wiring for tow hitch on a 94 corolla?

I added a tow hitch to tow a jet ski on my 94 corolla. I am trying to do the wiring for it & the lousy schematic states to run the green wire to the cars left turn & stop & the yellow wire to the cars right turn & stop. I connected the green to the stop & the trailers left stop light works. If i connect it to the turn, the left turn signal works on the trailer. I can only get either the turn signal OR the brake lite to work on each side, but not both. If i try & connect the green to both turn & stop lights, it shorts out a fuse. Any help is greatly appreciated. john

Reply to
jjW
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You need a converter because the Corolla has separate turn and stop lights but the trailer does not. Your Toyota dealer or local auto parts stores should carry the necessary converter.

Reply to
Ray O

OR you do what I've done for decades - and don't bother with taillight converter boxes at all, except for cars with the lamp failure monitors or fancy electronics in the circuit that absolutely require an isolated converter and a separate power feed.

You rewire your trailer as Universal setup so it will work behind any car. Two lamp or three lamp systems. ;-) A bit of work one time, but then you can just plug them into any car and go.

It's simple - you only need to add a second set of red tail lights on each trailer for Tail/Stop lights, run one more power lead between the tongue and the back for the stop lights, and leave the original trailer lights wired up just as they are to serve as the Tail/Left Turn and Tail/Right Turn lights.

Use the 6-pin or 7-pin round commercial trailer connectors, because they have separate pins assigned for ST, LT and RT.

When you wire the car connector on an American car, you don't hook up to the ST connection. The two turn lights also act as the stop lights.

When you wire the car connection on a Japanese/European car, you wire ST to Stop, and the turn signals to LT and RT. The stop lights do their thing, and the turns.

Note: Use red lenses on all four of the lights - Some states insist that a Stop light be red, and if you put yellow lenses on the Turn lights a cop might get his knickers in a knot. There's no rule against a dedicated turn signal being red that I've ever heard of.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

I considered your solution but figured that if the OP had a problem interpreting the wiring schematic, re-wiring the trailer would be a lot more work.

Reply to
Ray O

Well, it is - but it is simple mechanical work that almost anyone can understand, Add two lights to the body, tap off the tail lights, run one new wire forward for the stop lights. Whereas most people get seriously confuzzled by a taillight converter because they have "all those baffling electronics" inside... ;-P

And you only have to do it (or have it done) to the trailer once - many people get a new car every few years, but their utility and travel trailers seem to hang around in the same family for decades. My brother has the original family trash trailer chassis with the Model A Ford front axle (welded steering) sitting in his back yard. The wood body rotted off, but a cousin wants it for his motorcycle.

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Reply to
Bruce L. Bergman

i installed the converter & it works great. thanks for everyones help! john

Reply to
jjW

I guess you have a good point! If someone is willing to tackle a trailer harness, they should easily be able to tackle a few extra lights on a trailer.

Reply to
Ray O

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