I have a 85 Barth Regency & bought a 95 Jeep Cherokee to tow. Bought the tow bar, safety cables and tow lights. I made two metal plates and attached them to the rear Jeep bumper for the magnetic tow lights to sit on. Everything was going fine until trying to hook up the lights. My Barth has a set of four tailights. The two top lights are also the turn signals & the 4 way flashers. The two bottom lights are the brake lights. I was told it is wired like a commercial vehicle and I cannot combine the brake light, 4 ways & signal lights together. It has a 7 prong plug to plug into for your trailer/tow vehicle lights. I followed the wiring directions & have tail lights & turn signal/ 4 way flasher lights but no brake lights. The wiring instructions state I need an additional wire (& light) to hook up the brake lights.
I am thinking of running an extra wire to the four wire system and attaching an extra light to the tow lights for a brake light.
Question?? Is there a better way of doing this? Has any one else come across this problem? Thanks

Can't help you with your immediate problem, but IMHO - It's more trouble at the outset, but less trouble later, to wire into the toad's lights, than it is to run separate lights that have to be taken off and stored, then dragged out and reinstalled to travel. All you do is plug, and unplug, as you hook up or separate the toad.

My tow bar, or toad brakes, can't remember which, came with instructions on how to do it.( I hope you've got a braking system for the toad - most states require them on anything as heavy as the Cherokee.)

Your local auto parts, or RV supply house shouild be able to help you if you decide to go this route.

HI folks:

As I understand your question, we start on the Barth with many lights and are going to the toad where there are fewer lights.

If this is an accurate picture, the solution is to tap into the many lights you wish to send to a single light and install a device called a diode into each tap wire, combine the tap wires to a single lead up hill of the diodes and run this to the single light on the toad. A diode is a one-way valve for electricity. This will allow the light on the back of the toad to be turned on by any of the inputs but will not allow the power to flow back into your existing circuitry.

Given the same job I would also have a set of lights that are not part of the toad, this way I only have to learn about the Barth and not the toad as well but there are many ways to skin a cat.

Oh Yea, if you do not have heavy duty flasher units in the Barth replace them to handle the load of the additonal lights.

Timothy


[This message has been edited by timnlana (edited December 18, 2005).]

[This message has been edited by timnlana (edited December 18, 2005).]

This site might be of some help.
http://www.etrailer.com/faq/wiring.asp

Ralph

I'm pretty sure that this is what your looking for. I have found these things at NAPA and other automotive stores. I would recommend wiring this into your toad vehicle tail lights so as not to constantly put extra lights that are bound to be knocked off.

http://www.fultonperformance.com/products.php?group=21&subgroup=26

I hope this helps!

Edit: I know they sell these things at U-Haul as all of there tow behind units are double lights instead of quad lights. I have chased several U-Hauls in my line of work and have wired these in for them. It really is very simple to do.

------------------
1991 Barth Regal
460 EFI C6 Transmission
33' Oshkosh/John Deere Chassis

http://www.truckroadservice.com/

[This message has been edited by Bill (edited December 18, 2005).]

First: "if you do not have heavy duty flasher units in the Barth": My understanding is ALL Barths came "standard" with a heavy-duty flasher for the tow hookup.
Second: "...run separate lights that have to be taken off and stored, then dragged out and reinstalled to travel. All you do is plug, and unplug, as you hook up or separate the toad. "
2: Everyone has a different idea (Most of which work very well) and this is my favorite> Remove the Jeep rear tail/stoplight assembly - probably 4 screws accessible through the lens from the outside. Go to Pep Boys and buy 20' of trailer wire and two $3 50s-style stop/taillight assemblies: round, about 1-1/4" diameter, with push-in grippers and bulbs included along with installation instructions. Drill a hole in the back of the light assembly alongside or above/below the existing bulb holder, push the new bulb assembly in, attach the trailer wiring to the wire tag, and re-install the light assembly. The wire drops down beneath the toad and is strapped to the frame up to the front where it terminates in your seven-stud -or other type- plug. The only lights you need are stop, turn, and flash signals which are the same bulb (you really don't need flash, probably, since the coach light is mounted high). This bypasses the Jeep electric system entirely, which I surmise is the reason you're using magnetics. AAAND no burned out diodes, etc. If the Jeep light thing won't work because of the body design, consider installing the two assemblies in the plates you already have on the bumper.

