Only One Tail Light Works on Trailer With 4-Way & Vehicle With 5-Way

Question:

I love e Trailer. This is a huge service! Thx for the help. Heres my dilemma.... I have Tacoma that has a 5 prong connector and a load rite trailer that has a 4 prong connector. When I hook the two up with one extra prong showing from the Tacoma, the trailer only has one light working properly running lights, brakes and signal. The other light which is a replacement light only illumines the running lights with no brake or signal, working. Might the problem be a. the 5 prong to 4 prong connector? Do I need a converter of some sort? Or might the problem be b. I need to replace the replacement light generic with a load rite, light? I found that all the wires to my harness ran through the drivers side rear light within which is a box the wires enter and exit from before running to the harness. Might this wrinkle explain why only one of the two rear lights on my trailer work? The Rear drivers side light. The passenger side rear light only displays the running lights but not the directional or brake. May be over my head here…. Thx for any advice.

asked by: Greg

Expert Reply:

You should be fine with your Tacoma's 5-way and trailer's 4-way since the lighting functions will all be attached. So either the light is bad and needs replacing or, from how you are describing the wiring set up, the light that doesn't work is not properly connected. Each light should have its own wiring run to it so you may need to run wire directly to it and not through another light, which you can do with 16 gauge wire # 16-1-1.

I have also added links to a couple help articles below which I recommend taking a look at.

expert reply by: Kyle S