Trailer Wire Harness Recommendation for a 1986 Jeep CJ-7

Updated 12/13/2013 | Published 12/12/2013

Question:

Will this Hopkins #48895 work for a cj7 ? Trailer is already wired w/ standard 4 wire. Really all I need is a converter to wire in ?

asked by: Jim C

Expert Reply:

Your 1986 Jeep CJ-7 uses a combined lighting system, meaning the turn signals and brake lights run on the same wire, so a converter would not be required to install a trailer wiring harness. You could use the Draw-Tite 4-Pole Hardwire Kit, # 18252, to install a trailer wiring harness. This kit comes with the vehicle side 4-pole trailer connector, quick splices and a circuit tester.

To install this harness, you will first want to locate the Jeeps tail light wiring. Using the included circuit tester, probe each of the wires coming from the tail lights. You should find one wire that carries power only when the tail lights are on and one wire that carries power for the turn signal and brake lights. It is possible that the wire colors on your Jeep will not match the wire colors for the trailer wire harness, so testing and connecting wires by function is the best practice.

The functions of the wires on the Draw-Tite 4-pole harness are

White - Ground
Brown - Tail Lights
Green - Right Turn/Brake
Yellow - Left Turn/Brake

expert reply by: John H