rubronthroad

I am doing the lights on my trailer, this is for a 87 toyota, I have " the black box" not sure what that is called, any way all the lights are working except both lights blink for the left and right turn signal, I am not sure where to start with this, any advise would be appreciated.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

I would guess your using a 4 pin flat plug ??

Your trailer has just two big lights that are tail light brake light and turn signal ??

Was this converter box and plug already installed on your truck??

This is why I always use 7 pin plugs each wire is hooked up direct

It comes down to a bad converter box

Something wired wrong

A fault in the trailer harness or lights

Things like this are never simple and easy

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I use the following kit. It is plug and play. Sometimes you have to wait for the box to charge a little it seems to me. If you are having problems with your connection I would suspect trouble from truck to trailer.
PN#43315 and I get it from Orielly.

83

Yeah, what Terry posted makes it super simple. It's what I used. I hear they only last a couple years then crap out, based on some of the reviews, but whatever. It's so simple it's worth it.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I installed one 5 years ago and it is still working. I do keep the cover on the plug and spray the terminals down with WD-40 to keep them from corroding.

chuckross1957

You can fabricate your own plug and play set up. I made one using a Sierra International TC43504 converter and another one (spare) using a Curt 58240 converter. It was a little time consuming as I soldered every splice and used staggered cuts. Each harness is over 5' long with a Sierra International 5 pole, flat connector on the truck side and a Hopkins 4 pole, flat connector on the trailer side. I'm using dielectric grease on the plugs. I've heard some of the complaints about failure or led issues. So I'm not limited to using one brand of converter. I used the wires going in to the old, defective converter as leads to attach a 5 pole connector on the truck's harness.http://i1223.photobucket.com/albums/dd509/chuckross1957/Amber%20to%20Red%20Trailer%20Harness/102_1542_zpsotht23ji.jpg

83

Good to hear yours is still going. Mine's just over a year old so I can't say much about it yet except that it was very easy to install and works so far.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

No words will do that justice

chuckross1957

What are you going to do if you are pulling a trailer and all of a sudden your trailer lights stop working because your converter box quits working. I going to unplug my converter harness and plug in my spare harness. It might be as simple as that with the Hopkins 43315 unit as well. It is definitely not going to be that easy if your converter is hardwired in.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

have to assume you're talking to me. If you don't see the humorous nature of saying fabricate and Plug and play. You must have worked for Microsoft in the mid nineties..

Plug and play means you opened the package plug it in and you are ready to play. What you just described was not that. Hence

And if an actual PnP unit failed on the road between big box part store chains well I'd just tell the officer that is what happened and either get a warning or a fix it ticket then pull in to the next one and get it replaced under warranty.

None of which is relevant, sorry OP.

83

Yes. Oxymoron.

rubronthroad

Thanks Wyoming, yes the truck came with the converter box and the flat four wire plug, I changed it to the round 7 wire type, I have the basic set up for trailers, the single red light and truck lights are fine, and all lights work on trailer except the problem I mentioned. I suppose I could try replacing the converter box.

rubronthroad

Thanks Terry

rubronthroad

Thanks Zach

rubronthroad

Thanks Chuck, I like to fabricate stuff, sometimes it's not cost effective,

83

You're so polite

I hope the Hopkins kit advice wasn't an off-topic series of posts, but either way, next time you do a tow package, keep it in mind. I've only installed a tow package on my current truck, so I don't know how the older trucks are set up, or what the "black box" is.

If you're installing the round, 7-pin type, are you hauling a larger trailer? Are you going to install a brake controller? Also, though you've probably seen this, a lot of the kits for the 7-pin plug come with the 4-pin plug wired in. So you can still connect both types. I'm guessing this would come in handy...

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

We need pictures or part numbers for the mystery box. You need to verify and confirm the trailer harness is working as intended, directly power each circuit section do not assume it's fine "because it was the last time I used it" things happen while they sit you can't assume it wasn't a cow scratching post or rodent chew toy.. You need to elaborate on what you have "basic setup" means different things to different people..

Do you have trailer brakes?
Do you have reverse lights?
What specifically did you do to convert to a seven wire system?
Are you using dual element lamps, you know the kind that can short brake or marker signals to the opposite side?

For those following along at home..
A four place connector. Standard colors are
White - ground
Brown - marker light
Green - right indicator
Yellow - left indicator

Most common is a diode system, less commonly it will use a relay system or solid-state (ic). Which convert and isolate the vehicle tail light signals and send them to the trailer harness..

rubronthroad

Thanks Zach, I sorted the problem, my ground wire was not grounded to the trailer, as I went thru the system, I realized that I don't need the "6" wire harness and the round plug style has these tiny set screws that get rusty and strip easily, so that was not an upgrade, I will go back to the 4 wire flat type, so now I can go get the trailer legal!

rubronthroad

Thanks for taking the time to explain that, no brakes on this trailer, no reverse lights on this trailer, yes I believe the lamps are dual element, anyhow the problem is solved now, so on to the next project.

83

Great!