To see if this custom-fit item will work for you please tell us what vehicle you'll use it with.
Thank you! Your comment has been submitted successfully. You should be able to view your question/comment here within a few days.
Error submitting comment. Please try again momentarily.
Built to last, this tail light converter with a 76" 4-way flat harness is made using surface-mount technology. Designed for Volkswagen Jetta Wagons that have amber turn signals and incandescent bulbs. Includes wire taps and color-coded wires.
Features:
Specs:
Some vehicles operate on a 3-wire system, wherein the brake signal and the turn signals run on separate wires to illuminate different lights. (Typically, these vehicles have amber turn signals.) But most trailers run on a 2-wire system, which means the brake and turn signals travel along a single wire. You'll notice that, on your trailer, the brake light will flash for the turn signals.
If your vehicle operates on a 3-wire system, it will need to be converted so it will be compatible with the wiring system of your trailer. This is where a tail light converter comes into play. This converter lets you combine the brake and turn signal functions of your vehicle so they run on a single wire to properly activate your trailer's tail lights.
| Wire Color | Wire Function |
|---|---|
| Green | Right turn |
| Brown | Tail lights and parking lights |
| Red | Brakes |
| White | Ground |
| Yellow | Left turn |
To begin the installation, use a circuit tester (sold separately) to double-check the function of each wire on your vehicle's tail light wiring harness. The color/function of the splice-in wires on this converter may not match the color/function of those on your vehicle, so you'll want to be sure to check all of the wire functions first. Once you've figured out the functions of your vehicle's wiring, use the included quick-splice connectors to connect the corresponding wires on the trailer connector. Quick-splices, or "wire taps," offer a quick way to make connections without you having to strip and twist wires. Just place the wires in one of the taps and snap the cover down.
Use double-sided tape to stick the converter box to a flat surface inside your vehicle near the tail lights. It's helpful to clean the surface first so the tape can adhere fully.
Find a raw, unpainted metal surface to use as a grounding point and secure the white ground wire with the included self-tapping screw. Cleaning the surface prior to securing the white wire will ensure the converter is fully grounded. Finally, secure the converter wires to your vehicle using cable ties (sold separately).
Quick Tips:
Curt builds each tail light converter using surface-mount technology (SMT). This construction method involves soldering electronic components directly to the surface of a printed circuit board. SMT eliminates the need for leads, which are used in older through-hole technology. The result is a smaller circuit board that provides more routing area and that offers superior performance, reliability, and durability.
Circuit boards constructed using SMT perform better under rough conditions with excessive vibration than those made using the through-hole method. And where would vibration be more likely to occur than in towing applications? Curt converters also produce less heat, increasing durability and lifespan. In addition, lower resistance levels ensure better performance, especially for parts that operate at higher frequencies.
Each Curt circuit board is made using high-quality components pieced together in the most technologically savvy fashion, leading to greater predictability and reliability in functioning.
California residents: click here
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (352 Customer Reviews)
Built to last, this tail light converter with a 76" 4-way flat harness is made using surface-mount technology. Designed for vehicles that have amber turn signals and incandescent bulbs. Includes wire taps and color-coded wires.Worked out perfectly for what I needed to wire it into. The online ordering was very prompt on getting it out and I received the package a day earlier the expected. Vary simple instructions to follow and seems to be made with quality in mind. Works perfectly and should last the life time of the vehicle.
eTrailer gets a grade of A+. The actual part gets a grade of B-. Two of the wires arrived slightly damaged - luckily near the cut end so I didn't have to lose much length. The sticker identifying the 4 wires on one side and 5 wires on the other was upside down, so I peeled it off and reapplied (my OCD kicking in!). I wanted to keep my original quick release plugs on 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport & was able to do that. Used heat shrink connectors between them & Curt Converter. All lights on vehicle & trailer working perfectly again!
Worked great on my honda civic.
Good price, very nice people. Timely delivery too.
The quick splice were a bit oversized for my Audi wiring. Required me to wiggle it a bit to get a good connection to the, my guess 22ga, wire. Could also use at least a few more zipties. Otherwise, this is a good kit.
works as designed no problems
ups sent me a email stating eta aug 7
needed part nlt friday paid extra for o/n service
called etrailerw/eric and he traced the and said it would be here as irequested
thanks for correcting ups msg
will use your company for any parts i may need and also as we travel will recommend your company
thanks tom walters
works great !
I LIKE TO STAND BACK AN LOOK AT WHAT I AM HOOKING UP AN I TRACK THE RIGHT SIDE WIRE DOWN ON THE LEFT SIDE AN WIRED IT ALL ON THE LEFT SIDE IT MAKES IT SO MUCH NICER.. 96 GEO TRACKER 4X4
The online fit guide stated that this would work for my 2000 Honda Civic, but after installation (double checked for proper installation) only one brake light worked on the trailer.
Brooke M.
1/23/2023
I am sorry to hear you are having issues with this. It sounds to me like there is a bad ground connection. You may want to double check once more and just make sure your ground wire has a direct, clean, and secure connection. So often, when it comes to wiring, the ground connection is the issue.
Fairly easy to attach just had to double check the wiring on the car and had to sandpaper away some paint in order to get a good ground connection.
works great
Was very happy and satisfied with my purchase and delivery of my product. Insulation went very well.
