How to Connect Horse Trailer with 6 Way Connector to 7 Way Vehicle Plug  

Question:

Expert Reply:

To start, the colors on the trailer really isn't reliable since someone may have changed the wiring at some point; you'll need to test each circuit individually to verify which function it carries and work from there. I'm attaching a diagram of the typical wiring for a 6 way connection that you can cross reference and determine if your wiring matches up. The difference between a 6 way and 7 way connection is that a 7 way connection has a circuit for the reverse lights on the trailer.

Now, on to the fun part... You could connect your horse trailer to your truck in 2 ways:

1) Use an adapter for your vehicle 7 way like the Hopkins Endurance Multi-Tow # HM47570 to allow you to plug the existing 6 way on your horse trailer directly into your tow vehicle. This is the easiest way and you can transfer this from truck to truck if needed.

2) Cut off the 6 way on the horse trailer and wire in a 7 way connector like the Hopkins # H20042 to provide you with matching plugs. You wouldn't necessarily need to wire in the pin for the reverse lights on the trailer and that could be left open, but if the trailer is equipped with reverse lights you could use # 12-1-1 which is 12 gauge wire sold by the foot.

Since you already have the 7 way plug, you'll just need to cut off the 6 way on your trailer and wire everything together using the diagrams attached- you'll want to test each pin to determine what function it carries since as mentioned above, wire colors aren't very reliable!

expert reply by: Erik B

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