How To Wire A Towed Vehicle When Both Vehicles Have Separate Stop And Turn Signals  

Question:

Expert Reply:

The Tow Ready Vehicle To Vehicle Taillight Converter, # 118158, you have referenced will not be needed since you will be staying with a 3-wire system (separate stop and tail lights)on both of your vehicles. The converter is only needed if you had a 2-wire system (combined stop and tail lights) on the towing vehicle and a 3-wire system on the vehicle being towed.

I would recommend using a diode system to wire your vehicle because the diodes will prevent feedback from going from the taillights on the towed vehicle back to the vehicle that will be doing the towing. To wire your towed vehicle you will need a couple of wiring components. The first two parts you will need are the Roadmaster Universal Hy-Power Diode Wiring Kit, # RM-154, and two additional Roadmaster Hy-Power Diodes (Qty 2), # RM-792, on the towed vehicle. The diode kit will be wired inline with the tow vehicles wiring. I am sending a link to a wiring diagram depicting a wiring schematic that shows where the diodes are connected and what color wires go to what function on the towed vehicle. The two extra diodes will be used on the brake light circuit, which is the red line in the diagram. This is the only wire that isn't included in the RM-1254 kit. You will need an extra length of wire to complete this circuit. Just ensure that you start the red wire in the front of the tow vehicle so that the wire can eventually be attached to a connector with the other four wires that were in the wiring harness.

I am sending a video link to the RM-154 wiring harness being installed on a 2006 Jeep Liberty so that you can see how the wiring process works. The only difference is that you will have to add a red wire to run the brake light circuit.

Once you have the towed vehicle wired up, you will need to connect it to the tow vehicle. You can use the Roadmaster 6-Wire Straight Cord Kit, # RM-98146, to extend the wires from the tow vehicle back to the connector on the vehicle being towed. I recommend using this 6-wire cord because it has a thick durable coating around the wires to protect it from road debris and wear and tear. To make this setup work, you will install one of the 6-pole connectors in the 6-Wire cord kit to the front of your towed vehicle. Clip off the 4-way that was on the end of the 4-pole wiring harness you installed on the tow vehicle. Then, you will attach the lose wires, included the red brake wire, to the 6-way connector in this order:

brown wire (taillights) would be at the 12:00 position
white wire (ground) at the 2:00 position
yellow wire (left turn) at the 4:00 position
green wire (right turn) at the 8:00 position
red wire (brakes) at the 10:00 position
the center pin will not be used.

Find a safe and sturdy mounting place for the 6-way on the front of the vehicle. Then, using the wires at the end of the cord in the 6-Wire cord kit, you will want to attach the same colors to the same position on the tow vehicle end. Mount the remaining 6-pole connector socket to the rear of the tow vehicle in an easily accessible area. You will have to tap into the appropriate RV wiring circuits to get power for the lighting circuits to the 6-way at the rear of the tow vehicle.

If the 2010 Jeep Liberty is the vehicle being towed, the battery does need to be disconnected when being towed.

expert reply by: Jeff D

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