I bought this kit for my 1994 Jeep Cherokee XJ and while it seemed like a good purchase at the time, unfortunately after installing it myself found issues with it. Driving lights on the trailer worked as they should, left and right blinker were extremely dim as were the brake lights. I tried a friends trailer and had exactly the same issue. Used a multimeter to check for correct voltage and continuity, everything seemed to check out fine. Problem persisted even after taking it to an auto electrician, so after about a month of trouble shooting and spending more money than I wanted to in diagnosis I ended up buying another 'plug and play' from a local auto parts store and after installing that one myself all the problems I had before vanished.
Jenny N.
4/7/2022
I will have our Customer Service team reach out to you. It is possible that the ground also needed to be checked. We do have a FAQ that helps with trouble shooting.
Helpful Links
I've been using this wiring harness for around a year now and it's performed amazingly. I have a 2004 VW Jetta Wagon, picked up some cheap female "pin" connectors as my taillights on my car had pins that you could just slide a connector on to. I was able to use this method to install this harness without actually cutting into any of my cars wiring. Working amazingly.
Corey
5/6/2022
Still working great 2 years after purchase. No complaints at all.
Did not work with my application. To this day I still don't have working trailer lights.
David B.
10/8/2022
Ill have CS reach out to you William. In the meantime I would double check your grounds, look for damaged wires and loosecorroded connections.
The Circuit Protected Converter # SMT C56175 trailer lighting harness for my 1998 VW Beetle arrived within a few days and was easy to install with the include instructions!
All trailer lights worked perfect the first time they were checked after the install! Great job to ALL of you at etrailer.com
David W.
1/4/2015
From the day I installed the SMT C56175 Converter, I have had no problems at all! This is a well designed, high quality item that I would highly recommend to anyone!This item still gets a five star rating all day long!All The Best,David W
Good price, product was perfect, and the shipping was quick. Problem solved. T-taps are sort of miserable, but that's on the installer, not the product - cutting, soldering, and heat shrinking is definitely the way to go.
If you have a problem with your 'Yota truck lighting acting wonky, chances are very high this unit is your issue! Mount it up high, on the bottom of the bed to keep it dry and give it decent life. The harness cover is a nice touch that does not come with all of these - pack it with dielectric grease, and you'll get many years out of this.
Good job, etrailer!
Patrick B.
3/4/2013
We have seen some wonky trailer light issues with Toyotas when adding aftermarket harnesses like this. Typically the issue is the ground. The Toyota frames do not ground as easily as other makes. Sometimes we have to move the ground or extend it to a factory ground point in order for the system to function correctly.
Nice quality because the shank that goes into the hitch is solid but hallow like the ones from other sources.
Something is defective with this unit. While the running light circuit is fine, the circuits that convert the brake and turn signals into a single circuit (the essence of the device) is intermittent; sometimes it works properly, sometime only the left light responds, sometime only the right, sometimes nothing. I believe the problem is due to a bad diode in the unit. I am experienced with these devices, so it is not an installation error. Due to the installation, I am unable to return the unit in unused condition.
1996 Jeep Cherokee.
FYI- this unit was purchased to replace a similar unit that started having a different problem after ten years of use.
Mike L.
10/10/2018
When a wiring harness is acting up, the first thing youll want to do is isolate the cause to the vehicle or the trailer wiring. Use a standard incandescent circuit tester like our part 40376 on each pin of the trailer connector as each function is activated. If youre not getting signal on the trailer connector pins, try testing on the input side of the converter. If the signal is entering but exiting the converter box, youll have confirmed that the converter is bad. Youll also want to ensure that the ground connection is secure. An insufficient ground can cause all kinds of odd behavior in the lighting. Ill link you to an help article on trailer wiring troubleshooting.
Helpful Links
The product works fine. I Youtube video for installing a harness on a Suzuki XL-7 IS NOT this product. If you're not a very handy person you may have problems getting this installed. I figured it out but I'm pretty handy. The video show them just plugging it into a 6 pin connector inside the left rear qarter panel. But the harness itself has no matching connector. You have it splice each wire to a wire on the car.
Patrick B.
11/11/2013
The video that we had was for wiring in Tow Ready part 118372 [no longer available].
great wire harness, could not have been easier for the "common man" to deal with ! came with the hitch, I paid for it, but same package so didn't have to wait for a second box.
Darrell N.
6/17/2015
WONDERFUL!!
I installed this on my motorcycle, a 2004 Honda VTX 1300S. The converter itself is attached beside the license plate, exposed to the weather. It has functioned flawlessly for almost a year now, through Kansas cloudburst, desert heat and mountain freeze. If I should ever need another (not likely), I will get the same model.
Alan
11/27/2019
A year later and it still works just fine.
Great job.
Thanks
Do you have a question about this Custom Fit Vehicle Wiring?
Info for this part was:
At etrailer.com we provide the best information available about the products we sell. We take the quality of our information seriously so that you can get the right part the first time. Let us know if anything is missing or if you have any questions.
Matthew
10/27/2023
I bought and installed the wiring harness a year ago and its been working great! Thank you etrailer for a great product