------------------
"You are what you drive" - Clint Eastwood

[This message has been edited by Gunner (edited December 18, 2005).]

I'd just add a second set of lights to the bar...

There are converters for this, as Bill referenced, to convert systems that have separate brake and turn signals to a towed vehicle that has combined break and turn signals. This is another source of those converters. Keep in mind that the towed vehicle brake lamps will come on when the aux breaking system the towed vehicle is activated.
Tail Light Converter



------------------
89 Barth Regal 32
Runs like a Deere
New Hampshire

The one that Jack came up with looks pretty good.

The problem with electrical is that it scares too many people. IT'S NOT THAT SCARRY!

Think about an older Ford or Chevy pick up or van. They only had two tail/turn signal lights. The front lights are only turn and marker lights but the rear is expected to be a turn sinal, brake lights and marker lights. This was done thru the turn signal switch. Just like your toad.

Now if you wanted to have something that looks seamless and requires no extra lights that you have to carry then add the convertor to the tow/toad vehicle. That way your lights are always there and not broken or bunched up in the corner or the cables dragging on the roadway.

You take the marker light, right & left turn light and the brake light circuit from the tow vehicle and wire it into the 5 wire side with the extra going to the ground. The other 4 wires on the converter go to the marker light, right & left rear signal and a good ground.

You could wire the converter on the tow vehicle and then have 4 wires coming out or you could wire it into the toad vehicle and have 5 wires out. I like the look of the toad when it goes down the road and all of the marker lights are on and the turn signal lights are working on the toad.

It could keep you from an accident by allowing people to see the side of the toad at night. If your at a light and going straight the impatient people on the other side trying to turn to the left will see the marker lights and not try to beat out the next driven car behind the toad. Safety 1st, and it looks cool! Big benifit is the marker lights on the toad being seen!

Good luck and let us know what you decide. Anyway you do it is legal. The way I would do it is safer!

------------------
1991 Barth Regal
460 EFI C6 Transmission
33' Oshkosh/John Deere Chassis

http://www.truckroadservice.com/

Thanks to all.
With so many various ways to solve the problem I'll have to sit back & check them all out.
I do have a brake buddy that lights up the Jeeps brake lights but only when you press hard on the Barth brakes. I know I can adjust that but feel I like the idea when I tap the Barth brakes the Jeep brake lights will come on right away (for safety).
I took the Jeep lights off for a look and it is already set up to put in an extra light socket (no socket just a factory hole).
I do like the idea of having the side lights come on in the Jeep for safety. I forgot to mention that the Jeeps tail lights are tail & brake combo with a seperate amber just for the directional & 4 ways. This makes me think I may have a problem even with an electronic device as this is opposite from the Barth.
I think you are right about the magnetic tow lights- after awhile I could see that may become tiring to do.
Thanks again,
Jim

Jim,

I tow a Honda Accord and didn't want to mess with tapping into the factory set up. In my Honda there were no extra holes in the lenses for more lights as in your Jeep. I did have a place where I could put in a second bulb connector however. I bored a hole in the back of the lens and installed a Blue Ox tail light assembly. It is wired totally separate from the Honda's system and uses a two filament bulb set up. the running lights and the brake lights are on the same filament, only the brake light is brighter. The turn signal uses the other filament. It was not difficult to wire, but I did use a diode set-up to prevent feedback between the running and brake lights. Simple and works well. I don't worry about not having the side lights on in the Honda, as the Barth is lit up like a Christmas tree with clearance and running lights on the sides.

You could do this easily with the open hole in your rear lens. I think the Blue Ox set up was about $40 - $50. This included wire, snap in light sockets and bulbs with instructions. That is a lot for these items, But I could not find the correct snap in sockets any where else. Wire is easy to get.

Bill G

[This message has been edited by goodwinw (edited December 19, 2005).]

At present I think I am favoring the idea to put in an extra socket in the Jeeps tail light assembly. The way it is made the extra blub will also light up the Jeep tail light lense from the side so it will have marker lights at the rear. My Barth is also highly visible at night as I replaced all the clearance lights with new LED types. My next project will be to replace the Barths rear tail/brake/turn lights with LED's. After that I will see what I can do with the front turn/park. lights.