Replacing 5-Way Connector with 8 Wires on Boat Trailer

Question

Question:

The wiring harness on our boat trailer is bad. There are NO replacement plug that looks like ours. It has 5 pins and eight wires coming out of bottom. One blue, one green, one yellow, two brown and three white. One of the white ones has a brown line on it. Anyway total of eight wires. Looking for a wishbone harness still only has 6 at most. How can I find one with eight? I have searched and read all forums to help us with this. But have found no answers. I have included a photo. Please help. I wanna go fishing!!

asked by: Jana J

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Expert Reply:

We definitely have what you need to replace the 5-Way connector on your boat trailer, but there's not going to be a pre-made 5-Way harness that includes 8 wires. As you mentioned the most you will likely find is a wishbone harness like # A25W5B that uses 6 wires (a separate running lights circuit wire for each side of the trailer). A previous owner or the factory simply used a non-standard wiring setup when installing the connector and wiring on your trailer.

With all of that being said, it's still going to be easy enough to swap out the connector. Your best option will be to simply cut off the existing 5-Way and replace it with a new one like the above-mentioned harness. Since a 5-Way doesn't usually have 8 wires, you will just need to test each of them for function with a circuit tester like # PTW2979 when connected to the tow vehicle or by simply applying 12V power directly to each wire if you aren't connected.

Once you know the function for each wire you will be able to splice into the new connector. On the 5-Way # A25W5B the white wire is ground, the brown wire with green stripe is right side running lights, the brown wire with yellow stripe is left side running lights, the yellow wire is left side stop/turn, the green wire is right side stop/turn, and the blue wire is auxiliary/reverse.

If I had to guess you most likely have a few ground wires on your current setup (but I still recommend testing to be sure) so you will probably just have to splice in multiple wires from the trailer to the ground wire terminal on the new 5-Way. I recommend using heat shrink butt connectors like # DW05744-10 to provide a good seal to avoid any shorts from exposure to the elements (especially since it's on a boat trailer).

If you have any other questions along the way please feel free to reach out! We want to get you fishing again as quickly as possible.

expert reply by: Chris R

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Answer 1

A standard 5-way like the part #HM47910 would work great to replace what you have. You'd just run all of the white wires that you have (all three) to the single white wire of this connector, both the brown wires to the single brown of the…

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Answer 2

Since you have a 7-way on your 2007 Toyota Tundra the best solution is going to be to replace the connector on your trailer with a matching 7-way like part #H20046 and then run the yellow wire of the 7-way to the reverse lights. Whenever possible we…

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Answer 3

What you have is a 5-way with a double wishbone, which means it is likely a double wire for marker lights as well as a double ground. You can replace your 5-way with another wishbone-style but it does not need to be a double wishbone with 7 wires,…

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Answer 4

What you have is a 5-way trailer connector with a wishbone running light circuit and 5th auxiliary circuit. The closest thing we have would be the Wishbone 5-way Part #A25W5B. This has a wishboned running light circuit, but the 5th circuit is not.…

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Answer 5

For a replacement trailer connector that has a 7-way and a 5-way you would want the Hopkins Endurance Multi-Tow 7-, 5- and 4-Way Flat Trailer Connector #HM48470. I attached an install video for this product for you to check out as well.

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Answer 6

When it comes to replacing the wiring on your boat trailer with surge brakes, I recommend using our 40 FT Wishbone 5-Way Trailer Harness with 30" Ground and 5 ft. Blue Wire, #A40W5B. I have included a short video for you. If by chance your tow…

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Answer 7

In order to determine the torque rating for the lug nuts on your trailer you will need to know check out the chart I attached that shows all of the torque specs for all the trailer lugs available based on stud size, wheel material and wheel size.

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Answer 8

A 4-Way trailer connector has the basic lighting functions only; running lights, left turn signal and brake lights, right turn signal and brake lights, and ground. A 7-Way has these functions and a 12 volt circuit, a circuit for electric trailer…

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Answer 9

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Answer 10

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Answer 11

Hey Richard, thanks for reaching out! The Dexter DX7.5 Drop-N-Go Brake Actuator #099-175-00 is a great option for a replacement actuator because it's a direct replacement for the common Model 60 actuators that were popular in the '90s.…

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Answer 12

Typically 4-way wiring consists of 18 and 16 gauge wires. For a 4-way that has all 16 gauge wire you would want the Wesbar 4-Pole Flat Connector #W787264. The part #HM38138 uses 18 gauge for all wires but the white that uses 16 gauge.

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