going back home so I had them wire me in a connector that had the extra wiring and connector for the brake lights. They did a decent job of it. I might get under there to clean it up a bit afterwards.

Live and learn.

 

[D'Animal]

Hopkins make a really nice assy.

It has the 7 Spade as well as the Flat 4 Prong Flat

 

[fsusteve]

Update:

Got it wired up in the morning...got it right the first time! But.....(And I had given this some thought and wondered how the brake lights were going to work) when the guys at the Uhaul tested out the lights, they said the brake lights didn't work. That's because there was no wiring in the flat four terminal connector for it!

I even told me wife on the way there...I wonder if the trailer has some sort of converter to make their brake lights work...of course not!

So I was not going back home so I had them wire me in a connector that had the extra wiring and connector for the brake lights. They did a decent job of it. I might get under there to clean it up a bit afterwards.

Live and learn.

I posted a response earlier but it's gone now for some reason, anyways UHaul is full of crap. on the 4 wire connectors, the Yel/Grn are your turn signals and brake lights, Brn is your tail lights, Wht is the ground. They are known for ripping people off, go get your money back.

 

[JLH911]

I posted a response earlier but it's gone now for some reason, anyways UHaul is full of crap. on the 4 wire connectors, the Yel/Grn are your turn signals and brake lights, Brn is your tail lights, Wht is the ground. They are known for ripping people off, go get your money back.

Hmm, interesting. So how then would the Yel/Grn be connected?

Would you tap them into the turn signal and brake light wires on the 60 wiring harness for the tail lights?

Thanks

 

[fsusteve]

yes.


there a plug and play kits but I don't know if the have them for 60's, you may have to splice it in.

 

[KY854RUN]

Hmm, interesting. So how then would the Yel/Grn be connected?

Would you tap them into the turn signal and brake light wires on the 60 wiring harness for the tail lights?

Thanks

No, this would cross wire the brakes and turn signals and that would be bad.

I think that I understand what your problem was. Many vehicles use the brake lights for the turn signals, so the 4 pin trailer connector works for these vehicles. One wire for ground, one wire for running lights, one wire for left brake/turn light and one wire for the right brake/turn light. The FJ60 uses separate turn sign bulbs, not the brake lights for turn signals. So, you would need a 5 pin connector to keep these all separate. To use a 4 pin connector on your FJ60 you would need a converter. This makes the brake lights of the trailer operate as the turn signals. The connector that D`Animal showed a photo of in post 12 has the converter built into it. I had to install a converter (5 wire to 4 wire) in my 4Runner for my trailer lights. Many of the trailer part web sites will have the wiring diagrams posted on the site to help you with the wiring.

You ask, how the wiring would be connected on you FJ60.

For a 4 pin without a converter.

Green wire - Right Brake Light
Yellow wire - Left Brake Light
Brown wire - Running Lights
White wire - Ground

If you were to use the 5 wire to 4 wire converter, here is what the wiring would be going into the converter.

Green wire - Right Turn Light
Yellow wire - Left Turn Light
Red wire - Any Brake Light
Brown wire - Running Lights
White wire - Ground

And the 4 pin connector would be coming off of the other side of the converter.

 

[JLH911]

No, this would cross wire the brakes and turn signals and that would be bad.

I think that I understand what your problem was. Many vehicles use the brake lights for the turn signals, so the 4 pin trailer connector works for these vehicles. One wire for ground, one wire for running lights, one wire for left brake/turn light and one wire for the right brake/turn light. The FJ60 uses separate turn sign bulbs, not the brake lights for turn signals. So, you would need a 5 pin connector to keep these all separate. To use a 4 pin connector on your FJ60 you would need a converter. This makes the brake lights of the trailer operate as the turn signals. The connector that D`Animal showed a photo of in post 12 has the converter built into it. I had to install a converter (5 wire to 4 wire) in my 4Runner for my trailer lights. Many of the trailer part web sites will have the wiring diagrams posted on the site to help you with the wiring.

You ask, how the wiring would be connected on you FJ60.

For a 4 pin without a converter.

Green wire - Right Brake Light
Yellow wire - Left Brake Light
Brown wire - Running Lights
White wire - Ground

If you were to use the 5 wire to 4 wire converter, here is what the wiring would be going into the converter.

Green wire - Right Turn Light
Yellow wire - Left Turn Light
Red wire - Any Brake Light
Brown wire - Running Lights
White wire - Ground

And the 4 pin connector would be coming off of the other side of the converter.

Do you know if the Uhaul kit is standard with all 4 and 5 pin flat connectors? It seems like it would be. I'm thinking of taking it off and wiring in one like D'animal has. I ilke how clean it is.

 

[Living in the Past]

I have one like Dan has. I bought it at Uhaul. My four pin from my early 100 series pluged into the Uhaul plug. Then you add the extra wires from the brake controller. That's the reason for the seven pin connector is for a trailer with electric brakes. The coverter part is already in my 100 series trailer wiring not the Uhaul trailer plug. I'll bet Dan's is the same way. If you don't plan on towing anything big enough to have trailer brakes you can just stick with the four pin. Over the years I've had vehicles with five and six pin connectors. Now days the four pin non brake and the seven pin with electric seem to be the standard. Most smaller boats and Uhail use the four pin. Uhaul uses surge brakes on the heaver trailers that use no do not need any special wiring to work

 

[PabloVTA]

was it this model?
http://hopkinstowingsolutions.com/products/adapters/multi-tow/multi-tow_74_adapter.html

jsut wondering since it doesn't say Toyota specific, if there would be a problem wiring it later, I couldn't see why, if they are just wires to splice, etc.