How to Make a Quick-Disconnect Tail Light Converter For A Motorcycle Trailer Pulled by a Jeep  

Question:

Expert Reply:

There is a way for you to be able to pull your trailer with both your 2003 Honda Goldwing GL1800 and your 1997 Jeep Wrangler.

The first thing that is going on between these two vehicles is that the trailer is wired for a separate turn signal system where the brake lights and blinkers are on separate bulbs, whereas your Wrangler is wired to pull a trailer that uses a combined circuit where the blinkers and brake lights are on the same bulb. There is a converter that will allow you to go from a 5 to a 4-way pretty easily, but since you want the option to do both we are going to have to get a little creative with how it will wire in.

What we are going to do is wire up a converter box that will install on your trailer light circuit when you are using you Jeep to pull the trailer and can be easily removed when you want to use your Goldwing to pull the trailer.

Here is what you will need:

Tail Light Converter # C56196
4-Pole Trailer End Connector # 18004
Hopkins Endurance 5-Way Flat Trailer Connector # HM47900

Here is how it will come together:

You would wire the trailer side 4-way # 18004 to the input side of the tail light converter box # C56196. You would do this by running the green, white and yellow wires from the 4-way to the same color wires of the converter box. The brown wire from the 4-way will be run after the next step. Next, you will run the wires from the output side of the # C56196 to the vehicle 5-way # HM47900. The wires of the 5-way are labeled with their functions on them, you will run the output wires of the # C56196 by function to the 5-way.

Finally, you will need to run the brown wire from the 4-way to the wire labeled running lights on the 5-way. You will also need to run the wire labeled ground from the 5 -way to the white wire of the 4-way. This wire is already being run to the converter, but you will need to splice into this wire also.

Now, you should have a functioning adapter that you could just plug into your trailer whenever you wanted to pull the trailer with your Jeep, and then could unplug and bypass if you wanted to pull it with your motorcycle.

expert reply by: Jameson C

0